Vietnam meets 'Aliens', action meets horror, and Schwarzenegger meets
Predator in this classic testosterone fuelled tropical thriller.
The
story is straight forward - An alien comes to Earth in search of
dangerous prey (people) and interrupts a load of humans who are busy
fighting one another. All but the first scene is set in the
rain forest, and the setting is used to great effect, often being as
much as a menace to the characters as the gorillas or the alien is.
Suspense is built very well, especially in the first forty minutes,
and the abundance of close shot sweaty faces creates a great feeling
of claustrophobia despite the outdoor surroundings. If you come into
it expecting continuous action it can be dull at times though,
especially towards the start where there are lots of lingering shots
of dense forest, and the final fight scene that I felt dragged on a
bit too long.
This
is one of the best, possibly THE best, Arnold movies acting-wise. Where he's playing a real human, anyway (obviously the terminator was
great but he didn't have to act like a person for that - acting
like an emotionless robot is his speciality). Other than the
Schwarzenegger standard, the acting in this often boarders on hammy,
and this is one of the elements that give it the feeling of a
traditional dumb 80's action film (as well as the style of all the
action, especially the big assault on the guerilla base fairly early
on in the film). Carl Weathers is by far the most competent actor in
this, and apparently Schwarzenegger took a lot of cues from him. I was always bummed that Billy dies off screen though - I don't any reason for it, and he was kinda built up to be this badass survivalist guy (even cutting his chest prior to fighting the Predator) but all he gets is an off-screen scream? Missed opportunity I'd say, especially considering how nicely shot that fight would have been on the tree bridge.
A
really memorable part of 'Predator' is the score, which was made by
the same guy who had recently done the one for 'Back to the Future',
and thanks to a limited release post movie was in high demand for a
long time. Most of the effects have stood up quite well over time too
(though maybe not the early 'TNG' style electrical effects). The
invisibility effect in particular was very experimental and still
looks pretty great. The costume was fantastic, especially the face
with the moving mandibles and the detailing around the hairs.
The
whole Predator character, the way that he moves and looks, raises
this film heads and shoulders above the competition. It's very well
realised in a way that doesn't pull you out of the film (so often the
monster is stilted in movement and poorly made-up, and doesn't
provide a believable adversary). Some of the hand acting looked a little clunky, but other than that it was spot on.
Overall
this is a solid genre crossing action flick with some very quotable moments.
It's become more of a classic over time, and I appreciate that it's
not trying to be anything more than what feels natural (much like
things like 'Die Hard').
Predator: 81.7