Predator (1987)
A fast-paced sci-fi / horror action film with effective special effects and tense atmosphere.
Directed by John McTiernan
Written by Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Produced by Lawrence Gordon, Joel Silver, John Davis
Cinematography: Donald McAlpine
Edited by John F. Link, Mark Helfrich
Music by Alan Silvestri
Production companies: 20th Century Fox, Davis Entertainment
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Running time: 107 minutes
Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch
Elpidia Carrillo as Anna Gonsalves
Carl Weathers as Al Dillon
Richard Chaves as Poncho Ramirez
Sonny Landham as Billy Sole
Bill Duke as Mac Eliot
Jesse Ventura as Blain Cooper
Shane Black as Rick Hawkins
R. G. Armstrong as General Homer Phillips
Kevin Peter Hall / Peter Cullen (voice) as Predator
Suddenly I found myself staring into the black-hole of a rifle barrel. Transfixed, I had no time to process the prospect of my own impending oblivion before a voice commanded me to “Get OWWT, asshole !’
The voice seemed to belong to an angry omnipotent eyeball that appeared to be aiming the black-hole in my direction. That is until I saw it formed part of an aged, weathered, grizzled but strong face with a heavily stubbled chin.
“I said get owwt - NOWW!” the face commanded me again.
I cautiously took a step backwards and slowly raised my hands while rotating on the spot to demonstrate that I was unarmed and posed no threat to the man. It was a gamble on my part to assume that he would not be inclined to gun down an unarmed man in cold blood. This despite having been taught never to assume anything.
I quickly told the man my Christian name, that it took me a great deal of effort to locate him given the fact that he lived in an isolated forested part of the country and that I had almost been impaled, crushed and blown to smithereens had I not been ‘fortunate’ enough to discover and avoid his cleverly laid traps intended for would-be unwelcome intruders. I guess good training does pay off even if I rarely had an opportunity to exercise it after I had left the….let’s say - ‘special forces.’ Still, here I was inside this man’s log cabin with a gun pointed at my head. The final trap and I was caught in it.
The fact that I had managed to evade the man’s clever outdoor traps seemed to peek his interest as he lowered his rifle ever so slightly and replied, “Unwelcome intruders like you, ass-hole.” His level of interest seemed to increase a bit more as the level of the gun’s barrel lowered some more, especially when I said in reply, “That’s right, Major Alan Schaefer – or should I say ‘Dutch?’
Suddenly the black-hole was staring into my face once more as Schaefer said, “Only my close friends get to call me ‘Dutch, smart ass! And they’re all dead now. Now what the fuck do you want here and how do you know me and why should I give a shit?”
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Dutch
Elpidia Carrillo as Anna Gonsalves
Carl Weathers as Al Dillon
Richard Chaves as Poncho Ramirez
Sonny Landham as Billy Sole
Bill Duke as Mac Eliot
Jesse Ventura as Blain Cooper
Shane Black as Rick Hawkins
R. G. Armstrong as General Homer Phillips
Kevin Peter Hall / Peter Cullen (voice) as Predator
Trailer
A team of special force ops, led by Major "Dutch" Schaefer are on a mission to rescue potential survivors of a helicopter downed over a remote South American jungle.
The team has been deceived and are sent in under false pretenses.
Worse still, they find themselves being hunted by something not of this world.
Will Dutch and his team of commandos stand a chance against this ultimate predator from the stars?
*********
Suddenly I found myself staring into the black-hole of a rifle barrel. Transfixed, I had no time to process the prospect of my own impending oblivion before a voice commanded me to “Get OWWT, asshole !’
The voice seemed to belong to an angry omnipotent eyeball that appeared to be aiming the black-hole in my direction. That is until I saw it formed part of an aged, weathered, grizzled but strong face with a heavily stubbled chin.
“I said get owwt - NOWW!” the face commanded me again.
I cautiously took a step backwards and slowly raised my hands while rotating on the spot to demonstrate that I was unarmed and posed no threat to the man. It was a gamble on my part to assume that he would not be inclined to gun down an unarmed man in cold blood. This despite having been taught never to assume anything.
I quickly told the man my Christian name, that it took me a great deal of effort to locate him given the fact that he lived in an isolated forested part of the country and that I had almost been impaled, crushed and blown to smithereens had I not been ‘fortunate’ enough to discover and avoid his cleverly laid traps intended for would-be unwelcome intruders. I guess good training does pay off even if I rarely had an opportunity to exercise it after I had left the….let’s say - ‘special forces.’ Still, here I was inside this man’s log cabin with a gun pointed at my head. The final trap and I was caught in it.
The fact that I had managed to evade the man’s clever outdoor traps seemed to peek his interest as he lowered his rifle ever so slightly and replied, “Unwelcome intruders like you, ass-hole.” His level of interest seemed to increase a bit more as the level of the gun’s barrel lowered some more, especially when I said in reply, “That’s right, Major Alan Schaefer – or should I say ‘Dutch?’
Suddenly the black-hole was staring into my face once more as Schaefer said, “Only my close friends get to call me ‘Dutch, smart ass! And they’re all dead now. Now what the fuck do you want here and how do you know me and why should I give a shit?”
Well, it was a slim chance, but I had a possible way in, hopefully without getting my head blown off. I asked Schaefer if I could slowly and carefully extract my credentials from my jacket pocket and show them to him. After an amount of time he seemed to have deemed suitable to display the requisite degree of hostile suspicion, he agreed.
