My Alien Love: A Lifelong Obsession With the Predator Franchise

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Republished from 2013

I am a Predator fan, and I mean that in the most devoted, passionate, and unapologetic sense of the word. This is not a casual admiration or a passing fondness for a franchise I stumbled upon late. This goes all the way back to the beginning, to the very inception of one of the most iconic creatures ever committed to film.

It started with John McTiernan’s 1987 masterpiece, simply titled Predator, a film that arrived like a thunderclap and permanently rewired the way I thought about science fiction, action, and monster cinema. Written by brothers Jim and John Thomas, the story dropped a team of elite soldiers into a Central American jungle and pit them against something they were utterly unprepared for, something that hunted not out of malice or madness, but out of sport. The concept alone was electrifying.

But the true magic of Predator lives in the creature himself, and credit for that magic belongs to two legends. Stan Winston, the incomparable special effects genius, designed and built a being so visually striking, so otherworldly yet somehow believable, that he has never been topped in the decades since. And then there was Kevin Peter Hall, the remarkably gifted performer who stood at seven feet two inches tall and brought the Predator to physical life with a fluid, predatory grace that no CGI creation has ever truly replicated. Together, they did not just create a movie monster. They created an icon.

The Predator caught my attention in a way that nothing before or since has ever quite managed to match. There is something about his code of honor, his patient, methodical hunt, his terrifying combination of alien intelligence and raw physical dominance that I find endlessly compelling. Predator is, without question, my all-time favorite film. I can quote it line for line, re-enact scenes from memory, and I have done both more times than I care to admit, with absolutely zero regret.

“If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

“There’s something out there hunting us, and it ain’t no man.”

“I ain’t got time to bleed.”

“What are you going to try next? Cheese?”

“This stuff will make you a g*ddamn sexual Tyrannosaurus.”

What I like about this movie is how it comes off as a standard-rate commando flick, but then deviates into sci-fi with the introduction of the eponymous title character.  Six Special Forces soldiers and a CIA agent go looking for hostages in the thick Guatemala jungle.  The soldiers, led by Dutch (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) are a rescue team, but they are also trained killers who are armed to the teeth.  Dutch and his men find where the hostages are held and blow the compound to smithereens. 

As they are making their way out of the area, they are hunted by an unseen entity.  The entity sees in infrared and it tracks Dutch & his men as they head towards the extraction point.  Having seen how dangerous the men are, the entity — the Predator — kills them one by one and keeps their skulls as trophies.  Arnold survives, of course (this was the 80s, when everything he touched turned to gold).  Nowadays, he’d get smoked during the opening credits, but I digress.

I remember the moment when I first saw the infrared vision and was awed by it.  The Predator picks up a dying scorpion that was crushed by Mac (played by Bill Duke), and we see it go from red to black as it dies in the Predator’s clawed hand.  At the time, I’d never seen anything like that before.  Then I saw the Predator and I couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing.  Here was this amazing character, over seven feet tall, with Rastafarian dreads, a shoulder cannon, arm blades, long black fingernails and a freakin’ nuke attached to its forearm.  It was a total and complete badass that had absolutely no f*cks to give.

“You want some?  Then bring it!”

Then, during the climactic scene, it removes its mask.  Arnold’s response?  “You’re one ugly motherf*cker,” and if he never told the truth again, he for damn sure told it that day.  Because the Predator is ugly as hell.  It’s got tiny little sunken eyes, lizard-like skin, fangs, mandibles…see for yourself:

“Your momma.”

And I adore it. I truly do. I am here for this alien warrior, fully and without reservation. I love this creature, this hunter, this ultimate badass who lives for nothing but the thrill of the hunt. And clearly, I am not alone in that devotion.

Since McTiernan’s original, the franchise has grown to include a sequel, two spin-offs, and a reboot. Predator 2 unleashes a new hunter on the sweltering, gang-ravaged streets of Los Angeles. The spin-offs, Alien vs. Predator and its follow-up Alien vs. Predator Requiem, do exactly what the titles promise, pitting the galaxy’s greatest hunter against the galaxy’s greatest terror, the Xenomorph. Then there is Predators, a reboot that, while largely unnecessary, transplants the concept to another planet serving as a game reserve for extraterrestrial prey. It is, in many ways, a recycling of McTiernan’s original blueprint, though it does introduce one genuinely intriguing element: the Super Black Predators. Bigger, stronger, and more ruthless than their traditional counterparts, these hunters are outcasts within their own culture, and for good reason. They possess no honor, and in Predator society, honor is not simply a virtue. It is everything.

The species name of the humanoid hunters is Yautja, and they live on Yautja Prime.  Comic books and other media have expanded their universe.  I’ve not yet read the books and it may be that I won’t, as I am satisfied with the film canon.  However, I won’t make any promises, because I know better.

As I’ve said, my favorite movie is Predator.  Ranking the rest of the movies: AvP, Predator 2, Predators, and then AvPR.  Each movie gives us a little bit of Yautja culture.  Predator 2 did the damn thing and then some, treating fans to something we had never seen before: a shipful of Yautja from different clans, a brief but thrilling glimpse into the broader culture and hierarchy of these magnificent hunters. It was a reward for the faithful, and it delivered.

Alien vs. Predator gave us a front row seat to one method of how the Yautja conduct their hunts when Xenomorphs are involved, complete with all the ritual and calculated ferocity you would expect. And let us not overlook the fact that Sanaa Lathan is in it, holding her own and delivering one of the more memorable human performances the franchise has ever seen. The woman kicks serious Alien booty, and she deserves every bit of credit for it.

Alien vs. Predator Requiem, for all of its shortcomings, did manage to gift us with roughly twenty precious seconds on Yautja Prime, along with a tantalizing peek inside a Predator ship. Brief? Absolutely. But for a devoted fan, even a glimpse is something to hold onto.

And then there is Predators, which, as mentioned, introduces the Super Black Predators. As for that particular name, we will simply acknowledge it, set it gently to the side, and move on. Some things are better left undiscussed.

So here’s a lineup of the movie Predators:

Jungle Hunter (Predator)

City Hunter (Predator 2)

Scar (AvP)

Celtic (AvP)

Wolf (AvPR) Falconer (Predators) Tracker (Predators) Berserker (Predators) And this pimplucious Elder Predator (Predator 2), who makes an appearance at the end of AvP.  He’s even more awesome in that scene, as he sports a red cape.  Everything about the Yautja fascinates me.  Everything.  With each movie, I learned more and more about them and all I want is to know more.  I would truly love it if another movie was made (an original story; no remakes, reboots, or any of that crap) that took place in space or on Yautja Prime. I want more.  I’m greedy and there is so much richness to these characters.  To the powers that be, please make another Predator movie.  Don’t recycle old stuff; make something new and completely different.  Have a crew of humans crash-land on Yautja Prime and allow the shenanigans to ensue.  Maybe have a crew of both species end up on the same planet.  Something.  Anything.  Whatever you do, don’t be stupid with it.  Just give the heads with what they want, and cast Sanaa Lathan. Any questions?