Getting the chance in late November to see the mind-bending Inception (2010-also reviewed) in 35MM at The Electric Cinema (the oldest cinema in the UK) in Birmingham in late November, I took a look at what films were going to be screened at the cinema in the new year.
Last having seen it on DVD, I was thrilled to discover a 35MM showing of Predator was soon taking place at the venue, followed later that night by a 35MM screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968- also reviewed.) This led to me getting set for an epic 35MM Sci-Fi double bill.
View on the film:
A year before entering the Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard (1988) and a few years before being stuck in a sub for The Hunt for Red October (1990) directing auteur John McTiernan is joined by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005-also reviewed) cinematographer Donald McAlpine, in sending the paramilitary group into a deep claustrophobic atmosphere.
Filmed on location in the Mexican jungle, McTiernan places the audience right in the centre of the group, via ragged hand-held camera moves gliding across the rugged terrain towards razor-sharp Axial cuts, (a major recurring motif in McTiernan's work) which cleverly heightens the jumpy state of the group.
Backed by a cracking score from Alan Silvestri, McTiernan brilliantly blends the visceral edge of Slasher Horror with the brute force of hand to hand combat, via blistering close-ups on the Predator killing its latest prey, bursting to slow-motion wide-shot drenched in flare lights,when Dutch turns the confined location on the Predator.
Revealed decades later by McTiernan that he campaigned for the actor to get the role because "I knew if I put him next to Arnold in most of the scenes it would help Arnold enormously" Carl Weathers gives a terrific turn as Dillon, who along with a no-nonsense macho side, is given by Weathers a focused, thoughtful side, displayed in Dillon's attempts to hold the rag-tag group together, against an unknown horror.
Playing a dangerous game with the Predator, (played by a wonderful Kevin Peter Hall, who gives the partly designed by Big Jim Cameron, Stan Winston made costume an impressive flexibility, expressing without any dialogue Predator's mind-set of playing the long game, with Hall also getting a welcomed cameo in the ending) Arnie gives a smashing performance as Dutch.
Surrounded by an excellent ensemble cast that features Bill Duke and a snarling Jesse Ventura, Arnie bounces his trademark one-liners with a relish, and an breezy ease which draws the impression of Dutch and his army buddies casually joking around.
Losing over twenty-five pounds before filming began, Arnie uses his more lean shape to capture Dutch searching for ways to use the jungle surroundings against the Predator, with Arnie balancing his visible excitement when firing up the explosive Action set-pieces, with sinking fear, as Predator (voiced by a great Peter Cullen, who came up with the noises himself) targets him.
Making their own entry into Hollywood by slipping the script under the door of 20th Century Fox producer Michael Levy, the screenplay by brothers Jim & John Thomas, (with future Twelve Monkeys (1995-also reviewed) co-writer David Webb Peoples doing un-credited minor re-writes) magnificently criss-cross genres from the moment the Predator lands on Earth, bringing a Sci-Fi Horror, that places the extremely masculine Dutch, in the position of The Final Girl in Slasher movies.
Inspired by The Most Dangerous Game, the writers fire up whip-smart one-liners setting up the close-knit relationship between the group, which get untangled by tense Action set-pieces, where the hard boiled lads attempt to take Predator head-on.
Whilst not set in the country, the writers have the shadow of the Vietnam war hanging in the background of the jungle, via the military group running in with what (they assume) is the most high-tech machinery around, only to be welcomed by something which has far more advanced weapons, and knowledge of how to use the environment against them, as Dutch fights to survive from becoming the final prey.
Last having seen it on DVD, I was thrilled to discover a 35MM showing of Predator was soon taking place at the venue, followed later that night by a 35MM screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968- also reviewed.) This led to me getting set for an epic 35MM Sci-Fi double bill.
View on the film:
A year before entering the Nakatomi Plaza in Die Hard (1988) and a few years before being stuck in a sub for The Hunt for Red October (1990) directing auteur John McTiernan is joined by The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005-also reviewed) cinematographer Donald McAlpine, in sending the paramilitary group into a deep claustrophobic atmosphere.
Filmed on location in the Mexican jungle, McTiernan places the audience right in the centre of the group, via ragged hand-held camera moves gliding across the rugged terrain towards razor-sharp Axial cuts, (a major recurring motif in McTiernan's work) which cleverly heightens the jumpy state of the group.
Backed by a cracking score from Alan Silvestri, McTiernan brilliantly blends the visceral edge of Slasher Horror with the brute force of hand to hand combat, via blistering close-ups on the Predator killing its latest prey, bursting to slow-motion wide-shot drenched in flare lights,when Dutch turns the confined location on the Predator.
Revealed decades later by McTiernan that he campaigned for the actor to get the role because "I knew if I put him next to Arnold in most of the scenes it would help Arnold enormously" Carl Weathers gives a terrific turn as Dillon, who along with a no-nonsense macho side, is given by Weathers a focused, thoughtful side, displayed in Dillon's attempts to hold the rag-tag group together, against an unknown horror.
Playing a dangerous game with the Predator, (played by a wonderful Kevin Peter Hall, who gives the partly designed by Big Jim Cameron, Stan Winston made costume an impressive flexibility, expressing without any dialogue Predator's mind-set of playing the long game, with Hall also getting a welcomed cameo in the ending) Arnie gives a smashing performance as Dutch.
Surrounded by an excellent ensemble cast that features Bill Duke and a snarling Jesse Ventura, Arnie bounces his trademark one-liners with a relish, and an breezy ease which draws the impression of Dutch and his army buddies casually joking around.
Losing over twenty-five pounds before filming began, Arnie uses his more lean shape to capture Dutch searching for ways to use the jungle surroundings against the Predator, with Arnie balancing his visible excitement when firing up the explosive Action set-pieces, with sinking fear, as Predator (voiced by a great Peter Cullen, who came up with the noises himself) targets him.
Making their own entry into Hollywood by slipping the script under the door of 20th Century Fox producer Michael Levy, the screenplay by brothers Jim & John Thomas, (with future Twelve Monkeys (1995-also reviewed) co-writer David Webb Peoples doing un-credited minor re-writes) magnificently criss-cross genres from the moment the Predator lands on Earth, bringing a Sci-Fi Horror, that places the extremely masculine Dutch, in the position of The Final Girl in Slasher movies.
Inspired by The Most Dangerous Game, the writers fire up whip-smart one-liners setting up the close-knit relationship between the group, which get untangled by tense Action set-pieces, where the hard boiled lads attempt to take Predator head-on.
Whilst not set in the country, the writers have the shadow of the Vietnam war hanging in the background of the jungle, via the military group running in with what (they assume) is the most high-tech machinery around, only to be welcomed by something which has far more advanced weapons, and knowledge of how to use the environment against them, as Dutch fights to survive from becoming the final prey.