Special Forces team led by Schwarzenegger are ordered to assist the CIA on a rescue mission in the Central American country of Val Verde (the fake country studios in the 80s used to avoid offending real third world countries). The team soon discovers they are there under false pretenses, but that is the least of their worries, as something is hunting them, something they can’t see. . .

One of the best films of the golden age of action films, a clever mix of 50s sci-fi and gunplay-heavy action that was the mainstay of this decade. Hard to believe it received such harsh reviews on first release (read Roger Ebert’s original review; it shows that you didn’t need to actually pay attention to the plot to write movie reviews). Followed by two sequels, Predator 2 (1990), of which I am in the minority in thinking is equal to the first, and Predators (2010), which wasn’t very good. Also a couple Aliens vs. Predator movies, which smothered a great concept in unremitting mediocrity.

Note: Character names are from the novel. IMDb and Wikipedia insist on calling Weathers’ character ‘George Dillon,’ but he is called ‘Al Dillon’ in the novel, and that trumps whatever those two oh-so-authoritative sources say. I’m probably the only person who cares, though :P