An All Time Great Action Movie

Rating: 9/10 (20 September 2008)

Think of Arnold and only two images can flash in our minds. One image is the black dress, shotgun and black goggles image of the Terminator series and the other image is that of a Green Beret as we see in Commando and this movie. This movie, The Predator, is a wonderful action movie that showcases Arnold flexing his muscles to the full, holding the meanest of guns and firearms and hunting for something that cannot be seen but is definitely out there. The movie is my personal favorite action movie of all times.
The movie is about a team of special commandos led by Dutch, played by Arnold. They head out into the forest thinking that their enemies are humans. And indeed, they find their human enemies and crush them in no time. Little do they know that out there in the forest, there is a bigger and a tougher enemy hunting them down one by one. Meet The Predator, some kind of an alien life form with a very unique set of characteristics. He cannot sense the usual 3800-7600 Angstrom wavelength of light that allows us humans to see the world but he only reads off the heat given out by living creatures. He makes up for this with an incredible array of powerful weapons and the greatest advantage of them all - camouflage! Not just any camouflage but the ability to almost disappear completely. He moves around from one tree to another patiently spotting the team members of Dutch and killing them one by one.
The direction and photography of the movie is simply awesome. As we see Dutch and his team wade through the forest, it really feels like we are watching some live coverage of a mission. The scenes are really well shot and at no time do we get the feeling that this is a studio set and the guns are arms are all props. The most remarkable scene of all is when all the commandos fire all their weapons into a direction hoping to shoot down the Predator. The shower of bullets and the firing of the mini-gun is simply breath taking. And considering that the movie was shot back in 1986-7, the overall movie is simply great.
The final mano-e-mano encounter between Arnold and the Predator is remarkably well done. This movie is indeed one of the greatest science fiction action movies ever done. A movie that Arnie will be remembered for. Enjoy!