Predator

 If you mix an iconic extraterrestrial hunter, which spawned sequels, spin-offs, video games, comic books and all sorts of merchandise, with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the big muscular man with a thick austrian accent that conquered the american movie industry in the 80’s with his terrific action packed movies, you’ll get a real treat that goes by the name of “Predator”.

 Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, staring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura and Kevin Peter Hall. As with most 80’s action movies the story follows a simple direction. A team of commandos, lead by Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger), while on a rescue mission in a jungle from Central America, find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior. It is well written, simple, with a great sound score, which boasts lots of action and suspense.

 The movie starts like any 80’s action flick, nothing unsual, with helicopters, muscular macho men and guns. It goes like that for about the first 20 minutes of the film. But things start to slowly take a turn of events as the commandos find gruesome clues and skinless dead bodies, indicating that there is more to the suffocating jungle than simple guerrila men. Along with our characters, we too, as the audience, slowly figure out who is the real enemy, and the movie turns into a suspenseful science fiction thriller. The directing from McTiernan is very efficent in giving the film its thriller aspect and the claustrophobic jungle also lends a hand in creating the sheer terror that our characters feel throughout the movie. The thick jungle forest provides the perfect hunting ground for the Predator as he takes down the soldiers one by one until only he and Arnold remain to battle in a very primal way towards the end of the movie. The acting is well done if you take into consideration that this is an action flick and as long as you do not expect serious and profound complex emotions you’ll enjoy their performances. Speaking of performances, Arnies performance is solid as Dutch and I think it is one of his best movies along with the Terminator series. For those of you who havn’t seen any Predator movie yet (if there are any), I’m not gonna give any details about the outer space hunter, but I have to say that his design is remarkable and his unique look is immediately identifiable. The special effects are great, not only for its time but they still hold remarkably well even after almost 24 years.

 I enjoy this movie every time I see it, as I have seen it countless of times by now, never getting bored by it.
Go and check it out/rent it/buy it if you havn’t already. I recommend this movie with all my heart. It will surely entertain you.

Pics with my DVD version: