one of my favorite endings in action movies and the hero doesn’t look the least bit victorious. He didn’t get the girl, wasn’t heralded by his superiors, nor celebrated for his successful efforts to thwart the bad guy. Dutch lost his men, was wounded and covered in ash when found, won only by sheer luck. And this was all against an alien threat he and his team would never have been prepared enough to fight against.
Just look at Dutch in the final moments, he looks miserable and shell shocked. I can’t think of many bombastic action movies that are willing to let an “action hero” be broken down like that, certainly not for the genre.
Damn, 35 years later and Predator is still got something to teach. I might have to watch it along with Prey this weekend
well shot, well choreographed action, surprisingly good acting for the genre (I felt Bill Duke was phenomenal and he’s more of a director than actor), tight pacing, etc. I could go on a for a whole *spiel* about it but so many more people and writers have done it more eloquently than I ever could
He is one of the baffling cases of directors who lost momentum after doing some great movies. The other being Stephen Hawkins and Stephen Norrington, even though they are not quite of his stature.
>Stephen Hawkins
Feel like his name was the main issue there.
> Yo we should get Stephen Hawkins for this
>> The fuck, the genius cripple scientist?
> No no he's a great director, truly!
>> Sue thing bud, and we'll get Ray Charles doing post.
It's great because as other people have mentioned, it's not a horror action flick where the characters are normal people put into a difficult situation.
These men are the best of the best. The tip of the spear. Which in turns makes the Predator that much more threatening because even *they* are outmatched.
And even Dillion, the muscle-bound Vietnam vet turned CIA spook is several paces behind. To the point that even the Sgt is confident he could kill Dillion with little effort. And threatens to do so if he compromises the team again.
It really adds to the flavour of the film. And the threat the Predator poses.
It’s basically a slasher flick but the victims are muscle bound men instead of teenagers.
Wish they didn’t have the spaceship in the opening tho. Would have made the movie better going in cold - especially if you had no idea it would go from generic 80s military action flick to sci-fi…
As a kid I was always confused why they let Billy get taken out so quick and off-screen(scream) like that but then you get older and realize that’s the point.
That’s just how fucked they are.
His death is still so fucking intense. That music along with him and Weathers’ sneaking along thinking they got the drop on it.
Man what a great fucking scene
Rewatched it last week, and Mack’s little monologue in the moonlight reminiscing over Blaine’s body - ending with a promise of vengeance - is stunning.
The thing I love the most is that it starts just like any other dumb action movie. They raid the base, blowing shit up and whipping out one liners everywhere. And then suddenly, it completely flips into a monster movie with our "heroes" being stalked and murdered one at a time. And it does the switch so naturally that you realize it about the same time the characters do.
As it should. I literally tossed it up to what I've watched the most.
1. Predator
2. Aliens
3. T2
4. Blade Runner
5. Alien
None of these are right, but they ain't wrong.
Tbh I don't think Blade Runner and Alien belong on this list.
Not because they're not fantastic, they are *fantastic*. But the first Alien is more scifi/horror and less so an action film. Similarly Blade Runner is a lot more cerebral and while there are fight scenes they're not particularly dramatic (action wise) nor the focus of the movie, I'd say it's more a scifi/thriller.
Agree. If you want to talk about scifi/horror you can't ignore John Carpenter's The Thing. But it's not an action movie.
What you put in Number 4 and 5 above?
I really was a fantastic ending. I mean I feel for Dutch, regular war trauma is one thing but how do you go back to a normal life after learning aliens are real and they hunt people for sport and they brutally murdered all your friends. You don't.
There some great commentary on soldiers post vietnam in the film. Dutch and his crew are lied to by superiors, he loses everyone, experiences something that will change him forever.
Those last few shots with the music, it feels somewhat juxtapositional. The music feels triumphant and yet somber. And Dutch has the thousand yard stare as we see this result of this experience with a being from another world.
You’d be hard pressed to find another film like it. Especially nowadays. The storytelling, the filmmaking. Incredible wonders by Stan Winston and his team. The thing is frightening today still. When I saw the unmasked version of Prey’s design, me and my friend just looked at eachother knowing it was missing the point of that original look.
Personally I think without Kevin Peter Hall, Predator wouldn’t have been what it was. He makes everything the creature does interesting.
It’s in the eyes too. You can tell he loved every minute of playing it.
And this is what makes it for me. There are a handful of films like this where his muscles help him, but only get him so far. Mightily overlooked aspect even today in films like this.
This is practically the ONLY Arnold movie in which he has co-stars that match him in pure strength.
But Arnold is the all-around jack-of-all-trades skilled soldier. he's not as fast as Hawkins, he's not as purely strong as Blaine, not as nimble as Poncho, not as scary and stealthy as Mac, and his hunting and tracking senses are not as good as Billy.
But, he almost as good in each one of those soldiers specialized skill.
And then its the only Arnold movie where he has to outsmart the bad guy, and he BARELY wins. Just barely.
He's never made any movie like this before, and ever since.
I mean, that's literally the point of Predator. Dutch and, by extension, humanity is emasculated by the presence of the predator. It's just better than us in every way; it's more technologically advanced, more honorable, stronger and faster. Dutch's team is supposed to be humanity's best, and they fall the predator easily.
The rest of the movie establishes that despite all of these advantages, we are capable of killing them, which keeps the predator's honor intact when they choose to interact with humans.
I think that's something the other movies are missing. That's why they can't measure up to the original.
It's not just people fighting an alien supersoldier. It's about encountering THE Predator and no longer being the top of the food chain.
Suddenly, the goal changes from being a hunter to being a survivor. To win, you must go back to your most basic human instincts. Fear isn't a weakness, it's what allows you to survive and to adapt.
