Predator is my favourite film, next to Rocky, and has always had a special place in my heart. Scaring me to death as a youngster, the film succeeds completely in merging different genres together. For the first part, a gung-ho action flick - for the second part, a nerve-jangling horror that develops into a tremendous adventure film.
The film feels like a real team effort, much like the heroes of the film itself. Everyone involved in the production has brought something creative, unique or memorable to the table and has made Predator become a hugely popular film and franchise.
Firstly, the scipt is chock-full of classic dialogue, making this one of the most quoted films in history, with so many cheesy one-liners that you've be forgiven for thinking the characters were being hunted by a hungry mouse. However, the script and the premise is genius - by simply pitting an alien hunter against Earth's finest prey, humans (commandos even), the situations write themselves; boy-scout traps, mud-camouflaged Arnie and the villain which imitates and toys with its prey. The sequel, which is OK but not a classic, managed to develop this idea even further with a wider arsenal and deeper understanding of the alien race, which gives this film a little something to separate it from other standard Alien-ripoffs.
Secondly, director John McTiernan keeps the film zooming along at a sensible pace. When there's any danger of actual character development, we move straight on to the next scene and dispense with said character lol. There's a tremendous atmosphere as the commandos enter the jungle - it's like another world and straight away the audience is thrown out of its seat with a shocking discovery up in the trees. In fact, the massive outbursts of violence in Predator are still very savage today and despite more violence now getting through censors, we don't get to see anything quite so shocking as skinned corpses and spinal cords being ripped out! Eventually, the tension is cranked up to breaking point as it's left to Arnie to "stick around" and avenge his team, Tarzan-style.
Next, the visual effects people should be congratulated. From amazing pyrotechnics to the legendary heat vision and camouflage which is part of Predator's unique quality. Even today, the image of a blurry silhouette running through the jungle gives me the shivers and when the final battle kicks in, sparks truly fly. The cameo-effect is one of the best special effects i've ever seen and feels like the discovery of bullet time or something just as classic.
Thank the lord for Stan Winston, who practically saved the film by ditching the original dopey design of the Predator and coming up with the masked humanoid with some nice dreadlocks. Most people prefer Giger's Alien design over this, but I always prefer the Predator, largely thanks to Kevin Peter Hall's performance. Instead of a guy in a suit, which Alien eventually seemed like at the end, we get a nasty looking alien under a mask. Never do we think that it's just a bloke under there. The Predator swings from to tree to tree like a monkey and bounds great distances like Frankenstein's monster on steroids. Instead of a clumsy, fake alien, we get something that really does act and look intelligent enough to hunt a team of crack commandos. The appearance itself is truly memorable and it's debatable whether the Pred looks cooler with or without his metal mask.
As I said before, it's a real ensemble effort and even the actors bring something to the film that stands out. We don't need character development for this type of film, we just need something that makes each guy different so that we know who's getting wasted - a problem which many monster flicks mess up by throwing in a bunch of blands. Here, every character is radically different; Dutch, the sensible team-leader (although Arnie doesn't exactly need to be distinguished), Dillon who has shades of Apollo Creed in trying to keep his cool and save face, Mac who starts off quite laid back and eventually goes mad, Blain who utters the best one-liners and carries a bleeding mini gun around(!), Billy the tracker who is just out-there and knows something's wrong from the off, Poncho who speaks Spanish and wields a grenade launcher and Hawkins who reads comics, works the radio and tells dirty jokes.
Finally, the score needs mentioning as this is one of the most atmospheric soundtracks ever and adds to the films pounding tension. As soon as we enter the jungle, the music spells doom for all with subtle tones that soon explode to life. Considering how much hiking through jungle there is (and yeah, the locations people should be noted as well because this is some truly bad-ass bush), it's surprising we don't feel it because the whole time Alan Silvestri keeps us entertained with the film's classic theme tune.
Spawning a decent sequel and countless other media, it goes to show the power of Predator. It all started here, when it was just considered an alien-ripoff but has since shrugged off those roots and claimed it's own slice of history. Everyone involved in the film has contributed something - it's as though their careers have all peaked at the same time and met up on this film. The result is just quality; remarkable, memorable and exhilarating.