After ordering me to divest myself of my backpack, followed be a cursory glance at my credentials, Schaefer said in a rather accusatory tone of voice, “So, you’re a fucking company man,” It was also mixed in with a large helping of disgust as he drew himself up to his full height and glared at me as if I was some kind of repulsive-looking sputum. It was then I noticed that despite his age (somewhere in his seventies perhaps) he still exuded a high degree of strength and power. I would not have liked to get on his wrong side which I felt I was now venturing further into than had so far been the case.
“Yes, I am Mr Schaefer,” I quickly but frankly admitted. “But much more than any company interest is at stake which if you will allow me just a few moments of your time I will explain the reason for my presence here. If you don’t like what I have to say, I’ll be out of your hair forever. I will be straight with you though and tell you from the outset that the very existence of our planet and our civilization is more than likely at stake. And that includes you despite your isolation from the rest of society.”
Suddenly Schaefer interrupted me. “They’ve returned again, haven’t they?” I found myself nodding in assent as no verbal clarification of who the ‘they’ were seemed to be necessary. “OK, I’ll give you your time...on one condition.” I asked Schaefer what that was and he replied, “Don’t call me Mr Schaefer. It makes me feel fucking old. Call me Alan – for nowww.” And don’t ever refer to me as ‘Major’ as I have well and truly burned all of my bridges to the military if you get what I mean. As for you, Mr William Marion Benson, I think I will call you ‘Marion’….for noww. A fitting name for a girlie-man” ‘Oh, great’ I thought to myself as Alan handed me back my ID.
It wasn’t long before Dutch (here I’ll refer to him by that name) and I sat opposite each other with a bottle between us of what could have only been some kind of gut rot paint stripper moonshine. He watched me as I heroically downed the first glass and survived...barely. Satisfied, Dutch lit up an enormous cigar, leaned back in his chair and proceeded to give birth to multiple swirling cumulus clouds of thick smoke. “So Marion, what the hell did you come here for?” Dutch asked.
With Dutch’s permission to record our conversation, I pressed the play and record button on the recorder I placed on the coffee table and began:
“The company, Weyland Corporation is headquartered in San Francisco and specialists in nanotechnology, cybernetics, energy, aerospace and biomedical Science. There’s almost daily reports on its involvement in commercial space missions such as industrialized orbital manufacturing platforms that produce ultra-pure alloys and crystalline substrates that are impossible to create on Earth. Then there’s the revolutionary synthetic atmosphere system that has achieved some success in reversing the warming trend of Earth's polar ice caps. Hell, the company is even exploring technologies that will help us one day achieve faster-than-light space travel and even the creation of synthetic life and the coloration of other worlds. This isn’t widely know just yet but Weyland Corp's Cybernetics Division has produce David 1, the first truly advanced synthetic humanoid prototype made possible by Weyland’s advancements in artificial intelligence and robotics.”
[The sound of Dutch exhaling cigar smoke] “No doubt this is all very profitable….for some. How long before you become a billionaire, Marion? Are all of you at Weyland Gods noww? ”
[Benson] “The important thing is that ‘They’ which you referred to have indeed appeared to have returned and it it is ‘They’ I have come to speak to you about considering you are the only one left alive who we know has had first-hand experience with them. We need your insights and any bit of information you can give us which will help to protect humanity from them should they prove to be hostile.”
[Dutch] “Yes, and I bet Weyland can hardly wait to get its hands on some lovely advanced alien technology to develop bio-weaponry and other military capabilities. Should prove to be immensely profitable and give someone a very healthy edge,” said Dutch.
[Benson] “You’re being too cynical, Alan. Developing such advanced weaponry could provide us with the means to defend ourselves. Look, recently Space Force Command detected an object moving through space on a trajectory towards Earth. This was followed by others at various locations around the world. The first object we detected was under obvious intelligent control. This extraterrestrial space craft launched a capsule, which entered Earth's atmosphere after which the spaceship departed at astonishing speed. The capsule has not been located yet and we aren’t certain about the others. Furthermore, deep space tracking has detected the presence of multiple objects at various points between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. The consensus is that these are alien spacecraft under intelligent control and whose purpose in our solar system and interest with our planet is as yet undetermined but must be viewed as a potential threat.
“Of course theories abound. There’s one school of thought that holds that these alien beings are undertaking probing activities prior to launching some kind of full-scale invasion of Earth. I don’t give that much credence though. Others believe that perhaps these aliens are in our system because we were foolish enough to indiscriminately broadcast our presence to all and sundry in the universe. Still others suggest that perhaps the aliens (what the hell do we call them apart from ‘aliens?’) have been forced to enter our solar system possibly because they are themselves threatened by another alien species. Who can say for sure? But yes, Alan, there are most likely other alien species as you’ll learn from what I’ll tell you shortly.
“Anyway, I don’t use the word ‘threat’ lightly considering what scraps of information have been gleaned from various written historical records as well as oral traditions handed down through the ages by various cultures. There’s a common thread to them involving stories about strange giant war-like creatures hunting down and killing human beings and even taking parts of their victims as trophies. It is as if they live for nothing but warfare or at least some kind of ritualized hunting. Once a hunt had been completed, the creatures seemed to just vanish until sometime later and at some other place it all starts up again when they mysteriously seem to appear out of thin air - all throughout human history it seems. I can’t begin to tell you how many instances there have been of people simply seeming to just disappear off the face of the earth especially involving soldiers from armed forces around the world, members of armed militias, violent drug gang members and on and on it goes. There are those in the company who are convinced that many of these disappearances seem to have something to do with these alien beings that appear and vanish at will.”
[Dutch] “Have you checked your news feeds lately? How much do corporations and governments profit from warfare and the opportunities afforded by it to develop newer and improved means of wiping out larger swathes of humanity? Don’t forget, I came face-to-face with one of those ugly mother-fucker alien creatures and I have lived with people all of my life. It is hard to distinguish which poses a greater threat. So, why don’t you continue telling me all that you know so far without the company preamble bullshit.”
[Benson] “From the American civil war to the conflict with and pursuit of Pancho Villa; from Japan’s Song Shogunate and Samurai Dynasty and the sagas of the Vikings through to the 20th century’s two world wars and the Korea and Vietnam wars. Reports of strange giant creatures suddenly materializing during times of armed conflict and doing battle with humans. There was even a belief that they were practically invincible. They were often thought to be demons clad in armor that bled green blood. Some who came into contact with the aliens thought that they operated according to some kind of code of honor. In feudal Japan, there was a name for these creatures who were thought of as being demons called the Oni. Another name that has has come down to us is ‘Yautja.’”
[Dutch]: Yautja, eh? I have seen one of them bleed and if it bleeds, we can kill it.”
[Benson] “OK then. Modern instances involving these extraterrestrials include the one reported in Los Angeles in 1997 when LAPD Lieutenant Mike Harrigan investigated a series of brutal ritualistic murders tied to warring Colombian and Jamaican drug gangs who were engaged in a turf war. Both drug lords and the innocent were being murdered but in this case we learned that Harrigan claimed that the killer was an invisible, technologically advanced extraterrestrial called the "City Hunter." The story gets a bit murky but in the end, Harrigan was officially pensioned off on the grounds of mental and emotional instability. He was last heard of giving talks around the world on police matters and may have been involved in another Yautja incident in Brasil - his second confrontation if we can believe the reports and rumors. He disappeared f afterwards and we learned that he had passed away only a couple of years ago. There were rumors that Harrigan was not alone in his knowledge of extraterrestrial involvement and presence on our planet at that time.
“The next event occurred in October of 2004 involving an archaeological expedition on Bouvetøya Island in Antarctica where a team of archaeologists and scientists found themselves embroiled in some kind of an extraterrestrial conflict.
“One of Weyland’s satellites in low Earth orbit had detected an unidentified source of heat in Antarctica and get this, determined it to have been a pyramid buried 2000 feet beneath the ice. Our boss, Weyland believed that he had discovered buried under the ice the ruins of an ancient pyramid temple predating the Egyptian and Aztec pyramids!”
“No shit!” [floating out of Dutch’s mouth on a roiling carpet of exhaled cigar smoke]
[Benson] “Included on the team of experts assembled by Weyland was a guide named Alexa Woods to whom Weyland made an offer to fund her organization for a year if she agreed to join the expedition. Woods had spent several seasons exploring both the Arctic and Antarctic environments. All we know is that once the expedition reached their destination, they soon came across signs indicating the presence of an unknown alien species. And not just one alien species, but two species apparently at war with one another. One of them being the subject of our discussion and the other about which we know next to nothing. Caught in the middle, the human team members appear to have become the prey of these two alien species.
“The only survivor was Alexa Woods. She seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth but there were reports of her having made contact with with the crew of a Russian (supposedly) research vessel. After a time she was conveyed to an American Antarctic research station and from that point….nothing more was heard about her. Elements of her story came out piecemeal but were largely dismissed as being the ravings of someone afflicted with mental and emotional trauma, especially with the ending of her account suggesting that she somehow teamed up with one of the aliens (the Yautja) to defeat its adversary and having been honored in a fashion by its brethren for achieving just that. Like I said, it’s pretty scrappy info and with Alexa’s unexplained disappearance, nothing can be confirmed as yet.”
[Dutch] “Sounds loopy to me. So, now we get to me, something which you can get straight from the horse’s mouth and if the company doesn’t like it they can put it down to the ravings of someone afflicted with old age and dementia.”
[Benson] “Well Alan, what did happen back in 1987?”
Read on for more.....
Spoilers follow below......
[Sound of Dutch settling back in his creaking chair and pouring himself another drink. His voice suggests that his thoughts are tethered to and mingled with the cigar smoke as he is transported him back in time almost 40 years] “I commanded a special forces rescue team on a mission to locate and rescue hostages in a Central American jungle, a place called Valverde. There we meet with general Phillips and to my surprise, my former buddy from Nam, Al Dillon who had turned CIA agent with a fucking tie and everything. I guess you might say, turned into an ass-hole like you, Marion.
“Anyway, some high-ranking cabinet minister, supposedly very important to our government’s operations in that part of the world, traveling by helicopter had gone missing in the jungle, most likely shot down by a rebel guerrilla group operating in the area. Our mission involved us having to cross the border, enter rebel territory and rescue the man and any survivors. At that point the only surprise was that Dillon was joining us and was to “evaluate the situation and take charge” once we reached our objective.
“It wasn’t long before my team was soaring above the thick jungle in a couple of choppers from which we repelled to the ground. Once on the ground, we scanned the area before moving off away from the LZ.
“Moving further into the jungle, we located the helicopter which had crashed. It was located higher up into the trees. A hook was attached to the helicopter and one of the team climbed up the rope in order to examine the helicopter. Dylan then also pulled himself up the rope. Blood was found inside the cabin along with the dead bodies of the pilots covered in blood.
