Predator is a 1987 American science-fiction action film directed by John McTiernan. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of an elite special forces team which is on a mission to rescue hostages from the guerrilla-held territory in Val Verde in Central America's Northern Triangle. Kevin Peter Hall co-stars as the titular antagonist, a technologically advanced form of extraterrestrial life secretly stalking and hunting the team. Predator was written by brothers Jim and John Thomas in 1985, under the working title of Hunter. Filming began in April 1986 and creature effects were devised by Stan Winston.
The film's budget was around $15 million. 20th Century Fox released it in the United States on June 12, 1987, where it grossed $59,735,548. The initial critical reaction was mixed; criticism focused on the thin plot. In subsequent years, critics' attitudes toward the film became positive, and it has appeared on a number of "best of" lists. It spawned two sequels, Predator 2 (1990) and Predators (2010), and two crossover films with the Alien franchise, Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). Another film, The Predator, is scheduled for release in 2018.
Plot
The main cast of Predator. Left to right: Ventura, Black, Schwarzenegger, Duke, Weathers, Landham, and Chaves
A spacecraft flies near Earth and releases a bright object which enters the atmosphere. In the Val Verde jungle, Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer and his Special Forces team — medic Mac Elliot, tracker Billy Sole, gunner Blain Cooper, explosives expert Jorge "Poncho" Ramírez, and radio operator Rick Hawkins —are tasked by the CIA with rescuing an official held hostage by insurgents. CIA agent George Dillon, a former commando and an old friend of Dutch, is assigned to supervise the team despite Dutch's objections.
The team discovers the wreckage of a chopper and three skinned corpses, whom Dutch identifies as members of a U.S. Army Special Forces unit that he knew personally. They reach the insurgent camp and kill the soldiers, including a Soviet intelligence officer searching through secret CIA documents. Confronted by Dutch, Dillon admits the mission was a setup to retrieve intelligence from captured operatives and that the dead military unit disappeared weeks earlier in a failed rescue. After capturing a guerrilla named Anna, the unit proceeds to extraction, unaware that it is being tracked with thermal imaging by an unseen observer.
Anna escapes and is chased by Hawkins, but they are ambushed by the creature. It spares Anna but kills Hawkins and drags his body away. Dutch organizes a manhunt, during which Blain is killed by the creature's plasma weapon. An enraged Mac initiates a firefight which wounds the creature, revealing luminescent green blood, but fails to draw it out. The unit regroups and questions Anna, learning that the stalker is a creature that locals call "el demonio que hace trofeos de los hombres" ("the demon who makes trophies of men").
That night, Mac mistakes a wild pig for the creature and kills it. In the confusion, the creature steals Blain's body, leading Dutch to realize that their enemy uses the trees to travel. The next day, an attempt to trap the creature fails, leaving Poncho injured. Mac and Dillon pursue the alien, but it outmaneuvers and kills them both. It catches up with the others, killing Billy and Poncho and wounding Dutch.
Realizing the creature does not target unarmed prey because there is "no sport", Dutch sends Anna to the helicopter unarmed. The creature pursues Dutch through a river, causing its cloaking device to malfunction. Though the creature is only a few feet from Dutch, it does not see him and moves on. Dutch realizes that mud covering his body is masking his heat signature, deducing the creature must see in infrared.
While the creature collects trophies from the bodies, Dutch crafts traps, and weapons and lures the creature with a war cry. He disables its cloaking device and inflicts minor injuries, but becomes cornered in the pursuit. Acknowledging Dutch as a worthy foe, the creature discards its mask and plasma weapon and engages him in hand-to-hand combat. Dutch is almost beaten but crushes the creature under a trap's counterweight. As the creature lies dying, Dutch asks in disgust, "What the hell are you?" The alien simply repeats the question in garbled English before activating a self-destruct device, laughing as the countdown begins. Dutch takes cover just before the self-destruct device explodes in a mushroom cloud. He is picked up by his commander, General Phillips, and Anna in the helicopter.
Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer
Carl Weathers as CIA operative George Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo as Anna Gonsalves
Bill Duke as Mac Eliot
Richard Chaves as Jorge "Poncho" Ramírez
Jesse Ventura as Blain Cooper
Sonny Landham as Billy Sole
Shane Black as Rick Hawkins
R. G. Armstrong as Major General Homer Phillips
Kevin Peter Hall as The Predator/helicopter pilot
Peter Cullen supplies the Predator's voice, uncredited
Sven-Ole Thorsen as Soviet military adviser
Source: Wikipedia, IMDb
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