Three decades later Predator still reigns as one of the best action films.

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2017)

Predator. A truly revered and beloved title among fans of action films.... this bad-ass almighty Schwarzeneggerian action classic from 1987 is a high-tech, tour-de-force of gripping action and suspense. When this was filmed in the steamy jungles of South America thirty years ago, Arnold was in the prime of his career, an era where every other film of his would go down as an action classic (Conan The Barbarian, Terminator, Commando, Predator, Total Recall, Terminator 2, True Lies) - but not so much for the likes of Twins or Kindergarden Cop. But with Predator and the first two Terminator films (Newsflash: If a Terminator movie isn't directed by James Cameron, it sucks.) that Arnold produced some of his best and most consistent movies, which over the past three decades have stood as endearing classics of the genre.
Predator was brilliantly directed by John McTiernan and the supporting cast is of a very high pedigree, several of which are old buddies of Arnold's. In action movie annals Predator stands as a testament to greatness, with it's masterfully effective plotting, a perfect combination of action, suspense and humor, a brilliant Stan Winston production design for the alien costume and all the FX that go with it, Alan Sylvestre's iconic and instantly recognizable score, top-flight pyrotechnics (squibbed-out to the max!) and at various parts in the film there's even some "MacGyvering" going on. Lastly the acting is consistently excellent from all members of the cast, which comes through most effectively in the form of lots of colorful camaraderie, which is usually funny and sometimes poignant, their camaraderie adds much humor and drama to the fold.
But it's obviously the action element that is King in this film and it takes priority over everything else and in terms of execution Predator is easily one of the genre's greatest achievements. And don't forget John McTiernan would go on to direct "Diehard" the very next year, which in some ways is even better then Predator. Why Jean Claude Van Damme was even involved (for a short while) in the making of this film - yet another fact which further lends credence of the overall high pedigree of talent among Predator's cast and crew. Just how 5'7 Van Damme was supposed to be the towering Predator alien..... well I still haven't figured that one out yet, because ultimately the role went to Kevin Peter Hall (RIP), who was a towering 7'2 specimen or Chewbacca-height in other words. Supposedly Hall was a big teddy-bear, a gentle giant type.
Predator remains an enthralling spectacle of action and intrigue, it's the type of film that rarely takes it's foot off your throat (like any good action film) allowing you to catch your breath and even then when the action is at a stand-still, you still find yourself being stalked by the alien and those three, glowing red, tell-tale, dots of deadly laser-light. Further thickening the movies atmosphere of dread and uncertainty is the cacophony of noise that's constantly emanating from the jungle, typically in the form of an unnerving combination of sounds which are both animal and alien. Not surprisingly the alien's various cackles stand out from the other sounds of the jungle, which in turn proves to be unnerving for those unfortunate enough to hear it's terrible peels of laughter and screams of searing pain (remember the "alien surgery" scene).
If one were to dissect this movie, it has three distinctly different parts, the first phase of the movie is man against man, the second phase is Arnold and his posse vs the alien and lastly it's Arnie going mano-a-mano with the alien in a spectacular dual to the death. As an action film Predator is a marvel of consistency from start to finish, so much so that no one part of it out-shines or over-powers the other parts and in many ways Predator is exemplary, a divine template, a literal "how-to" that which someone could conceivably draw some form of inspiration from, if one felt compelled to create an action film that stands out from the pack and has an identity of it's own. Unfortunately that's a very a big problem with most of today's actioner's, they have no identity of there own and thus come off as faceless, interchangeable, generic dreck!
2015's "Fury Road" is the ultimate exception when speaking of the sad current state of the action genre as a whole - which is for the most part a vast morass of mediocrity, one that's utterly lacking in originality. For instance did the world really need three installments of the "Expendables" series, or at same time three "Taken" flicks is almost as redundant. There are a lot of lame movies out there which have spawned sequels upon sequels, each one lamer then the last. Sad stuff indeed. Though Skull Island does look promising. Anyways back to Predator and all the awesomeness one can expect to witness when you watch this frenetic Schwarzenegger classic, which gave life to a sequel of it's own, the markedly less impressive Predator 2 three years later. As a long-time fan, it's my opinion that Predator is easily one of Arnie's greatest movies.
Again, not so much for Kindergarden Cop.
Sigh...... and now thanks to an IMDb ad I see that there's now a TV show based on the Taken movies..... the redundant drivel never ceases.