It would be impossible to compile any list of the greatest action films of all time without mentioning Predator, the groundbreaking science fiction classic that both solidified Arnold Schwarzenegger’s status as a living legend, and proved that director John McTiernan was an icon of the genre a full year before he made Die Hard. The Predator franchise has continued churning out new entries in recent years, and it may be easy to dismiss the series as a series of escapist fantasies that are simply B-movies with bigger budgets. Despite having a seemingly straightforward narrative, Predator is a brilliantly crafted film with extraordinary attention to detail. A seemingly unimportant moment in the original Predator involving a scorpion reveals a lot about the creature’s intent and strategy.

‘Predator’ Shows Hunting and Survival Techniques

Early in the film, the predator picks up a dead scorpion discarded by the soldiers after Dutch (Schwarzenegger) and his men waged a conflict with the guerrilla camp in the Central American jungle. It has become an iconic shot, as it served as a brilliant way to show the unique heat vision from the predator’s perspective, as the creature recognizes the signature that the scorpion’s body produced. Although the moment was certainly essential in building the franchise’s iconography, it is critical because it shows how the predator analyzes trends within the soldiers’ behavior. The predator has never been to Earth before and thus does not know how man-made weaponry is operated. Based on the damage to the scorpion, the predator is able to understand what types of resources Dutch’s men are working with, which prepares it to track them down once the action begins to kick into high gear.

The scene with the scorpion underlines that the predator is not a villain in the traditional sense, as it does not seek to execute Dutch and his friends out of malicious intentions. The predator ensures that each death is swift and relatively painless, as its only goal is to claim victory within the hunt. After the predator understands that humans are willing to kill prey that they consider “weaker,” it begins taking the threat Dutch presents seriously. This also justifies why the predator would need to cloak its existence as it ventured deeper into the jungle. Disguising its appearance may not have been necessary if its prey were not willing to put up a point. But the predator understands that operating with anonymity is necessary to avoid being detected by Dutch. There is a slight environmentalist message to this science fiction premise; humans have taken their status as the “apex predators” for granted and never considered the possibility that another species might consider them the prey.

Related There’s a Secret ‘Predator’ Movie Coming Out Next Year — And It’s Not ‘Badlands’ Dan Trachtenberg has directed both films.

‘Predator’ Has A Deeper Meaning​​​​​​

The Vietnam War greatly influencedPredator. It even mentions that Dutch had served in the conflict before joining the paramilitary rescue team. One of the prevailing narratives surrounding the war was that American soldiers were put at a disadvantage because they did not know the territory, making them more susceptible to being struck down by surprise attacks. The barbarity committed in Vietnam revealed a darker side to warfare, as those in conflict were forced to be completely primal to survive. This is a key theme in Predator, as Dutch has to literally coat himself in mud when he faces off with the alien in the final sequence.

The scorpion scene encapsulates the attention to detail that made McTiernan’s work on Predator so impressive and why it still holds up as the best entry in the franchise. McTiernan was interested in showing the strategy and psychological warfare involved in a survival story, whereas many of the sequels aimed to heighten the action. Thankfully, director Dan Trachtenberg was able to imbue some of McTiernan’s sensibilities with his brilliant prequel film Prey. If his upcoming film Predator: Badlands manages to learn the same lessons, then the rest of the franchise is in good hands.

Your changes have been saved Predator Release Date June 12, 1987 Runtime 107 minutes Writers Jim Thomas , John Thomas

Predator is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.

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