Predator (1987)
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A paramilitary rescue team in a Central American jungle must survive an encounter with a technologically advanced extraterrestrial hunter.
The story
Major Dutch leads a paramilitary rescue team into a Central American jungle to recover a downed helicopter and its passengers. The mission becomes perilous when the team discovers they are being stalked by a deadly, technologically advanced extraterrestrial known as a Predator. The creature uses advanced weaponry and cloaking technology to hunt the men. As the team faces off against the unseen hunter, they must navigate the dense jungle and navigate the complexities of their own mission's true objectives while trying to survive the predator's lethal pursuit.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Major Dutch and his paramilitary team are sent into a Central American jungle to rescue a cabinet minister whose helicopter was downed. They discover the area is occupied by guerrilla soldiers and find evidence of a mysterious predator. While the team navigates the jungle, they are hunted by a technologically advanced extraterrestrial that uses a cloaking device and thermal vision. Several team members are killed by the predator. Dutch eventually realizes the creature only attacks those it perceives as a threat and manages to survive by coating himself in mud to mask his body heat. In a final confrontation, Dutch lures the predator into a trap, causing it to drop its mask and engage in hand-to-hand combat. He eventually defeats the creature, which triggers a self-destruct device, destroying the immediate area before he is rescued by a helicopter.
- First release year
- 1987
- Runtime (minutes)
- 107
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John McTiernan
- Writers
- Jim Thomas · writer; John Thomas · writer
- Cast and characters
- Arnold Schwarzenegger · Dutch; Carl Weathers · Al Dillon; Elpidia Carrillo · Anna Gonsalves; Bill Duke · Mac Eliot; Jesse Ventura · Blain Cooper; Sonny Landham · Billy Sole; Richard Chaves · Jorge "Poncho" Ramirez; Shane Black · Rick Hawkins; Kevin Peter Hall · the Predator
- Genres
- science fiction; action; horror
- Themes
- masculinity
- Tone and mood
- tense; action-packed
- Premise and plot tags
- alien hunt; military; survival
- Reception
- Initial reviews were mixed, but the film has since been considered a classic of action and science fiction genres and one of the best films of the 1980s.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 65% · review count: 119; Metacritic · score: 47 · scale: 100 · review count: 17; CinemaScore · score: B+ · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Visual Effects · Nominated
- Production trivia
- The character Dutch appeared in several video games.; Two of the actors became state governors.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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