A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 3 wins & 6 nominations total
Steve Boyum
- Hostage Executed by the Russian
- (uncredited)
Franco Columbu
- Medic
- (uncredited)
Peter Cullen
- The Predator
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
Henry Kingi
- Guerilla Soldier Blown Up in Van
- (uncredited)
Sven-Ole Thorsen
- Russian Officer
- (uncredited)
Jack Verbois
- Guerilla Soldier Helicopter Pilot
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film provided a variety of hardships for the actors, such as leeches, snakes, stifling humidity, heat, and rough terrain. All of the night scenes were filmed during freezing cold temperatures, which was especially hard on Arnold Schwarzenegger during the latter half of the film, when the mud he had to wear (actually pottery clay) became cold and wet. He was warned it would take his body temperature down a few degrees, and he shivered non-stop, even when they tried to heat him with lamps (it just made the clay dry out). He tried drinking jagertee, a schnapps mixture, to warm him, but that just got him drunk.
- GoofsWhen Dutch and his team raid the guerrilla camp, they are still looking for hostages, as they only know for certain that one of the captives has been executed (the one shot by the Russian advisor). Yet during their assault, they virtually raze the camp with reckless abandon, blowing up entire buildings without ever bothering to check if the hostages might be inside. It isn't until after the firefight that Mac bothers to look for the men they are there to rescue.
This has been listed as a plot hole although whilst potentially a character mistake it isn't a plot hole. The plot of the movie isn't broken because of the way the team attack the camp. All the hostages were dead anyway (even though the team didn't know it at the time), so in the end it didn't matter.
- Crazy creditsAll the 7 main cast members re-appear in ascending order as their names are displayed to give a smile to the audience in appreciation.
- Alternate versionsIn a version commonly shown on American television for a 2-hours-with-commercials time slot, all shots of the Predator's naked face and all instances of the Predator mimicking human speech are removed. The corresponding scenes are *not* removed for Predator 2.
- ConnectionsEdited into Quantum Leap: The Leap Home: Part 2 (Vietnam) - April 7, 1970 (1990)
- SoundtracksLong, Tall Sally
Performed by Little Richard
Written by Little Richard (as R. Penniman), Enotris Johnson (as E. Johnson) and Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell (as R. Blackwell)
Courtesy of Specialty Records
Featured review
One of the most effortlessly enjoyable action movies of the 80s
31 years after its original release, it's hard to believe that there was once a time when John McTiernan's Predator wasn't revered as one of the best action movies of the modern era. Critics savaged the film, although now even the stuffiest of critics cannot deny its shamelessly muscly, bullet-spraying, blood-spattering charm. Predator is now held in as equally high regard as McTiernan's other action classic Die Hard - released the following year - and featured Arnold Schwarzenegger at the very top of his game. This was long before the Austrian hulk made a swerve into politics and became the self-parody he is today. The premise is almost offensively simple, but the execution makes this one of the most effortlessly enjoyable action movies of the 1980s. McTiernan knows exactly how to tear a jungle apart with gunfire, and set up his disposable supporting characters for a grisly death.
Special Forces major Dutch Schaefer (Schwarzenegger) is "choppahed" into South America, where is he given a mission to rescue an official who has fallen into the hands of some insurgents. Schaefer and his team - played by Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves and Shane Black - are met by Schaefer's old Army buddy Dillon (Carl Weathers), and the two greet each other in the most 80s way possible by flexing their oiled and oversized muscles in a manly handshake. As the team venture further into the jungle, it becomes clear that Dillon isn't telling the whole story, and the mission becomes even more difficult when they capture a female hostage named Anna (Elpidia Carrillo). Yet this is far from their biggest problem, as on their tail is an alien with the ability to camouflage itself and see with thermal imaging, backed by an arsenal of powerful extra-terrestrial gadgets and a healthy appetite for the hunt. With the group being picked off one by one by this formidable enemy, Schaefer must get to the extraction point before he becomes another skull in the beast's growing collection of trophies.
The plot can be compared to countless B-movies throughout the years, but what worked for Alien also works for Predator. Take a simple premise, add some budget, bind it together with some good old-fashioned decent film-making, and the result is a timeless classic. Yes, the special effects have dated and most of the actors' stars have somewhat dimmed in the decades since, but Predator is even more of a blast now than it was when I stole my brother's VHS twenty-odd years ago. The sequels, spin-offs and comic-books have gone to great length to explain and develop the Predator's mythology, but McTiernan simply lets the monster do its thing. Played by the 7 ft 2 in Kevin Peter Hall, the Predator's formidable armour, weaponry, stealth and sheer repulsiveness has made it a sci-fi/horror icon. Like the Alien franchise, subsequent movies have felt the need to explain the creature's backstory, damaging their otherworldly mystery in the process, but Predator simply throws him into the mix and lets him loose on our world's finest warriors. With star Shane Black's reboot The Predator set to arrive shortly, now is the perfect time to revisit what drew audiences to the series in the first place, in spite of how your attitude may have soured after those terrible Alien cross-overs and the forgettable third entry from 2010.
Special Forces major Dutch Schaefer (Schwarzenegger) is "choppahed" into South America, where is he given a mission to rescue an official who has fallen into the hands of some insurgents. Schaefer and his team - played by Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Richard Chaves and Shane Black - are met by Schaefer's old Army buddy Dillon (Carl Weathers), and the two greet each other in the most 80s way possible by flexing their oiled and oversized muscles in a manly handshake. As the team venture further into the jungle, it becomes clear that Dillon isn't telling the whole story, and the mission becomes even more difficult when they capture a female hostage named Anna (Elpidia Carrillo). Yet this is far from their biggest problem, as on their tail is an alien with the ability to camouflage itself and see with thermal imaging, backed by an arsenal of powerful extra-terrestrial gadgets and a healthy appetite for the hunt. With the group being picked off one by one by this formidable enemy, Schaefer must get to the extraction point before he becomes another skull in the beast's growing collection of trophies.
The plot can be compared to countless B-movies throughout the years, but what worked for Alien also works for Predator. Take a simple premise, add some budget, bind it together with some good old-fashioned decent film-making, and the result is a timeless classic. Yes, the special effects have dated and most of the actors' stars have somewhat dimmed in the decades since, but Predator is even more of a blast now than it was when I stole my brother's VHS twenty-odd years ago. The sequels, spin-offs and comic-books have gone to great length to explain and develop the Predator's mythology, but McTiernan simply lets the monster do its thing. Played by the 7 ft 2 in Kevin Peter Hall, the Predator's formidable armour, weaponry, stealth and sheer repulsiveness has made it a sci-fi/horror icon. Like the Alien franchise, subsequent movies have felt the need to explain the creature's backstory, damaging their otherworldly mystery in the process, but Predator simply throws him into the mix and lets him loose on our world's finest warriors. With star Shane Black's reboot The Predator set to arrive shortly, now is the perfect time to revisit what drew audiences to the series in the first place, in spite of how your attitude may have soured after those terrible Alien cross-overs and the forgettable third entry from 2010.
Helpful•549
- tomgillespie2002
- Sep 9, 2018
- Permalink
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Depredador
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $59,735,548
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,031,638
- Jun 14, 1987
- Gross worldwide
- $98,268,458
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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