The first ‘Predator’ still sets the standard
The 1987 film “Predator” is filled with so much cigar-chewing, tobacco-spitting, bicep-popping testosterone that, in an era when dude movies ruled Hollywood, it might just be the dudest of them all.
But it’s not just unending machismo that makes “Predator” one of the greatest action movies ever – and the gold standard for the sci-fi/horror franchise, which includes two sequels (1990’s “Predator 2” and 2010’s “Predators”), plus a pair of crossovers (2004’s “Alien vs. Predator” and 2007’s “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem”).
With director Shane Black’s new “The Predator” (in theaters now) bringing those pesky alien hunter-killers back to Earth, it’s time to revisit the what made the original – which Black calls “a perfect piece of pop art” – so special.
1‘ Predator’ embraced a diverse cast (at least of guys).
In the mid-’80s, it was a no-brainer to build a blockbuster around the biggest action figure there was, Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the special-ops team that the muscular icon’s Dutch leads – against Central American guerrillas and an intimidating alien warrior – would foreshadow the multicultural casts of the “Fast and Furious” movies. African-American stars Carl Weathers (who’s pretty much a second lead) and Bill Duke, as well as Native American actors Richard Chaves and Sonny Langham, joined Schwarzenegger and his fellow future governor, wrestler-turned-thespian Jesse Ventura.
It is not the most feminist movie: Only one female character, Elpidia Carrillo’s guerrilla Anna, has a significant role. That hypermasculinity appears to have carried over into the new movie, with Olivia Munn – again the only woman around a bunch of men – being shunned by her co-stars after flagging a scene with a registered sex offender (subsequently deleted by the studio).
2It launched a bevy of memorable movie quotes.
Dutch’s exclamation “Get to the chopper!” (or “Get to da choppa!” in Arnold-speak) is one of Schwarzenegger’s all-time one-liners, equally as great as his “Terminator” catchphrases “I’ll be back” or “Hasta la vista, baby.” “If it bleeds, we can kill it” is another of his “Predator” standouts, while Ventura turns in a gem when his special-ops man Blain grumbles, “I ain’t got time to bleed” after being wounded.
3The creature is still awesome, 31 years later.
With his buggy, otherworldly jaws and signature “clicks” as he stalks prey, the title antagonist (Kevin Peter Hall) is a total package of physical special effects, sound design and visual design. So much so that Black didn’t change up the horror-ready monster too much for his new film. The creature’s look is famous now, though the magic of that first Predator lies in his reveal: While the audience sees his point of view via thermal vision as he watches our heroes, it’s not until about halfway through the movie that he’s seen in the flesh – and almost the end, during his faceoff with Schwarzenegger, when he shows his true face.
4The film brilliantly takes on its own manly oeuvre.
You’re awash in manhood from the very start: Schwarzenegger and Weathers flex mightily in an arm-wrestling handshake; everybody’s an alpha male, even the nerdy guys (including one played by Black); and there’s plenty of sexist ball-busting conversation that would drop a #MeToo supporter’s jaw. Yet during a period when musclebound movie stars could take on any challenge at the movies, “Predator” metaphorically tackled those hulking stereotypes by having them all hunted down, one by one, by something as unstoppable as they’re supposed to be.
It made for a “cool tweak” on the norm, Black says. “It’s really, to my thinking, the only movie Arnold’s done where you see him scared,” he tells USA TODAY. “He’s actually frightened in the movie.”
5But Arnie still wins. Because he’s Arnie.
As super-cool as this warrior from another world is, come on: Schwarzenegger can’t lose with home-field advantage. And him vs. the Predator is an epic showdown, with Dutch figuring out his foe’s weaknesses (mud is great camouflage), turning off the alien’s cloaking tech, and throwing down fisticuffs-style. Each gets to ask the other, “What the hell are you?” before the Predator self-destructs and Dutch luckily gets away – in a chopper, of course.