For years, Predator was a perfect example of 80s action excesses. Testosterone levels are through the roof, almost to the point of being unintentionally comic. The only thing that could’ve put more of a silly macho spin on much of the quotable dialogue is having Arnold Schwarzenegger speak it. The oiled up muscles extend to Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham and Bill Duke. (Shane Black is also here because the studio wouldn’t pay to have a writer on location. He is quickly dispatched.)
The selling point of Predator is that it’s actually a Slasher Horror Film, only instead of a bunch of teens, you have super soldiers armed with machine guns, grenade launchers, large knives and one-liners. And in classic slasher fashion, they’re picked off one-by-one. That’s how you create an iconic monster. That and a suit designed by Stan Winston. All this gets you to the point where we see Schwarzenegger is scared. The image of his eyes wide with fear as he tries to crawl away is something you never thought you’d see. If Arnold Schwarzenegger is scared, what chance would we have?
Leave A Comment