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Predator is unique among Arnold Schwarzenegger's body of work in that he's not really the focus of the film, despite being its above-the-title star. The former Mr. Olympia is upstaged by another character, that of the Predator itself, which instantly became an iconic movie alien. Unsuprisingly, when a sequel was made it was the alien character that was retained and Schwarzenegger was jettisoned. It's a testament to the concept and design of the creature (by FX guru Stan Winston, who also designed the Terminator, Jurassic Park's dinosaurs and many more) that it is so memorable. The appearance of the creature was a last-minute alteration during production, thankfully changed from an earlier rather ridiculous-looking creation as revealed in the DVD extras.
Having said that, Schwarzenegger's presence is key to the film's success. The problem with Arnie as a good guy - and the reason he was so perfect in the original Terminator - is because he seems so unstoppable. There's no sense of threat that he's ever going to be beaten. In a film like Commando, for example, the number of enemies he single-handedly kills must be equivalent to the population of a small country. Predator was the first time that Arnie had a worthy adversary; not only his equal but in most ways his superior, highlighted in the brilliantly tense showdown when he has to confront his terrifying alien adversary using only a bow and arrows and some Rambo-like traps.
Although it does become a two-man show in the end, the group of soldiers who are sent into the jungle with Schwarzenegger initially are a well-defined, likeable bunch made up of the usual archetypes, similar to the marines in Aliens (unsurprisingly, Predator takes considerable inspiration from the Alien franchise). Director John McTiernan handles the action well, and got the job to helm Die Hard based on his work on this picture. Alan Silvestri also delivers a sparse but effective score which adds to the atmosphere. Predator is based on a simple concept - it's a slasher movie in a jungle, with a semi-invisible alien doing the killing - but, probably because of that simplicity, works very well indeed, and has become a staple of the sci-fi genre.
The extras
A solid package. "If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It" is an interesting 30-minute Making Of, and this is accompanied by seven shorter featurettes averaging about four minutes each, covering different aspects of production. Some of the most interesting footage is the aforementioned early special effects test where we see the original red-suited monster design. There's also a single deleted scene and a few outtakes (which are more like extended scenes, as they don't involve people screwing up like outtakes normally do). The film also has a rather monotone audio commentary from John McTiernan and a text commentary. Rounding it off are a few easy-to-find easter eggs (short hidden features).
The summary
Although rather 80s in its strongly macho feel (and therefore fairly dated), Predator is an excellent streamlined action film with one of the great movie monsters.
