Predator (1987) Review

 

Predator (1987)

The 80s action movie train rolls on!! When you think of the definitive action star of the 80s, Arnold is one of the first to come to mind. The man could do it all. Predator is a perfect example of that. It’s one of those movies that you can’t help but enjoy.

Focusing on Schwarzenegger’s Dutch and his merry band of men (who were equally as exciting, especially Carl Weathers and Jesse “The Body” Ventura) after they wind up in Central America, Predator puts them on course with a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an alien that has the ability to camouflage itself. What ensues is total mayhem, which goes to show why this movie, over 30 years later is still beloved. Take the sci-fi elements of Alien and mix them with a classic Vietnam era movie, and you get this. 

And it feels true to that era, capturing a tone that is akin to the Vietnam War with the time period and with the way that the predator is able to stalk them under the cover of the jungle and kill them with little effort.  It's well done parallelism to the real world in a sci-fi heavy movie.  I have to touch on the effects that were done on the predator as well, as the camouflage effect was really well done, on top of the use of thermal imaging for his sight.

The cast is also fantastic and the macho bravadery is hilarious at times, but entertaining as hell. Going back to Arnold again too, he really gets to showcase his corny one liners, action prowess, and his overall acting ability. And while he isn’t what one thinks of when they think of an amazing actor, his actions do a lot of the talking. The man can genuinely nail a script down nicely and battling the conditions he and the other guys had to do in the Mexican jungle, the result is pretty awesome. He is simply fun to watch, no matter what he’s in.

Predator is also directed by John McTiernan, who also did classics like Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October. He was the definition of an action movie director in that time, and this falls right in line with his usual works. It’s fun, exciting, and totally badass, giving us the ultimate man vs predator fight (literally).

Fun Fact: I also paid tribute to this movie and the infamous handshake between Dutch and Dylan in a project I did a few years back. It’s available on my Youtube.

7.1/10