A superb action film. One of Arnie's best

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2007)

Predator comes from Die Hard director John McTiernan. McTiernan is one of my favourite action film directors. Maybe because his action films are not all slam-bang spectacle. They actually come with a brain attached. Die Hard is an absolute classic of the genre. My all time favourite action film. It was the success of Predator that led to McTiernan netting Die Hard. And Predator's just as excellent as anything else the underrated McTiernan has done.
Predator is one of the most ferocious action films to ever emerge from Hollywood. Its such a gruelling experience, you're left physically drained. The idea behind it is simplicity itself. But McTiernan's confident and muscular direction elevates Predator to classic status.
An alien hunter arrives on Earth and stalks the jungles of Central America. It encounters a group of commandos on a rescue mission, and picks them off one by one.
I suppose Predator has borrowed liberally from recent hits of the time like Aliens and Rambo. But that doesn't change the fact that Predator is supremely entertaining. It doesn't have much in the way of characterisation or plot, and the characters are thinly sketched ciphers, but its impossible not to get swept away by the sheer thrill of it all.
It seems inevitable that Arnold Schwarzenegger would be cast in the starring role. At the time of Predator's release he was the most popular action star of the moment. And although Arnie is typically wooden throughout, he's more than in his element here.
Wisely McTiernan knows how to play to Arnie's strengths. He directs the action sequences so breathlessly that Arnie's severe limitations as an actor might go right by you. And in the final 25 minutes the film really comes into its own.
The whole of the commando unit have been wiped out, and its only Dutch (Arnie's character) and the Predator left. McTiernan stages the final confrontation as a battle to the death between two warriors. And its gripping stuff.
Few action films grab with such a tight choke-hold. McTiernan really knows how to milk the scenario for all its worth. Dutch is forced to revert to primal, baser instincts. Stripped of all his weaponry, he relies upon common mud as natural camouflage, homemade bows and arrows, and eventually just his own fists. A conflict that's all the more stunning for being told in almost complete silence. One of the most intense climaxes to ever grace the action film genre.
In regards to the Predator himself, played by the late Kevin Peter Hall, he's an impressive creation. For the design work, McTiernan has brought in the great Stan Winston. He's the maestro of marvels when it comes to special effects work. And in designing the Predator, he's really outdone himself.
One of the loveliest touches to Predator is that we never actually get to see it properly until the very end. Beforehand, we witness the Predator's capabilities and inhumanity. The special effects work is superb for 1987, but then that's to be expected of the high standards of Stan Winston.
The Predator's built in cloaking device is astonishing. Its chameleon ability to blend in with the surrounding jungle is quite amazing. As is its plasma cannon. And best of all, the most inspired touch to the film is getting to see the world through the Predator's eyes. His vision provides a bewildering landscape of hyper-realised body heat and jungle foliage. The Predator is as impressive as any of Hollywood's greatest monsters. From the Alien to King Kong.
If the film has any faults they're only minor ones. Arnie can't resist getting in a few cringeworthy puns (that I will charitably suppress). And outside of the action, there isn't much else to the film.
But few films driven purely by action provide this much satisfaction. It's a shame that John McTiernan's career has hit a slump. His action films are of a rare intelligence not often found in the genre. I like to watch Predator and Die Hard whenever I can to remind myself of the time when John McTiernan was among the finest and most respected action filmmakers in the world.