Predator (1987)

The Worst Film Ever

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Predator works as an action, sci-fi and horror film that set as much trends for the genres as Alien did. Both genres contain excellently designed creatures, memorable characters and musical scores. People grew up with the two film franchises and enjoy both for a reason, both are iconic and enjoyable, both set the stage for films today, both are regarded as two of the greatest sci-fi films of all-time. The reason I say this is because I constantly hear the argument that Alien is better when in all actuality, they're two different and iconic films that set the stage for a new generation.

The original blu-ray of this movie was one of the very worst blu-rays when it comes to picture quality. They latter produced another blu-ray version (called the "Ultimate Hunter Edition") in a sad attempt to make the movie look better. This edition (the "Ultimate Hunter Edition") appears slightly better, but some of the scenes look really unnatural due to heavy software-processing.I have just finished watching this newest, third edition, a 4K UHD version, of this movie. Unfortunately, you still feel like you are watching a DVD! This UHD edition simply demonstrates once again that you just can't create something nice, out of nothing except a very low quality print. None of those fancy terms, UHD, HDR, whatever, are going to be helpful, because as the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch...BTW, I found this UHD version to be slightly darker than the blu-ray Ultimate Hunter Edition. This seems to be the only thing positive I can say (about this UHD)

ACTING 5/10 Though we could say it has Arnie at his best here, Predator (1987) is a festival of plank characters with strong personalities.SOUNDTRACK 5/10 Overall, generic action movie soundtrack for the time.SPECIAL EFFECTS 7/10 Even though they did a great job with what they had, you'll be seeing some weird CGI and that heat detection camera view that is overused throughout the movie.PLOT 6/10 Predator spawned a legacy of his own, but we gotta be real here: its plot is as simple as it gets. "A rescue time is called to, duh, rescue hostages from a bunch of guerrillas." Sounds generic, and it is! The plot twist: they are being hunted since the beginning by a killing machine creature. Nothing is explained enough and it's all about them being hunted down.OVERALL 6 (5.75)/10 Predator creates an inovative, sort of weird, plot that manages to deliver. It's nothing but good ol' 80's action.

Along with first two Terminator films, Predator can definitely be considered the pinnacle of Schwarzenegger's carreer. It has everything one needs from a 80s action film - impossibly powerful musclebound heroes, excessive gunfire, lots of explosions, Reagan-era gung-ho interventionism, and a cool villain. What makes Predator good is not just that it has these things, but that it also manages to execute them in a way that elevates the material. Due to countless crossovers in the expanded universe, culminating in two films, Predator is often compared to Alien (or, more specifically, fellow 80s actioner Aliens). While this is understandable, Predator really is a very different kind of beast. Besides the obvious differences- the Predator creature is no mere animal, but a technologically advanced trophy hunter - it is first and foremost an action film, and not a horror film. It is essentially the template of any action movie from the 80s starring Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme or Norris, with the big difference of having an alien monster as its villain instead of your usual drug dealer, Soviet assassin or South American warlord. This also means that the Predator is a far more interesting opponent than any Schwarzenegger faced before - whereas Schwarzenegger usually bests his filmic opponents through superior strength or firepower, Predator drives home the point that this won't be business as usual for Arnold. Early action scenes of Schwarzenegger and fellow strongmen Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Bill Weathers and more easily dispatching human guerillas are contrasted by the ease with which these superhuman mercenaries are killed one by one by the Predator, which has tech that makes their weapons look primitive by comparison. They can't see it as it can cloak itself, and it can see them all the better because it sees in infra-red. Ultimately, Schwarzenegger has to use strategy rather than strength to defeat it. And even in defeat, the creature nearly takes him with it.A very story of muscular mercenaries being targeted by a big game hunter from outer space is elevated by gorgeous location shooting that perfectly captures the thick, inhospitable jungle they are traversing ('badass bush'), steady nuts-and-bolts camera work that lets the actors and environment speak for themselves and a briljant score by the always great Alan Silvestri. While the score is at times delightfully cheesy and oh-so 80s (though not nearly as much as, say, Chuck Norris's Delta Force), it does capture the tension well and helps create the film's giddy cat-and-mouse atmosphere.Predator was never meant to be its own Alien-esque franchise, starting out as just another Schwarzenegger vehicle (only with an alien twist). In the end, it has managed to escape from Schwarzenegger's Olympian shadow to become a long-running series in its own right. But no installment - either the stand-alone sequels or the Alien crossovers - has managed to recapture the unique spirit of the original.