Predator (1987)

A team of commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior.

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Jim Thomas, John Thomas

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Dutch
Carl Weathers	...	Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo	...	Anna
Bill Duke	...	Mac
Jesse Ventura	...	Blain
Sonny Landham	...	Billy
Richard Chaves	...	Poncho
R.G. Armstrong	...	General Phillips
Shane Black	...	Hawkins
Kevin Peter Hall	...	The Predator / Helicopter Pilot

Storyline

A team of special force ops, led by a tough but fair soldier, Major "Dutch" Schaefer, are ordered in to assist CIA man, George Dillon, on a rescue mission for potential survivors of a Helicopter downed over remote South American jungle. Not long after they land, Dutch and his team discover that they have been sent in under false pretenses. This deception turns out to be the least of their worries though, when they find themselves being methodically hunted by something not of this world.

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Plot Keywords:

jungle | cia | helicopter | predator | alien | 

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Taglines:

In a part of the world where there are no rules, deep in the jungle where nothing that lives is safe, an elite rescue squad is being led by the ultimate warrior. But now, they're up against the ultimate enemy. Nothing like it has ever been on earth before. It kills for pleasure, it hunts for sport. But this time, it picked the wrong man to hunt.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

12 June 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alien Hunter

Filming Locations:

Jalisco, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$59,735,548 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amercent Films, American Entertainment Partners L.P., Davis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Being the first Predator movie they only show the thermal vision and infrared vision from the Predators point of view (in Predator 2 they introduce many other vision modes for the predator), but with good attention to details you can get hints that the Predator has different vision modes even in this movie; The Predator can obviously see and avoid the trip wires they hide everywhere in the forest (which would actually not be visible if the Predator only used thermal visions). The predator can also see if the soldiers are carrying any kind of weapons or knives and if they are unarmed, indicating the Predator has a different vision mode which makes him able to detect solid metal.

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Goofs

One scene features prominently a reticulated python (Python reticulatus) moving on a tree's branch. The species is found in Southeast Asia rather than Central America.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Major General Phillips: You're looking good, Dutch.
Dutch: It's been a long time, General.
Major General Phillips: Come on inside.

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Crazy Credits

All the 7 main cast members re-appear in ascending order as their names are displayed to give a smile to the audience in appreciation.

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Connections

Featured in How I Met Your Mother: Desperation Day (2011)

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Soundtracks

"LONG TALL SALLY"
Performed by Little Richard
Written by Little Richard (as R. Penniman), E. Johnson and Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell (as R. Blackwell)
Courtesy of Specialty Records

User Reviews

Everything a sci-fi/action fan could ever want.

With the release of Alien Vs Predator i decided to watch the original Predator movie today. I've seen Predator many many times since i first watched it back in 1989 and i love it each and every time. I think Predator 2 has a slight edge over this but Predator has a slight edge over Aliens BUT i think they are all extremely excellent films.

Just in case you don't know, it's about a big alien whose race lives to hunt worthy prey and Arnold Schwarzenegger's team of commandos are that such prey. The commandos are sent into a South American jungle to find some missing airmen who are being held by guerrilla's. They do what they got to do which attracts the attention of the predator who is hunting in the area. So the predator goes and hunts the commandos with the aid of his kick ass weapons and cloaking device. The commandos also have a female prisoner.

I think the whole sub-plot about the so called missing airmen isn't too important to the viewer but makes it possible for the commandos to be there. The entire concept of Predator is really clever and it certainly made me sit on the edge of my seat while watching it the first time. It is kind of spooky in a terrifying way as we don't see the predator properly for ages but see through his eyes which adds to the tension.

The effects are great, the acting is OK and the story is cool too. I really like the music and especially the spooky twisted jungle sounds that we hear when we see through the eyes of the predator. This is a sci-fi action movie that isn't just full of cheap explosions. It really does have great atmosphere. Everyone who likes sci-fi and/or action movies should like this. If you don't then your taste in movies suck! This in my humble opinion is probably the second best sci-fi movie of all time.

Alien Vs Predator has little of what made this so excellent so if you haven't seen Predator and thought AVP sucked don't think that this will. Predator is absolutely fantastic viewing. 10/10