What Is It About The Predator...?

[Skullsplitter]

Well, where to start?

At the tender age of 10, there was this anouncement on TV, and some of the images just stuck with me, even though I couldn't remember the name. For some odd reason, the commando-jungle setting and the flashing eyes (I remembered them in the color of bright blue/white instead of yellow, and being seen more than just once) kept with me for years, with intrigue.

Then there was this P2 cover in the local videorental that had the P2 full frontal in a sort of office-surrounding. This bestranged me, didn't know it was an alien then, but it sure looked funky. The spear he held, the mask, the armor... It looked awesome, but I was expecting sort of a slasher I guess, even though I hadn't seen one. (on a sidenote, I always believed that the bar Han Solo and Luke Skywalker used in the crusher-scene in A New Hope was much like the P2 spear, don't ask me why)

Years go by, I turn 13-14 or so, and AVP was announced. Not the film, but the PC-video game. It was described as a action-adventure, something that combined the Lucasarts point and click adventures with something like Quake in my mind, and I started daydreaming about what it could be. Mind you, I never seen any Alien or Predator film, all I had to go by where the Alien Comics (which looked rather cyberpunk in my mind back then) and my (false) memories of Predator.

The age of internet started around that same period, so every bit I could find on Predator and Alien got combed over week after week. I had a tendency of switching interests every few months or so, so it was much Independence Day (loved those aliens), AVP, Spawn, AVP, and so on.

First I started to notice how false my memories have been through the pictures I found, but I yet had to see the film itself. I secretly bought a VHS copy and watched it in 3 parts when my parents were asleep. The first time I saw it finished, I was severely underwhelmed: was that it? In my mind, there was a lot more to it, it felt deeper and more immersive.
Over time, I watched the flick several tens of times, and I grew to like it, though my memories of it were better.

Same goes for P2 though.

All and all, I fell in love with the creature for several reasons to an obsessive level.
I think it's the design, so primal yet advanced, the look of the creature underneath all the tech that was the main appeal to me. The longer you look/know the creature, the more you see.
Also, I think it really is sort of a fantasy: the creature is everything you can't/won't be: strong, fast, athletic, gruesome, no remorse, no real ethics (honour my ass, the only thing that they do honour is a prey who is able to fight back, or their health allowing to, all the rest is bull IMO) and the ****** get's away with it.
It is what we can't be, so it's a form of venting our frustration I guess, in the same way FPS-games are ideal to let go some agression at times. This venting, projecting all our insecurities on something that has none, is really a large part of it's appeal.

That, and his total lack of personal hygiene J/K

I live and breathe the Predator, everywhere I go I see references around me or inspiration for my ongoing personal Predator Design Project (I really need to get going with that some more), and I'm totally obsessed with anything related.

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Skullsplitter, you mention being obsessed with anything Predator-related. It's interesting how collecting props can go from a few here and there to being obsessed and buy as much as you can even if you can't afford it lol!

 

[Skullsplitter]

Now, I "only" own several comics, some bio's and some toys (even sold a bunch), but the obsession is found in the fact that I keep searching for more reference, more pictures, more info and designing my own version based on all that I like about all designs and discarding what I don't.

 

[svehunter]

Well it all started for me as a small kid whatching over my big brothers shoulder as he watched some new cool movie(Predator 1),about Arnie(my favorite actor as a kid) running around in the Jungle with a bunch of cool characters one with a mini gun cmon how cool was it to see a handheld mini gun fired for the first time on screen!!! I almost tought that was as cool as the Predator itself.The heat vision also captured my imagination you always wondered what kind of thing could have vision like that.I also remember I tought hawkins pussy jokes where hilarious

I think I saw the predator the first time after he jumps down after Arnie when he falls down in to the water and crawls up to the waters edge in to the mud,the scene where the Predator emerges from the water I will never ever forget how cool he looked with the bio mask,the dreads (cmon he looked like a rastafari ffs!) and the cool bleeping thing on his arm,the plasma caster,wristblades everything about him just sucked me in and I was hooked for life

What I admire most about the Predators is the honour code they have as hunters(as I am a big game hunter in real life),they will never kill any game not worthy as trophies (unharmed humans etc) only the most dangerous and challenging prey are worthy of the hunt

Will I guess thats how my Predator obsession started yall

Richard

 

[shockwave1]

I can't remember exactly when it was, I was about 8 or 9. One night I'm watching tv and I see this add for a movie premiering on that channel in a couple of days.

All I knew was that it had Arnie and with some creature from another planet. I'd never heard of it, but I got pretty excited straight away. Always loved my sci-fi movies and I didn't know what to expect, but I just wanted to see it. Even the name sounded cool - Predator.

And that was it really, I was hooked. And like other members have already said, from the weapons and cloaking, to the looks and attitude - was just badass all over!