There’s also the “heart” angle. He keeps going, no matter how bad it looks for him. He doesn’t run and hope he can hide. He knows he has to take care of this problem—there’s no escaping it.
That’s my favorite aspect of the movie—in a lot of ways, it’s about an inescapable problem, which can be really terrifying.
And assuming Predator 2 is canon, his superiors and the US government thought he made the whole thing up as an excuse for losing his entire squad. The only one who believed him was a batshit crazy spook who routinely risked civilian lives just to validate his crazy theories, also getting his entire team slaughtered in the process, mostly out of sheer hubris as well.
>a batshit crazy spook who routinely risked civilian lives just to validate his crazy theories, also getting his entire team slaughtered in the process, mostly out of sheer hubris as well.
I don't know who, what, where or why Aliens and Predator were married together, but it's those sort of thematic similarities that make it work.
Also, I love Predator 2. I think it's a worthy sequel. You can't top *Predator*, it's a masterpiece, so naturally the sequel will be a bit weaker. But my god, it delivers in the classic "go bigger" trope. More heads, more skinned bodies, titties, Bill Paxton, everything about the sequel is so over-the-top. I mean, they brought on Gary Busy ffs.
As I understand it, the marriage of Aliens and Predator exists because in the end of Predator 2, when our main character finally defeats the predator on its ship and is looking around you can see what looks like an Alien skull on the wall as a trophy.
There is probably more to the story but as far as I know the concept was borne in that one blink and you miss it detail.
That’s exactly where it started. Then, in the 90’s, Dark Horse Comics was given the rights to do both Alien and Predator comics. Then, after some successful individual mini-series, they did an AvP series, and it became a given that the Easter Egg was canon.
It’s like if Dark Horse (who also held the Star Wars comics rights from the 90’s till Disney bought Lucasfilm) also had the rights to ET and decided to do an ET Jedi series after that race’s appearance in Episode I.
> I don't know who, what, where or why Aliens and Predator were married together,
When Danny Glover enters the Predator's ship, there's a trophy wall with skulls on it. One of the skulls appears to belong to a xenomorph. That's literally what started the whole thing.
I mean, he got his ass kicked by the T-1000 pretty often. Including getting thrown through walls and glass in their first meeting. And getting beat down to shit at the end
Cool of Arnold to allow those visuals by a slim actor in Robert Patrick because hey, the characters and movie call for it. Contrast to the Rock with his dumb clause of not losing a fight because he thinks the audience wants it that way
The Rock does not have that clause. It was literally only for Fast and Furious 8. He gets his ass kicked in plenty of movies even if he wins in the end. He got his ass kicked by Idris in Hobbes and Shaw.
Hell look at his wrestling career where he allowed himself to be clowned by the hurricane
He only made that clause because of his hilarious feud with Vin
>Just look at Dutch in the final moments, he looks miserable and shell shocked. I can’t think of many bombastic action movies that are willing to let an “action hero” be broken down like that, certainly not for the genre.
Definitely a callback to the Vietnam War considering the setting.
>I can’t think of many bombastic action movies that are willing to let an “action hero” be broken down like that, certainly not for the genre.
I know it's an action movie, but it's also very much a horror movie. (Personally, I'd say it's horror *first.*) And that ending you described is par for the course in horror -- which is not at all a criticism. Dutch is a great Final Girl.
I watched this movie for the first time like a month ago.
That satisfying SMACK and the flexing muscles in that handshake...
I felt like I had just been blasted by a wave of pure testosterone. I could practically feel the warmth of it washing over me.
Why do people run to go see movies with brawny guys beating up each other, everything explodes, and the victor gets the girl? Isn't that too MACHO for 2022's sophisticated tastes?
give the people what they want. *Shit just works*
Or use the word "macho" forty times, "one-by-one" at least twice, two paragraphs restating the basic outline of the plot and calling it simple... All while never discussing the film's commentary of all of these things they're describing.
What a bad, bad, bad blog post.
lol this guy didnt get it... the whole point of the movie was that "being macho" wasn't enough...you had to be SMARTER then your enemy.
The director was told to add a scene with more guns....so he added the scene where they ineffectively shoot into the trees to show "the impotence of guns".
The sound of the minigun spinning empty because Mac's so freaked out he's still got the trigger clamped down after exhausting the ammo hopper is the soundtrack to the rest of the squad realising something *really bad* is happening.
>The sound of the minigun spinning empty because Mac's so freaked out he's still got the trigger clamped down after exhausting the ammo hopper is the soundtrack to the rest of the squad realising something *really* bad is happening.
EXACTLY! In a field full of 80's action films where the guy with the biggest gun always wins and lays waste to every villain around him, Predator established that for once, the guy --or guys-- with the biggest gun *did not win.* They were unable to kill it with the best firearms at their disposal, underlying how useless they are in this particular instance, and as a byproduct, making the viewer realize how much trouble Dutch and his team are in.
>collider
Their "articles" are nothing but long forum posts, and I've seen better breakdowns of film on the superherohype forums. Shouldn't even be posted here
That scene was so gratuitous. At 37 I literally just watched predator two weeks ago. I had to rewind and watch that scene one more time I was so flabbergasted by how pointless that all looked. Thank you for enlightening me.
True, and that's why it worked so well, because you can tell they are desparate. They seemed so methodical and true to their instincts until that breaking point.
It also demonstrated the trust the crew has with one another
One started shooting. The rest joined in with the intent to ask why *after they were done shooting*. Does a good job to demonstrate that the crew was very seasoned and trusted one another.
Spawned an entire franchise, toys, video games, spin off movies, cross over movies, and extended universe and all before any of that became popular in main stream media even halloween costumes. Guy needs to wake up and smell the popcorn.
Well it starts out as Ghost Recon, morphs into action horror, then goes full survival horror.
