Predator

Predator



Arnie may be a governor now and a figurehead for Republican politics, but back in the eighties he was one thing and one thing only; The quintessential action hero.
Some of his films have faded from memory and should probably be left in the eighties where they belong, but then there are some that you’ll never forget.

One such film is ‘Predator’. It follows a group of super Elite soldiers as they attempt a rescue mission in the Central American jungle. Led by cigar chomping hard man Dutch (Schwarzenegger), the team consists of: Mac(Bill Duke) A career soldier with a hundred yard stare; Blaine(Jesse Ventura) a midi-gun toting Texan wild man; Billy(Sonny Landham) A native Indian with an instinct for danger; Poncho(Richard Chaves)A Hispanic wise-ass with one liners to suit any scene; Hawkins(Shane Black) who perpetually tries to tell bad jokes and make Billy laugh, rounding off the group is Dillon(Carl Weathers) the CIA agent who recruited the team in the first place.

The mission is simple, in to rescue the hostages and out again. That’s how it would seem anyway, but something is watching them as they go. Something that sees in heat vision. Something Alien.

The tension is slow-building to begin with, focusing almost entirely on the rescue mission with only Billy feeling some bad vibes. It becomes increasingly more difficult to ignore that something is very wrong in the jungle, when Dutch and his men discover a group of American soldiers strung upside down, torn from their skin.

Soon the Hunters become the hunted as the invisible stalker starts taking trophies. Picking off the team one by one and tearing out their skulls as his prize. It’s difficult to kill something that jumps among the trees wearing a cloaking device and firing plasma weapons at you, but they give it a good try. In one testosterone raising scene Mac leads a midi-gun wielding decimation of the tree line, as Dutch and the others join in. QUALITY.

John McTiernan isn’t such a big name now, but when you realise that he’s responsible for directing this and Die Hard, you know you’ve a lot to thank him for. At the time of its release the advancements in special effects blew away all the competition. From the cloaking effect to the fantastic Predator suit(created by Stan Winston).

Schwarzenegger could never be accused of Oscar-worthy acting, but sometimes the roles fit him like a glove. Dutch is one such character that was designed around his limited acting range. Even going as far as to explain away his unmistakable European accent. The rest of the cast are mainly hand-picked for their physical presence and don’t show Arnie up.

The film spawned a diluted sequel starring Danny Glover, but nothing can touch this as one of the eighties action classics.

Verdict 10/ 10
Does exactly what it says on the tin.