Predator - One day, all movies will be made like this

And if that day comes then I'll be very happy. Nearly 25 years on and `Predator' is still as fresh and gripping as it was in the eighties. Simply, everything works. If you don't know the plot (then you've probably been hiding in the jungle trying to avoid head-hunting monsters) it's about a team of commandos (lead by Arnold Schwarzenegger at the height of his fame) who get stalked by a particularly nasty alien hunter.

Put simply... if you're a fan of either/or action or science-fiction then you'll love this. But what makes it work when so many similar films have come and gone and been chalked up as nothing more than glorified copies?

First of all is Arnold - an actor not always known for his acting abilities, but, when it comes to looking tough and firing guns (let alone mud-wrestling aliens) there can be no one better. His team, although never really given much screen time to really establish their real personalities, are also equally likeable. Then there's the plot. There isn't really one. It's so simply, it barely needs explaining, i.e. alien vs soldiers in jungle (there are some sub plots about deceiving and male bonding, but they're over before you realise they're getting in the way of things). The creature itself is impressive. It was the first onscreen baddie to really make use of `invisibility' and its movements are all very `alien' and different to anything ever before it. Then you have the action: it's pretty relentless. The direction is simple and effective all the way through. It doesn't need today's flashy `MTV' style editing to make it look cool. It is cool all by itself.

The film's marketing tagline was, `Nothing like it has ever been on Earth before...' and, in some ways, that could describe more than just the movie. There has never been a sci-fi action film as pure as Predator and anything that follows it will always have to pay homage to this - the original. Its successors (i.e. Predator 2, Alien vs Predator 1 and 2 and Predators) are all reasonable, but, even though they're about the same alien, they will never truly match up.

Like sci-fi? Like action? Then you've probably already seen Predator. If you haven't - then do it, do it NOW!!!

10/10 The Monty Python Knights of Camelot are currently looking for this