Today is the 30th anniversary of Predator. The original movie remains the best of them all and stands tall among all action/predator movies. For now we will forget that there’s been a slew of not so good, bad and horrible sequels and follow-up movies that completely destroyed the franchise and focus on what we loved  most about Predator. The original.

Here’s our top 8 coolest things about the original predator movie:

 

1.One ugly mother fucker

Who could forget the first time the Predator removed his mask to reveal his mandible-covered face. Movie history would forever be given one of its most memorable monsters thanks to Stan Winston’s quick design (with a little nudging by his pal James Cameron) while on a plane when the movie was in a crisis for a redesign of the creature. Still this was a monumental moment that laid the foundation for all the movies to  come. It was the proverbial lifting of the curtain that showed us the stage setup.

 

2.Sexual tyrannosaurus

The original Predator has one of the coolest action scenes ever when future Minnesota Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura unleashes his minigun on a little village. Flying bodies and explosions abound. We could not help but feel this had a direct impact on the Terminator 2 scene where Arnie wielded the minigun and took out an entire cities police force. Who doesn’t like to see a minigun wreaking havoc?

 

3.Predator vision

  

The effect of placing the viewer behind the eyes of the Predator was brilliant. We become the predator for that moment, we see what he sees…and it’s in infra-red/ heat-vision. The Predator is the ultimate Uhhmm…Predator. He can cloak, slice, shoot and think of 100 different ways to kill you. It’s impossible to hide from thanks to its heat vision (or so we thought). The original Predator movie established this.

 

4.Mud

A very basic solution to the above heat-vision problem. How do you kill a Predator who can see you wherever you are? Coat yourself in some nice cool mud. This is why Dutch was so cool. He outsmarted the Predator and lived to tell about it. We all held our breath for at least 30-seconds when we saw the predator standing over Dutch but unable to see him. The light-bulb moment happens…mud hides you!

 

5.Mano ‘a Mano

Literally the manliest scene ever in a movie. The original Predator taught us to not push too many pencils. Otherwise your arm becomes a flabby girlie man’s arm. It also gave us a minor internet meme, you son of a bitch! Hands slapping against each other, muscles pumping like crazy. This is cool.

 

6.Do It! Kill me now

That moment when the Predator realizes it’s a trap. We have the very clever trap setup by Arnie and as everything leads to this moment we wait for one step to be taken by the Predator. But no. He catches on despite Arnie shouting “Do it! Kill me now!”

 

7.Predator sound

Let’s face it, whenever we hear this sound we sh*** our pants a little bit. It is forever the sound of a predator.

 

 

8.Movie sound track

It is one of the best and also most recognizable sound tracks and opening themes ever. Check the video below, the suspense…