"The contrast between the ancient jungle setting and the futuristic beast gives this heart-pounding thriller a truly unique feel."

Predator - The Big Picture
A squad of commandos led by Major Dutch Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is hired by the CIA to rescue downed airmen from guerrillas in a South American jungle. The mission goes well but as they return with a captured guerrilla in tow, they find that something is hunting them. Nearly invisible, the mysterious being blends in with the forest, and begins killing the squad members one by one. Unlike the clearly marked, traditional battle lines that Schaefer is used to, this mission takes him into a new and terrifying world where old rules don't apply.

Plot Thickeners
As the Predator continues his deadly hunt, human enmities are suddenly forgotten. Stalked by the unseen foe and stripped of his sophisticated weaponry, Schaefer must rely on more than physical strength and modern technology. With the jungle his only ally, he must draw on his inner resources of instinct and intelligence, as he faces his greatest challenge: staying alive.

The Final Confrontation
Director John McTiernan found intriguing parallels to mythology and ancient legends in the movie's final battle: "It is in essence a battle of titans, almost supernatural. Perhaps the question is: can a man be strong enough and hold his courage and his will long enough to make it to the far side, to survive this ordeal?"

Build and Destroy
Working in the dense jungle within an hour's drive from Peurto Vallarta in the intense tropical heat and humidity, the large international company faced a demanding location schedule. Because they were filming during the region's dry season, greensmen with water trucks and fire hoses began work a month before the shooting crew, watering the location sites daily and placing a number of artificial thirty-foot trees to increase the scale of the jungle locations. Massive artificial rocks and truckloads of vines were woven into the natural landscape to create the rainforest environment. On this set constructed at the edge of the jungle the spectacular raid on the guerrilla encampment was enacted. This sequence took several weeks to shoot, and had to have additional structures built to accommodate the special effects work, each designed to withstand repeated torching.

Getting Physical
To make sure his actors could meet the grueling demands of this intensely physical film, director McTiernan insisted on bringing them in a week early for a special "boot camp." "We brought in special trainers . . . the idea was to endure something rough and conquer it together," said McTiernan. Schwarzenegger described the collective preparation: "We had done about a month and a half of physical training in the gym in L.A. beforehand. In Mexico (on location) we'd get up at 6 AM for breakfast and then run four or five miles to get into condition. After that we worked five or six hours in the jungle on skills training--everything from climbing trees to rappelling down ropes to handling the weaponry. We had to learn how to move silently through the jungle and communicate with hand signals and deploy for specific maneuvers. By that time we were exhausted. Then we went back to the weight room in the hotel and trained for two hours, and then the director called us and said, 'Okay, NOW we rehearse.'"

Are you ready?
Quicktime (841k) or AVI (861k)

Ready, Aim, Fire
Producer Joel Silver was looking for a special weapon for the character of Sgt. Blain (Jesse Ventura). We he visited a movie weapons supply house and saw an enormous Gatling gun with six rotating barrels designed for a helicopter, he knew he had his machine. A special mount was made to allow Ventura to hand-carry it with cables running up his legs and hooked to a gun motor powered by two 12-volt car batteries. The rest of the unit was similarly well equipped, with Schwarzenegger carrying an M-16A2 with an M-203 grenade launcher; Mac (Bill Duke), a Maremont M- 60E3 light machine gun; Rameriz (Richard Chaves), Hawkins (Shane Black) and Dillon (Carl Weathers), the 9mm Heckler and Koch MP-5 submachine gun as well as a six-shot grenade launcher. A variety of powerful sidearms rounded out the unit's arsenal.

Notes and Quotes
Director McTiernan combined dramatic intensity and an atmospheric approach to fantasy in "Predator." "I'd always dreamed of doing an old-fashioned Saturday afternoon adventure movie," says McTiernan, "and 'Predator' was clearly designed to be pure entertainment in a style I love, which is suspense. But it combined elements you rarely find together-a classic hero story and a horror story, like the Norse myths where heroes battle against supernatural giants. It also reminded me of the old war movies and comic books with men who were larger than life."

I'm invisible!
Quicktime (841k) or AVI (861k)

For Trivia Experts Only
Although the credits list Kevin Peter Hall in the role of the Predator, rumors still persist that Jean-Claude Van Damme performed some of the fight sequences.