Movie Info
Movie Name: Predator
Studio: Lawrence Gordon Productions
Genre(s): Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date(s): June 12, 1987
MPAA Rating: R
I work a long time on my hair stuff and you hit it…you hit my hair stuff
Dutch Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his elite team of soldiers (Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, Shane Black) have been called by Dutch’s former teammate George Dillon (Carl Weathers) for a rescue mission. When Dutch and his team realize that Dillon has lied about the true objectives, a new problem arises in a guerrilla prisoner named Anna (Elpidia Carrillo). Dutch’s crew begins to die under mysterious circumstances, and Anna tells Dutch that forest came alive. Dutch realizes he’s facing a predator that no one has ever faced before.
Directed by John McTiernan, Predator was an action-sci-fi film. The initial reviews of the film were average to poor, but modern reviews reveal that the film has been reexamined with better reviews. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Predator came out at the right age for me. I can remember seeing the commercial and wanting to see it…unfortunately, Predator was R-Rated, and I couldn’t see it until it came to video. With the combination of Arnold Schwarzenegger and a great looking alien, it was everything an eleven-year-old wanted.
You want a piece of me?!?!
The plot of the movie is a fun twist. It starts out as a normal action film with an elite team going in to battle rebels in the jungle, but quickly turns into a sci-fi movie with the characters fighting for survival against an alien. The face-off between the ultimate human hunter (Schwarzenegger) and the Predator makes for a nice contrast with both the Predator and Dutch having to revert to a primal battle to win.
Schwarzenegger was at his best around this period. He was at his top physical form and he had recognized the value of his one-liners. The movie is loaded with great moments for Arnold and he has a nice back-up cast (before they start to get slaughtered). Shane Black, Jesse Ventura, Carl Weathers, and Bill Duke make up some of the rescue team, and Kevin Peter Hall also works his role of the Predator too.
You’re one ugly motherf*@!er!
The Predator has a great design. The movie also manages to make him tower over Arnold Schwarzenegger. With his immense size and power, it becomes a David and Goliath story with Arnold facing overwhelming odds to stop the Predator…but of course he’s Arnold Schwarzenegger so the chances of that happening were always pretty slim.
Predator still holds up as a great action film and fantasy. Some of the Alien vs. Predator films and other films might have soured you too it, and Predators (2010) might have just felt like more of the same, but check out the original to see Arnold in his prime with a worthy victim (that isn’t a robot). It will make you want to yell “Get to da chopper!!!” Predator was followed by Predator 2 in 1990 which helped expand the Predator mythos.
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