Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger (Dutch Schaefer), Carl Weathers (George Dillon), Elpidia Carrillo (Anna), Bill Duke (Mac Eliot), Jesse Ventura (Blain Cooper), Sonny Landham (Billy Sole), Richard Chaves (Poncho Ramirez), Shane Black (Rick Hawkins), R. G. Armstrong (Homer Phillips), and Kevin Peter Hall (The Predator) Directed by John McTiernan (#014 - Die Hard, #018 - Die Hard with a Vengeance, #080 - The Hunt for Red October)
Review:
"Terrifying in a lot of ways, and a learning experience in a lot of other ways." - John McTiernan
The key to understanding Predator, released on June 12, 1987, is that it is a triumph of arrangement and dedication from top to bottom that delivers a multi-genre success for its makers and star. Jim Thomas and John Thomas (raised in Bakersfield, California and each serving a variety of odd-jobs before trying to be writers) were inspired by old mythological tales told to them by their parents such as The Brothers Grimm when it came to the script, which would see what would happen when one hunts the hunter; the script was finished in 1983 and sold in early 1984; it should be noted however that one other inspiration, quoted in a magazine detailing the production in 1987, was a joke that had circulated around Hollywood involving Rocky IV (1985) where the title character would probably have to fight an alien for the next bout. At any rate, producer 20th Century Fox handed Joel Silver (fresh off hits like 48 Hrs (1982) and Commando (1985)) the script in 1985, which he liked, and he served as a co-producer with John Davis and Lawrence Gordon (un-credited script work was apparently done later by David Peoples and also Shane Black). You have to consider that this was the big hit for its main director in John McTiernan. From a career that went from 1986 to its untimely "end" in 2003, he directed eleven feature films. Born in Albany, New York, he studied at both Juilliard School and the American Film Institute, graduating from the latter in 1975. He did a variety of commercials to start his career before his first film with Nomads (1986). That movie was not a success with critics or audiences, but it did attract one fan: Arnold Schwarzenegger, who liked the tense atmosphere created on a low budget. Commitments from its star meant that shooting was not started until 1986, and it proved to be a grueling shoot that saw dedicated work had to be done with effects, which needed work from R/Greenberg Associates to pull off the effect of a creature in thermal vision and a chameleon-like invisibility, which meant someone had to run around in a red suit and a second take with a 30% wider lens to make one optical shot). Plans to use a creature designed by Richard Edlund of Boss Film Studios resulted in an ungainly result that needed a new designer: Stan Winston, who took a suggestion made while sketching (James Cameron) that resulted in a creature with mandibles.
We have a movie that starts out as an action feature with plenty of macho trimmings that warm one up to the surroundings before it eventually segues into a sci-fi horror feature that keeps the interest high. Apparently, the original script involved just one man up against a predator before changes were made, and it is a wise one, since the picking off the crew makes for a capable thriller that McTiernan can arrange with suitable staging that makes the 107 minutes pass by with quick engagement. Yes, it has some of the little quips that come from select Schwarzenegger features, but it also sees him look at the very least vulnerable enough to where one might really think the character could not make it. In other words: he had improved himself quite a bit from his bodybuilder image and stuff like Conan the Barbarian (1982). For a movie inspired by Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the result works well in turning what was a would-be rescue operation into a fight of survival. You have a cadre of actors here (a mix of veterans and younger actors) that make an impression on you with little charming moments, such as Ventura (a Navy man and WWF star at the time) practically chewing lines of bravado or with a joking but efficient Black. Chaves lingers his ground with the rest of the bunch. Landham makes a calm and collected presence of fire to accompany the bunch, while Duke and Weathers seal the tandem up with their own brand of distinct charm and habits. Carrillo is the distinct middle ground between all the hunters, which is spent mostly in calm terror that works to the moments required for a movie where the jungle comes alive. The creature would be played by Kevin Peter Hall (7'2), replacing Jean-Claude Van Damme (5'9) to wanting a more imposing actor for the cumbersome suit, which does look quite menacing enough to work on the level that it needs to be seen. Given that Hall couldn't really see out of the suit, he makes the best of it by making the climax work as well as it does because one finds this to be a suitable presence to counteract Schwarzenegger with all the buildup the movie has done: two warriors, having found out aspects about the other in how to hide and how to entrap, now find themselves combatting in the dark, as opposed to just having a firefight with shots being fired to no particular location. With a distinct musical score by Alan Silvestri (fresh off scores for films such as Back to the Future) and interesting special effects that show well in the jungle landscape shot in Mexico, it all adds up to a quality adventure that uses its strong cast and surroundings for an efficient movie of its time.
While it was not exactly a critical darling on release, its reputation has improved in later years, and it was an audience hit in 1987. The success of the film would lead to a sequel in 1990, which had the Thomas brothers return to write the film. Each sequel has seen a different cast and locale: the second film was set in Los Angeles during a heat wave and drug cartel war, Predators (2010) was on a alien planet with trained killers being hunted, and The Predator (2018) matched soldiers against Predators on Earth. Prey set to be released in 2022, will apparently match the creatures against Commanche warriors in 1719. As a whole, Predator works because of its arrangements from start to finish: director, actors, design, nnd more to make for a quality action adventure.
Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.
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