I'm gonna have me some fun

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2013)

Along with The Thing, this is one of the only films to come out in the wake of Alien that stood it's own ground. While much more macho and more action-oriented, it provides plenty of suspense on it's own, and is right up there with Alien's sequel Aliens, which it shares many similarities to.
The first half of the film has Arnie, as 'Dutch', leading a team of mercenaries on a rescue mission, given to them by CIA field agent Dillon - Carl Weathers - an old comrade of Dutch's. As they make their way to their designated target, they discover signs that another team of soldiers has been in the area. This is confirmed by the horrific discovery of skinned corpses, and amongst the offal laying around on the ground, are dog-tags confirming them to be US Army Special Forces troops - 'Green Berets'. They believe the local guerrillas are the cause of it - but the real culprit is watching them silently, with only Billy - Sonny Landham - sensing they're not alone.
As they attack the guerrillas in an awesome action set-piece, it becomes clear Dillon has lied to them about the true nature of their mission - to take down a Soviet-backed guerrilla force. Given that Predators places this as happening in Guatemala, it is likely they were intending to cross the border into Belize, which they have long held claims to. Dutch realises his old friend has had them perform the CIA's dirty work, and neither he nor his team can trust him anymore. With a female guerrilla taken prisoner, they had back to the LZ...
...And then the Predator makes his move, hunting them like animals. Dutch and co find themselves battling for survival as their unseen foe proves to be a most formidable enemy, equipped with high-tech hardware that enables it to appear virtually invisible, and with a cool visor that enhances its vision, enabling it to track the characters by their body heat.
After the gun-ho antics of the first half, the second gives way to claustrophobic tension, the Predator using the jungle to it's advantage. The jungles that the team proved to be so effective in, now becomes a foe in themselves.
As the Predator picks them off one by one, it becomes clear the creature is hunting them for sport, showing mercy to their prisoner only because she was unarmed. It eventually culminates in a showdown between Dutch and the Predator, and the climax provides a great series of cat-and-mouse scenes as Dutch reverses the situation when he discovers how to make himself invisible to the Predator, resorting to primal instincts, and old-school survival tactics against the more technically-advanced alien foe.
Almost up there with the monster's entrance in Alien, is when the Predator takes his mask off, revealing one ugly mofo who, like Alien, became an instant icon. A vicious, imposing, relentless foe, it is the Predator who is the real star.
An excellent sci-fi thriller, a perfect macho alternative to Alien, and right behind Terminator 1 and 2 when it comes to Arnie's best films.