Predator happens to be a movie that was released in 1987. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers are in it, and it is directed by Die Hard – director John McTiernan. It was originally supposed to have a very young Jean-Claude van Damme in it.
It is also maybe the greatest movie of all time. Learn why right here.
The Plot
Ostensibly, the plot of the movie is pretty simple. Badass Special Forces guys come in to do something. In this case, that something is rescuing a cabinet minister from some bullshit guerrila fighters in a made up jungle. The one leading the rescue team is Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, otherwise known as Arnold Schwarzenegger in the real world. He’s accompanied by 5 other beefy dudes and one old friend, who also happens to be a beefy dude.
Sounds like a simple assignment. Or is it?
The Good
Characters
Where Predator shines is the ability to create distinct characters and actually having you care for them. There’s Hawkins, the nerdy twitchy type. There’s Poncho, the typical dutiful grunt. Blain, brash blow-hard. Mac, cool and collected and Blain’s buddy. Billy, Indian spiritual type guy. Dutch himself, archetypical leader, the Optimus Prime type guy. And then there’s Dillon, Dutch’s old army buddy and one half of arguably the greatest movie handshake ever.
These characters get just enough dialogue to make them interesting and because the action acts as a pressure cooker, you get to know and care for them really quickly. This is essential, as almost all of them will – FUCKING SPOILERS IN YOUR FACE – meet the Grim Reaper sooner or later.
Story
On the face of it, the first part of the movie is your bog standard action movie. Arnie and his bros move in and kill the shit out of everyone. While that does happen, it gets interesting really quickly. Almost right from when The Governator and his team get dropped in the jungle, we see a strange vantage point from someone – or is it something? – looking at them. This thing or person seems to be stalking them, all the way up to Dutch and his team indeed murdering their adversaries without a hitch, even though they are vastly outnumbered. It seems this presence is gauging the badass-ness of Dutch’s team. But why? The viewer will learn this quickly. Oh you gon’ learn today.
It seems Dutch’s old buddy Dillon pulled the wool over his eyes. There was no cabinet minister; there was other shady shit going on. Turns out, a previous team led by off-screen badass Jim Hopper was wiped out. Not only that, they were skinned alive. Dillon was ordered to find out what happened so he cooked up a story and dropped Arnies team into a meat grinder.
Without wanting to dwell too much on the story itself, the entry of the titular mystery character marks a dramatic shift in what type of movie Predator is. It goes from a standard – albeit very good – action movie into a combination of sci-fi, horror and – still – action.
As the otherworldy Predator begins hunting Dutch’s team one by one, the stakes get higher and so does our investment in the movie.
Audiovisual experience
Predator uses a lot of POV shots from the viewpoint of the Predator, which is a strange, almost alien (completely alien as we later learn) viewpoint since the creature sees in infrared. In the beginning, this works well to immediately establish tension and an uneasy feeling. Who or what is this thing and why is it looking at Dutch and his fellow warriors?
As soon as that “Hmmm, that was strange” feeling is established, the film does an excellent job of moving into very urgent action and almost making you forget about those strange sequences. The jungle environment is spooky and spectacular and is underscored perfectly by the music and effects of Alan Silvestri.
It makes you feel you’re in the jungle and there with Arnie and his dudes. The camera is almost always moving and because everything is angled, it makes you feel on edge constantly. The beauty of the jungle provides a stark contrast to the extreme gore and violence, all of which is functional.
The only odd thing out is the “big action sequence” where Arnie and his machos kill off the guerillas. Lots of static shots, over the top action and flexing and just standard good-guys-ripping-through-bad-guys scenes. B-movie fare almost, enjoyable as it is. Turns out there is a reason for this as per the making of, or actually multiple reasons: 1) this was directed by a different person than John McTiernan, 2) this is to establish Arnie and his team as over-the-top, near invincible badasses and 3) the scene is intended to lull the audience into a false sense of safety.
Acting
All actors are used very effectively. We all know Arnie isn’t the worlds greatest thespian, but as long as he is used right, he is very good. This is one of those cases. As the action is always present, this allows the actors to act within the action, so to say. Everyone portrays their character really well and in a believable way, and that is all we can ask really given the context of the film.
The one real actor or “ringer” as John McTiernan puts it, is Bill Duke (Mac). I personally think Bill is a great actor and I always enjoy watching him do his thing. He certainly carries a lot of great scenes and gives great depth to his character. Jesse Ventura, Richard Chaves, Shane Black, Arnold himself, Carl Weathers and Sonny Landham also do a very good job at making the characters come alive.
The bad
Nothing.
In Conclusion
To my mind, Predator is a near perfect movie. The characters, tension, action, design of the Predator, pacing, setting and plot intertwine perfectly to make a great movie. Yes it is by all means an old movie, but the special effects hold up really well to this day – glad they didn’t go with the Jean-Claude van Damme worn crap suit – and the fact that it takes place in thick jungle means it will always look contemporary and will never feel dated. This makes it infinitely rewatchable as the tension is always there, punctuated by great action and one-liners.
Final verdict: 9.5/10