“From that point on there were things beginning to emerge that just didn’t add up. Each pilot received a round in the head and whoever hit the chopper had “stripped the shit out of it.” The chopper was obviously a surveillance bird and had been taken out by a Heat-seeker which was “pretty sophisticated for bunch of half-asses mountain boys.”
“One of my team, Billy determined that there were 12 guerrillas who had taken the two pilots from the helicopter, but that six men wearing US-issued army boots had “came in from the north, and then they followed the guerrillas.” Guerrillas hauling two guys from a chopper followed by men with American equipment! Sounded too familiar.
“It seemed as if the jungle itself knew that something was very wrong what with all the strange chittering noises coming from it. Even Billy’s instincts seemed to be on alert as if sensing that something not right was close by or even all around us. There was something wrong alright and it wasn’t long before we found out what. The bodies of three soldiers hanging upside down – skinned! Vultures had begun tearing at their bodies.
“One of the soldiers was a man called Jim Hopper. I knew those men, “Green Berets out of Fort Bragg.” The question was, what the hell were they doing there? Dillon claimed that he hadn’t been told there was an operation in the area and they just shouldn’t have been there. Somebody had to have sent them.
“Even with all the operations we had been sent on, we could not have been prepared for what confronted our eyes: the pilots had been skinned supposedly by the guerrillas. We had witnessed some inhuman things but nothing like that. There are lines that should never be crossed, even in warfare.
“Billy figured from the shell casings that there had been a firefight with shooting in all directions. An ambush was ruled out as there wasn’t a single track. As for the rest of Hopper’s men, there was no sign of them, as if they had never left from there. Hell, it was “like they just disappeared!””
[Benson] “So, a surveillance chopper had been downed by some sophisticated US ordnance supposedly by rebel guerillas; two pilots were executed; three highly trained US personnel had been killed, strung up and skinned in a brutally inhuman manner; there was some kind of clandestine US operation involving US soldiers tailing the rebels and there had been a desperate firefight with no sign of who had been involved as if they had never left the area. A lot indeed that doesn’t seem to add up.”
[Dutch] “Some of the pieces began to fall into place after we decided to ‘stick with the guerrilla trail’ and set off to get the hostages. After what we saw our blood was up and we wanted to pay those bastards back.
“We moved through the jungle in five-meter spread formation with no sound. As I took point, I couldn’t help feeling that something was watching or possibly tracking us nearby. You know that feeling when you are forced to hold your breath as you listen for something trying to make out what it is? With that sensation, I gripped my weapon tighter and moved on.
“We soon arrived at the rebel camp without being detected. We then got into position and managed to destroy the camp in an all-out assault and killed all the rebels. It turned out that there were no live hostages, except for a lone, terrified female insurgent called Anna.
“Mac informed me that he thought that one of the men the guerrillas captured might have been a CIA agent. Also ‘ther guys we waxed… Russian military advisers! Something pretty big was gonna happen there. It quickly became obvious that we had been set up. It was ‘all bullshit, all of it… the cabinet minister, the whole business.’ I confronted Dillon about this and the bastard confirmed that my team were merely pawns used to destroy the camp and its men. He admitted straight out to me, “I used you to get the job done.” I could have killed him on the spot. My men were not expendable and I certainly wouldn’t do that kind of work had I known.
“With the place about to be crawling with guerrillas we had to heads off to the chopper pick-up point. Dillon wanted to take Anna with us as he considered her to be ‘too valuable’ as she had ‘another whole network.’ I was worried that she would have given away our position if she had the chance. Dilon kindly reminded me that I was still under orders so I said fine as long as she was his baggage and that if he fell behind he’d be on his own.
“As we made our way through the jungle, Anna the captive insurgent woman was walking in front of Dylan when she suddenly collapsed and then threw dirt and leaves into Dillon’s face before running off. She didn’t get far though before she was recaptured.
“A simple setup. One-day operation”
“Anyway, some high-ranking cabinet minister, supposedly very important to our government’s operations in that part of the world, traveling by helicopter had gone missing in the jungle, most likely shot down by a rebel guerrilla group operating in the area. Our mission involved us having to cross the border, enter rebel territory and rescue the man and any survivors. At that point the only surprise was that Dillon was joining us and was to “evaluate the situation and take charge” once we reached our objective.
“This is a one-way ticket.
Once we cross that border, we’re on our own.”
“Moving further into the jungle, we located the helicopter which had crashed. It was located higher up into the trees. A hook was attached to the helicopter and one of the team climbed up the rope in order to examine the helicopter. Dylan then also pulled himself up the rope. Blood was found inside the cabin along with the dead bodies of the pilots covered in blood.
“From that point on there were things beginning to emerge that just didn’t add up. Each pilot received a round in the head and whoever hit the chopper had “stripped the shit out of it.” The chopper was obviously a surveillance bird and had been taken out by a Heat-seeker which was “pretty sophisticated for bunch of half-asses mountain boys.”
“One of my team, Billy determined that there were 12 guerrillas who had taken the two pilots from the helicopter, but that six men wearing US-issued army boots had “came in from the north, and then they followed the guerrillas.” Guerrillas hauling two guys from a chopper followed by men with American equipment! Sounded too familiar.
“It seemed as if the jungle itself knew that something was very wrong what with all the strange chittering noises coming from it. Even Billy’s instincts seemed to be on alert as if sensing that something not right was close by or even all around us. There was something wrong alright and it wasn’t long before we found out what. The bodies of three soldiers hanging upside down – skinned! Vultures had begun tearing at their bodies.
