Predator (1987)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

John McTiernan

Writers:

Jim Thomas (written by) &
John Thomas (written by)

Release Date:

12 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

If it bleeds, we can kill it...

Plot:

A team of commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior.

Plot Keywords:

Map | Spanish Language Usage | Infrared Vision | Skinned Alive | Extraterrestrial

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Dutch
Carl Weathers	...	Dillon
Elpidia Carrillo	...	Anna
Bill Duke	...	Mac
Jesse Ventura	...	Blain
Sonny Landham	...	Billy
Richard Chaves	...	Poncho
R.G. Armstrong	...	General Phillips
Shane Black	...	Hawkins
Kevin Peter Hall	...	The Predator / Helicopter Pilot
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Boyum	...	Hostage Executed by the Russian (uncredited)
William H. Burton	...	Guerilla Soldier Shot Down from Tree (uncredited)
Henry Kingi	...	Guerilla Soldier Blown Up in Van (uncredited)
Sven-Ole Thorsen	...	Russian Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
John McTiernan

Writing credits
Jim Thomas		(written by) &
John Thomas		(written by)

Produced by
John Davis	....	producer
Lawrence Gordon	....	producer
Beau Marks	....	associate producer (as Beau E.L. Marks)
Laurence Pereira	....	executive producer (as Laurence P. Pereira)
Joel Silver	....	producer
Jim Thomas	....	executive producer
John Vallone	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Alan Silvestri

Cinematography by
Donald McAlpine		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Mark Helfrich
John F. Link

Casting by
Jackie Burch

Production Design by
John Vallone

Art Direction by
Frank Richwood
Jorge Sainz		(as Jorge Saenz)

Set Decoration by
Enrique Estévez		(as Enrique Estevez)

Costume Design by
Marilyn Vance		(as Marilyn Vance-Straker)

Makeup Department
Bertha Chiu	....	hair stylist
Jeff Dawn	....	mud makeup artist (as Jefferson Dawn)
Scott H. Eddo	....	makeup designer and creator (as Scott Eddo)
Adam Hill	....	moldmaker/body impressions: Boss creature/victims effects crew
Carlos Horcasitas	....	hair stylist
Elvira Oropeza	....	additional makeup artist
John Rizzo	....	additional makeup artist
James R. Scribner	....	additional makeup artist

Production Management
Beau Marks	....	production manager (as Beau E.L. Marks)
Anna Roth	....	unit manager
Antonio Rubio	....	unit manager (as Tony Rubio)
Art Seidel	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
J. Tom Archuleta	....	second assistant director
Craig R. Baxley	....	second unit director
K.C. Colwell	....	second assistant director
Michael Katleman	....	assistant director: second unit
Beau Marks	....	first assistant director (as Beau E.L. Marks)
José Luis Ortega	....	assistant director: Mexico (as Jose Luis Ortega)

Art Department
Henry Alvarez	....	sculptor
Juan Barreto	....	assistant greensman
Benito Cano	....	assistant property master
Nikita Knatz	....	production illustrator
Jesus LaBastida	....	construction coordinator (as Jesus Labastida)
Camilo Lira Colin	....	assistant greensman (as Camilo Lira)
Antonio Mata	....	property master (as Antonio Mata Sr.)
Antonio Mata Jr.	....	assistant property master
Frank Mitchell	....	greensman
Michael Papac	....	property gun master
Salvador Pena	....	construction coordinator
Paul S. Power	....	production illustrator (as Paul Power)
Alejandro Ramirez	....	assistant greensman
Francisco Ramirez	....	greensman
German Ramirez	....	assistant greensman
Macedonio Ramos	....	set dresser
John Krenz Reinhart Jr.	....	art director: Mexico (as John K. Reinhart Jr.)
Tommy 'Tom' Tomlinson	....	property master (as Tommy Tomlinson)
Carlos M. Torres	....	assistant property master (as Carlos Torres)
Theresa Wachter	....	assistant art director
Christopher Gilman	....	property maker (uncredited)

