“If it bleeds, we can kill it.” John McTiernan’s film has become such a pop-cultural touchstone, so oft quoted, homaged, and referenced that it’s almost too easy to take for granted what a masterful and thrilling film it is, away from all the noise. It is almost just as easy to forget that Predator was almost a very different film entirely.
When screenwriters Jim and John Thomas originally conceived of Predator, it was called Hunter and involved a group of extraterrestrial hunters of different species hunting down a variety of alien targets. The Thomas brothers’ concept was streamlined, but still far from its final form. Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast as the Predator, which at that point was going to be an alien martial artist and looked like some cross between a canine and an ant, and had big yellow eyes. Van Damme hated wearing the suit, both because of heat exhaustion and because it covered up his face. Van Damme was let go and replaced with Kevin Peter Hall, who wore a vastly different, and more threatening, suit designed by practical effects maestro Rick Baker. And thus, an iconic movie monster was born.
Changing the script from a group of aliens hunting other aliens to a single alien hunting a group of men changes the stakes. In one of his most beloved roles, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Dutch, the leader of a rescue team on a mission to save hostages in jungle of Central America. Along for the ride are Dillion (Carl Weathers), Cooper (Jesse Ventura), Mac (Bill Duke), Ramirez (Richard Chaves), Billy (Sonny Landham), and Hawkins (Shane Black).
With Weathers already an action star in his own right, and the rest of the cast, minus, Black, having worked with Schwarzenegger on Commando (1985) and The Running Man (1987) this lineup was the equivalent of watching The Expendables before it became a gimmick. The familiarity of the cast comes through onscreen and there’s an immediate sense that all of these characters have a history. It also makes their deaths and the reactions from their teammates more effective.
Long before we get a good look at the Predator, he’s already been built up as a major threat in the minds of the audience, because something that can take out a team of testosterone fueled soldiers is no joke. McTiernan builds mystique around the monster through its use of cloaking and face mask, and it’s something that couldn’t quite be replicated ever again.
The moment when the Predator’s mask is removed and we’re given our first full look at the Yautja remains thrilling all of these decades later, because even through we all know what it looks like at this point, it’s still hard to wrap your head around what you’re seeing, in part because of Dutch’s shocked reaction, and because Baker’s effects and Hall’s performance are so convincing that for a brief moment, you can suspend disbelief long enough to believe you’re looking at an actual biological creature that was found for the movie.
And really, biology is what the film comes down to. Dutch stripped of his teammates, his weapons, and forced to camouflage himself in mud, taps into something primal that showcases human resolve against alien might and makes an underdog out of Mr. Universe.