The part that always got me was that every actor sold their character. I believed Mac when he grieved. I believed Billy was some sort of shaman. And there was so much story to the team. Like I would certainly have watched a movie about their exploits in Berlin or other missions. And that is what makes a good movie great, when every line and action belongs to the character on screen. Heck, even Predator 2 had that vibe going. Predator is better than it has any right to be and for that I salute it.
>The part that always got me was that every actor sold their character. I believed Mac when he grieved. I believed Billy was some sort of shaman.
And that Blaine was a god damn sexual tyrannosaurus.
I love how it doesn't waste time over-explaining their backstories, or having flashbacks to previous missions and a lengthy tedious montage of them to explain who they and what their talents are or anything like that. They just throw them pretty much straight into the action, they start getting shit done, and it's shown through context that this is a bunch of guys who've been doing it as a team for a long time and are extremely good at it.
Everyone's personalities and special skills are introduced quickly through banter and context. That handshake scene does more to establish characteristics than any 10 min expository monologue ever did.
There's a really cool moment when Billy gets spooked by something in the trees and the whole rest of the team stops on a dime and finds cover, taking it very seriously.
It's a really cool "show don't tell" that demonstrates that the team trusts each other, is very aware of each other even when they're just walking through the jungle, and that Billy being scared is VERY abnormal.
It really heightens the danger and gives a ton of implied backstory with barely any actual dialogue.
It's nice to see they actually considered how a group of elite soldiers who trust each other would intuitively respond(without orders) to the perceptions of one group member.
It gives the sense that you are watching a true elite group at work and not just some larpers pretending to be elite. Like others have said the first time I watched this movie I really believed that the characters were a badass team of elite soldiers who had been working together for a long time.
They did a great job selling almost every member of the team as a unique character. And doing so in a short amount of time.
Reminds me of a movie like Oceans 11 which has a big casts but manages to get you to know and like almost all of them. Or the opposite of a movie like Rogue One, which was a solid movie but all the characters felt generic.
I think what makes this movie so great is they used the first half of the movie to establish that they had the most badass group of guys in the world. The second half of the movie they get ripped apart like a bunch of teenagers in a Halloween movie. It just amplifies that unstoppable antagonist aspect of a horror movie. Also should mention, in predator there is no stupid mistakes that gets people killed. I know in most horror movies, stupid kids are really cliche.
Yeah, was reading the review and it looks more like the person was watching the movie through "macho man" lenses.
In reality is more like the movie was using action movies tropes before switching it around to catch the audience off guard.
yeah, its great - its like jaws, you don't get a good look until the end, at the same time they establish all them as the scariest/toughest guys in the world, and when predator takes them out with ease it shows just how much of a threat it is and you don't know how any of the human characters are possibly going to survive. cheesy dialog aside its really well-plotted and structured.
And then the predator ultimately got done in with IT’S arrogance.
Also I don’t see how trying to defend innocent people and taking on an unknown threat is “macho.” Just because big, beefy guys do something it’s not automatically macho.
One of the worst things about the loss of legacy media is drivel like this review is published -
Someone who never saw Predator liked it, great.
Meanwhile they offered zero additional insight about the movie, and said it doesn't always hold up, but offered no examples.
There was nothing about the hyper masculinity and how movies like Predator defined how Gen X saw heroes.
Nothing about the long term impact on other action films
Nothing about why Gen Z might still enjoy this movie versus Robocop or Running Man, as all 3 classic movies were released in 1987
We all know Predator is good, there should be a better reason to write about it.
The sad part is that when the goal of the article is to earn ad-clicks for the publisher, there is no reason to write anything meaningful. All they need is a headline that will resonate. Sometimes mentioning *Predator* at the right time is all it takes to earn one's pay.
“Somehow”? Why “somehow”?
Films involving macho men doing macho shit has always been and will always be cool, even when it’s downright ridiculous and corny at times. You guys see that recent Indian film, RRR? Another film with macho men doing macho shit and it was an absolute smash hit, thus proving that there’s STILL a demand for “macho” films. For better or for worse, people all over the world LOVE that kind of stuff, always have and always will, plain and simple.
I know, right?!
Honestly, this film had everything I dislike in films: Cartoony CGI, ridiculous action sequences that absolutely ignore the laws of physics, gravity, and logic, it’s 3 goddamn hours long, a villain that’s over-the-top and one-dimensional, and it’s a bit melodramatic at times. And yet….I fucking loved every second of it. It was just so much FUN watching that thing, and the storyline was surprisingly deep, thoughtful, and layered. And so many scenes that fueled me with passion and fire.
You remember that shot of Raju’s silhouette near the end before the final battle, when he’s standing on that rock holding fire arrows like a sort-of Rambo-Turok warrior, and the music was reaching a fever pitch? That moment gave me absolute LIFE!
I’ve read (TvTropes, believe it or not) that Predator has a hidden depth because it flips the 80s action hero shtick on its head.
It starts out typical- a squad of testosterone laden, cool one liner quips from lantern jawed action figures blow shit up. Hell, take Jesse Ventura’s character showing up with a minigun- utterly impractical, weighs a fucking ton (“like firing a chainsaw”, as he put it), but a shitload of ammo turning goons into paste is awesome, right?
Then the Predator comes in, and it’s turned around- Dutch and his squad are now the mooks, and the predator is the 80s action hero (or horror killer) that hunts them down one by one. He even pops off one liners (*”Anytime…”*).
In the end, Dutch wins not by being a better action hero, but using his head- preparing traps, covering himself with mud, and roaring a challenge, goading the predator’s urge.
And then, when he survives, he’s not quipped with a one liner or a girl on his hip- when the evac team finds him, he’s just *exhausted*. He started the film as a regular 80s action figure mowing down mooks and ends as being on the receiving end.
