Come on… Come on! Do it! Do it! Come on. Come on! Kill me! I’m here! Kill me! I’m here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me! I’m here! Come on! Do it now! Kill me! – Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch from Predator
So lately I’ve been toying with the idea of a “Bad Ass Hall of Fame” to honor the stars and movies that really mean just a little bit more to me and this column. Guys like Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, Chow Yun Fat, and Chuck Norris would all be inducted without hesitation. Another lock for induction would undoubtedly be Arnold Schwarzenegger. “The Austrian Oak” has been a Mr. Universe and Governor of a state, but to most people the man will always be one of the biggest movie stars of the last quarter century.
With only a few early small roles under his belt, Schwarzenegger became a star after films such as Conan the Barbarian and the Terminator. This stardom was almost squandered though, by bad role choices in flops, such as Raw Deal and Red Sonja. Commando was mildly successful, but was still a step down from his signature role in The Terminator. Then there would come a movie that would become one of the huge stepping stones for the action star.
Oddly enough, according to imdb.com, the concept came when someone remarked that the only one left for Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa to fight would be E.T. Apparently, screenwriters Jim and John Thomas took the suggestion to heart and created a scenario where an intergalactic hunter would hunt his greatest game ever; man. That man would of course end up being Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie would end up being Predator, and would help its star obtain a legitimacy that he would eventually turn into superstardom.
Predator Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jessie “The Body” Ventura, Kevin Peter Hall, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves, and Shane Black. Directed by John McTiernan.
Of all the film’s I’ve ever seen that epitomized macho cool, nothing matches up to Predator. Just watching the first ten minutes is enough to grow hair on your chest and lower your voice a few octaves as Schwarzenegge’s Dutch and his team of commandos are dropped by helicopter into a jungle headquarters. As all others get out of the chopper, only Dutch remains; a lit cigar smoking in the breeze.
This a perfect introduction constructed by John McTiernan, letting you know exactly who these guys are without them uttering a word. Much of this film works based solely on its images. As Dutch enters the headquarters to receive his mission instructions, the set is grungy, and you can feel the humidity of the jungle around them. The General giving the orders (R.G. Armstrong) is haggard and gruff. Carl Weathers’ Dillon is introduced as walking contradiction. His words and actions are that of camaraderie with Dutch, two warriors meeting up after years apart, but he’s dressed in a shirt and tie, in attire of a politician. By the time Dutc’s teams are given their orders to pick up a cabinet minister whose been captured by rebels, we know something is deeply wrong.
This is a terrific role for Schwarzenegger, playing a variation on his Matrix role from Commando, only seemingly a bit more realistic. He moves with the efficiency and the confidence of a real commander. He doesn’t do a lot of bragging or mouthing off, leaving those types of things to the rest of his team.
The rest of the squad is an all star cast of movie bad asses crafted out of the same mold as The Dirty Dozen, and hasn’t been topped for testosterone count since then. What I love is that apparently as soon as the camera quit rolling, these men were constantly trying to top each other, and really this tension comes across on screen as well. Look at the brash Blain (Jessie Ventura), mouthing off to everyone that they should chew tobacco because it will increase their sexual prowess. Off screen, Ventura was competing with Schwarzenegger for who had the largest biceps, losing by three inches. Sonny Landham, who plays Billy, the team’s tracker in the film, was so crazy that the insurance company for the film would not even insure the project once they found out he was on board. Only after a bodyguard was hired to protect everyone else from the actor, was Landham allowed to join the project.
Carl Weathers states that he would act as if his physique was naturally given to him, and would work out only after all the other actors were nowhere to be seen. His onscreen persona is as much of an outsider, constantly at odds with Dutch and Blain in the field. A moment when Mac (Bill Duke) tells Dillon “I don’t care who you are back in the world, you give away our position one more time, I’ll bleed ya, real quiet. Leave ya here. Got that?” is a film highlight.
For his first studio film, John McTiernan was able to really show the flare that would lead him to eventually be able to direct the Action classic Die Hard. While Predator is not as good a movie, the picture is still a big piece of the directo’s career. I find it funny that the studio kind of cast Shane Black in the character of Hawkins as a bit of a safe guard in case McTiernan buckled under the pressure. Black would go on to help write macho fare such as the entire Lethal Weapon series as well The Long Kiss Goodnight, Last Action Hero, The Last Boy Scout, Monster Squad and most recently writing and directing Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
Mctiernan would apparently not need his expertise on this picture. Many directors would not have been able to switch gears like McTiernan does here, with Predator going from explosive action picture to a tense Horror film. Not only did he handle himself just fine, but each section is also a top flight example of their genre.
The battle sequence where Dutc’s team takes out a small army of rebels is an energetically choreographed piece of action. The sequence never seems ridiculous or cartoony, like Schwarzenegge’s assault on the fortress in Commando. This is pitch perfect orchestration, with the mayhem coming off as completely controlled. Dutc’s team in action is every bit as impressive as they should be. Honestly, seeing an entire film these guys rampaging through some terrorist’s castle would be awesome to watch, but probably wouldn’t match up to the prowess of this movie.
The final half of this movie tends to slow the pace down, and bring up the tension. A moment of foreshadowing early in the film, as the squad comes across as group of soldiers that have been skinned alive, comes to fruition as they lose their own team members one at a time. In one creative way after another, these manly warriors are picked off in brutal fashion.
It’s hard to even estimate how much of this film’s success rides on how scary the Predator ends up being. It is terrible how time and again that a monster is unable to live up to what it is in your mind. Apparently, that was initially going to be the case with this film, as McTiernan states n the DVD that the original design for the Predator was absolutely terrible. The original design was described as a large creature with a long neck, a head shaped like a dog and one big eye in the middle. Does this sound like a creature that could do battle with Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Action movie heyday? Apparently McTiernan didn’t think so either. The director shot a single sequence with the suit the studio had sent, and then sent the suit back immediately with instructions for them to go back to the drawing board.
This is the point where Stan Winston enters the picture and saves this movie. The makeup effects wizard is a one man hall of fame, working on such classic effects films as Aliens, Edward Scissorhands, Jurassic Park, The Thing, Batman Returns and many others. It was his association with Schwarzenegger and his phenomenal work on The Terminator that got him called in to work on Predator. Next thing you know, the predator goes from the film’s laughing stock to one of the most well known movie monsters of all time. Oddly enough, one of the alien’s most noticeable features, his mandibles, came not from Winston, but from James Cameron, who simply made some little comment that the effects man ran with. The rest of the Rastafarian type warrio’s look though, owes all to Stan Winston, and with it came a franchise and one of Arnold Schwarzenegge’s most important villains.
I absolutely love the last twenty minutes of this film, with Dutch having to go mano a mano with the creature and mostly get absolutely crushed. Really this is one of the few instances where Schwarzenegger really gets manhandled on screen, making for an interesting dynamic. This was really the first time this had ever happened in a one on one fight for the actor, as he had previously trounced his opponents on screen. At 7’2″, Kevin Peter Hall was an awesome choice to play the alien hunter, making him the most imposing screen villain in Arnold’s filmography. Originally Jean-Claude Van Damne was initially supposed to play the Predator, but decided he was too good for the part. This ended up being good fortune for everyone.
Predator is a prime example of great Action, Science Fiction, and Horror film making and has stood the test of time because of it. The film was a big step forward for both its star and director, which would both go on to bigger fame in the time to come. Even after both of their stars had faded a bit, Predator still shines as a terrific piece of entertainment.
Picture Credits:ecranlarge.com, impawards.com
