Great 80s action film

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2019)

In 'Predator' Arnold Schwarzenegger and a bunch of tough guys fight in the jungle but end up fighting someone entirely different, someone not from this world. You don't need more information to know what you're up for.
I love this movie although it's hard to ignore some flaws which are typical for the action cinema of the 1980s. Let me give you some examples.
Arnold's oneliners and his impersonation of a one-man-army feels kind of dated today. The age of muscle-packed, almost immortal heroes is over, at least for now.
This was typical for the 1980s. If you want to see the prototype of this kind of movie making, I recommend 'Commando' from 1985.
The aforementioned bunch of tough guys is as clichee and one-dimensional as it gets.

Apart from these minor flaws, the movie rocks. Here are some reasons for that:
*It is violent and doesn't hold back anything. Although a big budget movie, it doesn't even think about going PG13.
*The setting in the jungle is great and creates lots of opportunities for hiding, sneaking around and danger in general.
*Predator still looks good. Watch it in HD and you'll forget that it's more than 30 years old.
*The Predator is one of the best movie monsters ever designed although some people make fun of his dreadlocks. He is instantly recognizable and therefore iconic. Besides, like in Spielberg's 'Jaws', it takes a long time until we really see the monster. All we get until quite late in the movie are glimpses, which makes for additional suspense.
*I like that Arnold doesn't stand a chance in a hand to hand-combat against the Predator. Unlike most of his movies, he isn't the physically strongest of the characters here. That's why we feel more worried about him than usual because at least here, something COULD happen to him.
In conclusion, 'Predator' is one of the best bad-ass action movies of the 1980s. I prefer it to all of the later sequels / reboots.