THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The scariest thing about entering a jungle is that you can't guarantee what you'll encounter.
PLOT
Predator follows Vietnam war veteran Dutch, assigned with his elite command team and aided alongside CIA Operative Dillon to take out a rebel guerrilla group and rescue an unnamed cabinet minister in a Central American country. The team includes: machine gunner Mac, heavy gunner Blain, tracker/scout Billy (Sonny Landham), radio operator Hawkins (Shane Black) and explosives expert Poncho (Richard Chaves). Upon arrival, the team discovers a team of Green Berets completely annihilated as their skinned corpses surround their wrecked helicopter. When they find the guerrilla camp, they wipe out their forces and the only one shown to survive is a woman named Anna. When it is noted that multiple Soviet officers were killed as well, Dillon admits that he was intending to stop a Soviet backed invasion. He reached out to Dutch in the first place because of the Green Berets being unable to pull it off weeks prior. Believing that more rebels are coming, the team heads their extraction point. Little do they know that they're being followed by an unknown entity that hides in a cloaking device and detects his targets with thermal imaging technology. It makes the next move by killing Hawkins & Blain. It chooses to spare Ann due to not being armed. Enraged that his brethren are getting killed, Mac blindly fires at it into the jungle, barely wounding it. As the team regroups, Dutch believes that another guerrilla group is hunting them, but Billy is certain that their pursuer isn't human. By night, the invisible hunter steals Blain's body while avoiding a set of traps. In the next morning, Dutch chooses to free Anna when she admits that her people have been similarly mutilated like Hawkins and the Berets. The team does try to capture their oppressor with a net trap, but it quickly frees itself and injures Poncho in the process. When Mac and Dillon try to pursue it on their own, they get themselves killed by the invisible creature. It then kills Billy and Poncho as they try to retreat, while also injuring Dutch who encourages Anna to get to the extraction point without him. On his own, he is able to avoid harm from the dangerous extraterrestrial when he figures out how to hide his body heat, using mud as camouflage. This gives him the opportunity to take his last stand and set up another set of booby traps to overpower this threat. When he calls it out by the next night, he is able to disable its cloaking device and force it to fight him hand to hand. Dutch is able to defeat it by dropping a log on it, but the alien survives. Rather than accepting defeat, it tries to kill him with a self destruct device, but the soldier is able to escape a dark fate. The film ends with Dutch being rescued by the extraction helicopter, showing Anna to be safely onboard.
THOUGHTS
I've always grown up loving action movies and when I got to this one, there was no doubt on how blown away I was upon first viewing. Before solidifying the genre with Die Hard, Director John McTiernan puts you on the edge of your seat throughout in the most in intense joyride you'll ever see. Once you add Alan SIlvestri's score, you'll feel a sense of dread in between moments of excitement. This is the right mix of feelings to experience because you're reminded that great threats lurk in the jungle. In this case, we have an alien with advanced technology, hunting humans for sport. Thanks to an incredibly designed costume worn by Kevin Peter Hall and bone chilling vocals by Peter Cullen, The Predator is beyond frightening of a figure because it pulls off being one step ahead of its choosing prey. Even the visual effects that display its thermal imagery are so intense to watch because it shows how hiding isn't gonna be as easy it would sound.When I first saw it rip out a spine as a trophy, I personally thought the human race was screwed. That was until I realized we got a protagonist that was the perfect match. Personally speaking, Arnold Schwarzenegger gives my favorite performance of his career as Dutch. It's easy to admire this guy for being able to be inventive in his surroundings and be as aggressive as possible to get the job done. It is in his shoes where we come to understand how important it is for one to do whatever it takes to survive. If you're not going to try, then there is no point in living. Dutch is a man with nothing to lose, which makes him more determined to overcome his greatest threat. When he has his battle cry to call out the Predator, you become aware how he is prepared for the worst, if that means his death. Considering that he pulled off what looked unthinkable, it's easy that this adventure changed his life in a much drastic state. I do wish the franchise continued from his perspective, but I do respect its attempt to be different as it progressed. Arnie may have been the star here, but he wasn't the only actor that made his own personal impact to the story. Going into the supporting cast, I honestly dug Carl Weathers for portraying Dillon as a guy who does prove to be capable in his line of work, but is desperate to succeed. If there was anything he learned in that jungle, it would be to never rely on others, because you can't guarantee they'll support you as you would for them. I think the coolest thing about Dutch's team is that they all found a way to be colorful in their own way. Bill Duke's Mac and Jesse Ventura's Blain got my attention the most because they prove to be tough and cocky, yet don't hesitate being there for one another, hence the unspoken brotherhood. While we root for everybody to survive the jungle, you can't help rooting for Mac to try avenging Blain as he knew the latter would've done the same. Last but not least, Anna got my attention because Elpidia Carrillo portrays her as strong willed in her own right for being able to avoid harm. Seeing her prove the men around her that she is someone to trust, comes to show that you shouldn't judge people before you really know them. I'm pretty sure that if she was armed, she likely would've been able to slow down the Predator. This may be something you can't guarantee, but there is definitely a certainty for her to be as formidable as the others since she was part of a guerrilla rebellion. This movie is always a blast whenever I choose to re watch it, but even I can admit I noticed some issues along the way. I'm honestly surprised that Dutch agreed to the job when he respectively did not want Dillon around. This may be the only way for the movie to get started, but I don't believe Dutch would own up to an order like this before. If I were to question anything about the Predator's actions here, I wonder why didn't it kill the guerrillas before Dutch got there? It had to have seen them in action and since it killed the last batch of mercenaries, it would make sense to continue its pattern of hunting one by one. And if it wanted to be smarter, Anna would be the bait. It was definitely an intense climax when the Predator finishes itself with a bomb, hoping to kill Dutch as well, but how was Dutch sure it was one anyway? He can't read its alien language and it was imitating Billy's laugh, so he was winging it like crazy. You guys know I hate continuity errors, so it goes without saying that I noticed a few. I honestly was pretty confused to see Dutch survive being shot by the Predator, considering that it had massive effects on Dillon and Blain. I know we need this protagonist to square up with the alien, but this is a weird way to set that up. I love the opening shootout as much as others do, but I'm thrown off that none of the henchman insurgents have minimal curiosity when Dutch pushes the truck. I know henchmen are dumb, but they shouldn't be this dumb. And lastly, I am downright bothered when see Dutch fall and the POV shot shows a bunch of trees, but the next shot shows him fall into a river. That was pretty odd for me since the mismatch is way too obvious. Ignore all of these flaws, then you'll enjoy what is given. Overall, Predator is a great action film for showing the importance of survival, yet leaving you full of dread. If you're a general fan of action or science fiction, see this now.
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