Predator

Best Horror Movies Of All Time List: HERE I always have this fear that because I’m getting older, having a better understanding of filmmaking, I’m not going to enjoy my old favorite movies as much anymore. Luckily, I can ease that anxiety in the case of ‘Predator’ because I fuckin’ love this movie just as much as the day I saw it. Even after numerous rewatches: Predator has be my favorite Sci-Fi Horror Film to this day. Why? ‘Cause it’s a bunch of buff gun toting motherfuckers spouting just about the coolest one liners to ever grace the screen with teeth gritting charisma. On top of this we got over-the-top kills, Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime, & the coolest alien to ever appear on screen — The Yautja. Just watching this movie I want to do 100 sit-ups, 100 push-ups, 100 squats & 10 kilometer run every day; until I stop being hyperfixated on it at least. ‘Predator’ is just a kick-ass 80’s action slasher film that I have huge nostalgia for.. ..But is that all? I don’t think so. I’ve always hailed ‘Predator’ & ‘Army of Darkness’, hell the whole ‘Evil Dead’ Trilogy, as the most oversimplified movies of the decade. I’d even go as far as to say ‘Predator’ might be one of the most simplified of the whole genre. There’s just too many cogs there for the wheel not to turn. It just makes too much sense. Don’t believe me? Take the design of the alien itself: It’s the perfect hybrid between barbaric & highly futuristic with its auto-aiming plasma caster that’s mounted on steel-like armor, carved perfectly to leave 3/4th of his shirtless body exposed, that sports features like self-destruct, med kit & a cloaking device. Yet despite this there is just a simple cloth cover, completely natural dreaded hair, nets & bone trophy jewelry with the rest being just exposed skin. He is ~7 feet, super muscular, with his skills being mostly physical. He is the alpha males monster that if you ask me symbolizes how despite man’s constant innovation moving humanity forward, they are still restrained by their barbaric roots like The Predator himself; who had ample opportunity to use his tech to full effect but didn’t due to a tribal code of honor based around pride. He cannot let his pride down to do what’s most effective, he only will do what’s most effective for retaining his pride. This is even backed up with the basic plot. Every person who fights for themselves, trying to engage the beast alone guns blazing in the name of their pride dies a brutal death. But the only one to survive is the one who accepts he’s outmatched & wins with his mind, not muscle. The only other person to survive being Anna who is the only woman in the film; quite literally being rendered an object to the military men the whole movie. You might say I’m reaching like Reed Richards. I can’t blame you. This movie literally opens with helicopters flying against the morning sky, Arnold smoking a cigar & a sweaty arm wrestle. The level of 80’s masculinity is so off the charts it borders satire; because it is satire. The scene where they unload all their ammo on the trees for basically no reason comes to mind. I mean, c’mon, they literally have a credit montage of the characters doing cheesy poses at the audience. I just can’t not see this as a satire of 80’s action films; misleading the audience into thinking its a standard action film before revealing it’s actually a slasher movie. Yes it is a slasher movie. On the surface it doesn’t seem like it, but it’s a story about a group of characters in an isolated location being killed one by one by a creature related to the location in over-the-top gory ways; literally just a summary of the sub-genre at the time. & those kills are certainly great, the same way the rest of the movie is cool on the surface. All I am saying is if you look underneath you can find actually rather interesting commentary on how 80’s action films projected a toxic hyper-masculine idealism onto an entire generation of men through the films starring basically all of the cast members of the Expendables, where they glorify their characters by making them hugely charismatic despite them being terrible people. Like, out the gate we see Blain is a homophobic, potentially racist(-?) dickhead who chews tobacco with no problem spitting it on his crew. Yet despite this he’s a fan favorite coddled for his famous line “I don’t got time to bleed”, which in itself oddly serves as an example of the theme in action. This is extended to the scene where in an infiltration mission Dutch’s team massacre & burns down an entire community of people, getting over-the-top violent for little reason at times before they hold Anna hostage with no mind to how this could effect a seemingly innocent person. They are all guns for hire. Yet again, when the Yautja starts picking them off there are many instances it’s framed to have us feel bad for them despite none of them deserving it. Dillon probably being the biggest example. ‘Predator’ is a movie I can watch countless times, with a breeze of a pace & one of the best final acts for a film I’ve ever seen. It’s a perfect creature feature, slasher, 80’s action film & satire all rolled into one. Bringing all the laughs, the roars & the scares all it needs to.