Sound Department
Vanessa Theme Ament	....	foley artist (as Vanessa Ament)
George H. Anderson	....	supervising dialogue editor
Richard L. Anderson	....	supervising sound effects editor
Don J. Bassman	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Don Bassman)
David Bifano	....	audio programming
Kevin E. Carpenter	....	adr mixer (as Kevin Carpenter)
Kevin F. Cleary	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gene Corso	....	sound effects editor
Phyllis Drury	....	assistant re-recordist
Jorge Gómez	....	boom operator (as Jorge Gomez)
David W. Gray	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby Stereo (as David Gray)
Robin Harlan	....	foley artist
Craig Heath	....	sound re-recordist
Bill Henderson	....	sound re-recording engineer
Cindy Marty	....	dialogue editor
Richard Overton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Pappas	....	assistant sound effects editor
John Pospisil	....	special sound effects (as John P.)
Robert Renga	....	sound re-recordist
Steve Richardson	....	foley editor
Christy Richmond	....	dialogue assistant
Hank Salerno	....	adr editor
Jesús Sánchez	....	cable operator (as Jesus Sanchez)
Corinne Sessarego	....	adr editor
Catherine Shorr	....	sound effects editor
Richard Shorr	....	sound effects editor
David E. Stone	....	supervising sound effects editor (as David Stone)
Manuel Topete	....	sound mixer
Bill Voigtlander	....	adr editor
Jo Von Metoyer	....	assistant sound effects editor
J.R. Westen	....	foley mixer
Rosemarie Wheeler	....	dialogue assistant
Gary Wright	....	sound effects editor
Vic Zaslav	....	adr recordist
Richard Brassaw	....	adr assistant (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Grant Arndt	....	creature effects crew
Howard Berger	....	creature effects crew
James Camomile	....	special effects
Daniel Cordero	....	special effects
Laurencio Cordero	....	special effects supervisor
Manuel Cordero	....	special effects
Al Di Sarro	....	special effects supervisor
Adrián Durán	....	special effects (as Adrian Duran)
Alejandro Durán	....	special effects (as Alejandro Duran)
Fermín Durán	....	special effects (as Fermin Duran)
Jesús 'Chuco' Durán	....	special effects (as Jesus Duran)
Screaming Mad George	....	creature effects crew
Emilio M. Gonzales	....	creature effects crew (as Emilio E. Gonzalez)
Pedro González	....	special effects (as Pedro Gonzalez)
Robert Kurtzman	....	creature effects crew
Jacki Lancette	....	creature effects crew
Margarito López	....	special effects (as Margarito Lopez)
Lindsay MacGowan	....	mold department: Stan Winston Studio
Shane Mahan	....	creature effects crew
Javier Moreno Buzzo	....	special effects (as Javier Moreno)
Leslie Neumann	....	creature effects crew
Steve Patino	....	creature effects crew
Magdaleno Rodriguez	....	special effects
Matt Rose	....	art department coordinator: creature effects unit
John Rosengrant	....	creature effects crew
Shannon Shea	....	art department coordinator: creature effects unit
Brian Simpson	....	creature effects crew
Paul Stewart	....	special effects
Mitch Suskin	....	concept artist: creature effects unit
Michiko Tagawa	....	creature effects crew
Jackie Tichenor	....	creature effects crew (as Jackie Tischner)
Bruno Van Zeebroeck	....	special effects (as Bruno Vanzeebroeck)
Steve Wang	....	art department coordinator: creature effects unit
Steve Wang	....	concept artist: creature effects unit
Stan Winston	....	special effects
Eddie Yang	....	creature effects crew
Steve Johnson	....	special effects (uncredited)
Gregory Nicotero	....	creature effects crew (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
James Balsam	....	motion control technician
Scott Beattie	....	motion control technician
Michael Bigelow	....	visual effects supervisor
Jeff Burks	....	design consultant
Russell Calabrese	....	effects animator
Eric Chamberlain	....	special equipment
Rich Champa	....	optical camera (as Richard Champa)
B. David Green	....	location motion control
Richard Greenberg	....	visual consultant
Robert M. Greenberg	....	visual effects producer
Robert Hall	....	optical supervisor
Joel Hynek	....	visual effects supervisor
Paul D. Johnson	....	animation and rotoscope (as Paul Johnson)
Laurel Klick	....	optical line-up
J.W. Kompare	....	visual effects editor
Richard Lorenzo	....	optical camera
Marco Maldonado	....	motion control assistant
Eugene Mamut	....	camouflage co-developer
Patrick McDonough	....	optical camera
Jim Mini	....	optical lineup
Terry Moews	....	design consultant
Bryon Moore	....	inker
Bruce Morosohk	....	animation camera
Robert Mrozowski	....	animation supervisor
Scott Nicholas	....	optical camera
David Núñez	....	motion control assistant (as David Nunez)
Don Poynter	....	animation and rotoscope (as Donald Poynter)
Kenny Price	....	optical lineup (as Ken Price)
Stuart Robertson	....	thermal vision effects supervisor
David Satin	....	location video (as Dave Satin)
Robert Scifo	....	matte artist
Keith Shartle	....	production manager: additional visual effects
Mike Smithson	....	fabricator: Boss Film
James Valentine	....	rotoscope supervisor
Harry Venezia	....	animation and rotoscope

