Schwarzenegger vs. Predator

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2017)

A corny if effectively made poor-man's "Alien" concerning a group of soldiers (led by Arnold Schwarzenegger) who are sent in on a rescue mission, only to find that they have been lied too by the government and in amongst the Central American forests lie a creature that is intent on stalking them and killing them one by one. As said, this film is really, really corny, with a predictable-enough storyline of each of these soldiers being picked off one by one by the monster as if in some teen horror flick. However, with that said, this does not mean that it is not ferociously entertaining, due to crowd-pleasing talents like Arnold and Carl Weathers taking up a large chunk of the screen-time. The final showdown between Arnold and the Predator brings the goods and some, where director John McTiernan is allowed to flex his muscle and skill in ratcheting up the suspense. The special effects have also aged extremely well, and the introduction of the creature, being that we only see his point of view through heat sensors, is a nice choice. Enjoyable, tightly paced, beautifully photographed, and fun to watch, somehow, despite being ridiculous and lacking in character development to a large extent, "Predator" still gets it done.