If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It

Predator, the Arnold Schwarzenegger vs Alien big-game hunter monster movie, shouldn't be any good. Well, with a concept that strong and a lead actor that iconic, it should at least be daft; fun but instantly forgettable. Predator should have been the Anaconda of the eighties. But it's not, Predator is one of the most entertaining movies ever made. It's sacrilege, but Predator is Arnie's best movie (yes, yes, I know, he's made three movies with king-of-the-world James Cameron).

It's success is even more perplexing when you observe the clash of elements in the film...a clash so distinct that they should cancel each other out into a gicantic pulpy turd (like Godzilla).

In the daft corner there's the silly elements:-
1/ Man-in-a-suit rubber monster.
2/ Hulking, brawn-over-brain, B-movie actors (Arnie, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham).
3/ OTT stunts courtesy of Craig R Baxley (the mad mastermind behind the signature slow-motion action of The A-Team).
4/ The simplest, dumbest, cliche ridden script imaginable from brother Jim & John Thomas, complete with corny dialogue ("There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man!").
5/ Alan Silvestri's monumental B-movie score.

Balancing this in the serious corner is:-
1/ John McTiernan's direction. The camera glides, flies and weaves through the production-designed jungle for a thrill ride you can almost physically feel.
2/ The adult tone. The concept is dumb, the script dumber, but Mctiernan treats this story deadly seriously letting the characters layer the tale with warmth and humour to keep the audience caring.
3/ The acting. Perhaps led by acting powerhouse Carl Weathers, the dumb brutes all turn in fantastic, restrained and serious performances. It helps they're all likable charisma machines, but they're all credible human beings rather than cartoonish super-soldiers. Even more so than T2, this is Arnie's best acting, right here.
4/ Donald McAlpine's gritty and naturalistic photography adds realism to the tall tale.
5/ It might be a man in a suit, but Stan Winston's creature is made believable and iconic. The make-up is enhanced by some cool camouflage effects from R/Greenberg Associates.

These element's shouldn't work together, but they seem to enhance and play off each other. The monster suit and the direction make the alien threat seem credible. The actors and score keep the fun factor elevated, and actually stop the movie from taking itself too seriously (a trap Stallone's Judge Dredd movie fell into).

A uniquely cinematic adventure movie that proved that John Mctiernan was a major talent to watch (he did Die Hard after this). And it adheres to the rule only the best movies obey; you want to watch it again immediately after it's finished.