You all know the Predator: you know the mandibles, the gadgets, the roar, the thermal vision, and those sweet, sweet dreds. The creature's debut outing, 1987's PREDATOR, is a classic '80s action flick and one of the best from its macho, iconic star, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even before director John McTiernan got his DIE HARD on he was in the jungle having the biggest men around fire rounds into the trees. Between the star, director and the title beastie it's no wonder this movie remains a staple of the genre.
However, I bet you don't everything about the classic action flick. There's plenty of behind the scenes details about the movie out there, ranging from fascinating to hilarious, and even a few gross ones. We here at JoBlo took some of the best little details you may not know about this sci-fi action extravaganza and compiled it in a neat little list for you with pics and videos. Scroll down for an enjoyable and informative read that will expand your knowledge on the eternal and the badass PREDATOR.
10. The Movie Was Born Out of a Rocky IV Joke?
The legend goes that the movie was born out of a joke circulating around Hollywood at the time. The bit was that after ROCKY IV Rocky Balboa had run out of humans to fight, and therefore would probably have to fight an alien. Writers Jim and John Thomas supposedly took the joke and ran with it, writing a script titled HUNTER. Producer John Davis said the script literally “came out of nowhere,” after it was slid under the office door of an executive at Fox. Then he and Joel Silver took this script from the writing brothers to turn into a science-fiction adventure. However, chances are this isn't really true, with other stories saying the scripting process started in 1983, two years before ROCKY IV. Still, we got PREDATOR out of it, and it’s a damn shame we never got to see Sylvester Stallone step into the ring with a Martian.
9. Arnold's a Funny Guy
During the movie’s first big action scene Arnold impales a bad guy against the wall, uttering the amazingly cheesy line “Stick around.” The moment of genius was apparently improvised by Arnold, proving that he more than anyone understood his brand and what his audience came to see. You know, if you needed one more reason to love him.
8. Jean-Claude Van Damme Was Originally the Predator
Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast as the Predator, the idea being the creature would be a nimble, ninja-like character who could leap and flip between trees. There are a lot of stories out there that shed light on what really went to town that led to JCVD getting fired, including tales about his bad attitude and inability to deal with the heat of the suit. Word is Van Damme also became none too happy with this set up after he realized he would never get to show his face on-screen. On top of all that, JCVD stood at only 5”9, which is far less intimidating when standing next to men five or more inches taller than him. Hell, at one point even a monkey was brought in to try and capture the realism of the creature swinging between trees. Sadly, and hilariously, the monkey kept ripping the special suit off, and thus he was fired as well. No matter the real reason, eventually he and the monkey were let go, and the 7”2 Kevin Peter Hall was brought on to play the massive creature. Things turned out well for JCVD though, and he’s been kicking and punching in the movies ever since.
7. Stan Winston's Predator Design Was Far From the First
The original design for the Predator was done by a separate company before Stan Winston was brought in. This company offered a much cheaper rate, but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. According to Schwarzenegger, the Predator looked like “someone in a lizard costume with the head of a duck.” Others described it as having a long neck and a dog-like head and one eye, with some saying it just looked like a big rat. As awesome as that would’ve been to see, the production crew knew they were in trouble, so production was halted, and Winston was brought in to do a serious redesign with only a few weeks to work. He went through several designs, and the story goes that when on a flight with James Cameron the director saw Winston designing the creature, and added, “I always wanted to see something with mandibles.” Winston added them in, along with some sick dreds, and thus we have one of the most terrifying, recognizable movie monsters in history. But, if you really want to see what it looked like before, check out Van Damme below looking thrilled in the original costume.
6. Predator Blood is a Mixture of Glow Sticks and Sex Jelly
Out of all the little facts and trivia covered here, we’re about to drop a factoid so shocking, so mind-altering and so life-changing you’ll have to rethink everything you ever knew about life on this earth! Here it is: the green blood of the Predator, the bright goo found dripping on jungle leaves is not, in fact, real alien blood. If you need to take a second, we'll wait…
…How's the weather there?
Now that you’re collected we can inform you that the blood of the beast is actually a mixture of the goo found inside glow sticks and your average, store-bought KY jelly. This mixture has been used on subsequent PREDATOR movies, meaning a lot of poor production assistants have had to deal with funny looks when clearing out the sex jelly shelves at Wal-Mart.
5. Predator is Voiced by Optimus Prime
STAR WARS isn’t the only franchise to feature a bad guy being played by two men at once. While Kevin Peter Hall rocked it in the Predator suit the creepy, classic sound and voice of the alien came from none other than Optimus F**king Prime, Peter Cullen. Cullen was originally hesitant to do the voice work after damaging his throat doing vocal work for King Kong. However, upon seeing the design and those eerie mandibles, he was reminded of the gurgling, clicking noise horseshoe crabs often make when they're dying. Thus, the alien sound was born, and now humans know that when the clicking starts, they better run.
4. McTiernan Meant to Make a Statement About Guns
The movie is filled with massive machine guns that rattle off hundreds of rounds of ammunition, the most famous scene involving the team firing blindly into the jungle. This included a huge 7.62mm M134 Minigun used by Jessie Ventura, and later Bill Duke. However, as much of a celebration of guns as this appears to be, director John McTiernan meant to convey the exact opposite. “I had a feeling people had a perverse fascination with guns firing," he told Empire Magazine in 2017. "So I created this sequence where they take all of their guns and they blaze away and flatten the jungle. I was taking the piss, as the Australians say. The whole point is the impotence of all of the guns. It was exactly the opposite of what I believed I was being hired to sell."
3. Security Was Needed to Keep Sonny Landham in Check
It’s not uncommon for actors to have their own security detail on the set of movies, but it’s not everyday bodyguards are brought on to protect the crew from one, single actor. That was the case with Sonny Landham, who played Billy in the movie. He was known to have a volatile temper, especially if alcohol was around, so bodyguards were brought to protect the cast and crew FROM HIM. First assistant director Beau Marks recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that they were brought in because “if he started drinking all bets were off.”
2. Nasty Water Caused A Lot of Problems on Set
The set of PREDATOR was filled with deadly creatures, cruel temperatures, and thick jungle. The set was even infested with poisonous snakes and scorpions at one point, and a stunt double for Schwarzenegger blew out his knee doing the “river fall” stunt. However, despite all the elements, there was one affliction that plagued most of the cast and crew more than any other: diarrhea. The hotel where everyone was staying in Mexico was having trouble with water purification, which meant a lot of people involved with the movie had to spend more than the desired amount of time on the toilet. Two people who walked away unaffected? Schwarzenegger and McTiernan.
1. Carl Weathers: World's Sneakiest Gym Rat
The muscle-bound cast has to stay as muscle-bound as possible, which meant spending a ton of time at the gym before shooting. The men were practically racing to the weights as a way to outdo one another to see who could get the most shredded, sometimes getting up as early as 3 a.m. The sneakiest of the bunch was Carl Weathers, who said he would wait until none of the actors were around to work out. The point of all this? So he could act like his ripped physique was simply a natural gift from the gods. You don't have to pretend, Weathers. We know it's legit.
THE PREDATOR is in theaters now!