It’s 1987 and you’ve just sat down in with your popcorn in
one hand and your ticket in the other while gingerly cradling a large fizzy
drink with a straw that will never reach the bottom. The theatre is still dark,
the adverts yet to start playing and you are currently still safe in the
knowledge that the most dangerous ‘invisible’ villain you have ever encountered
was a character immortalised in a book by H G Wells.
2 hours later and all that will change....
PREDATOR
The movie, headlined by top movie superstar and muscle giant
‘Arnold Schwarzenegger’ burst onto our screens in epic fashion and created a
fan base that would continue for 27 years.
Directed by John Mcteirnan, the story follows an elite special
forces team as they are sent on a mission to rescue valuable hostages from guerilla territory somewhere in central America. Deep into the jungle, the
hunters become the hunted as an unknown alien creature, capable of cloaking
itself from the naked eye, stalks them one by one, taking skulls for trophies.
The fans love for this ‘Predator’ and its unique Rastafarian
theme coupled with its space age advanced helmet, heat seeking vision and an
array of killing weapons that would make Rambo quake in his boots, it wouldn't be
long before sequels were made and even comic books depicting the predators home
world and famous hunts.
With Arnold Schwarzenegger at the helm( playing the main
hero of the story ‘Dutch’) it was important to find a cast that would not be
underwhelmed by his massive presence. The producers wanted to create a strong
team, almost like the magnificent seven only heavier and meaner. The casting
for Predator met both of these expectations.
Jesse Ventura, an ex navy seal, was cast as the role of
Blaine, a 6ft 5, 255lb mountain of tobacco chewing no-nonsense speaking
monster. Wielding a 100kg+, 3500 rounds/minute gatling gun that had never
before in filming history been fired on anything short of a mounted vehicle, he
strode onto the set and held his own, his personality just as big as his frame,
and his gun!
Carl weathers was cast in as ‘Dillon’, his character was
designed to mirror Arnold's. He was very muscular, slightly lighter than Arnold
but certainly more athletic. In the story, ‘Dillon’ had worked with ‘Dutch’ in
the past on various missions and regarded himself as bloodied and experienced
as the squads leader, and yet ‘Dillon’ had left the field years later to assume
a less hands on role, dressing in a suit and tie at the beginning of the movie.
Bill duke was cast as ‘Mack’ a similar role that he played
in ‘Commando’ a movie also starring Arnold. Director John Mcteirnan liked his part
in Commando so much that he called him up and got him down on set. ‘Mack’s bond
with Jesse's character ‘Blaine’ plays a sub story throughout the movie.
Shane black was a successful screen writer and later,
director in his own right, having written the script for the 1987 movie ‘lethal
weapon’ and then directing ‘Kiss kiss bang bang’ in 2005. Shane was called up
to writer an alternative script for the movie, as was common practice in those
days. Not keen to take the job, knowing that, as in most cases, the original
script is usually taken and used anyway, he turned the job down. The director
wanted him there so badly that he offered him the role of ‘Hawkins’ a joke
telling, glasses wearing soldier that was, inevitably, the first to die. Shane accepted
the job and flew down to Mexico to shoot, the director now happy that he had
least had Shane on set for first hand advice if any changes were needed.
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And then we get to Sonny landham, a descendant of the
Cherokee and Seminole nations. At 6ft 2inches and well muscled, Sonny was a
potential liability on set. Known for his out of control antics while drinking,
the insurance company refused to cover the set while he was on it unless the
director hired a bodyguard to follow him around all of the time. Desperate to
get him to play the role of ‘Billy’ a top notch tracker and spiritual soldier,
John did as the insurance company asked and hired a 6ft 5 bodyguard who
shadowed his every move.
The bonding between the cast was apparent and strong. Arnold
getting them all up early to go running in the morning and encouraging them to
hit the gym and train up for the role. Each actor, an alpha male in their own
right, did what they could to avoid any direct competition. Carl weathers was
quoted as saying “Id go down to the gym and see some of the guys training there
in the corner, id speak for a few minutes then head out to grab a coffee for an
hour or so and come back when the gym was empty-give nothing away! When Id see
them on set id be all pumped and try to pretend it was natural, that I didn't need
to try to look this good”
And the antics didn't stop there. Arnold reportedly told ‘wardrobe’
to deliberately tell Jesse that his arms were much smaller than they were,
setting the ex-navy seal up for a big fall. When finding this information out,
Jesse said “I took great pleasure when I heard from wardrobe that I had bigger
guns than Mr Olympia”
This of course led onto a measuring session in the gym with
all the cast gathered round and Arnold smiling as he proved his arms were 3
inches bigger.
