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A few things about the Predator film series you probably didn’t know. For example, what did the Predator Bulk look like? And more importantly: Is Arnold really coming back this year?
Predator heat
There seem to be hunters who especially come to Earth to hunt in years of tropical heat. However, the heat of the last few days is not yet enough to write about the
Predator film series on a fitness blog. The only relevance of that movie for fitness and bodybuilding fans is, of course, the fact that Arnold played the lead role in the first film from 1987. But even that is not the reason for this article.
The Predator film series has been airing on TV in recent days. While (re)watching Alien vs. Predator, I noticed that Predator actually has a nice x-frame. A narrow waist that widens upwards to a wide back and downwards to a pair of thick quads. Predator had something of a bodybuilder, even in the way he walked. Although that could of course be entirely due to the suit, I still wondered who was inside. Was Predator actually a bodybuilder, like Darth Vader?
So off to IMDB and sites for nerds like me where I found a few other fun facts about the movie.
Jean Claude van Damme as Predator?
Did you know, for example, that originally the role of Predator was supposed to be played by Jean Claude van Damme? The
muscles from Brussels were deemed too small, however. Predator had to be a menacing and intimidating hunter. That’s visually a bit harder when the hunter is smaller than his prey. Arnold wasn’t that tall, but he had the world’s most awarded physique as a 7-time Mr. Olympia. Additionally, Predator had to face the man who defeated Rocky as Apollo Creed. Just the world-famous ‘Predator shake’ was enough to establish these men as serious testosterone bombs.
In addition, in the team of soldiers in the jungle, there was also Bill Duke who two years earlier had fought alongside Schwarzenegger himself in Commando as a green beret (those things you eat for breakfast). WWF star Jesse Ventura was also not someone you’d want to encounter in a dark alley.
In such a cast, Jean Claude hidden in a suit wouldn’t make much of an impression, it was feared. I can understand that. Besides, a split between two trees doesn’t fit the image of the Predator as we now know him. Van Damme thought he could show off his moves to the world, but the director didn’t want a kung fu Predator at all.
Jean Claude himself wasn’t very happy in the Mexican jungle either. He was put in a ridiculous red suit that he thought was supposed to represent the Predator. No one had told him that this suit would be used in post-production for the parts of the film where Predator is invisible. That just made him even angrier. There you are in the Mexican jungle for your big breakthrough (which came a year later), only to find out you’re a stuntman in the role of an alien when he’s invisible!
Get to the chopper!
The design of the Predator was adjusted. They went for a completely different look and searched for a taller actor who also clearly knew what his role would be.
So, just like in the case of Darth Vader, they went looking for a tall actor. Muscle mass was less important because you just stuck it on the suit. This led them to the 2.18-meter-tall actor and former basketball player Kevin Peter Hall. Kevin was already familiar with acting in a suit as an alien or monster. You even get to see Kevin himself briefly in the first Predator film, right at the end. Kevin actually plays the pilot who picks up Arnold at the end of the movie in the helicopter.
Predator got gains!
Kevin also played the role of the Predator in the second part released in 1990. I still remember how pissed I was when Danny Glover turned out to be the lead. Not exactly an action hero compared to Arnold. But looking back with a nostalgic eye, it was still a decent movie. After that, however, things went downhill significantly, maybe with a small exception somewhere.
Kevin wouldn’t experience that, however. Sadly, he passed away a year later from complications of AIDS, acquired through a blood transfusion.
In 2004, the third installment in the series came out: “Alien vs. Predator”. As mentioned, I noticed that ‘the’ Predator was quite ‘buffed’. Apparently, he had bulked up quite a bit over the past 14 years. I should actually say Predators, because there are three in the movie. The character was designed in this part by different designers than in the first two parts. The director wanted larger, more muscular predators with heavier armor against the acid of the aliens.
The new actor in this role, Ian Whyte, had quite a bit of trouble moving in the new suit. Whyte, like Kevin Hall, is a tall former basketball player. As a solution, he spent a few weeks running with a vest filled with stones. After that, it became easier.
Arnold was supposed to appear in the movie as his old character in a small cameo at the end of the film. However, that didn’t happen because he had meanwhile won the elections for Governor of California.
Predator 2018: Is Arnold back?
After “Alien vs. Predator”,
two more parts in the series were released:
Aliens vs. Predator:
Requiem in 2007 and
Predators in 2010. The film from 2007, in my opinion, never needed to be released. Predators from 2010, however, brought back a bit of the feeling from the first film from 1987. A bunch of badasses in the jungle trying to survive. Now, I’m not a film expert, but the critics apparently agree with me when it comes to these two films.
However, on September 3rd of this year, the latest installment in the series will be released:
The Predator. Last year, there was talk of Schwarzenegger returning in the role of Dutch. However, after reading the script, he decided not to participate.
They asked me, and I read it, and I didn’t like it — whatever they offered. So I’m not going to do that, no. Except if there’s a chance that they rewrite it, or make it a more significant role. But the way it is now, no, I won’t do that.
