Cheap Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall) (John McTiernan) Price

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Customer Reviews of Predator (Widescreen Collector's Edition)

Predator Preys On Your Sense of Adventure
"The Most Dangerous Game," to which Predator bears a remarkable resemblance is a literary classic and mandatory reading in most ninth grade English classes. So the question arises, why is that story held in such high esteem when this picture is cast aside as mindless tripe? I suppose having Arnold Schwarzenegger's name above the title and Joel Silver's in the producing credits doesn't help, but don't get me wrong I'm not suggesting this movie should have been showered with praise from critics, or awards from Academy members. But a pat on the back for one of the finest action directors working today (John McTiernan of Die Hard fame) might be nice, especially considering this film isn't nearly as dumb as people would have you to believe.

Schwarzenegger stars as the leader of an elite commando force sent into Central America to retrieve U.S. hostages being held in guerrilla hands. Little does he or anybody in his team know (with the exception of Carl Weather's character) that they're actually being manipulated into assassinating a group of Communist dissidents and thorns in the thorns in the side of the C.I.A. This is the only the first back-stabbing and leads to a quite harrowing and action packed combat sequence that wouldn't have looked out of place in Platoon or Saving Private Ryan.

While all this is going on, comsuming more than a half hour of briskly paced screen time, we still have yet to see the alien. McTiernan utilizes a clever tactic orginated (or at least to the best of my knowledge) by Steven Speilberg in Jaws by shooting from the predator's point of view. By doing this we only get glimpses of the monster, as he has the ability to turn himself invisable at will, which makes the final confrontation all the more terrifying. Also noteworthy is Kevin Peter Hall as the villainous creature who is a constant menace and manages to make a very impressive impression even though we never see his face.

For about the last hour of the movie he stalks Arnie and his rebel company, picking them off one by one as is customary in these kinds of films. To me the parrallels to "Dangerous Game" are quite obvious, simply substitute an alien in place of the hunter who preys on humans. The symbolism of the book and the movie is quite clear, or at least in my mind, and is that hunting for sport is inherently wrong. But even the predator has a code of conduct that human hunters have yet to adopt, he doesn't take advantage of another species inferiority or good nature. To me, being as I'm such an animal lover, I'd root for the alien a lot sooner than I would Ted Nugget or his band of ignorant rednecks.

Now I'm willing to concede that maybe I'm so intent on justifying my appreciateion for this film that I might be imposing onto it hidden meanings that aren't really there, but even if that is the case it does little to depreciate my enjoyment of one of the most exciting science fiction movies that I've ever seen. Sure the acting is merely adequate and the writing could use some sprucing up, especially in fleshing out the characters a little more, but the directing is superb and the finished product is about as good as anything you have the right to expect considering the genre.

And that's not to mention the special effects. Done by Stan Winston, who won recognition as being the best in his field after his work creating the digital dinosaurs in Speilberg's Jurassic Park, he does an equally impressive job here. The "creature features" never get too corny and at the same time aren't so good as to distract from the rest of the film. It's a fine line to walk and I can't think of anybody who does it any better.

This is the second four star review I've given a Schwarzenegger movie in as many months (the other being for True Lies) and I'm quietly coming back around to being a big fan of his early work for the first time since I was thirteen.

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Vintage Arnold
Predator is such a fantastic action sci-fi thriller. It's a vintage Arnold Schwarzenegger movie and it's one of the reasons he is where is today.

The plot to Predator is simple enough to follow. Dutch(Schwarzenegger) has been called by Dillon(Weathers) to go to South America and find some missing officials. Dutch takes his squad of elite troops and he does just that. What they find though is skinned bodies of American troops. Slowly Dutch begins to lose his men until it becomes a mission of trying to get out of the jungle alive.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is simply fantastic in this film. This is one of the best action films he has ever made. When him and the predator go one on one it's awesome. It's truly clash of the titans as the warriors fight. Arnold is an absolute beast in the film. He's cut and huge and this movie took place during his stretch of hit movies that he had in the late 1980's. This movie helped make him the household name that he is today.

I liked Carl Weathers in this film. All people ever recognize this guy for is Apollo Creed in Rocky. After seeing him arm wrestle Arnold in the film you really recognize what kind of peak condition this guy was in at one point. I like Carl Weahters a lot and his role in Predator is great.

The rest of Arnolds team is full of plenty of guys that you see in a lot of his 80's movies. The most recognizable guy from his squad is former Gov. Jesse Ventura. The squad is casted perfectly as is this movie.

John McTiernan has to get a lot of credit for the success of this movie. This is a very well made movie. I love what he did with the Predator in the film. You don't get to see to much of the Predator until it squares off against Arnold. So like Spielberg did in Jaws you let the suspense of the creature scare you. McTiernan does that to perfection. He baits you a little bit by showing you some of the Predator but it's just enough to keep you interested and on the edge of your seat. He also shot his movie beautifully on location in South America.

This really is a well made movie. It keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way until the end. It's a great sci-fi thriller and can be argued as the best of all time. You can't be a serious Arnold fan without seeing this picture. You can't really call yourself I sci-fi fan if you havn't seen it either. Go pick Predator up you won't regret it. Now Predator 2, thats an entire different story.

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the best alien action film out there
when I first saw the first Predator film,I was happy to see the strong male role running for his life. Yet I do think why this editions for the Alien and Predator films are coming out so close to each other is for the summers next cross over. Alien vs Predator. But to the film, the first predator was by far the best. Sending in comandos into a rain forest and each one being killed off is truly a scary sight and yet the movie is full of action. Predator is by far one of my favorit films and I will go by this film when it comes out three days before the opeaning of AVP.