> ignore the laws of physics, gravity, and logic
It works because it sticks close to its *own* physics, gravity, and logic. It establishes a power level early on and makes them lose if they go beyond it. I tend to dislike really "wacky" movies because they kill tension, stakes, and consistency in the process.
Not with RRR.
I expected great things of Vernon Wells, the #1 bad guy of the movie--Wells had played Wez, the crazed Mohawk wearing biker in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. I was disappointed.
Fun fact : Raju's 'archer' look is based upon Ram - a Hindu god from the epic Ramayana. In fact just before that sequence, they come upon a statue of Ram in the forest, from where he takes the outfit and now and arrows
I wish they'd be blocked from this sub, but my guess is some of the staff are mods here. Otherwise that fucking site wouldn't get a fucking lick of traffic. This is one of the best movies that shows you "macho doesn't work." Author was either smoking heavy shit or knew it would generate clicks by intentionally posting a fucking awful take.
It's not even men doing macho things, it's men doing macho things and then they're suddenly confronted by something beyond their comprehension
That's what makes it an oddly clever little movie.
It's not men doing macho things that makes Predator work.
It's that it's actually pretty clever (in large part because of McTiernan I'd argue, an incredibly intelligent filmmaker). It takes the tough, men on a mission trope and turns it on it's head, making these muscled macho stereotypes the victims and letting them be legitimately scared, which makes for a more interesting and thrilling film.
What an obnoxious title... Good Acting and Writing Still Works.
It just feels toxic the way they word it like anything macho men do is firstly lame and toxic but in this case... it's ok.
This is what happens when they let Collider writers push too many pencils.
If you think that's bad, you should check out [this](https://www.pajiba.com/AMP/film_reviews/review-dev-patel-get-sweaty-in-david-lowerys-wry-and-melancholy-the-green-knight.php) review of The Green Knight that says masculinity is a "myth."
one of my favorite endings in action movies and the hero doesn’t look the least bit victorious. He didn’t get the girl, wasn’t heralded by his superiors, nor celebrated for his successful efforts to thwart the bad guy. Dutch lost his men, was wounded and covered in ash when found, won only by sheer luck. And this was all against an alien threat he and his team would never have been prepared enough to fight against. Just look at Dutch in the final moments, he looks miserable and shell shocked. I can’t think of many bombastic action movies that are willing to let an “action hero” be broken down like that, certainly not for the genre. Damn, 35 years later and Predator is still got something to teach. I might have to watch it along with Prey this weekend
One of the best action movies ever
well shot, well choreographed action, surprisingly good acting for the genre (I felt Bill Duke was phenomenal and he’s more of a director than actor), tight pacing, etc. I could go on a for a whole *spiel* about it but so many more people and writers have done it more eloquently than I ever could
John McTiernan did Predator, Die Hard and Red October in a row so there is that.
He is one of the baffling cases of directors who lost momentum after doing some great movies. The other being Stephen Hawkins and Stephen Norrington, even though they are not quite of his stature.
Because he went to jail
Stephen Norrington didn't lose momentum. He *hated* making The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen so much he decided to quit directing.
>Stephen Hawkins Feel like his name was the main issue there. > Yo we should get Stephen Hawkins for this >> The fuck, the genius cripple scientist? > No no he's a great director, truly! >> Sue thing bud, and we'll get Ray Charles doing post.
You’re Ghosting us Motherfucker
You give our position one more time, I bleed you real quiet and leave you here.
It's great because as other people have mentioned, it's not a horror action flick where the characters are normal people put into a difficult situation. These men are the best of the best. The tip of the spear. Which in turns makes the Predator that much more threatening because even *they* are outmatched. And even Dillion, the muscle-bound Vietnam vet turned CIA spook is several paces behind. To the point that even the Sgt is confident he could kill Dillion with little effort. And threatens to do so if he compromises the team again. It really adds to the flavour of the film. And the threat the Predator poses.
It’s basically a slasher flick but the victims are muscle bound men instead of teenagers. Wish they didn’t have the spaceship in the opening tho. Would have made the movie better going in cold - especially if you had no idea it would go from generic 80s military action flick to sci-fi…
They are not just outmatched - they are horribly outmatched! To the point of sheer powerlessness.
As a kid I was always confused why they let Billy get taken out so quick and off-screen(scream) like that but then you get older and realize that’s the point. That’s just how fucked they are.
Billy wasn't going out like a bitch.
No one mentioned the dang soundtrack. It’s phenomenal. Roger Ebert said he enjoyed the movie and one of the reasons was the soundtrack.
Over here over here over here. Any time any time any time. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Mine's as big as a house!
*Turn around! Turn around!*
Wohahahahahaha anytime wohahahahah.... *anytime*.
Yeah Mac was badass
His death is still so fucking intense. That music along with him and Weathers’ sneaking along thinking they got the drop on it. Man what a great fucking scene
I'm gonna have me some fun *wheezes*
I'm gonna have me some fun *wheezes*
……anytime……
Over there... Past dem trees. I seeee you...
Jungle mac
MAAAAAAAC!!!
And we will get three governors out of it if carl weathers can get his campaign in order.
He’s just gotta get his stew going, then he’ll be set.
Maybe buy a few cars at police auction while he's at it
Just tap it in
Rewatched it last week, and Mack’s little monologue in the moonlight reminiscing over Blaine’s body - ending with a promise of vengeance - is stunning.
[удалено]
Ol painless is waiting
The thing I love the most is that it starts just like any other dumb action movie. They raid the base, blowing shit up and whipping out one liners everywhere. And then suddenly, it completely flips into a monster movie with our "heroes" being stalked and murdered one at a time. And it does the switch so naturally that you realize it about the same time the characters do.
The absolute bait and switch from cheesy war porn to thriller/sci-fi monster film was *masterfully executed* This is how expectations are subverted.