I think it was one of the articles about new movie that really summed it up for me: They hunt because they can...

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Its cool to see different people's reason for getting bit by the Pred bug.

I think a large reason for me being so awestruck is that the Predator is so...alien and foreign. Everything about the Pred was so new and never seen before...and a lot of movies have copied the ideas since then.

Add to that mix Kevin Peter Hall and you have more than just a guy in a suit. This is why I give Ian Whyte kudos for his performance in the Wolf suit...he had the correct mannerisms that KPH had mastered in the first 2 movies.

I am thinking that Predators is going to be studied and scrutinized very carefully by not just the hardcore fans of the Lair - but by anyone who has ever seen Predator and Predator 2, AND newcomers who are not familiar with the creature. I'm really, REALLY crossing my fingers on this one...

 

[Reaper1]

Hiya ppl just wondering What was it about Predator you loved so much what got you hooked ? , For me it was the look of him and his brutality the weaponary i guess everything but the main things i liked about him would have to be the way he kills and takes the Skulls as trophies and the Bio Predators wear , how bout you guys ?

 

[Ice1]

Well the thing that got me hooked when I was smaller was the helmet and him taking billys head. Just ripping it out of him lol, seeing that as a kid was just awesome lol. And the over all look of the pred also, just one Bas Ass alien.

 

[darkbladeclan]

everything basically from its look to the way it believes in fighting honorably but i think what got me most was its technology, its weapons and gadgets e.g. bio and cloak are just cool!!!!

 

[gam3rgod]

For me, i liked the way he stalked waiting for just the right moment to strike he reminded me of a hunter and thats exactly what he was.

 

[Reaper1]

Well the thing that got me hooked when I was smaller was the helmet and him taking billys head. Just ripping it out of him lol, seeing that as a kid was just awesome lol. And the over all look of the pred also, just one Bas Ass alien.

lol yea the bit where he rips Billys spinal colum and skull out was bloody awesome ! , deffinetly one Bad Ass ****! , makes you wonder why ppl are still so stupid to **** with him ! ...such dumbasses.

everything basically from its look to the way it believes in fighting honorably but i think what got me most was its technology, its weapons and gadgets e.g. bio and cloak are just cool!!!!

Hell yeah i love his technology the cloak is just awesome and the Bio !!

For me, i liked the way he stalked waiting for just the right moment to strike he reminded me of a hunter and thats exactly what he was.

Yea one Bad Ass Hunter!! no better Hunter than him

 

[MotoGuy75]

Hello,

I loved his technology and how he was able to cloak himself.Also I thought his plasma caster was pretty badass,especially when he used his target tracking system to zero in on Arnold in the trees,totally wicked....If only we had stuff like that.

Daren

 

[crysis212]

Hello

It's Cry,and when i saw predator 2(my first predator movie)the movie is simply genius.I love the bio helmet and my favorite predators are Wolf and Celtic.What are you're favorite predators?

 

[Estelle]

Humm, what was it that drew me to predator…Well, let me start from the beginning…sorry, I’ll make this as short as possible,

when I firs saw previews of the movie back in in 1987 I was not at all interested. I was kind of over Arnie at the time ( ..had this huge crush on him when I had first seen him in terminator)

Now, back when I had this Arnie crush, I had managed to stumbled across my very first Gore zone magazine. The mag. had featured a section on Stan Winston ( This was the first time I had ever found out this magnificent man existed) There in the magazine was a two page pic of Stan and crew surrounded by some props from Terminator.

I was blown away, amazed, awestruck! I knew form that moment on I wanted to be involved in creature design. To make a long story short I began regularly purchasing Gore zone magazine hoping to be rewarded with more on Mr. Winston as well as learn everything I could about the making of the terminator and creature design in general.

Years rolled by and my Arnie crush passed. But Mr. Winston was still my idol! Around the Time Predator came out, I was totally NOT interested in the movie. As I had said before, my Arnie crush had passed. I felt that ol’ Arnie was washed up and this film was nothing more than him trying to make a sad come back. I thought the film was stupid…I mean, commandos in the jungle fighting an alien???…Can you say LAME.

But then it happened…There was a review on the movie and It was mentioned that the creature was made by Stan Winston…Oh hell, It was ON!!!! I was going to see that sh%t!!! And boy am I glad I did! I really enjoyed…No, LOVED the movie!!!
The predator creature absolutely took my breath away (I‘m not just saying that because it carries Stan’s name)…he was amazing. He was deadly, sensual, brutal and mysterious. He really piqued my curiosity in every aspect of him, and while many would go to bed fearful of nightmares to come .. I would simply lay awake and wonder….what does he eat? Where does he live/come form? What are his likes and dislikes…I was somewhat obsessed with this character…Hell, still am to this day.

