Review of Predator (1987) by Jimbob C — 22 Jul 2018

"STICK AROUND!".

Predator, starring Arnold Swarzennegger, as Major Alan "Dutch" Shaefer entered theaters in June 1987. It blasted its way into summer theaters with a pronounced bang, grossing more than 98 million dollars worldwide. Since then, it has become one of the best sci-fi action movies of all time and is one of my favorite movies. Predator is awesome because it upends the traditional heroes journey where the protagonist starts from nothing and ends up being the start of the show. With Predator you get an elite paramilitary unit who is at the top of their game physically and emotionally that gets destroyed and reduced to nothing. One by one, they are killed until just one remains. That character, Dutch, has to recover from the utter defeat brought to him and his men, to come back and prevail over the Predator. The concept for the movie started out as a joke that the only person Rocky hadn't fought yet was E.T Thus the idea for the movie was born. Initially being called hunter, but later dropped and changed to just Predator.

The human star of the show Arnold Swarzennegger was in his hay day, having recently done movies like The Terminator, Commando, and Raw Deal. This was another movie role that no one else at the time could do justice. He had a great supporting cast, with stars like Jessie Ventura, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillio, and Shane Black. The antagonist of the film, the Predator, played by Kevin Peter Hall does an amazing job portraying the alien on the hunt. At a 73-minute run time, it's not the longest movie. The pace is a fast one, with small lulls in the action that make you wait patiently for what comes next. The movie was Filmed almost entirely on location in Mismaloya, Mexico, which provided beautiful physical locations to film.

The friendship and comradery of Dutch's team is something you can easily see in the film. It lets you get really invested with each character. They work together like a well-oiled machine. You can see this in one of the first action scenes in the film where they initially communicate with hand and arm signals until the action kicks off. They actually trained for months before the movie, this led to them actually preforming like a real unit. They portray the classic expendable force used by the government to get the job done. Case in point, they get goat roped into rescuing operation for the CIA that actually turns out to be a totally different mission. They quickly find out that something is hunting their team and has already decimated a previous team. After a few of them start to be killed off by the films antagonist, the Predator, they take a captive prisoner who tells them that something is hunting them for sport. Saying it comes when its hot, and it's been very hot this summer, and that its name means who takes trophies of man. The Predator engages in a total unfair fight at first, using its optic camouflage to remain invisible, and using its shoulder mountain plasma canon to blast through the men. All of the team except Dutch and his captive are eventually killed. The climax of the movie is between Dutch and the Predator. With a frantic battle of whit and physical prowess. If finally deems Dutch worthy to engage in a fair fight for the honor of who's stronger than who. In the end, Dutch is the victor. The Predator, defeated, activates a self-destruct device and removes any trace of its existence. Dutch and his prisoner are then picked up by the CIA and the movie ends.

Originally, concepts for the Predator had Jean-claude Van Damme portraying the role. This didn't work out, and he was replaced by Kevin Peter Hall. This was the best decision that could have ever been made, Van Damme's costume was akin to an orange lobster, while Stan Winston created one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time for Kevin Peter Hall to bring to life. His performance worked was made even better by his size. He made the main actors like Arnold look small, giving an actual sense that he could get his ass kicked by the Predator!

The special effects of the movie still hold up today. The iconic thermal heat vision used by the Predator is instantly recognizable. Equally identifiable is are the invisibility effects of the Predator's cloaking ability, as well as its now iconic glowing green blood. The blood was made by mixing liquid from glow sticks with oil for texture. These affects got the film a nomination for an Academy Award for Visual Effects. The predator click noises it makes, are as recognizable as they are creepy, and the overall portrayal of the Predator is amazing.

Snappy one liners are a plenty in the film, and lend a sometimes comical relief to another wise suspenseful tone. A few examples are the notable, "Get to the choppaa!", or "I ain't got time to bleed," "Do you have time to duck?". Another early exchange with Jesse Ventura's character has his asking if anyone wants some of his chew and stating," This stuff will make you a God Damn sexual Tryannosauras, just like me!". Mid way through the movie in an attack scene on a Guerilla HQ, an enemy tries to sneak up on Dutch, and in turn gets a machete thrown into his chest, with Dutch telling him, "Stick Around!" One liners like these were common place in the 1980's, and this movie doesn't disappoint. Every time you watch this movie, at least one of them will get stuck in your head.

Predator has one of the most iconic and recognizable sound tracts that was composed by Alan Silverstri. The music brings you into the scenes and carries you through to the end battles. He had just come off creating music for Back to the Future. Another notable score is the music in the beginning helicopter sequence, Little Richard's Long Tall Sally. Every time I hear that song it makes me think of that part of the movie and Jesse Ventura's sexual Tyrannosauras comments. It is now considered one of the best sci-fi action films of all time, and at the time of its release it was well received with audiences. There have been countless other movies to replicate the overall story setup, but none have ever been as good as the original. I give this movie 5 Stars out of 5 and is my all time favorite!