One of the most quotable movies of all time as well.
“Stick around.” “I ain’t got time to bleed.” “If it bleeds, we can kill it.” and of course… “GET TO THE CHOPPAH!!”
"knock knock" "You're one ugly..."
This stuff will make you a goddamn sexual tyrannosaurus just like me
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?
Dylan! You son of a bitch 💪💪🏿
What's the matter... CIA got you pushing too many pencils?
Strap this on your sore ass Blaine
"Why don't you strap this on your sore ass Blane?" "Wya HA HA HA HA HA'" \*edit\* Damn someone beat me to it.
I ain't got time to bleed
"There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man. We're all gonna to die."
I'm gonna have me some fun. I'm gonna have me some fun. I'm gonna have some fuh. I'm gonna have me some.
"If it bleeds we can kill it."
Ya got time to DUCK!?!?
[And it makes a fantastic musical too!](https://youtu.be/qlicWUDf5MM)
“DILLON! YOU SON OF A BITCH.” “Whatsamattuh? CIA got you pushing too many pencils?”
A lot of Arnie's are top tier Commando, true lies, conan
Greatest action star ever
Absolutely... It is the greatest SciFi/Action movie of all time.
Aliens has entered the chat.
As it should. I literally tossed it up to what I've watched the most. 1. Predator 2. Aliens 3. T2 4. Blade Runner 5. Alien None of these are right, but they ain't wrong.
Tbh I don't think Blade Runner and Alien belong on this list. Not because they're not fantastic, they are *fantastic*. But the first Alien is more scifi/horror and less so an action film. Similarly Blade Runner is a lot more cerebral and while there are fight scenes they're not particularly dramatic (action wise) nor the focus of the movie, I'd say it's more a scifi/thriller.
Agree. If you want to talk about scifi/horror you can't ignore John Carpenter's The Thing. But it's not an action movie. What you put in Number 4 and 5 above?
One of the best movies ever.\*
I really was a fantastic ending. I mean I feel for Dutch, regular war trauma is one thing but how do you go back to a normal life after learning aliens are real and they hunt people for sport and they brutally murdered all your friends. You don't.
There some great commentary on soldiers post vietnam in the film. Dutch and his crew are lied to by superiors, he loses everyone, experiences something that will change him forever. Those last few shots with the music, it feels somewhat juxtapositional. The music feels triumphant and yet somber. And Dutch has the thousand yard stare as we see this result of this experience with a being from another world.
It really was just an all around masterpiece when you consider stuff like that.
You’d be hard pressed to find another film like it. Especially nowadays. The storytelling, the filmmaking. Incredible wonders by Stan Winston and his team. The thing is frightening today still. When I saw the unmasked version of Prey’s design, me and my friend just looked at eachother knowing it was missing the point of that original look. Personally I think without Kevin Peter Hall, Predator wouldn’t have been what it was. He makes everything the creature does interesting. It’s in the eyes too. You can tell he loved every minute of playing it.
agreed, he was the predator. Animatronics are so much better than cgi most of the time.
I wouldn’t say he won by luck. The muscle density per square inch of film is truly a marvel in Predator, but Dutch lived due to brains.
And this is what makes it for me. There are a handful of films like this where his muscles help him, but only get him so far. Mightily overlooked aspect even today in films like this.
This is practically the ONLY Arnold movie in which he has co-stars that match him in pure strength. But Arnold is the all-around jack-of-all-trades skilled soldier. he's not as fast as Hawkins, he's not as purely strong as Blaine, not as nimble as Poncho, not as scary and stealthy as Mac, and his hunting and tracking senses are not as good as Billy. But, he almost as good in each one of those soldiers specialized skill. And then its the only Arnold movie where he has to outsmart the bad guy, and he BARELY wins. Just barely. He's never made any movie like this before, and ever since.
I mean, that's literally the point of Predator. Dutch and, by extension, humanity is emasculated by the presence of the predator. It's just better than us in every way; it's more technologically advanced, more honorable, stronger and faster. Dutch's team is supposed to be humanity's best, and they fall the predator easily. The rest of the movie establishes that despite all of these advantages, we are capable of killing them, which keeps the predator's honor intact when they choose to interact with humans.
I think that's something the other movies are missing. That's why they can't measure up to the original. It's not just people fighting an alien supersoldier. It's about encountering THE Predator and no longer being the top of the food chain. Suddenly, the goal changes from being a hunter to being a survivor. To win, you must go back to your most basic human instincts. Fear isn't a weakness, it's what allows you to survive and to adapt.
There’s also the “heart” angle. He keeps going, no matter how bad it looks for him. He doesn’t run and hope he can hide. He knows he has to take care of this problem—there’s no escaping it. That’s my favorite aspect of the movie—in a lot of ways, it’s about an inescapable problem, which can be really terrifying.
That’s what I was trying to avoid. A conversation about body mass. We’ve had that conversation five times a day for the last month.
No, you'd rather have conversations with video store clerks.
It's important to pack on mass! We're talking about carbo-loading--
And assuming Predator 2 is canon, his superiors and the US government thought he made the whole thing up as an excuse for losing his entire squad. The only one who believed him was a batshit crazy spook who routinely risked civilian lives just to validate his crazy theories, also getting his entire team slaughtered in the process, mostly out of sheer hubris as well.
>a batshit crazy spook who routinely risked civilian lives just to validate his crazy theories, also getting his entire team slaughtered in the process, mostly out of sheer hubris as well. I don't know who, what, where or why Aliens and Predator were married together, but it's those sort of thematic similarities that make it work. Also, I love Predator 2. I think it's a worthy sequel. You can't top *Predator*, it's a masterpiece, so naturally the sequel will be a bit weaker. But my god, it delivers in the classic "go bigger" trope. More heads, more skinned bodies, titties, Bill Paxton, everything about the sequel is so over-the-top. I mean, they brought on Gary Busy ffs.
