Predator (1987)

A team of commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Jim Thomas, John Thomas

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Dutch
Carl Weathers	...	Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo	...	Anna
Bill Duke	...	Mac
Jesse Ventura	...	Blain
Sonny Landham	...	Billy
Richard Chaves	...	Poncho
R.G. Armstrong	...	General Phillips
Shane Black	...	Hawkins
Kevin Peter Hall	...	The Predator / Helicopter Pilot

Storyline

A team of special force ops, led by a tough but fair soldier, Major "Dutch" Schaefer, are ordered in to assist CIA man, George Dillon, on a rescue mission for potential survivors of a Helicopter downed over remote South American jungle. Not long after they land, Dutch and his team discover that they have been sent in under false pretenses. This deception turns out to be the least of their worries though, when they find themselves being methodically hunted by something not of this world.

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | cia | helicopter | predator | alien | 

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Taglines:

In a part of the world where there are no rules, deep in the jungle where nothing that lives is safe, an elite rescue squad is being led by the ultimate warrior. But now, they're up against the ultimate enemy. Nothing like it has ever been on earth before. It kills for pleasure, it hunts for sport. But this time, it picked the wrong man to hunt.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

12 June 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien Hunter

Filming Locations:

Jalisco, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$59,735,548 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amercent Films, American Entertainment Partners L.P., Davis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aside from featuring two actors who eventually became governors, Predator stars two actors who are directors. Bill Duke (A Rage in Harlem) has been directing and Shane Black eventually directs Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Iron Man 3.

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Goofs

Anna swings a branch at the right side of Poncho's head, but he turns before the impact, which is why he bleeds from the left.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Major General Phillips: You're looking good, Dutch.
Dutch: It's been a long time, General.
Major General Phillips: Come on inside.

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Crazy Credits

All the 7 main cast members re-appear in ascending order as their names are displayed to give a smile to the audience in appreciation.

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Connections

Spoofed in Chuck: Chuck Versus Santa Claus (2008)

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Soundtracks

"LONG TALL SALLY"
Performed by Little Richard
Written by Little Richard (as R. Penniman), E. Johnson and Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell (as R. Blackwell)
Courtesy of Specialty Records

User Reviews

Welcome to the jungle, baby…

Consider that so many of the roles that Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on are so similar, including Predator, and yet this film is so much better than most of the others. I enjoy watching his movies just because he's such a watch-able guy, even in his bad movies (which are many), but I think the thing that really makes Predator stand out is its simplicity. The movie starts, the guys get dropped in the jungle, lots of blood and carnage flies across the screen, and the movie simply ends. No romance, no complex back story, no soldier struggling with problems in his past or even trauma caused by the horrible things he experiences during the movie. This is one of the things that made First Blood so good. It may turn out to be a movie about a lot of muscle-bound meatheads in the woods, but it doesn't insult the audience or try to apply complexity to a story that can't support it.

Interestingly, the movie features two eventual governors. Jesse Ventura even wrote a book which was released while he was the governor of Minnesota and he used his favorite line in this movie as the title. And the book's actually pretty interesting; there are some funny stories in it about things that went on while they were filming this movie. Arnold, on the other hand, is actually (and thankfully) given a relatively small amount of stupid one-liners, which are an idiotic byproduct of hard action movies that I've never really understood the necessity for. They don't reveal anything about the characters who say them, they don't add to the story or further the plot, and with rare exceptions, they're not funny. But I guess comic relief has to come from somewhere, and since complexity is not a requisite for movies like this, I can't really expect a lot of thought being put into the comedic content either.

I watched Predator having never seen it from beginning to end and having just re-watched the original Alien. I am currently in the process of re-watching both series', for obvious reasons. One thing that I notice about both of them is the way they take their time in introducing the enemies which, in both films, are aliens. Predator doesn't waste much time dwelling on the origin of the alien, we pretty much assume it came from a space ship that flashed across the screen at the opening of the movie. Alien, on the other hand, went into remarkable detail about where its alien came from. What Predator does do, very effectively, I think, is that it has the guys fighting some very human enemies, which allows the movie to later take its sweet time in having them realize that the new enemy is not human at all. This is also, incidentally, weakly rehashed in the sequel, using the secrecy of this mission and team as an excuse to have more guys who don't know what's going on.

The death scenes are actually pretty tasteful, given the genre. They are just gory enough to illustrate the violence of the enemy without being gratuitous. Just enough is shown to show how vicious the alien is, and there are some strange things done to and with the bodies that make you wonder about the alien's intentions or needs. The first deaths suggest vengeance if not some sort of ritual, but later ones suggest that the alien may be feeding off of his (or her) victims. Oddly enough, it is not until the awful Predator 2 that we learn that it kills for sport.

Yes, the movie occasionally gets embarrassingly macho, but the skill with which it is put together far overshadows any tough-guy goofiness. Consider, for example, the ease with which the movie switches from showing the guys hunting the alien to their realization that they are the ones being hunted. In some cases, this transition takes place during a single shot and with virtually no movement in the shot at all except a change in someone's expression. It is truly a fight between a group of predators, which we understand because they are human like us, and a single predator whose powers and weaknesses are unknown. It's not Oscar material, needless to say, but it's a great action movie in part because it already knows that.