Predator and the relationship between man and technology.

Rating: Null/10 (24 March 2002)

Warning: SPOILER!! I liked this movie. I believe that it is Arnold's Schwartzenegger's best movie. The tension and suspense are excellent. This movie effectively combines horror and action-adventure. The movie starts out with a raid on a military camp in some banana republic. I was taken in at that moment with the victory over the guerillas by Arnold's special forces team. It seemed as if the movie would be about a campaign against corrupt and possibly communist Latin-American military forces. Americans with their excellent combat skills, training, and technology would win out in the end. But that is what makes this a good movie. On the moment of their greatest victory, a seed of doubt is planted. We see what the Predator sees but we just don't know what is going on. When Billy squishes the scorpion, it is symbolic of the fate of the special forces team. One by one the team is hunted down and killed. They try to use their imposing technology to fight against the predator but to no avail. The high technology fails. When Blaine's gatlin gun runs out of ammo and is humming impotently on, this is symbolic of the utter futility of their high tech gadgets. To finally defeat the Predator, Arnold must give up the empty shell of high technology. Arnold makes primitive snares out of rope, sticks, and logs, and covers himself with mud. The mud is symbolic of the main character being one with nature, shedding the trappings of civilization, as the only way to survive against the ultimate of hunters. This movie reminds us of our primitive roots and the importance of being one with nature.