Patrick Predator

• Title: Predator
• Release Year: 1987
• Director: John McTiernan
• Writers: Jim Thomas and John Thomas
• Production Company: 20th Century Fox
• Genre: Action, Science Fiction, Horror
• Runtime: ~107 minutes
• Rating: R (for violence, gore, and language)

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• Arnold Schwarzenegger – Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer
• Carl Weathers – Dillon (CIA operative, Dutch’s old friend)
• Elpidia Carrillo – Anna (local guerrilla captured by the team)
• Bill Duke – Mac (machine gunner, close to Blain)
• Jesse Ventura – Blain ("I ain't got time to bleed")
• Sonny Landham – Billy (tracker, spiritual warrior figure)
• Richard Chaves – Poncho (explosives expert)
• Shane Black – Hawkins (radio operator, comic relief)
• Kevin Peter Hall – The Predator (in suit and unmasked form)

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• A towering alien hunter (~7’8”), equipped with advanced technology.
• Tools include:
  • Active camouflage (cloaking device)
  • Plasma caster (shoulder-mounted energy weapon)
  • Wrist blades
  • Self-destruct device
• Has infrared vision, making it a master of heat-based tracking.
• Hunts for sport, collecting human skulls as trophies.
• Characterized by its dreadlock-like appendages, mandibles, and guttural clicks.
• Played physically by Kevin Peter Hall, with Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime’s voice actor) providing early vocal effects.

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• Originally titled Hunter, later changed to Predator.
• Jean-Claude Van Damme was initially cast as the Predator, but quit/was fired because the suit was uncomfortable, limiting, and because he was considered too short compared to Schwarzenegger’s towering physique.
• The Predator’s final design was created by Stan Winston, inspired partly by a suggestion from James Cameron to give the creature mandibles.
• Filmed in Mexico (Puerto Vallarta and Palenque jungle) in harsh, hot, and humid conditions.
• Actors dealt with dehydration, injuries, and exhaustion.
• Shane Black (Hawkins) was hired partly so the script could be rewritten on the fly, since he was also a screenwriter.

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• Composer: Alan Silvestri
• The score is militaristic, tense, and suspenseful, mixing pounding percussion with eerie jungle atmospherics.
• Later reused and remixed in sequels like Predator 2 and Predators.

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• Man vs. Nature vs. Technology – A highly armed team reduced to primal survival.
• The Hunter Becomes the Hunted – A reversal of expectations.
• Masculinity and Brotherhood – The film showcases archetypal ‘80s macho warriors.
• Survival of the Fittest – Dutch survives by adapting, using mud to mask his heat signature.

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• Box Office: ~$98 million worldwide on a ~$15 million budget.
• Mixed reviews at release (critics dismissed it as shallow action), but it became a cult classic.
• Today it’s regarded as one of the greatest action films ever made.
• Spawned a franchise with sequels, crossovers, comics, novels, and video games.

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• Sequels: Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018),
• Crossovers: Alien vs. Predator (2004), AVP: Requiem (2007).
• Pop culture: Countless parodies, homages, and references in films, TV, and games.
• The Predator character has become one of cinema’s most recognizable monsters, alongside the Xenomorph, Terminator, and Godzilla.

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• Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger had a rivalry about who had the bigger biceps; Arnold tricked Jesse into thinking his arms were smaller so Jesse would bet on it.
• Sonny Landham (Billy) was assigned a bodyguard—not to protect him, but to protect others from him due to his volatile temper.
• The Predator’s "laugh" at the end is a distorted recording of Billy’s laugh.