Film Talk: Looking Back – 35 years of getting to the chopper with Predator

Directed by John McTiernan and written by brothers Jim and John Thomas, 1987’s Predator stands as one of the most famous sci-fi action flicks of all time, and though some consider it a somewhat guilty pleasure, a pleasure it is nonetheless.

The first instalment in the Predator franchise, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger himself as the leader of an elite paramilitary rescue team on a mission to save hostages in guerrilla-held territory in a Central American rainforest. Little does Mr Schwarzenegger know however that the mission will lead him to be stalked by a deadly and technologically advanced alien hell-bent on making the muscle-man its prey.

With the flick having been written in 1984 under the working title of Hunter, filming for Predator took place in early 1986. With superb creature effects devised by Stan Winston, the budget for the film was around $15 million.

But would this terrifying sci-fi death romp deliver enough financial return to make producers happy? The hunt for success was on...

As an unidentified interstellar spacecraft penetrates the Earth’s atmosphere, landing somewhere on the tangled jungle of Central America, the battle-hardened leader of an elite military team, Major Alan ‘Dutch’ Schaefer (Schwarzenegger), and his hand-picked men begin to deploy to the region.

Entrusted with locating a cabinet minister and eliminating the area’s scattered guerrilla pockets, before long, this routine rescue mission turns into a bloodbath for the team. Macabre findings of ritualistically mutilated bodies can only mean one thing: someone – or something – is hunting them down for sport.

Dutch must put his extensive combat experience to good use and summon up the strength to make a stand against a merciless and incredibly advanced extraterrestrial hunter (Kevin Peter Hall).

But, outmatched and out-gunned, with the major’s primitive weaponry being no match for the creature’s state-of-the-art armament, can there be any escape from the wrath of the Predator?

A box office success, following its release Predator in fact grossed $98.3 million. Admittedly, initial reviews were mixed and critical response divided, but over the decades since its release the flick has been heralded as a classic of the action genre.

The success of Predator spawned a media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys.

Three direct sequels followed it – Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010) and The Predator (2018), and a prequel instalment, Prey, was released earlier this year.

A fan-boy freak out crossover with the Alien franchise produced the Alien vs Predator films, which include 2004’s Alien vs Predator and 2007’s Aliens vs Predator: Requiem (2007).

With Arnie firmly entrenched in his action hero wheelhouse and the utilisation of some pretty impressive special effects technology, Predator stands as a brilliantly entertaining – though somewhat grizzly – yarn which has stood as exceptional lads-night-in fodder for 35 years.

No, it may not be a piece of intellectually-provoking or emotive storytelling – but as a sci-fi action adventure designed to get the blood pumping, it delivers perfectly.

Fun, fierce and iconic, this one will have a place in the hearts of the science fiction fraternity forever.