The perfect action movie

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2016)

I was surprised my just how much I liked this movie. It's the apotheosis of American military firepower and 'gung-ho', cleverly pitted against a single, jungle-dwelling enemy. It works brilliantly well.
The movie divides into three parts, each with a distinct feel, and this keeps it interesting from beginning to end:
1. A US special forces unit attacking an enemy military force. 2. The unit being picked off one by one by a mysterious 'predator' and futilely trying to defeat it with firepower. 3. Hand to hand combat between the predator and the unit's leader, 'Dutch'.
Dutch is played by Arnold Schwarzenegger at the peak of his powers - he is iconic in this film. It's hard to imagine there ever being a better action hero.
The film delivers on gratuitous, easy-watching violence. The are lots and lots (and lots) of munitions, deployed with gusto by the characters to noisy and visually satisfying effect.
But it delivers on drama too. The soldiers are all testosterone-fuelled prats, of course, but they each have distinctive and memorable characters and are given their fair share of screen-time. There is brilliant tension worthy of a horror movie, as the true nature of the Predator is revealed bit by bit as it picks off the other characters.
And the Dutch versus Predator climax is just superb.