“One of the soldiers was a man called Jim Hopper. I knew those men, “Green Berets out of Fort Bragg.” The question was, what the hell were they doing there? Dillon claimed that he hadn’t been told there was an operation in the area and they just shouldn’t have been there. Somebody had to have sent them.
“Even with all the operations we had been sent on, we could not have been prepared for what confronted our eyes: the pilots had been skinned supposedly by the guerrillas. We had witnessed some inhuman things but nothing like that. There are lines that should never be crossed, even in warfare.
“Billy figured from the shell casings that there had been a firefight with shooting in all directions. An ambush was ruled out as there wasn’t a single track. As for the rest of Hopper’s men, there was no sign of them, as if they had never left from there. Hell, it was “like they just disappeared!””
[Benson] “So, a surveillance chopper had been downed by some sophisticated US ordnance supposedly by rebel guerillas; two pilots were executed; three highly trained US personnel had been killed, strung up and skinned in a brutally inhuman manner; there was some kind of clandestine US operation involving US soldiers tailing the rebels and there had been a desperate firefight with no sign of who had been involved as if they had never left the area. A lot indeed that doesn’t seem to add up.”
“Payback time”
[Dutch] “Some of the pieces began to fall into place after we decided to ‘stick with the guerrilla trail’ and set off to get the hostages. After what we saw our blood was up and we wanted to pay those bastards back.
“We moved through the jungle in five-meter spread formation with no sound. As I took point, I couldn’t help feeling that something was watching or possibly tracking us nearby. You know that feeling when you are forced to hold your breath as you listen for something trying to make out what it is? With that sensation, I gripped my weapon tighter and moved on.
“We soon arrived at the rebel camp without being detected. We then got into position and managed to destroy the camp in an all-out assault and killed all the rebels. It turned out that there were no live hostages, except for a lone, terrified female insurgent called Anna.
“You’re an asset, an expendable asset… and I used you to get the job done. Got it?
“Mac informed me that he thought that one of the men the guerrillas captured might have been a CIA agent. Also ‘ther guys we waxed… Russian military advisers! Something pretty big was gonna happen there. It quickly became obvious that we had been set up. It was ‘all bullshit, all of it… the cabinet minister, the whole business.’ I confronted Dillon about this and the bastard confirmed that my team were merely pawns used to destroy the camp and its men. He admitted straight out to me, “I used you to get the job done.” I could have killed him on the spot. My men were not expendable and I certainly wouldn’t do that kind of work had I known.
“With the place about to be crawling with guerrillas we had to heads off to the chopper pick-up point. Dillon wanted to take Anna with us as he considered her to be ‘too valuable’ as she had ‘another whole network.’ I was worried that she would have given away our position if she had the chance. Dilon kindly reminded me that I was still under orders so I said fine as long as she was his baggage and that if he fell behind he’d be on his own.
“She says the jungle, it just came alive… and took him”
“As we made our way through the jungle, Anna the captive insurgent woman was walking in front of Dylan when she suddenly collapsed and then threw dirt and leaves into Dillon’s face before running off. She didn’t get far though before she was recaptured.
[Benson] “Alan, this description seems to conform to the historical references to these creatures launching what appeared to be lightning bolts at their adversaries. It has been theorized that these Yautja use some kind of laser or plasma weaponry. You also mentioned the absence of blood in that last instance. Remember that you would most likely have been focused on looking for traces of red human blood. The sources suggest that the Yautja bleed green colored blood.”
[Dutch] “Yes, Marion as I was later to discover. Our request for extraction was denied as the area was apparently still compromised. We were ordered over the radio to proceed to sector 3,000 for prisoner extraction. Damn bastards! We were nothing but expendable assets – including of course, ironically, Dillon.
“We soon moved off to another part of the jungle and rigged the area with booby-traps. I had to find out from Mac what had happened. Mac had just lost his friend and comrade. I had never seen the sergeant reacting like he did. It was as if a switch had flipped in his head and scrambled his thoughts, his psyche, and emotions. He told me that he had seen one of ‘them’ camouflaged and that its eyes…. disappeared. Mac then went on to say that he ‘drew down and fired straight at it. Capped off 200 rounds in the mini-gun, full pack’ but with no effect. It was completely contrary to his conviction as an experienced soldier that ‘nothin’ on this Earth could’ve lived… not at that range.’
“There's something out there waiting for us. And it ain't no man”
“Later we heard a blood curdling loud and inhuman roar coming from somewhere within the depths of the jungle which only served to add to the unease of that night causing us to start at every little sound and movement. We had established a perimeter of flare tubes and tripwires but even that did not dispel the sense of foreboding we all felt.
“It was a case of either there was nothing but a couple of guys running around out there and we had to take them down or there was something out there waiting for us… and it wasn’t a man and that whatever it was out there, it killed Hopper… and it wanted us.
“Mac had the first watch when he must have heard a strange noise. Catching sight of some kind of large creature, he leapt into action, grappled with the intruder and repeatedly stabbed it with his knife. It was quickly realized that Mac had wound up killing a large boar! Just goes to show how wound up Mac and the rest of us were. Fear can sure play tricks on you if you let it get the better of you. Speaking of fear, during the commotion no-one had been keeping watch over Anna. However, she didn’t even attempt to make a break for it. She was so scared out of her mind to use the opportunity to escape!