Stunts
Gerardo Albarrán	....	additional stunts (as Gerardo Moreno)
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts (as Gregory Barnett)
Bobby Bass	....	stunts
Craig R. Baxley	....	stunt coordinator
Gary Baxley	....	stunts
Manuel Benítez	....	additional stunts
Steve Boyum	....	stunts
Jophery C. Brown	....	stunts (as Jophery Brown)
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts
William H. Burton	....	stunts (as Bill Burton)
Steven Chambers	....	stunts
Doug Coleman	....	stunts
Leon Delaney	....	stunts
Alejandro de la Peña	....	additional stunts (as Alejandro De La Pena)
Ángel de la Peña García	....	additional stunts (as Angel De La Pena)
David Drazes	....	stunts
David Efron	....	stunts (as Dave Efron)
Norman Howell	....	stunts
Richard Humphreys	....	stunts
Peter Kent	....	stunts
Henry Kingi	....	stunts
Joel Kramer	....	stunts
Mauricio Martínez	....	additional stunts
Raúl Martínez	....	additional stunts (as Raul Martinez)
Gabriela Moreno	....	additional stunts
Noe Rolando Smith	....	additional stunts
Eric Valdez	....	additional stunts
Jack Verbois	....	stunts
Monty Jordan	....	stunt double: Jesse Ventura (uncredited)
Monty Jordan	....	stunt pilot (uncredited)
Brian Simpson	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Eddie L. Watkins	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Agganis	....	Steadicam operator (as Rob Agganis)
Robert Agganis	....	first assistant camera (as Rob Agganis)
Frank Bryson	....	infrared camera operator
Fernando Calvillo	....	gaffer
David Eggby	....	thermal camera: second unit
Tony Holtham	....	gaffer
Jim Hunt	....	gaffer: second unit
Juan Iniestra	....	key grip
Geoff Jamieson	....	second grip (as Geoffrey Jamieson)
Frank E. Johnson	....	director of photography: second unit
Adolfo Lara	....	best boy
Grahame Litchfield	....	key grip
Ian McAlpine	....	second grip
Alleyn Mearns	....	best boy
Warren Mearns	....	gaffer
Carlos Montaño	....	camera operator: second unit (as Carlos Montano)
Guillermo Moysen	....	assistant camera: second unit
Patrick Nash	....	key grip
John Oteri	....	camera operator: second unit
Clint Palmer	....	assistant camera: second unit (as Clinton Palmer)
Antonio Ramírez 'Puma'	....	dolly grip (as Antonio 'Puma' Ramirez)
Richard Randall	....	key grip: second unit
Guillermo Rosas	....	assistant camera
Zade Rosenthal	....	still photographer
Alfredo Ruvalcaba	....	still photographer
León Sánchez	....	director of photography: Mexico
Mark Sarfaty	....	assistant camera
Gary Scholes	....	best boy
Pete Sekelick	....	infrared camera operator
Pedro Vazquez	....	assistant camera
Pascual Villa	....	assistant dolly grip
Tim Wawrzeniak	....	first assistant camera: second unit (as Timothy Wawrzeniak)

Casting Department
Guillermo Castillo	....	extras casting
Billy DaMota	....	casting assistant
Humberto Johnson	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
María Antonieta Esquivel	....	assistant costumer
Robert B. Harris	....	costume supervisor: men (as Bob Harris)
Ismael Jardon	....	assistant costumer
Jaime Ortiz	....	assistant costumer
Gary Sampson	....	costumer: men
James W. Tyson	....	costume supervisor: men (as James Tyson)
Enrique Villavicencio	....	costumer: men

