journal features

movie review - Predator

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Kokubunji, 2024.02.19

For "movie night" we watched this old gem in honor of the passing of Carl Weathers. By 'old' I mean it dates to when I was about the same age that our son now is. It's the tale of a high-testosterone US special forces team sent into the jungles of central America in search of some Big Wigs who have been taken hostage. Or so they are told. What they find instead is that something they can't quite see is hunting all the armed men in the area, and that this super-predator has taken an interest in them. Can they learn what it is? Can they defeat it?

It's a bit dated, now, but there's no question that this is an original story with a good introduction to the characters and the situation, and then a smooth transition into a who-is-the-hunter conflict. Some of the scenes are of course far-fetched to the point of being a distraction, but it's better made than you might think for a muscular action piece from that era.

Recommended.

you never know what will become a lasting meme

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force