“The worst part of this incident was when we discovered that Blaine's body had been taken. Something had come in through the trip wires and took Blaine’s corpse ‘right out from under our noses.’ As there were no other tracks around, had it made use of the boar to set off a trip flare? How could anyone get through our set-up and then carry out Blaine without us knowing it? Why didn’t it try and kill one of us?
“It was clear to me that we had an unidentified and unseen enemy who was not only killing us one by one but was also methodically hunting us. And this hunter….this predator was using the trees. But why couldn’t we see anything of it? Anna may have had the answer to that question when she told us that ‘it changed colors, like the chameleon’ and ‘it uses the jungle.’”
[Benson] “Once again your account confirms the scant references from the historical record. It seems that these Yautja employ a technological form of camouflage. It seems to involve a process the Company has been developing and testing for the military involving the bending of light to achieve invisibility. In essence, a cloaking device.”
[Dutch] “Well, if the company gets it s hands on that, it should provide it with more toys to play with and greater profits from defense contracts to please shareholders. Anyway, considering what we were faced with, I decided that we had to make a stand then and there otherwise there would be nobody left to go to the chopper at the rendezvous point.
“The demon who makes trophies of man”
“A plan was put together to construct a trap using jungle vines to form a net and an elaborate system of trip-wires set on every tree for 50 yards. The trap was intended to draw or funnel the creature in a particular direction. While this was taking place, we learned from Anna a story that had been handed down to her about a legendary demon that had stalked her village mainly during times of hot weather. We were going through such a period of extremely hot weather then. Anna then spoke of four men being found skinned and missing body parts. It seems the extent of the Yautjas’ presence on our planet has been very extensive over time and place.
“When the trap had been set we all hid in the bushes to wait for the alien to arrive. Mac dry-shaved his face using his sweat instead of soapy lather. [Dutch suddenly narrows his gaze and his voice takes on a dreamy quality.] Perhaps he was mentally wiping off old layers of old growth reality and preparing anew for what he felt he was destined to face. Mac suddenly stopped shaving and pressed the razor into his face. Blood dripped from the cut as destiny beckoned.....
“It was felt that our jungle warfare trap would probably have a better chance of working with the use of live bait. I therefore decided to make my way cautiously out into the clearing among the tripwires. As I turned around, the trap, amid the sound of screeching and explosions, suddenly activated and our quarry was snatched up and entangled in the net. But not for long as the creature’s energy weapon blasted the tree trunk securing the net. The detached trunk then swung straight into Pancho, hitting him right in the chest and severely injuring him. Camouflaged, the creature disappeared into the jungle with Mac hot on its heels seeking revenge and ignoring my orders for him to return. It seemed that switch in Mac\s mind had now been flipped all the way.
“I can’t tell you exactly what happened to Mac and Dillon, but I’m sure they somehow got together and settled on a plan to track down, ambush and kill the creature. One to avenge the death of a friend and the other to ‘get even’ or perhaps rediscover something within himself the importance of which he had temporarily lost sight of? One thing I can be sure of and how I want to remember them is that both men died with honor as the warriors they were.
“As the four of us who were left made our way toward the extraction site, we had to cross a large tree trunk that formed a bridge. All of a sudden, Billy came to a halt once again sensing the presence of the stalking predator. Something deeply instinctive and ancestral seemed to impel him to throw away his rifle and face the threat alone, armed only with his machete. Another friend and warrior died bravely and honorably.
“We came to a halt when we heard Billy's horrifying scream and Pancho was then killed by an energy blast. Anna suddenly picked up a gun but I kicked it away telling her to leave it as the creature didn’t kill her because she wasn’t armed. There was ‘no sport’ in it for that hunter. Yet another blast then hit my own rifle, blowing it in half and throwing me back. I yelled out to Anna to run to the helicopter as I crawled away.”
[Benson]: Absolutely horrifying but also….interesting, Alan. The creature didn’t kill Anna because she wasn’t armed. She therefore posed no threat to it and as a hunter it would not consider it as sport or even honorable to kill something that is non-threatening and defenseless. It seems to need the challenge of combat in order to test itself and perhaps improve its own skills by learning from its opponent or quarry. As for obtaining trophies from those it vanquishes in battle – symbols of pride, bravery, honor? Is this the primary motive for the Yautja’s recurring presence on Earth and the reason you and your team were caught up in a battle of life and death with one of these beings. Something that boils down to instinct?”
[Dutch] “Holy shit! You mean, we are not really facing an alien invasion.”
[Benson] If we were talking about one or two instances of the presence of the Yautja on Earth at any one time, I’d say no we’re not. But we now seem to have world-wide incursions happening right now and multiple alien vessels seemingly poised within our solar system. Some factor we are unaware of seems to be behind this mass Yautja phenomenon in our neighborhood. Anyway, I have no answer to this so please go on with the rest of your story, Alan.”
[Dutch] “After crawling away, I rushed into the dense jungle sure that he predator was tracking my movements. Suddenly, I slipped and slid down a hill and then off a rugged cliff into a wide river. After much difficulty, I rose to the surface but the strong current had hold of me and I went over a waterfall. When I reached the surface I struggled to stay afloat but I was finally able to swim toward the shoreline. Thoroughly exhausted, I made it to a muddy riverbank and managed to pull myself out of the water where I passed out, covered in mud.