 

[Reaper1]

Humm, what was it that drew me to predator…Well, let me start from the beginning…sorry, I’ll make this as short as possible,

when I firs saw previews of the movie back in in 1987 I was not at all interested. I was kind of over Arnie at the time ( ..had this huge crush on him when I had first seen him in terminator)

Now, back when I had this Arnie crush, I had managed to stumbled across my very first Gore zone magazine. The mag. had featured a section on Stan Winston ( This was the first time I had ever found out this magnificent man existed) There in the magazine was a two page pic of Stan and crew surrounded by some props from Terminator.

I was blown away, amazed, awestruck! I knew form that moment on I wanted to be involved in creature design. To make a long story short I began regularly purchasing Gore zone magazine hoping to be rewarded with more on Mr. Winston as well as learn everything I could about the making of the terminator and creature design in general.

Years rolled by and my Arnie crush passed. But Mr. Winston was still my idol! Around the Time Predator came out, I was totally NOT interested in the movie. As I had said before, my Arnie crush had passed. I felt that ol’ Arnie was washed up and this film was nothing more than him trying to make a sad come back. I thought the film was stupid…I mean, commandos in the jungle fighting an alien???…Can you say LAME.

But then it happened…There was a review on the movie and It was mentioned that the creature was made by Stan Winston…Oh hell, It was ON!!!! I was going to see that sh%t!!! And boy am I glad I did! I really enjoyed…No, LOVED the movie!!!
The predator creature absolutely took my breath away (I‘m not just saying that because it carries Stan’s name)…he was amazing. He was deadly, sensual, brutal and mysterious. He really piqued my curiosity in every aspect of him, and while many would go to bed fearful of nightmares to come .. I would simply lay awake and wonder….what does he eat? Where does he live/come form? What are his likes and dislikes…I was somewhat obsessed with this character…Hell, still am to this day.

think you failed at makin it short , ooo you had a arnie crush , but anyway i know what you mean i was hooked straight away ! and when i saw the thermal vision and his bio plus the flayed bodies and see Billy's Spine and skull tore out i was hooked even more from then on i was completely obsessed and like you Estelle i still am !

 

[pdisc]

Hes just a badass.......he doesnt have to say anything...he lets his work speak for itself...nuff said

 

[Khajaa]

My response only has to do with P1 and maybe a little of AVP-R (I haven't seen P2 in forever, and AVP was **** in so many ways...).

For me, I suppose the immediate draw was the actual physical form of the creature - a combination of primitive tribal elements with extremely advanced technology. It's similar to the idea behind steampunk, I suppose. Plus, mandibles and tentacle-dreads are just cool.

The other thing I like is the Predator's lack of many of the things we associate with "humanity" (empathy, altruism, etc). He is, instead, like a leopard's mind in a humanoid body, yet also he is seemingly free of any irrational fear, anxiety, panic, or cowardice. It adds to his alien nature, and makes us fear him all the more. However, he is not totally animalistic (like Alien, for example) - he possesses some human characteristics that we find frightening and/or fascinating as well:

* the various times that he teases and toys with his prey before actually trying to harm and kill them (i.e.- flashing his bio eyes at them, decloaking momentarily, etc.)
* the idea of honor (i.e.- not killing an unarmed target, not using certain weapons if the prey does not have similar ones (only using melee if the prey only has melee, etc.)
* hunting for sport and the collecting of trophies from notable kills
* wishing to commit suicide (via bomb) in order to not be captured and/or have their technology fall into other hands
* desiring an honorable death
* the fact that he hunts us, since the only real fear most of us have in today's developed world is death by our own kind, especially from an intentional killer

I am just glad that the Predator is not sadistic or "evil". That would probably have turned me off from the character. We can tell that he hunts for a reason that is above the fact that he causes fear, pain, and suffering in his prey. For example, in the novels and such, the trophy hunting was a show of honor to gain the respect of other males and to attract females. Also, like any good hunter, he usually tries to kill his prey as quickly and efficiently as possible unless he is engaging in an honorable test of strength with them like he did with Arnold in P1, where the Pred actually put himself at a disadvantage by taking off his vision-enhancing bio and by only using his brute strength to fight until he was ready to go in for the kill.

 

[syldar]

I love the tech mainly.
They are completely forign in appearance not to mention huge as well.
Honour in battle - not killing unarmed non hostile targets.
They look cool too.

And yeah as mentioned quite a few times the clicking (which i can mimic ) .

 

[MProjects]

P1 & P2 are the obivous reasons why i started to love them. i love everything about them, they're just so damn BADASS...nuff said...

 

[mothmonty]

I could go on for a long time as to what drew me into the whole Pred thing but I'd have to say it was P1. It had a combination of Arnie and a badass looking creature. I like the way the pred moves in P1 and P2 (sort of remembered in AVPR), they are tough, and they just look cool.