There is literally only one star that could have made Predator’s bait-and-switch work, and his name is Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Arnold Schwarzenegger action movies of the 1980s and 1990s are one of the best runs any actor has had in the genre, yielding several classics (The Terminator duology) and enduring favorites (Commando, Red Heat). By the time the first Predator arrived in 1987, Arnie was officially one of the biggest stars in the world – but he still took a risk with the project.

It’s a unique fusion of action and horror and ends with Arnold’s Dutch getting his ᴀss thoroughly kicked by a giant alien. Had the movie not worked, it could have been an embarrᴀssing failure that hurt his career. Instead, it launched Arnie to new heights, while spawning the Predator movie franchise. None of the sequels quite recaptured what made the original so special, which includes the sheer surprise of realizing it’s not just another Schwarzenegger shoot ’em up.

Predator Works Because It Begins As Just Another Arnold Schwarzenegger Action Movie

Predator can be mistaken for Commando 2 at first sight

Many tend to forget that Predator gives the game away early, opening with a sH๏τ of a spaceship flying past Earth. It quickly transforms into Schwarzenegger’s version of The Dirty Dozen, where he leads his team into the jungle on a rescue mission that leads to a gigantic shootout. Director John McTiernan still builds an unsettling atmosphere – and there’s the shock discovery of the skinned bodies early on – but Predator still doesn’t feel far off of Commando at this stage. It’s only when the Jungle Hunter appears that audiences realize it’s a sci-fi movie.

This reveal would have been impossible to hide nowadays, but it was mind-blowing back in 1987 to audiences. Many walked into the theater expecting another Arnold action epic, only for the real hook to eventually appear. This trick could really only have worked with Arnie in the lead too. Viewers turned up expecting a certain formula, only to be surprised in the best way possible.

Predator then spends much of its runtime subverting what an Arnie movie is supposed to be. There’s the moment Dutch and his men unload hell on some trees, and while guns tend to fix most problems in the typical Schwarzenegger flick, all they manage to achieve is giving the hunter a flesh wound. Their muscles and firepower are useless in this fight, and Dutch is eventually forced to ditch all technology to fight back.

It Was Impossible For Predator To Repeat Its Original Arnold Schwarzenegger Twist

Predators copied the original movie’s homework too closely

Predators was the third entry in the series, and possibly its most underrated. Still, the sequel makes the strange decision to mirror the original by having the characters slowly discover they’re in a Predator sequel – something viewers are already aware of when they paid for their tickets. That’s why the Schwarzenegger twist the original pulled off can never be replicated: audiences already know what to expect.

Of course, Schwarzenegger also pᴀssed on every Predator sequel he was offered, despite fans always wanting to see him reprise Dutch. From the appearance of the spaceship to the skinned bodies found by Dutch’s team, there are certainly hints of where the story is going. Still, it takes a hard right into monster movie territory, and this was a refreshing twist on the classic Arnie formula at the time.

Prey Is The Closest Thing Predator Has Come To Replicating Its Original Twist

Prey’s original plan would have worked even better

Devotees of the Predator series will debate which entries are the best, but 2022’s Prey tends to rank towards the top. In this case, the prequel made its protagonist Naru (Amber Midthunder) into the ultimate underdog; namely, how could a Comanche warrior in 1719 possibly stand a chance against a Predator? It seems impossible, but Naru’s resourcefulness and powers of observation make it feel plausible, and her eventual victory feels well-earned.

The sequel was developed under the codename Skulls, and director Dan Trachtenberg’s original plan (via X/Twitter) was to release the film with zero mention of Predator in the trailers or marketing. This would have made for a great surprise for those tuning into Prey for the first time, but alas, the film was officially announced as a new entry in late 2020. The studio should have stuck with Trachtenberg’s plan, which surely would have boosted Prey’s profile even further.

It also would have marked a shock nearly as big as Predator’s swing into sci-fi horror. Alas, that wasn’t to be, but thankfully Prey proved a worthy follow-up that didn’t need any gimmicks to draw in audiences. Maybe an appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch in Trachtenberg’s next entry Predator: Badlands would give audiences a similar surprise though.

Source: X/Twitter