Tag Line : Nothing like it has ever been on Earth before.

There's something nasty stalking Arnie and his group of commandoes in the jungles of South America in this highly enjoyable Sci-Fi/Horror/Action pic from action film producer Joel Silver and director John McTiernan.

Colonel Alan "Dutch" Schaeffer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his elite rescue team are brought in to locate the occupants of a helicopter crash, who are being held by rebel guerrilla's in the South American jungle.

Finding the remains of the last rescue team en-route, they wipe out the guerrillas base, but arrive too late to save the hostages. But as they head off to their pickup point, they soon realise they're being stalked by something sinister, as 2 of the team are slaughtered by an unseen force.

Knowing that they will never make it to the pickup point alive, they decide to make a stand to see if they can defeat the creature that's been stalking them. This turns out to be an alien life form, boasting all manner of high tech gadgets and weaponry, that enjoys hunting humans for sport which proceeds to make mincemeat of the lot of 'em.

This movie is probably one of the best examples that successfully combines horror and science fiction with plenty of rousing action, with a good use of cast, which includes Carl Weathers and WWF Wrestler Jessie Ventura. If you liked "Aliens" or  "Starship Troopers" you'll have a blast!

Overall marks : 8/10.

Other Information.

• Alternate tag lines... "It came for the thrill of the hunt. It picked the wrong man to hunt", "Soon the hunt will begin".

• Undoubtedly one of the finest line-ups of action hero's ever assembled. Arnie being already well known for his action roles, most notably that of "The Terminator", Carl Weathers being instantly recognisable for his roles opposite Stallone in the Rocky films and WWF wrestler Jesse Ventura, who had also starred with Arnie in the film "The Running Man".

• In Germany the film was heavily censored for its video and TV release, almost every violent scene was either shortened or, in some cases, completely removed (such as were Carl Weathers loses his arm). The film was later released uncut in 2001.

• The Predator was played by the 7ft tall Kevin Peter Hall, who sadly died in April 1991. Hall returned to play the creature in part 2, and also played the Bigfoot in the film "Bigfoot and the Hendersons", as well as the TV spin off entitled "Harry and the Hendersons".

• According to an interview with director John McTiernan, one appearance of the Predator was played by Jean-Claude Van Damme in a special effects suit. Van Damme quit after two days, apparently unhappy with being cast as an uncredited special effect.

• The UK DVD of the film issued in 2001 was of the heavily cut German version, which the distributors issued by mistake. They quickly realised there error and replaced it with the full uncut version a few months later.

Cast & Crew.

Buy the UK DVD (spec ed).

Buy the UK DVD (spec ed).

Buy the US DVD (spec ed).

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