“When I came to I realized that the Yautja was there behind me. Without any weapons with which to defend myself all I could do was to wait motionless where I was for it to kill me. It was huge and humanoid in appearance and appeared to possess advanced weaponry. However, it’s camouflage technology seemed to be malfunctioning perhaps due due to exposure to the river water. As a result, the creature switched it off. Suddenly, I observed the Yautja tracking a target - some small rodent - using a three-beamed laser scoping device. It then shot the creature with a shoulder-mounted cannon. There’s something your Weyland would love to get its hands on. The interesting thing is that the alien did not register my presence. But why? All I could think of is that my own body heat had been insulated by the mud on my skin. It must have been because the alien creature simply left.”
[Benson, with some excitement in his voice]: “This means that the Yautja probably use thermal infrared tracking technology that homes in on their quarry’s body heat. It couldn’t do that when your body heat was being masked by the cool mud of the riverbank. So, their superior technology is fallible. Good to know. So what did you do after the Yautja left?”
“When I came to I realized that the Yautja was there behind me. Without any weapons with which to defend myself all I could do was to wait motionless where I was for it to kill me. It was huge and humanoid in appearance and appeared to possess advanced weaponry. However, it’s camouflage technology seemed to be malfunctioning perhaps due due to exposure to the river water. As a result, the creature switched it off. Suddenly, I observed the Yautja tracking a target - some small rodent - using a three-beamed laser scoping device. It then shot the creature with a shoulder-mounted cannon. There’s something your Weyland would love to get its hands on. The interesting thing is that the alien did not register my presence. But why? All I could think of is that my own body heat had been insulated by the mud on my skin. It must have been because the alien creature simply left.”
“Selecting a strategic spot, I got a flickering fire going. Positioning myself on a high branch, I constructed a makeshift bow along with several arrows and tested it by firing an arrow into a tree trunk. I then got hold of two specialty rounds and using my knife I emptied the gunpowder onto a tree leaf which I then folded.
“As I put fresh camouflage paint onto my face, I wondered about the dead members of my team. Friends and fellow warriors, all gone: mutilated and now part of some insane alien trophy collection. Well, not me! I thought as I prepared for the final battle. To be sure of my own invisibility, I smeared more mud onto my face and body. Under a dark sky, illuminated by the covering light and heat of a bonfire and with the moon shining down, I lit wood torches and let out a battle cry to lure my alien enemy to me. My primal summons would in the end result in only one of us prevailing.
“As smoke from the fire drifted into the air, I quickly rushed across a fallen tree carrying my makeshift bow. I then climbed up a tree and waited on a branch. While staring at the fire, my senses were alerted by leaves falling to the ground. A sign that the predator had arrived. I could sense its presence close by but I remained perfectly motionless as it moved by me. As the predator moved towards the fire, I used a vine to reach another vantage point.
“From there I observed the predator's movements. I then raised my bow as it examined the flames of the fire. Slowly and carefully I aimed an arrow and let loose. The arrow struck the leaf containing the gunpowder resulting in damage to the predator's cloaking device. Before I could barely register what happened, the predator fired its plasma gun. I was soon faced with a powerful barrage which destroyed the tree I was on.
“Having been knocked to the ground I rushed to find cover as the predator fired more rounds. I made it to yet another vantage point while the predator presumable used its thermal vision to search for me. Boy it could move! As it leaped over rocks and skirted across the rocky terrain, I made my way towards the trap I had earlier set. However, I suddenly found my path blocked by the huge creature. It had been injured judging from the blood on its body. I was not in particularly goods shape myself. It was also having trouble locating me so I decided to hides beneath a fallen tree.
“Motionless, I clung to the wood as the predator moved overhead. When it headed off in another direction, I left my hiding spot. Rapidly running out of weapons and armed with just a spear I scanned the area. With my senses on full alert, I threw a rock causing the predator to fires a plasma round. As I waited for it to stop firing, the predator was suddenly able to lock in on my position. It let off a plasma round knocking me to the ground. Gripping my spear, I searched for the predator and was certain from a blood trail that it had been wounded.
“The trail of blood led me to a crevice into which I cautiously entered. From behind me blood began dripping. The predator had silently took up position behind me. I then quickly lit a match and dropped it onto the ground causing an explosion. I rushed away from the blaze and the predator fired another plasma around as I plunged into the water of a pond.
“So now we were down to pure basics. The ultimate contest between two beings stripped of technological enhancements and advantages. Hand-to-hand combat, except of course I knew that the Predator had the advantage of size and strength over me. And so it proceeded to beat the shit out of me.
“The only recourse I had was to draw the predator into the spiked trap I had set earlier. After being thoroughly pummeled by the creature, I managed to reach the final trap. I crawled into the narrow gap and moved over the tripwire. Leaves concealed the sharpened spikes. As the predator loaded its bladed weapon, I looked at the tripwire with concern and called out ‘Come on. Do it. Do it. Come on. Come on. Kill me, I'm here! Kill me! Come on! Kill me, I'm here! Come on! Do it!’ The predator, however had discovered the trap and moved to the other side of the gap. I then turned my attention to the counterweight poised above the predator. I hit the tripwire causing the counterweight to slam down onto the Predator. Just as I was about to sink into a bed of weary relief, the predator began to lift the counterweight. Can you believe that!
“I then moved in to finish the bastard off with a large rock but decided to throw it away when I noticed that the predator had been fatally wounded. I asked it, "What the hell are you?" and it repeated my question in what sounded like a parody of a human voice. It then opened a panel on its gauntlet and activated a countdown timer. I knew what that meant and so I got the hell out of there as fast as my battered body would allow me. As I ran, I could hear the creature laughing in the same manner as Billy. Was it an ironic or mocking laugh in the sense that it was to have the last laugh if I thought I had been the victor? If it was to go down then it would take me down as well? That certainly would have been the case as a small nuclear explosion went off just as I as leaped for cover.
