Sigourney Weaver recently went on record saying how disappointed she was over ‘Alien V Predator.’ Despite the plot similarities, Weaver said that ‘Aliens’ director James Cameron was taken aback by Fox’s decision to make a crossover, stating it was akin to pitting Alien and Wolfman together. While in some respects that does sound enticing, nothing can compare to the original ‘Predator’ (1987), which is today’s Throwback Thursday, a look at sci-fi of the past.
According to Xenopedia, the ‘Alien vs. Predator’ Wiki (sorry Sigourney), the concept for ‘Predator’ originally started as a joke regarding ‘Rocky IV.’ After Rocky defeats Drago and clearly ends the Cold War, Hollywood folks quipped that the only sensible opponent for Rocky to face next would have to be an alien. Thus, screenwriters Jim and John Thomas developed the concept for ‘Predator.’ Fox liked the idea and brought on Joel Silver to produce it as a huge action blockbuster with John McTiernan set to direct.
Arnold Schwarzenegger leads the cast—a beefy explosion of testosterone that includes Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Richard Chaves and additional future politicians Jesse Ventura and former porn star Sonny Landham. Additionally, ‘Iron Man 3’ writer/director Shane Black plays Rick Hawkins, the radioman that enjoys cracking salacious jokes. Black has been tapped to make a sequel to ‘Predator.’
The late Kevin Peter Hall plays the titular role of Predator, an alien with some high-tech capabilities including invisibility and thermal imaging. The Predator, which Schwarzenegger’s Dutch deems “one ugly motherf*cker”, has spent many years tormenting the people peppered throughout the Val Verde jungle. When the CIA tasks Dutch to rescue a hostage, his team encounters the Predator who, to say the least, leaves them no opportunity to “get to the chopper.”
As many of you with a cable subscription know, ‘Predator’ holds up. It’s just a shame that Jesse Ventura’s Cooper has to say a homophobic slur in the beginning. But when he dies and his comrade Mac deeply mourns this loss, maybe there’s a deeper implication there. However, there is a good possibility that I’m overthinking this. After all, this is ‘Predator’ we’re talking about.
