Showing posts with label Arnold Schwarzenegger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arnold Schwarzenegger. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

PREDATOR (1987)

A group of seven ultimate military badasses are sent into an unspecified South American jungle to rescue a foreign cabinet minister from a terrorist camp. Things don’t go as planned.

The best way to watch PREDATOR for the very first time would be to erase your memory and time-travel back to the late 1980’s as a 12-year-old boy. I remember watching it back then around that age and it blew my lil’ simpleton mind! A bunch of large badass super soldiers getting their asses kicked out it the deep jungle, lots of cool guns and large knives, wicked Predator-vision that looked like nothing I’d ever seen before, explosions, the word “motherfucker”, getting to the chopper. It’s was awesome! Nowadays, the whole thing is probably pretty tame (to new viewers) and the entire legacy of the film shit on by not just one or two lame additions to the series, but (as of 8/2022) six! I’m not even sure how it’s humanly possible to take a great movie with a cool, original story and then turn in 6 weak ass sequels, prequel and spin-offs, but they did.  You'd think at some point they would accidentally make a good movie...but nope.

Anyway, I’m rambling. The original Predator film is dated, but still badass and totally worth checking out even today. At least for fans of 1980’s action / sci fi.

Minor spoiler...I love the happy character end credit shots, but I really wish they had added one for the Predator himself. And a happy group shot with the Predator and the soldiers all hugging would have been hilarious.

Part 2 – Predator 2 (1990)
Part 3 – Predators (2010)
Part 4 – The Predator (2018)
Prequel - Prey (2022)
Alien crossover 1 - Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Alien crossover 2 - Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

Sunday, May 14, 2017

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Los Angeles, 1984.  Sarah Connor is about to have a bad day.

Little does Sarah know, while riding a scooter to her waitressing job, but she is about to be the focus of one of the most important events in human history.  The simplified version (as to not spoil the story or the sequels too much) is in 1997, a super intelligent and self-aware computer system called Skynet launches a worldwide nuclear assault on humanity.  In the aftermath, some humans band together to form The Resistance.  Their leader is one John Connor, son of Sarah Connor.  For decades they fight the robot army controlled by Skynet.  Finally, in 2029, on the verge of defeat, Skynet sends a cyborg assassin back in time to 1984 to kill John Connor's mother before he is even born.  Not a bad idea, except that the Resistance also sends back a human, Kyle Reese, to protect Sarah.  What follows is exciting as fook!

THE TERMINATOR is without a doubt one of the the most influential movies of all time.  Not just on other movies, but on popular culture as well.  As for me, I've seen it, at least, a hundred times.  The story is brilliant (not only is it action-packed and thought provoking, but it's actually romantic as well), perfect use of slow-motion, the direction and editing are unbelievable (there is not a single wasted moment in the entire film, every single scene is moving it forward!), it looks amazing and the acting is great all the way through.  Outside of a few minor goofs (car headlights in the police station scene, gun sounds, etc.), THE TERMINATOR is an outstanding film and entertaining even after numerous viewings.  A timeless classic.

Part 2 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Part 3 - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Part 4 - Terminator Salvation (2009)
Part 5 - Terminator Genisys (2015)
Part 6 - Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)