PREDATOR (1987)
Director: John McTiernan
Genre: Sci-Fi/Survival/Action
THE MOVIE
The 1980’s gave us a wave of hard-hitting and violent science fiction movies. Gone were fare like the cerebral 2001: A Space Odyssey or the innocent space opera of Star Wars. Directors like James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven gave us often nihilistic and ultra violent movies like Aliens and Robocop. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a career doing movies such as Terminator and Total Recall (which was both violent and cerebral) before he became a kindergarten teacher and pregnant and finally governor of California. By the time Predator came out, Schwarzenegger’s career as an action superstar was in full swing and in a lot of ways, the movie was sold as an action vehicle for Schwarzenegger but fortunately Predator and it’s memorable alien creature have had a rich life outside of the first movie. Predator had its own sequel (a better movie in my opinion), another full sequel on the way, a series of comics, novels, and video games as well as a couple of cross-overs with the Alien series of movies.
Predator centers on a Special Forces unit sent to the jungles of Central America. This was during the '80’s when the U.S. and the Soviet Union were using Latin America as a board in a destructive game of Cold War chess. Dutch (Schwarzenegger), leads a troupe of annoyingly macho soldiers (who like the smack-talking marines in Aliens soon find that they are not as tough as they think) in coordination with a CIA Agent (Carl Weathers.) They begin to come across strange things like bodies that are skinned and hung upside down from trees. These soldiers begin to find themselves prey to a strange humanoid creature that is able to camouflage itself into the jungle while it picks them off one by one. Ultimately, Schwarzenegger must go mano a mano with the alien creature.
Predator prepares to lip-synch for its life.
THE MONSTER EFFECTS
Predator is one of the more distinctive and cool monsters to come out of the late, great, Stan Winston’s creature shop in the 1980’s with its distinctive mask, dreadlocks and weaponry. Once unmasked, the creature has a spider like multi-mandibled face. Rumor has it, that none other than James Cameron had a hand in the Predator's distinctive facial design.
Originally, Jean Claude Van Damme was cast as the creature but was replaced after filming started. The role was then given to dancer Kevin Peter Hall, who also portrayed Predator in the sequel. Hall gave the monster a certain unearthly grace and subtle movement flourishes. Check out the very delicate finger movements when Predator removes his mask at the end. Compare this with other actor who played these creatures in the AvP movies who all move like quarterbacks.
Of course, one of the best things about the Predator is its ability to camouflage, an effect that was mind bogglingly cool when I was a kid in 1987. Also very impressive at the time, was Predator’s faux infrared “thermal vision” which I imagine would be of limited use in the steaming jungle. And, who can forget the Predator’s eerie clicking noise, guaranteed to scare the hell out of anybody in a dark alley. Not to mention its creepy mimicking ability.
DVD AVAILABILITY
Widely available in a 2 disc collector’s edition on DVD. Predator has also been made available on Bluray.
MOST MEMORABLE SEQUENCE
I like the down and dirty battle at the end of the movie. This is true of Predator 2 also. In both released Predator movies, it seems to me like the culmination is the hero duking it out with the disarmed Predator, like once you get rid of that shoulder cannon, “It’s on!”
I like when Predator grabs Ah-nold by the neck and lifts him up off the ground so that his feet are dangling.
This is also one of those great, highly quotable movies, such as when Arnold observes:
"If it bleeds, we can kill it."
Not to mention when Schwarzenegger implores the monster at the end:
"Kill me! Kill me now! What are you waiting for?"
And a wounded Jesse "The Body" Ventura spouts:
"I ain't got time to bleed!"
SEQUELS
Predator 2 from 1990, with a totally different cast and two Alien vs. Predator movies. This summer, Predators will release, although to what extent it is connected to the previous movies is unknown. Predators is produced (and seemingly co-directed) by Robert Rodriguez who has been connected with a third Predator movie for many years.
"Who are you calling ugly?"
SEE ALSO
Alien 1979 Aliens 1986
TRIVIA
There was to have been a completely different design for the Predator that was changed at the last moment. This design was smaller and had reverse jointed legs. It can be briefly seen in the special features in the deluxe dvd.
Two of this movie's stars-Schwarzenegger and Ventura-later went on to become the governors of California and Minnesota respectively.
In the expanded Alien and Predator universe, this species is called the Yautja. Their homeworld was briefly seen in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
TRAILER
Damn, that's a great trailer. Not only does it make me want to watch the movie, but it makes me want to get into a Hot Tub Time Machine and go back to 1987 and buy a $3 movie ticket and watch the movie in an '80's theater.
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