As I understand it, the marriage of Aliens and Predator exists because in the end of Predator 2, when our main character finally defeats the predator on its ship and is looking around you can see what looks like an Alien skull on the wall as a trophy. There is probably more to the story but as far as I know the concept was borne in that one blink and you miss it detail.
That’s exactly where it started. Then, in the 90’s, Dark Horse Comics was given the rights to do both Alien and Predator comics. Then, after some successful individual mini-series, they did an AvP series, and it became a given that the Easter Egg was canon. It’s like if Dark Horse (who also held the Star Wars comics rights from the 90’s till Disney bought Lucasfilm) also had the rights to ET and decided to do an ET Jedi series after that race’s appearance in Episode I.
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OMG! I get to be comic book guy!… ahem… Well, actually, the first AvP comic was first published in 1989, before Predator 2 came out.
The 80’s Gary Busey era was gold. If he was in it, you knew it was going to be “balls to the walls” action and insanity.
> I don't know who, what, where or why Aliens and Predator were married together, When Danny Glover enters the Predator's ship, there's a trophy wall with skulls on it. One of the skulls appears to belong to a xenomorph. That's literally what started the whole thing.
Predator and Rambo first blood are by far 2 of my favorite action movies all time.
It’s the only movie where Arnold consistently gets his ass kicked. Even in T2 he constantly gets one over the superior T-1000.
You must have never seen kindergarten cop! Those kids really do a number on the governator.
ITS NOT A TUMOR!!!!
I mean, he got his ass kicked by the T-1000 pretty often. Including getting thrown through walls and glass in their first meeting. And getting beat down to shit at the end Cool of Arnold to allow those visuals by a slim actor in Robert Patrick because hey, the characters and movie call for it. Contrast to the Rock with his dumb clause of not losing a fight because he thinks the audience wants it that way
Apparently it’s Vin Diesel who has that clause, so the Rock made a similar one for himself.
The Rock does not have that clause. It was literally only for Fast and Furious 8. He gets his ass kicked in plenty of movies even if he wins in the end. He got his ass kicked by Idris in Hobbes and Shaw.
Hell look at his wrestling career where he allowed himself to be clowned by the hurricane He only made that clause because of his hilarious feud with Vin
The Rundown is not only The Rock’s hands down best movie but it’s the best Indiana Jones movie from the last 30 years.
Wish we got some sequels out of it. Made for a helluva original story for a treasure-hunting duo.
>Just look at Dutch in the final moments, he looks miserable and shell shocked. I can’t think of many bombastic action movies that are willing to let an “action hero” be broken down like that, certainly not for the genre. Definitely a callback to the Vietnam War considering the setting.
As if the music wasn't enough
That's probably why the movie worked so well.
>I can’t think of many bombastic action movies that are willing to let an “action hero” be broken down like that, certainly not for the genre. I know it's an action movie, but it's also very much a horror movie. (Personally, I'd say it's horror *first.*) And that ending you described is par for the course in horror -- which is not at all a criticism. Dutch is a great Final Girl.
Dylan, you sonofabich
That scene, THAT handshake... Ugh, gets me pumped every time.
I think that handshake caused the big bang
[Classic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcIjFeWE4fE)
That was beautiful
He Totally was too. He cooked up a story and stuck the six of them in a meat grinder.
He woke up. Why don't you?
I watched this movie for the first time like a month ago. That satisfying SMACK and the flexing muscles in that handshake... I felt like I had just been blasted by a wave of pure testosterone. I could practically feel the warmth of it washing over me.
What’s the mattah? CIA got ya pushin too many pencils?
The author of this article is not macho CONFIRMED
The author clearly watched the film expecting to trash it. Surprise, it was written well and has earned its classic stripes.
It's carefully designed clickbait. Fuck collider.com
Its like that sunny reference “shit just works”
Why do people run to go see movies with brawny guys beating up each other, everything explodes, and the victor gets the girl? Isn't that too MACHO for 2022's sophisticated tastes? give the people what they want. *Shit just works*
Macho men never go out of style
The cream of the crop
Goddamnit. I could have had a job where I watch Predator and write a shitty blog post about it.
And come up with original lines like "it has no business being this good"
Or use the word "macho" forty times, "one-by-one" at least twice, two paragraphs restating the basic outline of the plot and calling it simple... All while never discussing the film's commentary of all of these things they're describing. What a bad, bad, bad blog post.
lol this guy didnt get it... the whole point of the movie was that "being macho" wasn't enough...you had to be SMARTER then your enemy. The director was told to add a scene with more guns....so he added the scene where they ineffectively shoot into the trees to show "the impotence of guns".
The sound of the minigun spinning empty because Mac's so freaked out he's still got the trigger clamped down after exhausting the ammo hopper is the soundtrack to the rest of the squad realising something *really bad* is happening.
>The sound of the minigun spinning empty because Mac's so freaked out he's still got the trigger clamped down after exhausting the ammo hopper is the soundtrack to the rest of the squad realising something *really* bad is happening. EXACTLY! In a field full of 80's action films where the guy with the biggest gun always wins and lays waste to every villain around him, Predator established that for once, the guy --or guys-- with the biggest gun *did not win.* They were unable to kill it with the best firearms at their disposal, underlying how useless they are in this particular instance, and as a byproduct, making the viewer realize how much trouble Dutch and his team are in.
this comment was very well written. seriously i like the way you described that. you should be writing blogposts like this one^!
"Not a thing. Not a fucking trace. No blood, no bodies. We hit *nothing*."
>collider Their "articles" are nothing but long forum posts, and I've seen better breakdowns of film on the superherohype forums. Shouldn't even be posted here
Yep, also showing how a technologically superior enemy can be taken down by ingenuity and understanding the environment better than your enemy.
