Predator

Made at the height of Arnie's success, Predator is an excellent example of the sci-fi action genre that arguably was at its best in the 80's.

In this story, often dubbed "Aliens in the jungle", we see an elite military hostage rescue team, led by Arnie's character of "Dutch Schaefer" become the hunted "sport" of an alien killer in the jungles of South America.

The movie was groundbreaking for a number of reasons and like its 80's sibling "Aliens", is a benchmark against which all "bug hunt" movies are measured.

The enjoyable portrayal of a tight and colorful bunch of special forces soldiers, up against a virtually invisible and seemingly unstoppable enemy was mixed with unique and mold breaking special effects from the master of illusion, Stan Winston.

The interesting angle that is fully realised here is that to beat the Predator, after all of man's war technology has failed, Arnie has to go "back to nature" and use natural resources and primitive hunting methods. Only after he has made this transition does the balance of power start to swing back in his favor.

It is this unique flavor that lifts "Predator" high above other also-rans of this genre. At the peak of the conflict between Arnie and this high tech messenger of death, we see him using sticks, stones and mud to elude and injure the alien, until the technological odds between them are levelled and a straight "gutter fight" is all that's left.

Directed by John McTiernan, Predator was the first big budget assignment the bright young director landed after attracting a lot of attention with the low budget sci-fi movie "Nomads" in 1986. As an encore, he would follow up with the "Die Hard" series with Bruce Willis.