In the end a helicopter carrying General Phillips and Anna recovered me looking worse for the wear and here I am forty years later telling you, a stranger until an hour or so ago, what happened.”
**********
A bit later, Benson took his leave after thanking Dutch for his time and providing his recollection of the events that occurred in 1987 in the South American jungle.
[Benson]: Well, Alan I’ll be off now. Look, if you’re interested I’m sure I could get you a consultancy or advisory position at Weyland focusing on matters to do with the Yautja and their technology.
[Dutch] Thanks….William. But no thanks. I’m too old for this shit. And call me Dutch, ok. Besides, I have a feeling that humanity might wind up having to fear more than just the Yautja. Our greatest enemy might very well be predatory companies and corporations like Weyland who take us in directions that shouldn’t be taken all in interests of power and profit. You be careful where they take you. Don't let yourself become a tool of theres. And don’t be a stranger and come by and visit me again. Btg the way, William, don’t forget to pick up the rifle you stashed in the brush up there.”
[Benson] “Don’t you worry. I’ll be back! And call me Bill. How the hell did you know about the gun?”
[Dutch]: Here in these woods, apart from any bears or Sasquatch, I am the predator and you my friend are the prey. Now get the hell out of here asshole and keep safe!
*********
After watching Benson disappear into the brush, Dutch went back inside to for one more glass of his favorite poison. As he did so, the forest seemed to grow quiet. Suddenly, some leaves floated to the ground and an area high up in one of the trees seemed to shimmer with some sort of light distortion. If Dutch was there at that moment he might have heard the whispering, clicking and croaking parody of a human voice utter the following phrase: “….too old for this shit….”
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Points of Interest
The likes of Sir Ridley Scott, James Cameron and John Carpenter had been approached to direct Predator but they declined not being keen to shoot an Alien/Monster movie in the jungle.
Predator was written in 1984 with a working title of Hunter. Released on June 12, 1987, the film was No. 1 at the US box office in its opening weekend with a gross of $12 million. The film ranked 12th place in the domestic market for the calendar year 1987. The film grossed $98,267,558, of which $59,735,548 was from the US & Canadian box office. $38,532,010 was made in other countries.
Predator was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects:
Principal photography eventually began in the jungles of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, during the last week of March 1986, but most of the movie was shot near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The film franchise includes: Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), Prey (2022), Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) and Predator: Badlands (2025). Crossover with Alien franchise include:Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
Jean-Claude Van Damme originally cast as the Predator was removed from the film and replaced by the taller and more physically imposing 7'2" Kevin Peter Hall, who had just finished work as a Sasquatch in Harry and the Hendersons.
The invisibility cloaking effect was achieved using a bright red suit the size of the Predator. The red was removed with chroma key techniques, leaving an empty area. The take was then repeated without the actors using a 30% wider lens on the camera. The two takes were combined optically, withe the jungle from the second take filling in the empty area. The second take was filmed with a wider lens, resulting in a vague outline of the alien seen with the background scenery bending around its shape.
For thermal vision, infrared film could not be used because it did not register in the range of body temperature wavelengths. The filmmakers used an Inframetrics thermal video scanner because it gave good heat images of objects and people.
The glowing blood was achieved by green liquid from glow sticks mixed with personal lubricant for texture.
The electrical sparks were rotoscoped animation using white paper pins registered on portable light tables to black-and-white prints of the film frames. The drawings were composited by the optical crew for the finished effects.
Principal photography eventually began in the jungles of Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, during the last week of March 1986, but most of the movie was shot near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
The film franchise includes: Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), Prey (2022), Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) and Predator: Badlands (2025). Crossover with Alien franchise include:Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
Jean-Claude Van Damme originally cast as the Predator was removed from the film and replaced by the taller and more physically imposing 7'2" Kevin Peter Hall, who had just finished work as a Sasquatch in Harry and the Hendersons.
The invisibility cloaking effect was achieved using a bright red suit the size of the Predator. The red was removed with chroma key techniques, leaving an empty area. The take was then repeated without the actors using a 30% wider lens on the camera. The two takes were combined optically, withe the jungle from the second take filling in the empty area. The second take was filmed with a wider lens, resulting in a vague outline of the alien seen with the background scenery bending around its shape.
For thermal vision, infrared film could not be used because it did not register in the range of body temperature wavelengths. The filmmakers used an Inframetrics thermal video scanner because it gave good heat images of objects and people.
The glowing blood was achieved by green liquid from glow sticks mixed with personal lubricant for texture.
The electrical sparks were rotoscoped animation using white paper pins registered on portable light tables to black-and-white prints of the film frames. The drawings were composited by the optical crew for the finished effects.
Predator is that perfect action film one can enjoy with a couple of beers and a pizza at the end of the working week. In a novel way it uses lashings of violence in order to show that violence often does indeed begat more violence. If one is prepared to live by the sword then one had better be prepared to die by the sword. There is also commentary on such things as loyalty, honour, friendship, vengeance, redemption, bravery, duplicity but without the need to get bogged down in such themes and ideas. The characters are interesting, simple and relatable without being robotic or too one-dimensional and the film’s direction is tight and assured. There is even room for thought about the possible incomprehensible motivations and ways of thinking alien species may have should we come into contact with them. More to the point, the film succeeds in holding a mirror up to our faces and forces us to question aspects of our own humanity. This is definitely a film you’ll be back to see again and again!
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