“Predator” was directed by John McTiernan (“The Hunt for Red October”, “The 13th Warrior”). The working title was “Hunter” as screenwriting brothers, Jim and John Thomas, started with the idea of aliens from different planets hunting a variety of species. It was streamlined to one alien facing off against a crack human soldier. When Arnold Schwarzenegger came on board, he suggested it be more than a duel. The plot was changed to give his character a team of warriors. The movie was filmed in the jungles of Mexico. It was a difficult shoot as the cast had to deal with leaches, snakes, humidity, heat, as well as cold. It was particularly difficult experience for Kevin Peter Hall who played the alien in a suit that was both hot and hard to act in. (He was rewarded for his efforts by being given the role of the helicopter pilot at the end of the movie.) The special effects garnered an Oscar nomination for Stan Winston. The film was made for $15 million and made $100 million worldwide. It spawned a franchise. The movie originally got bad reviews, but over the years its reputation has grown.
The movie opens with the alien coming to Earth. At first, it is unclear what he is doing here, but after a while it becomes clear that he is on a safari. But he is not looking to shoot water buffalo from a truck. He is trying to prove his skill against worthy prey. With that said, it’s not really a fair fight because he has all the advantages. He has a cloaking device that makes him almost invisible. He has thermal imagery that allows him to see his prey easily. And he has a plasma cannon. He can manuever through the trees. (Now that I think about it, he has less advantages than the average hunter against a deer. The deer has no weapon.) Everybody on Dutch Schaefer’s (Arnold) special ops team is dead meat. But not Dutch, of course, because he is played by Arnold. So bet the over, but don’t bet on the alien.
Dutch and his crew of he-men (there is a guy with glasses but he earns his macho card by telling really lewd jokes) are sent on a mission by Dutch’s friend (with skepticism) Dillon (Carl Weathers) to rescue some hostages from communist guerrillas. Before the hunt begins with the whittling down of our heroes, they get to slaughter the guerrilla camp. Screw those commies. Piece of cake, time to head for the choper. The scene should be a requisite in action film studies. Lots of explosions (often causing catapulted deaths), huge ammunition expenditure (with no reloading), burning bodies, etc. One of the crew gets a scratch and yet none of the commies is just wounded. (By the way, there are several times that the strutting Dutch should have been killed.) They take one prisoner, Anna (Elpidia Carrillo). She is a commie, but the bro code demands a female be protected from the monster. Once the high fiving is over, it’s time to find out who goes first. It will take a while before they put together clues as to what the hell is killing them. This builds to the final showdown which is long and suspenseful. Well, not the outcome, but we do wonder how Arnold will win.
“Predator” was successful when it came out, but in a field of action thrillers like “Die Hard”, it did not have a big impact. I was not awed when I first saw it. However, when I watched it as a war horror movie, I realized that in comparison to other movies in the subgenre, it is way above average. Is it a horror movie? Yes. The alien is scary. The movie takes the approach of teasing out his appearance. It takes a while to see what a creepy looking dude he is. It’s worth the wait. The deaths of the team are a variety. There is enough character development to create empathy for them. The cast is good and includes Jesse Ventura as a muscle-bound killing machine. He is armed with a gatling gun. But Arnold dominates. He is perfect for Dutch. He gets to say his favorite catch phrase – “Get to the choppa!”
“Predator” places high on this list because it adds a monster to an action thriller. And it is propelled by one of the best scores for a movie of this type. Kudos to Alan Silvestri for composing a score that does not sound generic. It enhances a movie that is entertaining for fans of violent action with an outstanding villain and a superstar hero.
GRADE = A
I would think that the biggest advantage a hunter has over a deer is an understanding of the animal. What makes the mercenaries more than sacrificial lambs is their attempts, sometimes successful, to understand what is attacking them.
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between hunting and war is interesting for where they overlap for where they do not. Were hunting not a specialized hobby (and historical hunting even more so) I think we'd see more movies addressing that theme.