The script is peppered with laugh-out loud one liners and memorable characters. Alan Silvestri provides a chest-thumping soundtrack, and director John McTiernan absolutely made his mark as a bona fide action thriller director with this, his first big-studio effort (he would, by the way, go on to prove his mettle even further one year after with a little film called DIE HARD).
It's not just Schwarzenegger who shines here. The supporting cast includes Carl ‘Apollo Creed’ Weathers who proves to be just as awesome from his very first scene as we see THAT handshake / arm-wrestle greeting. As well as future screenwriting genius Shane Black as radio-geek ‘Hawkins’ (Black had already landed in Hollywood with his script for Lethal Weapon), my favourite of Dutch’s team has to be ‘Billy’ played by the late Sonny Landham. As the ‘scout / tracker’ of the team, Billy senses something is not quite right about what should be a standard mission for such a non-stop wild bunch – “…we’re all gonna die.”
And yes, the unseen alien menace does indeed take the team out one by one with laser-sharp ferocity.
The final act sees Dutch stripped of all his automatic weapons and falling into an almost caveman-like state. Covered in mud and with barely a few lines of dialogue (Predator becomes almost like a silent film at this point), he starts to become the ‘predator’ himself as he seeks revenge against the beast.
Don't miss your chance to see this rock-solid classic on the big screen.
Predator is showing at Vue 9 November. Get Predator film tickets and times here.
