Like any kid I always wanted to do what I wasn’t supposed to do, eat what I wasn’t supposed to eat, and watch what I wasn’t supposed to watch. Having an older brother meant that I knew there was all sorts of cool movies and shows out there that the adults were watching, but my parents wisely never let me see any of them. For some reason I always fixated on action movies like Rambo, Enter the Dragon, Commando, etc., and Predator was at the top of my must-see list. As far as I was concerned Arnold was the king of action movies and I wasn’t going to stop begging my Dad until he let me watch Predator. When I finally did watch it, I was awestruck—I remember thinking it was about the coolest thing I had ever seen.

After the first few minutes of dialogue, the movie becomes 100% action, like John Wick or Mad Max: Fury Road. Predator is certainly a conventional movie, but to simply call it an action movie would be a misnomer. The first act is straightforward; receive the mission, wipe out the enemy, save the girl. The second act, on the other hand, comes with a very 80’s sci-fi twist and features an alien creature. 

The first time I watched the film was over 12 years ago now, and even though I watch it with a different perspective today, I still really enjoy it and it still ranks as one of my favorite films. As a kid I was easy to please—a little shooting, a few explosions and I was going to enjoy the movie. To some extent I’m still the same way, but I found there was a lot more than meets the eye this time around. The theme I found most notable is the idea that there is always something “bigger and badder” out there. Several scenes make this point obvious, but none more than when the Predator swoops down and picks up a dead scorpion, and watches as the life slowly seeps out of it (which he can see with his infrared vision). As usual, Arnold Schwarzenegger ends up being the biggest and baddest character in the film when he kills the Predator, but it is an interesting theme you don’t see in most 80’s action movies.

Several critics have written about Predator in the last 5-10 years. John McTiernan and Phil Hoad both wrote reviews and lauded Predator as one of their favorite films. Their opinions on the film were pretty much identical to mine: Predator is a machismo 80’s film, that offers a bit more thematically than meets the eye. Both reviewers brought up the point that the film hits hard on classic American political ideals and highlights the power and triumphalism America is known for, which is something I didn’t notice watching it the first time.

It is cool to look back at historical documents and interviews and see just how lauded and famous Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the time. He was churning out movies at an incredible rate in the 80’s, and many of them still hold up today. Predator is the prime example of an action movie star at its peak and will always hold a special place in my heart.