Review of Predator (1987) by Raji K — 23 Feb 2017

Arnold Schwarzenegger stars in the 1987 classic action film Predator. Schwarzenegger is Major Dutch and he leads a task force that is assigned to a rescue mission. The crew heads to the deep jungle only to find the special forces they were trying to rescue have been brutally murdered and skinned alive. They kill the Soviets intelligence army they believe is responsible and await evacuation. Little do they know they are being watched the whole time by an unknown enemy that views them through thermal imaging.

As they head to the site the unknown assailant makes contact killing one of the members. Only the girl they have with them saw anything and they have no idea what happened. She only says she saw the jungle come alive and kill him. One by one members are killed and they cannot figure out who is killing their men because the enemy is camouflaged or attacks from a distance with violent beams of light. As with any action film it's up to hero to take on the main villain, the Predator. The process he goes through to analyze the enemy and learn its strength and weaknesses was done very well and better than most films.

Predator is an excellent action film with a fantastic villain. The idea of it slowly watching and analyzing and viewing the heroes in a stealth like manner was a quite entertaining. The design of the predator was awesome, and having it be camouflage most of the film, made its eventually reveal all the more exciting. Schwarzenegger has a great line for when he Is informed that the creature bleeds, and he replies, then we can kill it. The strategy of stealth, analyzing and learning about the enemy was patient and well calculated. While most films rush to the one on one fight, this film takes its time. Of course, you won't find an epic story or scope with this film, but it's a solid action movie featuring an iconic villain that is well designed, and that's a good formula for success.

-2.23.2017.