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Once they're all alone in the dense, humid vegetation (which towers over and presses down on the group), the edginess creeps in and everyone snaps into military mode. Locating the downed helicopter is easy, although it's devoid of any politician and houses a few surprises of its own. Firstly, it looks like it was downed by a surface-to-air missile (pretty sophisticated for rebel troops), then there's the remains of hi-tech surveillance equipment scattered around. It all appears pretty suspicious to Dutch, particularly when their tracker Billy (Sonny Landham) discovers the marks of US army boots. Dillon denies any knowledge of what could be going on though, not that that satisfies Dutch.
All of these petty concerns are swept aside by the discovery of a number of bodies (or what's left of them), one of whom was a Marine that Dutch knew. Clearly there's more going on than the loss of a politician (if he even exists at all), but the danger is that no one knows what. Even worse, there's something watching their movements from the trees -- an observer who sees in infra-red and remains totally unnoticed by the soldiers below. It comes as something of a relief when the rebel base is discovered, an opportunity to fire lots of really big guns and deal with a familiar foe. This is a brief respite before they find out who the real enemy is.
The quality which makes Predator stand out from the crowd is that it understands its reason for existing and, thankfully, declines to embellish upon this. Stripped to the bare essentials, the concept is that Schwarzenegger (who physically verges on the super-human) is fighting for his life against a vastly more powerful extraterrestrial opponent. Faced with something that is both bigger and stronger, although not without weak points, Arnie must resort to pure cunning and boy-scout tactics. That's basically all that there is to Predator and it works superbly. The opening exposition forces a slow pace initially but, disregarding the nonsense plot, this merely heightens the tension. Somewhere out there is an implacable hunter and, among the riot of bushes and trees, it could be anywhere.
In concert with the superfluous storyline, the characters (and acting) are minimalist. There's the red-neck tobacco chewer Blain (Jesse Ventura), the spooked-out tracker Billy, the untrustworthy leader Dillon, the token female rebel Anna (Elpidia Carrillo) and so on. The wonderful aspect, though, is that this simplicity is a good thing; it clarifies the film and prevents any bogging down with motivation or morals. This approach is so much more satisfying than a movie which can't decide what it wants to be, ending up a half-action, half-message picture (and succeeding with neither). Predator promises excellent special effects and tense, bloody action, then delivers slickly on both counts.
Strikingly similar to Deliverance, the buzz of one-on-one combat provides a healthy dose of thrills and spills. Both films chose their location superbly, then used the isolated, closed-in nature to the utmost. Similarly, in both cases the protagonists are being hunted, which makes for a relentless pace and an astronomical fear factor. Try watching them sequentially for a really unnerving experience!
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