He came to get the body. He's killing us one at a time. (Predator (Special Edition, DVD))

Member Name: paulie1975

Product:	Predator (Special Edition, DVD)
Date:	31/07/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant, Original Idea, well made, well acted, fast paced

Disadvantages: Not for under 18's, very violent

I've always fancied a trip to Guatemala or Equador to check out the jungles and the amazing landscapes and wildlife, however I have to admit this film did put me off for many years, it has been widely imitated since but is a brilliant action film with strong narrative and intelligent script, and it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Plot:

Deep in the darkest recesses of a latin American jungle, American government agents keep disappearing, this leads patriotic commando Dillon (Carl Weathers) to pull together a crack team of old buddies to track down whats happening down their and nip it in the bud and bring home the missing Americans, the crack team includes Dutch (Schwarzenegger) amongst its core.

There is a bit of double crossing here and Dutch realises this wasn't the mission he signed up for when they arrive and things start going seriously wrong. They take on some local terrorists and realise they've had nothing to do with the disappearance of the Americans, so who did it?

Local legend talks of a terrifying invisible monster who hunts humans whenever the temperature rises, this legend has been around for centuries, unfortunately this legend is in fact true, a race of predatory aliens do visit Earth intermittently to hunt humans as sport.

The film follows Dutch and his team as they attempt to take on these fearsome predators whilst managing to maintain sanity, in a testing environment where they can't see the enemy at all.

Cast:


Arnold Schwarzenegger - Dutch
Carl Weathers ... Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo Anna
Bill Duke ... Mac
Jesse Ventura ... Blain
Sonny Landham Billy
Richard Chaves Poncho
R.G. Armstrong General Phillips
Shane Black ... Hawkins
Kevin Peter Hall The Predator / Helicopter Pilot

My View:

Ok, I'll be honest when you see the crew that's pulled together at the start of the film you do wonder if this is going to be some musclebound film with more biceps than brains, Schwarzenegger and his cohorts are all pumped in that strange way men wanted to be in the 80's and it does make you think the film will be more muscle than brain, however this is a tightly plotted, well thought out film, it is full of suspense as we watch the crew being slowly picked off, but of course we find there is a chink in the predators armoury and wonder whether the team will discover it and send them packing.

Schwarzenegger is never going to be Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but he does a very good job here as a man who doesn't want to be where he is, he's not a superhero with no emotion, hes a tough guy whose scared and wants to go home as are the rest of his team, dialogue is thoughtful and funny with the odd memorable line.

The film is action packed with some great gun battles, some hand to hand fighting of the highest order, it has a huge death count, so don't watch with the kids and is a bloody and gruesome film, the Predator is a well thought out character and the idea of a legend having been true and being aliens who simply kill humans for fun is novel and original, you can see this films influence in so many slasher and alien films nowadays and whilst the predator is being tainted with the ridiculous sequels involving aliens etc, this is a memorable film that packs a punch delivers in terms of atmosphere, storyline and script and is a truly original film.

This isn't a film where the muscle bound goodies use brawn only or where the aliens are one dimensional, the battles are well thought out and strategic and both sides are shown respect in their creation.

I watched this film two weeks ago and it is better than I remembered, maybe because I've seen so many attempts to recreate it, but it is an exceptionally well put together film, the stunts are great, the location is atmospheric, claustrophobic and builds the tension brilliantly and both the good guys and the sneaky predators are excellently portrayed.

The DVD is £6.99 as a two disc special edition, you can buy it with many other predator and alien films but I really don't think they match this, so go for this with the following added extras:

* Feature Length Audio Commentary by Director John McTiernan
* 30 Minute Documentary: "If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It"
* Inside The Predator: 7 Featurettes: Classified Action (stunts and special effects) / The Unseen Arnold / Old Painless (the most intimidating gun ever) / The Life Inside (tribute to Kevin Peter Hall) / Camouflage / Welcome to the Jungle / Character Design
* Deleted Scene: "Arnold Schwarzenegger Fleeing Predator"
* Outtakes
* Special Effects: Predator "Red-suit" Special Effects
* Text Commentary by Film Historian
* Still Gallery
* Predator Profile: Text Pages
* Predator Camouflage Tests
* Hidden Easter Eggs

Summary: He came to get the body. He's killing us one at a time.