Predator 2 – 35th Anniversary

About Predator (1987) / Predator 2 (1990)

John McTiernan’s Predator (1987) began as a joke—someone observed that after Rocky IV, the only opponent left for an action hero was an alien—and the resulting film is both the ultimate 1980s action movie and a clever subversion of the genre that systematically strips its muscle-bound heroes of every advantage. The original creature suit, worn by Jean-Claude Van Damme in a bright red lobster-like design, looked so terrible that production was halted for weeks while Stan Winston redesigned the Predator into the dreadlocked, mandible-faced hunter that became iconic. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the cast endured grueling conditions in the Mexican jungle, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, while the Predator’s thermal vision POV—achieved through infrared photography—created one of sci-fi cinema’s most imitated visual techniques. Kevin Peter Hall, standing 7’2″ in the redesigned suit, brought a physical elegance to the alien hunter that elevated it from monster to worthy adversary.