Predator is one of the most beloved action-horror films of all time. It is one of those ideas that is so cool, taking a classic alien invasion movie and having them battle none other than trained military soldiers. The film follows a group of special forces soldiers on a mission in the deep jungle who are stalked by an alien who hunts for sport.
The movie is a hugely entertaining adventure that has a continued impact on pop culture. It helped solidify Arnold Schwarzenegger as a massively successful action star. It kick-started director John McTiernan's career. Most importantly, it gave us one of cinema's best monsters. It also helped spawn a franchise that not only lived on its own but crossed over with the Alien franchise for a little monster-on-monster mayhem.
Updated on 13th January 2023 by Shawn S. Lealos: While the original Predator was a huge success and remains a beloved classic, most of its sequels met less favorable acclaim. The sequel was mostly B-level horror that ended its run for a time. Its two crossover movies with the Alien franchise had their moments, but never really catapulted the franchise back to life. Even a sequel that arrived decades later didn't help kickstart the alien monster back to stardom. However, in the most unlikely place, Hulu revived the franchise in 2022 with Prey, and what resulted was a prequel that was the best movie since the original, its Rotten Tomatoes score 13 full percentage points higher than the original.
Sonny Landham Needed A Bodyguard
Sonny Landham played Billy in the film, the silent and intense member of the team who seemed to sense the Predator's presence before anyone else. Despite not having a lot of lines in the film, Billy was a very memorable character and Landham was perfect in the role. Behind the scenes, however, there was concern about hiring Landham.
In order to appease the insurance companies for the film, Landham could only be cast if a bodyguard was hired for him. The bodyguard was not meant to protect Landham, but rather to protect others from Landham. John McTiernan maintains Sonny Landham was never a problem on set and the bodyguard never needed to do anything.
Jesse Ventura's Military Training
Part of what makes the original Predator work so well is that the team of soldiers makes you feel like they are the real deal. In order to achieve the realism of playing special forces soldiers, the actors underwent an intense boot camp with real army personnel. While most of the cast admitted the training ultimately helped their performances, they also said it was a very unpleasant experience.
However, Jesse Ventura, who plays the popular Blain in Predator, is an ex-Navy Seal and reportedly excelled at the training. His training made it easier on him than his co-stars. Actor Bill Duke said (via The Hollywood Reporter) that "We’re talking about having to wear this gear that is heavy itself, and then the guns and stuff... you’re crawling through the jungle on your stomach and there are coral snakes and spiders and scorpions and a lot of different things." Ventura was the only one truly prepared for this.
Shane Black Was Hired For A Sneaky Reason
By the time filming was ready to start on Predator, Shane Black had become a big name in the action genre but as a writer rather than an actor. Black had written Lethal Weapon which was being praised for its original voice in the genre. Producer Joel Silver reportedly tried to get Black to do a rewrite of the script for Predator, but he wasn't interested.
Instead, Silver hired Black as an actor, playing Hawkins, the jokester of the team. It was Silver's hope that by having Black on set, he could more easily convince him to rewrite the film. Supposedly, Black still refused to rewrite the script and was the first person killed as a result. The writer-director insists he didn't change the script at all, but he went on to make his own Predator film in 2018.
Friendly Competition Between Actors
Predator is known for having one of the most muscle-bound casts in movie history. With that many tough guys on set, it's not surprising that there was a competitive atmosphere on set. One particularly funny rivalry was between Arnold Schwarzenegger and former professional wrestler-turned-actor Jesse Ventura.
When in the wardrobe department, Ventura noticed the measurements for his biceps were larger than Schwarzenegger's. Feeling confident, Ventura told Schwarzenegger they should measure each other's biceps and the loser buys a bottle of champagne for the winner. Unfortunately, as revealed by behind-the-scenes footage, the whole thing was a prank Schwarzenegger set up with the wardrobe department and Ventura lost the bet.
Jean-Claude Van Damme Was Fired As The Predator
With all the tough guys already in the movies, it's funny to think that Jean-Claude Van Damme was briefly involved in Predator as well. The martial arts superstar was not cast as a member of the special forces team, but rather as the Predator itself. The original plan was for Van Damme to play the monster in a special-effects suit. In the end, he only lasted a few days. As revealed through many interviews over the decades since, different people had different memories of Van Damme leaving the film.
Stunt coordinator Craig Baxley said that Joel Silver fired Van Damme when he broke the $20,000 Predator mask made for him to wear. Actor Bill Duke said he thought Van Damme was fired because he kept passing out inside the suit from the heat. Casting director Jackie Burch thought he was fired for complaining too much. Finally, visual effects' supervisor Joel Hynek said that Van Damme refused to stop kickboxing as the Predator, so Joel Silver fired him.
The Original Creature Design Was Scrapped
Like Jaws before it, Predator is one of those great movies that was very close to being a disaster. And like Jaws, it was the creature at the center of the movie that provided most of the issues. While the original idea was for Stan Winston to design the monster, the studio opted to save some money by going with a less expensive company.
Predator was well into its production journey by the time John McTiernan received the creature costume, and he was devastated by the lackluster design. After trying to film with the creature for a few days, McTiernan showed the footage to the studio, and it quickly agreed a new design was needed. In his book, Total Recall, Arnold Schwarzenegger said the design looked like "a guy in a lizard suit with the head of a duck."
What's Up With That Sgt. Rock Comic?
When asked about working with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator, John McTiernan said he was like a comic book come to life. As it so happens, at this time Schwarzenegger was in the process of bringing a comic book to life for a project he was working on.
Schwarzenegger had planned on making a film based on the Sgt. Rock comic series and had planned to star. During the credit sequence, Hawkins is seen reading a Sgt. Rock book as they were all over the set for Schwarzenegger's own research into the project.
Kevin Peter Hall Played 2 Roles In Predator
Though a lot of praise is given to the extremely macho actors of the cast, one underrated actor in Predator is Kevin Peter Hall. After the casting of Van Damme didn't work out, Hall was hired as the replacement and donned the iconic Predator costume.
Despite it being incredibly uncomfortable to work in such a cumbersome costume in the middle of a scorching hot jungle, Hall somehow managed to pull off his very physical performance. As payback for enduring that costume, John McTiernan gave Hall an onscreen role as the helicopter pilot at the end of the film.
The Predator's Voice Was A Familiar Actor
So much of Predator's success rested on how well the titular Predator creature came off as a terrifying killer. The design of the character was certainly a big component of its success, but another aspect that turned it into such an unforgettable movie monster was its unique voice.
The voice acting was provided by legendary voice actor, Peter Cullen, who is most famous for voicing Optimus Prime in the Transformers movies and cartoons. Cullen was reluctant to take the part because of his own voice problems but changed his mind after seeing the design. He came up with the clicking noises himself.
Old Painless
Though the first Predator movie is largely a horror-thriller as the Predator hunts down the soldiers and picks them off one by one, it's a pretty solid action movie even before the monster shows up. One of the best sequences involved the team raiding an enemy compound with a lot of firepower.
The most epic moment comes when Blain goes to work with his weapon, Old Painless. Such a gun really makes no sense in this kind of combat scenario. Director John McTiernan said (via The Radio Times) they made up the gun he carried, admitting that it is supposed to be mounted on a helicopter, but they created one he could carry around with him.