Parents' Guide to

Predator

By Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Arnold vs. alien action is violent, ultra macho.

Movie R 1987 107 minutes
Predator Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 20 parent reviews

Vonheller
Vonheller Adult
October 28, 2022
age 14+
Your review says Ultra Macho....well yes its a bunch of hard core dudes in the jungle! Plus it says the lone female charactor doest get to do much..WELL she is the one that figures the whole thing out!! So sick of this anti men crap!!
richk846
richk846 Adult
September 6, 2021
age 12+

A Classic

Like a lot of 80s movies this isn't nearly as gory or violent as it's rating might suggest. Yes there's a lot of shooting, guns, explosions and death in this, but there are only a couple of genuine "gore" scenes; once when the helicopter crew are skinned and hung in the tree, and the other when Jesse Ventura is exploded by the protagonists death ray. This should be fine for a 12 year-old with a sensible head on their shoulders.
See all 20 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Set in the jungles of Latin America, PREDATOR follows a team of super-commandos on a U.S. military rescue mission to liberate hostages taken by leftist guerillas. Only after eliminating the guerilla headquarters do the swaggering heroes, led by Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) find out that their target was really a Soviet spy-invasion camp that the Pentagon wanted destroyed after an earlier Green Beret squad went missing. Meanwhile, an alien spaceship lands nearby and its deadly occupant observes the bloodshed. The creature is a tall, vicious extraterrestrial, and it was what killed the Green Berets. Now it's after the commandos, leaving Dutch to figure out how to overcome its invisibility and superior death-ray firepower. In the process, he runs out of guns and regresses to basic hand-made booby-traps and snares.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (20 ):
Kids say (159 ):

Cited by those who keep track of such things as one of the ultimate "guy movies," this is a violent, militaristic, hyper-macho spectacle of biceps, bombs, and guns. Predator has plenty of catchphrases tossed out by bigger-than-life actors (for example, Jesse Ventura's oft-quoted line "I ain't got time to bleed!"). If you can appreciate its cartoonish aspects -- for example, the fact that the cast members, despite having been savagely slaughtered, reappear for the end credits to take a bow and smile -- you'll likely be entertained.

Predator definitely is more fun than its 1990 sequel, Predator 2, in which the alien went hunting gangstas and FBI agents in a stereotypically hyper-violent Los Angeles, with Danny Glover grievously miscast in the Arnold role as a one-man-army cop. After that, the creature mainly appeared in video games and crossover comic books (even Batman fought the Predator!) until Alien Vs. Predator came along and filled in some of the questions about the Predator's eons-old interaction with the human race.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the appeal of scary movies. Why is it fun to watch something that puts you on the edge of your seat? How do the scares in a movie like Predator compare to those in a typical slasher movie? Which do you find scarier? Why?

  • How does the time period in which a movie is made affect it (beyond the quality of the special effects, that is)? What political and historical events does the movie reference? If you don't know, how could you find out?

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