Predator

The 1987 scifi action film Predator stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Bill Duke, Elpidia Carrillo, Richard Chaves, Shane Black, R.G. Armstrong, and Kevin Peter Hall.  It is produced by Lawrence Gordon, Joel Silver, and John Davis.  The director is John McTiernan.

The story follows a task force of seven men sent into the Guatemalan jungle to rescue two hostages from guerilla forces.  On the way, they encounter the remains of a downed helicopter and several skinned bodies identified as Army Special Forces.  All the men are horrified by the brutality of the killings and wonder why the rebel forces would skin their enemies alive.  Upon reaching the guerrilla camp, they make quick order of the occupying soldiers.  They take them all out except for one, a girl named Anna.  Dutch, the leader of the task force, soon discovers that the hostages were killed and the whole operation was a ploy to get him and his team to destroy the enemy camp.   They take Anna prisoner and head to the extraction point.  Along that journey, the team finds out that a mysterious creature in the jungle is stalking them.  One by one, each member of the force is slain by the creature until only Dutch and Anna are left.

One intriging aspect of the film is the predator itself.  It is an alien being that hunts other hostile species for sport.  The predator will not kill anyone who is unarmed because it enjoys the thrill of the hunt.  This species of alien can only see through infrared, a fact Dutch exploits late in the film by covering himself in mud to hide his body heat signature.  It is armed with more advanced technology, specifically a plasma weapon attached to the left shoulder of its body armor which it uses to kill victims from a distance.  An example of this occurs when Mac, a soldier on Dutch’s team, tries to destroy the predator by sneaking up on it when he thinks it isn’t looking.  But the alien hunter spots Mac first and blows his head off before he can get a shot at it.  A mask covers its face, which we later see when the predator removes his armor to challenge Dutch to a hand-to-hand fight.  The predator’s blood is green and glows.  We see it most prominently when it tries to repair itself after a gun battle with Dutch’s task team.

Many people compare the Alien and Predator series.  Although these two alien species have many similarities, in particular their enjoyment of killing, they are somewhat different and are, in many ways, complete opposites.  The alien is seen as more animal-like, whereas the predator is more human-like.  The alien lacks intelligence and judgment and kills completely at random.  The predator is much smarter and only kills those who are armed.  The alien enjoys only the killing and takes no pride in hunting, unlike the predator who sees the hunt as a sport and a thrill.  The hot season is the only time you will find the predator, but the alien comes out under any conditions.  Alien came before Predator, so you could say that, in some ways, Alien could have inspired Predator.  The predator may have meant to be a similar species to the alien, but almost a complete reimagination of it.

To wrap, if you are a fan of the Alien series but seek a more intelligent and human-like alien character with more advanced  weaponry, then Predator is your kind of flick.