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Predator
Written By AL J. Vermette
Artwork By Sam Wallace
They are one of the most famous space creatures of all time to come along in the
last 20 years. They are strong, fast, cunning and their race are the greatest big
game hunters in all the universe. They have done battle with U.S. commandos, the
LA police force and the most vilest and most dangerous creatures in the galaxy
along with their queen. They have no name and no known base of origin. They
are simply known by one name and one name only. Predator!
Twenty years ago, a new space creature was unleashed upon the world. He was
the brain child of screenwriter’s Jim and John Thomas and from his debut film a
legacy was born. This creature came to mother Earth not to invade, take over, help
or harm the human race but simply to hunt big game only. He was here to prey on
the most cunning and most resourceful animal on the planet.....man. He was of a
warrior race who searched the galaxy honing their skills for the hunt. This seven
foot highly intelligent being from other world first did battle in his debut movie
“Predator” 1987 when just one of their race took on a United States Commando
squad and slaughtered the team until there was only one opponent left. The movie
and its new alien star were a big hit and set the stage for more hunts to come.
1990 saw the follow up film with a new opponent and setting. This time out a new
Predator landed in LA in the middle of a riot that surged throughout the city
streets. Oddly enough this was just two years before the city would face a real war
in the streets with the Rodney King riots mimics the alien huntsman. Drug dealers
and other scum were the focus of this Predator’s game and even the LA cops once
they got into the mix. All is fair in the hunt and these creatures only want the best
to fight. “Predator 2" also showed us a little more about their race as we saw not
only the main hunter but also others of his kind. We even saw the ship that they
came to Earth with and some of their customs as when an LA detective Danny
Glover is handed a warriors staff by their leader after defeating the huntsman.
Sadly after “Predator 2", no more films were shot and the warrior from another
world seemed like part two would be the end of the Predators run in the movies.....
but we fans had other ideas. In a short glimpse on board the Predator’s ship a
trophy case was shown. In it were skulls of past quests from other worlds and
among them was the very familiar skull of another space creature that horror and
sci/fi fans knew all to well. It was the skull of the most terrorizing beast in all of
space. Known only as ALIEN this monster and their kind stared in four films alone
as they brought terror to all who faced them. It only took the sight of this creatures
skull within the trophy to get fans minds thinking....what if!
Although the Alien head inside the case was done mainly as a joke since both the
two Predator films and all four Alien movies all came from the same studio Fox, it
seemed like a fun thing to do. But the fire was now lit and the what if factor began.
By the very sight of the Alien skull inside the case would mean that the two
creatures have met in the past at some point in time. The thought was just to much
for fans to take and Dark Horse Comics soon gave fans of both creatures a taste of
what was to come when they published “Alien vs Predator” as a comic book series.
Video game followed but the dreams of a movie with the two extraterrestrials
seemed light years away. Although both franchises were put out by Fox one would
think that it would be a no-brainer getting a movie with the two off the ground but
the powers that be held us fans waiting for more then a decade.
Then in 2004, that dream at last came true when “Alien vs Predator” hit theaters
and the two went head to claw in the battle to the death we all longed for. It had
been 14 long years since the last Predator film and 7 years since the last of the
Alien movies and it was long over due to see the two at last share the screen. Alien
vs Predator showcased both film stars to their fullest and used both their mythology
to bring the story together. We saw more of the life and back story of the Predator
race and found out that far off in the future was not the first time man kind faced the
killer Alien’s but here on Earth in our time line.
Now Earth faces the terror of the two species once again in “Aliens vs Predator”
but this time it's not set off in a long forgotten ice station in the middle of nowhere.
Now the creatures do battle right in our own back yard as the Aliens are set loose in
a town and a single Predator must stop the hoard of monstrosities before they
spread across the land. The new film will mark the 2nd time the creatures face off
and bring this to a fourth instalment for Predator and the sixth for Alien.
The role of the very first Predator was brought to life by the late actor Kevin Peter
Hall who played the space warrior in films one and two. It was his work in the
monster suit that gave the hunter his skills and movement as Hall brought the
creature to life. Hall no stranger to working under make-up was also the man to
brought the lovable bigfoot to life in the fun movie “Harry and The Henderson’s.
Although it was Hall's great height of seven foot two that made him a shoo-in for tall
monster roles, it was his ability to emote emotion under the rubber to truly make the
creatures he played life like. Sadly this wonderful actor died not long after
“Predator 2" when he was getting ready to play Harry once again for the new TV
series of “Harry and The Henderson’s. He played his bigfoot just once in the debut
episode before fate took him. He was taken by the Aids virus that he got from a
blood transfusion after a bad car accident before shooting P2 in 1990.
Oddly enough, Hall was not the first actor cast to play the Predator. A much smaller
man was set to play the creature....also a different costume altogether was being
used to fit the soon to be martial arts super star Jean Claude Van Damme. Van
Damme who hated the part didn’t work at it at all and wanted off the film before he
got hurt since he knew that “Blood Sport” was in pre-production and there is was to
be the star of the movie and not just the so called monster. Thank God he was
kicked off the role and Hall with all Seven foot two of himself stepped in. Also like a
sad there was also a different look set for the Predator as the films director wanted
to handle the creature FX. After most of the film was already shot with the other
actors the parts that had the hunter just looked bad. The creature suit looked bad
and looked fake and if that was how the Predator would have stayed, there would
have never been another movie made with him. Lucky for us a master creature
creator was about to step in.
Known for his work on films like “Aliens,” “Jurassic Park,” “Pumpkin Head” “The
Relic” and endless amounts of other creature films, Stan Winston took over the
pursuit of a new Predator design. He went with a more sleeker design and a
creature that could fight, move and be unlike anything the movies have ever seen
before. He thought that something with mandibles, tusks and even wild space
dread locks would be a creature that would stand out among many in films as a
whole new creation. He made the Predator so cool looking that you just had to love
him and it's his creature that has carried on into the two newest films as The
Predator faces the Aliens in the new series. By the way in case you didn’t know this
here’s a little tidbit for you. Stan Winston also created the Alien Queen in the
James Cameron film “Aliens” 1986 and it was both his beasts that waged battle in
the end of the movie “Alien vs Predator.”
Now with four films under his weapons belt, the Predator is sure to go on down as
one of the greatest alien monsters of all time. His entry into the Sci/Fi Horror books
is set and we fans of the space huntsman are glad to have him and look forward to
more pursuits of both human and Alien prey.
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