Editorial Department
Kimberley Bennett	....	assistant film editor (as Kim Bennett)
Bryan H. Carroll	....	assistant film editor (as Bryan Carroll)
Mark Elson	....	assistant film editor
Julie Feiner	....	assistant film editor
Carol Fitzgerald	....	assistant film editor
Rudy Freeman	....	assistant film editor
Dale E. Grahn	....	color timer
Bob Hagans	....	color timer
John Henzel	....	assistant film editor
Jack Hooper	....	negative cutter
Patricia Kudish	....	apprentice film editor (as Patty Kudish)
William J. Meshover	....	assistant film editor (as Billy Meshover)
Willie Navarro	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
Michael John Bateman	....	vocal effects editor (as Michael Bateman)
Walt Borchers	....	scoring crew
Terry Brown	....	scoring crew
James B. Campbell	....	orchestrator (as James Campbell)
Peter Cullen	....	special vocalization
Chuck Garsha	....	scoring crew
Dennis S. Sands	....	music scoring mixer
Norman B. Schwartz	....	vocal effects supervisor
Michael Tronick	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Charles Enzen	....	transportation coordinator
Margarito Fuentes Gutiérrez	....	transportation co-captain (as Margarito Guttierez)
Mayaya Gonzalez	....	transportation secretary
James Nordberg	....	driver
Mario Ramariz	....	transportation co-captain
Benito Villapondo	....	transportation co-captain
Alfonso Paredes	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Alex Algarin	....	dubbing projectionist
Eduardo Apellaniz	....	animal trainer
Emilia Arau	....	production office liaison: Mexico City
Todd Arnow	....	production auditor
Alejandro Madrid Bonilla	....	helicopter pilot
Brooke Brooks	....	assistant: Mr. Davis
Patti Calhoun	....	production coordinator: USA
Guillermo 'Memo' Carreno	....	production assistant (as Guillermo Carreno)
Craig Caton	....	creature crew
Jack Crain	....	knife design/production (as Jack W. Crain)
Efren del Moral	....	production assistant (as Efren Del Moral)
Riley Kathryn Ellis	....	development executive
Alejandro Ferrer	....	union head of production
Emily Gamboa	....	production coordinator: Mexico
Gary Goldman	....	technical advisor
Gabriela Gurrola	....	script supervisor
Miguel Gurza	....	animal trainer
David Kindlon	....	mechanical department: creature effects unit
Carol Land	....	assistant: Mr. McTiernan
Richard J. Landon	....	mechanical department: creature effects unit (as Richard Landon)
George Luis	....	assistant: Mr. Silver (as George Luis Rodriguez)
Dr. Robert Madding	....	infrared consultant
Peter McKernan	....	helicopter pilot (as Peter J. McKernan Jr.)
Katherine Ann Moore	....	publicity coordinator (as Katherine Moore)
Elizabeth Norton	....	script supervisor
Suzanne Nupoff	....	assistant: Mr. Gordon
Michael Perkal	....	production auditor
Rodolfo Lopez Real	....	production assistant
Carlos Renero	....	animal trainer
Guillermo Saavedra	....	helicopter pilot
Brent Scrivener	....	mechanical department: creature effects unit (as Brent Scrivner)
Tamara Smith	....	assistant: Mr. Silver
Ken Stone	....	maintenance engineer
Wayne Sturm	....	mechanical department: creature effects unit
Charles A. Tamburro	....	aerial coordinator
Charles A. Tamburro	....	helicopter pilot
Michael Tamburro	....	helicopter pilot (as Michael E. Tamburro)
Dana Lynne Taylor	....	production coordinator: USA (as Dana Taylor)
Elaine K. Thompson	....	production associate
Marion Tumen	....	script supervisor
Gerardo Yubero	....	assistant auditor (as Gerard Yubero)
Sandi Yunt	....	assistant: Mr. Gordon
Hector Zurita	....	animal trainer
Humberto Gurza	....	animal wrangler (uncredited)
Harry Kopoian	....	airport liaison: Mexico (uncredited)
William Stout	....	creature designer (uncredited)
Kellett Tighe	....	assistant: Lawrence Gordon (uncredited)

Thanks
Brad Naples	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Amercent Films
• American Entertainment Partners L.P.
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (1987) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1988) (UK) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Fox Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• CBS/Fox (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• Fox Video (1994) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Encore Entertainment (1996) (UK) (video) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (1999) (Germany) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox (2007) (UK) (DVD) (The Definitive Edition)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (????) (New Zealand) (VHS) (original video release)
• CBS/Fox Video (1988) (Belgium) (video)
• CBS/Fox (Argentina) (video)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Fox Network (1989) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Lucernafilm - Beta (1991) (Czechoslovakia) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)

Special Effects

• R/Greenberg Associates (special visual effects)
• Stan Winston Studio (creatures)
• Dream Quest Images (additional visual effects)
• Howard Anderson Company, The (effects animation and photographic effects)

