Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan and written by brothers Jim and John Thomas. It is the first installment in the Predator franchise. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as the leader of an elite paramilitary rescue team on a mission to save hostages in guerrilla-held territory in a Central American rainforest, who encounter the deadly Predator (Kevin Peter Hall), a skilled, technologically advanced alien who stalks and hunts them down. Carl Weathers, Elpidia Carrillo, Bill Duke, Richard Chaves, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, and Shane Black are supporting co-stars.
Predator was written in 1984 with the working title of Hunter. Filming ran from March to June 1986 with creature effects devised by Stan Winston and a budget of around $15 million. 20th Century Fox released the film on June 12, 1987, in the United States, and it grossed $98 million worldwide. Initial reviews were mixed, but the film has since been considered a classic of the action and science fiction genres and one of the best films of the 1980s, and was nominated for an Academy Award for best Visual Effects.
The success of Predator launched a media franchise of films, novels, comic books, video games, and toys. It spawned three sequels and one prequel: Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), and Prey (2022). A crossover with the Alien franchise produced the Alien vs. Predator films, which include Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007).
Plot
An alien spacecraft deploys a shuttle to Earth, where Vietnam War veteran Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer and his military rescue team, consisting of Mac, Poncho, Blain, Billy, and Hawkins, are tasked with rescuing a foreign cabinet minister and his aide from insurgents in an unspecified South American country. CIA officer Al Dillon, a Vietnam War buddy of Dutch's, is assigned to accompany the team over Dutch's objections. En route, the team discovers the wreckage of a helicopter and three skinned corpses. Dutch identifies them as Green Berets that he knew and becomes suspicious of Dillon's intentions. The team reaches the guerilla camp and witnesses the execution of a hostage. They mount an attack, killing most of the rebels and several Soviet intelligence officers. Dutch confronts Dillon, who reveals their true mission was to stop a planned Soviet-backed invasion and that the CIA sent the Green Berets weeks earlier for the same mission.
The only surviving guerilla, Anna, is captured. Learning that more rebels are coming, the team chooses to trek to the extraction point. Unbeknownst to them, they are stalked by an entity employing a cloaking device and thermal imaging technology, but a spooked Billy glimpses it, creating a situation where Anna attempts an escape. Hawkins catches her, but the creature attacks and kills him while sparing Anna.
Dutch organizes a search party, but Blain is killed by the creature's plasma cannon. Enraged, Mac provokes everyone to blindly fire their weapons into the jungle, unknowingly wounding the creature. As the creature administers first-aid to itself, the commandos regroup and realize they are being hunted. Dillon believes two or three guerrillas are responsible, but Billy is adamant that their pursuer is not human. They make camp for the night and set traps, which are triggered by a wild boar. In the confusion, Mac kills it while the creature steals Blain's body.
Dutch later realizes that their enemy uses the trees to travel and frees Anna, who states that her people had seen similarly mutilated bodies before. The next day, the group constructs a net trap and captures the creature, but it frees itself and Poncho is injured. Mac and Dillon pursue it but are outmaneuvered and killed. As the survivors flee, Billy stays behind to fight the creature. The creature kills Billy before following the survivors and killing Poncho. Realizing it does not attack unarmed individuals, Dutch tells the unarmed Anna to get to the chopper. Dutch attempts to distract the creature by fleeing but is followed to a muddy riverbank and covered in mud. The creature fails to see him and leaves to collect trophies from the others. Dutch realizes the cool mud provided camouflage for his body heat. He crafts makeshift traps and weapons, and as he covers his body with additional mud for camouflage, he lures the creature out at night with a war cry and torch.