Film (1987). Amercent/American Entertainment/Twentieth Century Fox. Directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke. Screenplay Jim Thomas, John Thomas. 106 minutes. Colour.
A special-forces group undertaking a commando-style rescue mission in South America clashes bloodily with guerrillas and then very much more bloodily with the Predator: an intelligent Alien that can bend light to make itself almost invisible (> Invisibility). The alien picks them off one by one, losing only to the Schwarzenegger character, by now reduced to primitive combat. The blend of the jungle-warfare (or Vietnam) scenario with the alien-Invasion genre is potentially interesting, but the treatment follows a wholly predictable pattern. Moreover, on the evidence presented, the alien should have won.
The sequels are Predator 2 (1990) and Predators (2010). A joint franchise of Alien (1979) and Predator spinoffs emerged via Comics, leading to novel ties by various authors including David Bischoff, Marc A Cerasini, Chris Claremont and Steve Perry; the game Aliens Versus Predator (1999); and the films AVP Alien vs Predator (2004) and {AVPR ALIENS VS PREDATOR: REQUIEM} (2007). [PN/DRL]
see also: Monster Movies.
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