Other Companies

• Alimentacion Filmica Especializada  catering
• Animal Makers  prosthetic animals
• Compact Video  thermal vision post-production
• Datotek  special thanks
• Diligent Dwarves Effects Lab  predator suit
• Group IV Recording  special thanks
• New England Digital  special thanks
• Pacific Title  additional opticals
• Restaurant El Eden De Mismaloya De Puerto Vallarta  special thanks
• Stembridge Gun Rental Inc.  weapons
• Varèse Sarabande  score album released by (limited edition)
• Video Image  computer graphics

Also Known As:

Alien Hunter (USA) (working title)
Hunter (USA) (working title)
Primevil (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

West Germany:18 (video premiere) (cut) | Germany:18 (re-release) (2001) (JK/SPIO) | New Zealand:M | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Belgium:16 (video rating) | Finland:K-15 (TV rating) | Malaysia:18SG | Denmark:15 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Brazil:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Jalisco, Mexico

Company:

Amercent Films

Trivia:

Body count: 64.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final battle scene, before the Predator takes off his mask, Dutch can be seen leaning back against a tree; from the Predator's view, he is standing in the clearing, hunched over in a ready position.

Quotes:

Sergeant Mac Eliot: Long Tall Sally, she built sweet, she got everything, that Uncle John need. Aw baby, I'm gonna have me some fun, I'm gonna have me some fun, I'm gonna have me some fun.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bigger Stronger Faster* (2008)

Soundtrack:

LONG TALL SALLY

Welcome to the jungle, baby…

Consider that so many of the roles that Arnold Schwarzenegger takes on are so similar, including Predator, and yet this film is so much better than most of the others. I enjoy watching his movies just because he's such a watch-able guy, even in his bad movies (which are many), but I think the thing that really makes Predator stand out is its simplicity. The movie starts, the guys get dropped in the jungle, lots of blood and carnage flies across the screen, and the movie simply ends. No romance, no complex back story, no soldier struggling with problems in his past or even trauma caused by the horrible things he experiences during the movie. This is one of the things that made First Blood so good. It may turn out to be a movie about a lot of muscle-bound meatheads in the woods, but it doesn't insult the audience or try to apply complexity to a story that can't support it.

Interestingly, the movie features two eventual governors. Jesse Ventura even wrote a book which was released while he was the governor of Minnesota and he used his favorite line in this movie as the title. And the book's actually pretty interesting; there are some funny stories in it about things that went on while they were filming this movie. Arnold, on the other hand, is actually (and thankfully) given a relatively small amount of stupid one-liners, which are an idiotic byproduct of hard action movies that I've never really understood the necessity for. They don't reveal anything about the characters who say them, they don't add to the story or further the plot, and with rare exceptions, they're not funny. But I guess comic relief has to come from somewhere, and since complexity is not a requisite for movies like this, I can't really expect a lot of thought being put into the comedic content either.

I watched Predator having never seen it from beginning to end and having just re-watched the original Alien. I am currently in the process of re-watching both series', for obvious reasons. One thing that I notice about both of them is the way they take their time in introducing the enemies which, in both films, are aliens. Predator doesn't waste much time dwelling on the origin of the alien, we pretty much assume it came from a space ship that flashed across the screen at the opening of the movie. Alien, on the other hand, went into remarkable detail about where its alien came from. What Predator does do, very effectively, I think, is that it has the guys fighting some very human enemies, which allows the movie to later take its sweet time in having them realize that the new enemy is not human at all. This is also, incidentally, weakly rehashed in the sequel, using the secrecy of this mission and team as an excuse to have more guys who don't know what's going on.

The death scenes are actually pretty tasteful, given the genre. They are just gory enough to illustrate the violence of the enemy without being gratuitous. Just enough is shown to show how vicious the alien is, and there are some strange things done to and with the bodies that make you wonder about the alien's intentions or needs. The first deaths suggest vengeance if not some sort of ritual, but later ones suggest that the alien may be feeding off of his (or her) victims. Oddly enough, it is not until the awful Predator 2 that we learn that it kills for sport.

Yes, the movie occasionally gets embarrassingly macho, but the skill with which it is put together far overshadows any tough-guy goofiness. Consider, for example, the ease with which the movie switches from showing the guys hunting the alien to their realization that they are the ones being hunted. In some cases, this transition takes place during a single shot and with virtually no movement in the shot at all except a change in someone's expression. It is truly a fight between a group of predators, which we understand because they are human like us, and a single predator whose powers and weaknesses are unknown. It's not Oscar material, needless to say, but it's a great action movie in part because it already knows that.