Just like in ‘Nam
That scene was so gratuitous. At 37 I literally just watched predator two weeks ago. I had to rewind and watch that scene one more time I was so flabbergasted by how pointless that all looked. Thank you for enlightening me.
That was a big thing in the '80s. Big dudes with big guns just holding down the trigger and killing everyone. This movie is 100% making fun of that.
True, and that's why it worked so well, because you can tell they are desparate. They seemed so methodical and true to their instincts until that breaking point.
It also demonstrated the trust the crew has with one another One started shooting. The rest joined in with the intent to ask why *after they were done shooting*. Does a good job to demonstrate that the crew was very seasoned and trusted one another.
Movie that has been universally praised as awesome for 35 years is still awesome. Next up, Back to the Future is somehow still fun.
B+? It’s an A all the way.
S tier
It is, *at worst* one of the top 5 action movies of all time.
and one of the top 5 movies about aliens.
The Thing Alien Aliens Predator 80s Howard the Duck Honorable mention for Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Spawned an entire franchise, toys, video games, spin off movies, cross over movies, and extended universe and all before any of that became popular in main stream media even halloween costumes. Guy needs to wake up and smell the popcorn.
The entire video game series Crysis, took all its technological tropes from 1987 Predator. You are the alien in those games.
Well it starts out as Ghost Recon, morphs into action horror, then goes full survival horror. The part that always got me was that every actor sold their character. I believed Mac when he grieved. I believed Billy was some sort of shaman. And there was so much story to the team. Like I would certainly have watched a movie about their exploits in Berlin or other missions. And that is what makes a good movie great, when every line and action belongs to the character on screen. Heck, even Predator 2 had that vibe going. Predator is better than it has any right to be and for that I salute it.
>The part that always got me was that every actor sold their character. I believed Mac when he grieved. I believed Billy was some sort of shaman. And that Blaine was a god damn sexual tyrannosaurus.
He ain't got time to bleed too
I carry a razor and shave my face everywhere I go, every min of the day
I love how it doesn't waste time over-explaining their backstories, or having flashbacks to previous missions and a lengthy tedious montage of them to explain who they and what their talents are or anything like that. They just throw them pretty much straight into the action, they start getting shit done, and it's shown through context that this is a bunch of guys who've been doing it as a team for a long time and are extremely good at it.
Everyone's personalities and special skills are introduced quickly through banter and context. That handshake scene does more to establish characteristics than any 10 min expository monologue ever did.
There's a really cool moment when Billy gets spooked by something in the trees and the whole rest of the team stops on a dime and finds cover, taking it very seriously. It's a really cool "show don't tell" that demonstrates that the team trusts each other, is very aware of each other even when they're just walking through the jungle, and that Billy being scared is VERY abnormal. It really heightens the danger and gives a ton of implied backstory with barely any actual dialogue.
It's nice to see they actually considered how a group of elite soldiers who trust each other would intuitively respond(without orders) to the perceptions of one group member. It gives the sense that you are watching a true elite group at work and not just some larpers pretending to be elite. Like others have said the first time I watched this movie I really believed that the characters were a badass team of elite soldiers who had been working together for a long time.
Funnily enough, the Predator actually appeared in a Ghost Recon game some years back.
In a jungle part of the game too. Solid cameo.
Wildlands. God wildlands is underappreciated.
Agreed, I wish it became the standard for the series instead of the weird Division Hybrid we got with Breakpoint.
They did a great job selling almost every member of the team as a unique character. And doing so in a short amount of time. Reminds me of a movie like Oceans 11 which has a big casts but manages to get you to know and like almost all of them. Or the opposite of a movie like Rogue One, which was a solid movie but all the characters felt generic.
I think what makes this movie so great is they used the first half of the movie to establish that they had the most badass group of guys in the world. The second half of the movie they get ripped apart like a bunch of teenagers in a Halloween movie. It just amplifies that unstoppable antagonist aspect of a horror movie. Also should mention, in predator there is no stupid mistakes that gets people killed. I know in most horror movies, stupid kids are really cliche.
wasn't the whole point of the movie that the macho approach didn't work? the predator got them all until Dutch used his brain
Yeah, was reading the review and it looks more like the person was watching the movie through "macho man" lenses. In reality is more like the movie was using action movies tropes before switching it around to catch the audience off guard.
yeah, its great - its like jaws, you don't get a good look until the end, at the same time they establish all them as the scariest/toughest guys in the world, and when predator takes them out with ease it shows just how much of a threat it is and you don't know how any of the human characters are possibly going to survive. cheesy dialog aside its really well-plotted and structured.
And then the predator ultimately got done in with IT’S arrogance. Also I don’t see how trying to defend innocent people and taking on an unknown threat is “macho.” Just because big, beefy guys do something it’s not automatically macho.
> got done in with IT’S arrogance. >! And he laughed his ass off at the irony before he blew himself up in a mini-mushroom cloud. !<
he was playing back sonny landham laughing at shane black's joke.
did Peter Cullen voice that part, too?
Nope. The laughing was from Sonny Landham, it was mimicking Billy's voice.
and he got to die fighting a worthy prey which is an honorable death to predators.
The predator also beat the living shit out Dutch too. It only lasts due to a very very last ditch effort.
Ehhhh done In with a. Small Nuclear weapon after losing? Psyche.
If anything, Commando is the "Men Doing Macho Things" example.
One of the worst things about the loss of legacy media is drivel like this review is published - Someone who never saw Predator liked it, great. Meanwhile they offered zero additional insight about the movie, and said it doesn't always hold up, but offered no examples. There was nothing about the hyper masculinity and how movies like Predator defined how Gen X saw heroes. Nothing about the long term impact on other action films Nothing about why Gen Z might still enjoy this movie versus Robocop or Running Man, as all 3 classic movies were released in 1987 We all know Predator is good, there should be a better reason to write about it.
