Predator

Alternate titles : None.

Tagline : "Nothing like it has ever been on Earth before."

There's something nasty stalking Arnie and his group of commandoes in the jungles of Latin America, in this highly enjoyable 80's Sci-Fi/Horror/Action pic. As Colonel Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his elite rescue team are brought in to locate the occupants of a helicopter crash, who dissapeared somewhere over the jungles of South America.

Following a spectacular battle at a Guerilla encampment, they head off to their pickup point, but soon realise they're being stalked by something sinister, as 2 of the team are slaughtered by an unseen force, which vanishes into thin air.

Knowing that they will never make it to the pickup point alive, they decide to make a stand to see if they can defeat the creature that's been stalking them. Which turns out to be an alien life form, boasting all manner of high tech gadgets and weaponry, that enjoys hunting humans for sport.

Some fun battles subsequently ensue, as the group tries to make a stand and this creatrure proceeds to make mincemeat of the lot of 'em.

Probably one of the best examples of a film that successfully combines horror and science fiction with plenty of rousing action, there's also a great cast, which includes Carl Weathers and WWF Wrestler Jessie Ventura. If you liked "Aliens" or "Starship Troopers", you'll have a blast!

Overall Marks : 8/10.

Terrifying Trivia

• Alternate tag lines... "It came for the thrill of the hunt. It picked the wrong man to hunt", "Soon the hunt will begin".
• Jean Claude VanDamme was originally hired to play the Predator. However, he quit after a couple of days filming, unhappy with being an uncredited special effect. Some footage of him wearing a red special effects suit in front of a green screen was shown on the special edition Disc release of the film.
• The film's budget was $18,000,000.
• Filmed in the jungles of Mexico, Arnie descibed it as one of his most demanding roles and Kevin Peter Hall said wasn't a movie, but a survival story for the cast. As the crew had to endure stifling humidity and heat during the day, freezing temperatures at night. As well as having to deal with leeches, snakes, scorpions and various other unpleasant creatures that kept invading the set. Most of the cast and crew got sick from drinking the water at the hotel, which wasn't purified properly and Arnie got food poisoning from eating at a dodgy seafood restaurant.
• The mini-gun used by Blain (Jesse Ventura) was a modified helicopter machine gun.
• The original Predator creature suit looked nothing like the one that appeared on film. The special effects shop initially hired create the costume produced something that looked like a lizard and the entire crew agreed it looked ridiculous. With filming already underway, Stan Winston was hired to quickly produce a new costume, which was the one they used. The mandibles were apparently the idea of James Cameron, who suggested it would look cool to have an alien with Dreadlocks, which he thought would be an interesting feature.
• Shane Black, who played Hawkins, was actually a scriptwriter and made up the crude jokes he tells the other characters himself. He actually wrote the script for the Bruce Willis film "The Last Boy Scout" whilst on set. He also went on to write and Direct "The Predator" (2018), the fourth film in the series.
• Kevin Peter Hall, who played the Predator, also has a scene as the rescue chopper pilot at the end of the film.
• Bill Duke improvised the scene where he is shaving and cuts himself whilst they are laying in wait. So the special effects crew had to quickly rig up a razor that squirted blood.
• The film makers had to hire a bodyguard for Sonny Landham, who played Billy, otherwise the insurance company wouldn't cover them. This wasn't to protect him though, it was because he was notorious for having a short temper and lashing out at people who annoyed him. So they had to hire someone to follow him around and make sure he didn't get into any trouble.

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