Review of Predator (1987) by Danny R — 15 Oct 2015

John McTiernan's thrilling action-packed classic sci-fi thriller, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers a compelling performance and is in top form as Dutch, the leader of an team of elite soldiers that are all superbly played by Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, and Shane Black.

They have been assigned to rescue a group of South American politicians from some guerrilla fighters. After an impressive helicopter landing in the middle of the jungle the team has no trouble infiltrating the jungle encampment and blowing the hell out of everything, in a jaw-dropping action sequence of gut-wrenching power.

The firepower used is totally awesome, especially Jesse Ventura's character Blaine' mini gun, which is a chain fed six barrel cannon that fires 3,000 rounds per minute, and absolutely destroys anything it's fires on.

After they discover the bodies of the original military rescue team that was sent before them have been skinned alive, and then hanged from the trees. They realize there's more to the mission than just politics.

It seems the jungle is inhabited by some unseen enemy, which is a super lethal invisible alien creature of incredible power, it is on safari, hunting them as prey. One by one Schwarzenegger's crew is picked off by this unearthly 'Predator.

' The unseen star of this film is the fearsome extraterrestial Predator, memorably played by the late 7'2 foot tall character actor Kevin Peter Hall, who wears the late great F/X wizard Stan Winston's highly detailed special full-body creature suit, with its giant reptile head which has crab-like mandibles by its fanged month, wrist-operated bio-computer, alien armor, clawed hands, moveable shoulder-mounted plasma cannon, and a forearm double blades.

The screenplay is expertly written by Jim Thomas & John Thomas, who give us a pulse-pounding suspenseful deadly tale of cat and mouse. Striking direction by McTiernan, who only gives us snippets of the monster; first it's his heat-source point of view, then brief sightings of his camouflage, eventually we see close-ups of the hands, legs and body armor and only at the second act turn, do we see him in his full horrfic glory, McTiernan's staging of this moment is great stuff.

Dutch runs away from the Predator and accidentally falls 100 meters off a cliff into a lake, he crawls away only to discover the Predator has made the same jump, Dutch crawls through mud to shore and is ready to accept his death, when he realizes the mud on his body has rendered himself invisible to the predator's heat scanning vision.

Dutch now alone with all of his men dead must engaged in a deadly duel of wits and a life and death battle against the murderous Predator. Rigging traps making crude weapons such as wooden bow and arrows and lances, so the Predator will not be able to see them with his vision scanner because their is no metal on them.

Brilliant Oscar nominated visual effects by R/Greenberg associates. inc. with vivid cinematography by Donald McAlpine, and a evocative original score by Alan Silvestri. "Predator" is ingenious blend of non-stop action and adrenaline-pumping thrills.

Highly Recommended.