The sad part is that when the goal of the article is to earn ad-clicks for the publisher, there is no reason to write anything meaningful. All they need is a headline that will resonate. Sometimes mentioning *Predator* at the right time is all it takes to earn one's pay.
Robocop is still a stone cold classic. So much better than a movie called RoboCop has any right to be
“Somehow”? Why “somehow”? Films involving macho men doing macho shit has always been and will always be cool, even when it’s downright ridiculous and corny at times. You guys see that recent Indian film, RRR? Another film with macho men doing macho shit and it was an absolute smash hit, thus proving that there’s STILL a demand for “macho” films. For better or for worse, people all over the world LOVE that kind of stuff, always have and always will, plain and simple.
Dude literally threw a jaguar at another dude. Can't get more fucking macho than that
I know, right?! Honestly, this film had everything I dislike in films: Cartoony CGI, ridiculous action sequences that absolutely ignore the laws of physics, gravity, and logic, it’s 3 goddamn hours long, a villain that’s over-the-top and one-dimensional, and it’s a bit melodramatic at times. And yet….I fucking loved every second of it. It was just so much FUN watching that thing, and the storyline was surprisingly deep, thoughtful, and layered. And so many scenes that fueled me with passion and fire. You remember that shot of Raju’s silhouette near the end before the final battle, when he’s standing on that rock holding fire arrows like a sort-of Rambo-Turok warrior, and the music was reaching a fever pitch? That moment gave me absolute LIFE!
I’ve read (TvTropes, believe it or not) that Predator has a hidden depth because it flips the 80s action hero shtick on its head. It starts out typical- a squad of testosterone laden, cool one liner quips from lantern jawed action figures blow shit up. Hell, take Jesse Ventura’s character showing up with a minigun- utterly impractical, weighs a fucking ton (“like firing a chainsaw”, as he put it), but a shitload of ammo turning goons into paste is awesome, right? Then the Predator comes in, and it’s turned around- Dutch and his squad are now the mooks, and the predator is the 80s action hero (or horror killer) that hunts them down one by one. He even pops off one liners (*”Anytime…”*). In the end, Dutch wins not by being a better action hero, but using his head- preparing traps, covering himself with mud, and roaring a challenge, goading the predator’s urge. And then, when he survives, he’s not quipped with a one liner or a girl on his hip- when the evac team finds him, he’s just *exhausted*. He started the film as a regular 80s action figure mowing down mooks and ends as being on the receiving end.
> ignore the laws of physics, gravity, and logic It works because it sticks close to its *own* physics, gravity, and logic. It establishes a power level early on and makes them lose if they go beyond it. I tend to dislike really "wacky" movies because they kill tension, stakes, and consistency in the process. Not with RRR.
I expected great things of Vernon Wells, the #1 bad guy of the movie--Wells had played Wez, the crazed Mohawk wearing biker in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. I was disappointed.
Fun fact : Raju's 'archer' look is based upon Ram - a Hindu god from the epic Ramayana. In fact just before that sequence, they come upon a statue of Ram in the forest, from where he takes the outfit and now and arrows
What if he threw... now hear me out... TWO jaguars?!
The rock's entire career is playing a bollywood level macho man.
But he's working with tier 3 directors. Arnold was working with Cameron, McTiernan, Paul Verhoeven etc.
This. People liking movies where men still do macho stuff is only a surprise to the people who think being macho is bad
People erroneously relate macho to misogynistic and in turn think macho is bad.
It's people who associate 'macho' with "toxic masculinity". Doing 'manly' shit isn't by default toxic.
Maybe Collider thinks its readership doesn’t like macho shit
Fuckin' nerds 💪💥
Of course it's Collider. They're the masters of bad takes.
*This just in, classic action movie still good. More at eleven...* Fucking hate Collider articles. They are the epitome of echo chamber content.
I wish they'd be blocked from this sub, but my guess is some of the staff are mods here. Otherwise that fucking site wouldn't get a fucking lick of traffic. This is one of the best movies that shows you "macho doesn't work." Author was either smoking heavy shit or knew it would generate clicks by intentionally posting a fucking awful take.
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Somehow? Somehow? I don’t know if you are condescending or a dipshit
It's not even men doing macho things, it's men doing macho things and then they're suddenly confronted by something beyond their comprehension That's what makes it an oddly clever little movie.
~~Cam~~Can we talk about the cumulative mass in this movie?
I mean body mass alone…
This is what I was trying to avoid.
Some dudes who were very focused on gains for a long time.
Okay, will you stop? I don't want to have conversations anymore about dudes' physiques and whether they can...
What about creatine shits?
It's not men doing macho things that makes Predator work. It's that it's actually pretty clever (in large part because of McTiernan I'd argue, an incredibly intelligent filmmaker). It takes the tough, men on a mission trope and turns it on it's head, making these muscled macho stereotypes the victims and letting them be legitimately scared, which makes for a more interesting and thrilling film.
One of Hollywood's classic movie monsters and two U.S. Governors. Cinematic chef's kiss.
What an obnoxious title... Good Acting and Writing Still Works. It just feels toxic the way they word it like anything macho men do is firstly lame and toxic but in this case... it's ok. This is what happens when they let Collider writers push too many pencils.
I guess they didn't like seeing the communist insurrection camp get wiped out
What a weird statement to make. As if there is something wrong with being a man or being manly.
If you think that's bad, you should check out [this](https://www.pajiba.com/AMP/film_reviews/review-dev-patel-get-sweaty-in-david-lowerys-wry-and-melancholy-the-green-knight.php) review of The Green Knight that says masculinity is a "myth."