Not too long ago, in a SCENARIO magazine interview, famed screenwriter Robert Towne called Predator one of the best movies of the eighties. On a superficial level, it's easy to see what appealed to him: for years he was obsessed with Tarzan, plugging away at a script that would become Hugh Hudson's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes. (Towne disowned the cinematic result of this labour, citing irreconcialable creative differences; screenplay credit was awarded to his dog, P.H. Vazak.) Predator, like Greystoke, is about a group of "civilized" people who travel to a deep and steamy jungle only to discover an unimaginable creation. Tarzan, of course, didn't thrill kill, and Predator is unlikely to teach anyone about classism. It's a film that successfully argues "only the strong survive."

Schwarzenegger stars as Dutch, leader of a guerilla unit sent into a South American jungle to rescue a cabinet minister from terrorists. Upon completion of their mission, they discover a much bigger threat, a transparent alien who skins people alive. The "predator" plays 'ten little Indians' with Dutch's crew members: future Minnesota governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura (as Blain, who spits tobacco and refers to his peers in the film as "slack-jawed faggots"), Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black (as Hawkins, a wiseguy who cracks jokes about his girlfriend's "pussy"), Duke (as Mac, who underlines his manliness by shaving dry-razor), Rocky's Carl Weathers (as shifty Dillon), Sonny Landham (as the vaguely Native American Billy), and Richard Chaves (as the curiously named Poncho). Invincible Dutch, of course, eventually goes mano a mano with the impressive creature (designed by FX guru Stan Winston), in a battle that is oodles of fun to sit through and just a bit too short.

Watching Predator again for the first time in years, I was struck by just how cynical (and brutally violent) it is. John McTiernan, subsequently the director of Die Hard and The Hunt For Red October, clearly enjoys the dynamic between men trapped in an enclosed space during do-or-die situations. (The immense but labyrinthine jungle presented here--Predator was shot on location throughout Mexico--is arguably more claustrophobic than the confines of Red October's Russian sub.) And, predictably, each of the film's commandos lose it prior to their respective executions, because all the penis-waving in the world can't save them: their interplanetary hunter has more strength, more speed, more agility, better weapons.

Predator was Arnold's first megahit (The Terminator was something closer to a cult phenomenon); perhaps that's why the monster doesn't kill Dutch: he knows better than to off a rising star. Any other logic would be truly alien to me--after all, Dutch not only takes a laser blast, a waterfall spill, AND a beating from his enemy, but he also survives an explosion so powerful that it produces a mushroom cloud. Why ask why? This is an efficient, off-centre action movie that has been clinically proven to increase testosterone production in its male viewers.

Predator has been re-released to DVD as part of Fox's first wave of dual Dolby Digital/DTS releases. As with the other reissues in this series (The Last of the Mohicans, The X-Files, The Siege), the studio has decided to right the wrong of the Bill Mechanic era by also presenting them anamorphically. A few titles really benefit from the 'remastering' (I believe they were all HiDef mastered from the get-go, but now they've been downconverted to 16x9 as opposed to 4:3)--in the case of Mohicans, a THX seal has even been added. But Predator has yet to receive the definitive transfer this paranoid post-Vietnam beaut deserves. The picture is still muddy and blacks are all over the map in terms of depth. Grain is overly apparent, and one image, in particular--of Dutch spilling down a waterfall--looks like it was shot in Super8, then stomped on prior to processing. And the Dolby Digital sound that once thrilled me had a harder chore knocking my socks off now that I'm fairly jaded about such things; the bass isn't as deep as it needs to be, and the absence of a surround split is pretty obvious. By all accounts, the DTS track is better--tighter--and that probably has more to do with a higher bitrate (754 kilobytes per second versus 448) than anything else. After all, the mix itself is of 1987 vintage any way you slice it--and terrific if one takes that into consideration when evaluating this disc. The only bonus remains a trailer, but at least the DVD now comes in a more socially acceptable keepcase.-December, 2000

Predator, like its title character, is resilient, a movie fan favourite that made it an obvious choice to accompany Speed, Young Frankenstein, and a few others in Fox's first batch of DVD releases. While I haven't seen the recent THX-certified widescreen VHS version, I can't imagine Predator looks any better than that on DVD, for the image is a fantastic disappointment. Flesh tones look great and the verdure is vividly rendered, but blacks never reach a level as dark as the widescreen bands. Worse, the film grain in some shots is distracting--since this Predator is not 16x9-enhanced, I'm assuming the transfer used for a 1992 LaserDisc edition was simply recycled for this DVD. (Note that a package insert incorrectly lists 35 chapters--the DVD has only 22--and that the first of these false chapters has been titled "Beginning of Side One.")

On the other hand, Predator's exclusive-to-DVD soundmix is terrific. The viewer has a choice of 5.1 or 2.0 (and yes, it defaults to 2.0); I listened to the whole 5.1 and merely sampled the 2.0 track. This is a very active and bassy remix, with Alan Silvestri's score benefiting the most from the deluxe treatment. There were also several moments in the film that startled me--shock chords that didn't have nearly their intended impact on my old copy, a 1988 VHS edition.

As for extras, at least Fox saw fit to include a (bad) trailer (full frame, mono), a French dub, English closed-captions, and Spanish subtitles, but that is all. No cool animated menus, no (known) 'Easter eggs,' and no production info. I must address one last thing: the keepcase package Predator comes in. There have been several newsgroup complaints about the difficulty in getting the DVD out of its shell. To this I reply, without a trace of sarcasm in my words, that this is the easiest time I've ever had removing a DVD from its box. Follow the instructions--a big button that says "push"--and the disc should pop up gently. Some people try to pry it right out, I suppose, and that's how discs are broken. I love the irony of a really strong man unable to get his Predator DVD out of the case.-Bill Chambers