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9. Predator (1987 / 162 points)
Directed by: John McTiernan / Jim Thomas, John Thomas
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Why Its Significant - Predator was a unique cross-breed that melded the prevalent genres of action, sci-fi, and horror into one unforgettable film. Predator flipped the script on slashers spectacularly, instead of featuring vulnerable teenagers, the victims here were a group of elite soldiers, hyper-masculine, presumed apex predators themselves. The Predator itself was an instant horror icon, with heat vision, cloaking ability, and advanced weaponry introducing a terrifying level of intelligence and tactical cunning rather than just the blunt deaths delivered by its peers. It can be called ironic that Predator influenced as many action films as it did since it spends the majority of the runtime deconstructing that notion, but some of the biggest films in the genre like Die Hard (also directed by McTiernan) and The Matrix owe credit to Predator. Predator also influenced a wave of action-horror hybrids, most evidently seen in films like From Dusk Till Dawn, Dog Soldiers, Underworld, Ghosts of Mars and The Purge and I would also count the Resident Evil series in the conversation too. Predator was followed by 4 main installments and a giant franchise with too many things to name, eventually even becoming well-intertwined with the Alien franchise.

The Rankers
Inviso - 1
Seginustemple - 2
Lightning - 5
Snake - 5
Bitto - 7
Plasma - 7
Evilordexdeath - 11
Mythiot - 15
Johnbobb - 18
Rockus - 18
Karo- 21
Forty - 22
Jcgamer107 - 30

Inviso - This movie is a masterclass in how to set a tone via show, dont tell. I love the fact that the starting plot of the movie is your standard tough guy military black ops squad getting sent on a mission to rescue hostages (which is really a cover for taking down a rebel base with munitions and narcotics and all that good stuff.) And they do a near perfect job of it, literally sneaking into the perimeter of the base, taking out the guards, and then Arnold sends a truck rigged with explosives right into their front door, before the squad just blows EVERYTHING up. Its just a wave of bullets and explosions that likely gave Michael Bay an erection the first time he saw it. And thats the first half hour, JUST establishing the characters as being badasses (complete with Jesse Ventura getting shot and shrugging it off with the line I aint got time to bleed.) in comparison to a full compound of rebel fighters.

Throughout this sequence, weve gotten hints at the ACTUAL plot though. The squad finds the skinned bodies of a trio of soldiers that Arnold knew, and we get regular cutaways to heat vision, implying something is going on. Then the fun begins, because all these tough guys find themselves faced with an enemy theyre unprepared for, and they start getting picked off, one-by-one. I love how all of the squad feel unique, rather than just being a bunch of interchangeable manly men. So when they react, it gives a variety of reactions to the Predators arrival, rather than just a bunch of standard, cookie-cutter responses. Hell, theres even a point where they try to make a stand, because theyre soldiers goddammit. It all fails, but it manages to build the Predator up as a deadlier foe by showing how even this group of trained badasses cant compete with it.

And in the end, everything winds up coming back to Arnold. Hes the last survivor (aside from rebel prisoner Anna), and he winds up finding a flaw in the Predators hunting style). He exploits this, and we have a great final showdown. Its especially good because Arnold legitimately gets his ass kicked in a fist fight for a bit, rather than puffing up his ego by making him unbeatable. He uses his intellect and ingenuity to win, but still, its a lopsided fight in the Predators favor until the very end. And even then, I love how the Predator goes full YOU DIDNT WIN! mode, by setting off a mini nuke rather than let his body fall to some human prey. Its just a perfect characterization of monster and victims across the board.

As an addendum, Ive gotta give commendations to the other characters. Billy is my favorite member of the squad because hes a stoic badass (but even he winds up cracking up at one of Hawkins pussy jokes), and Mac is so professional that his agony over Blains death feels like it hits harder than it should for the guy whose whole portrayal prior to death was being a beacon of machismo. RIP Carl Weathers, but I love how hes painted as the government stooge, but he turns it around and shows loyalty to the squad when they might need his help. It couldve been so easy to have him at the end with Arnold, but instead he sacrifices himself keeping an eye out for Mac. Its all just really solid storytelling overall, and Im glad to rank it as high as I have.

Seginustemple - I've seen this at least 20 times and it never gets old, it's the movie that made me fall in love with movies as a kid. The intoxicating jungle setting, bombastic orchestral score, layered creature design, the larger-than-life characters, it all makes for a perfect pulp sci-fi/war/horror combo. I still remember on that first viewing I missed the first minute or so with the spaceship, so the alien was a complete surprise. It's a great example of a tight three-act structure, in which each act flips the previous on its head in a satisfying way. It's part "Most Dangerous Game", part "Aguirre, The Wrath of God", it functions as allegory for the Vietnam war, while more directly alluding to ongoing CIA ops in Central America at the time. Ultimately I take it as a cautionary tale about the later stage of a culture that glorifies combat and fetishizes violence. Where the Xenomorph invokes the unknowable other, the Predator is more like a cynical projection of what we could become, a creature no more enlightened from traveling the stars than from splitting the atom.

Lightning - If it bleeds, we can kill it.

In 1987 director John McTiernan directed Predator and Die Hard back to back, not only directing two of the most iconic action films ever made right next to each other but also giving us two great nerd darlings. What Predator is though is a little bit more subversive than your typical action film, twisting the usual tropes and of course introducing some alien horror into the mix.

This starts as a very conventional action film with big burly tough guys going into the jungle and wreaking absolute havoc with some very huge guns. There are even some classic Arnold one liners (Stick around!) in that initial action scene. But this scene reveals a darker government conspiracy at play, which then leads into an alien Predator hunting the leads. In other words, these apex predators themselves become the prey when faced with a greater threat. In the end, Dutch is only able to defeat the Predator by outsmarting it and using his brain rather than his brawn. In that sense this movie is setting up an archetypical 80s style action movie and turning it on its head.