What's the best Predator film?

Alright everyone, I’ve set this up so you can vote for multiple options—mostly because I’m certain Predator will take the win here. It’s pretty much the consensus that the 1987 original is our gold standard; it's a total Cult film. That said, I’m genuinely curious to see what else you guys consider the best entry in the franchise. Please try to limit yourselves to two votes if possible, though I won't stop you if you absolutely have to go for three.

I also included those two Alien vs. Predator movies. Even though they don't really connect to the main lineage, well... they still feature Predators, so they had to be here. Now, let me lay out my own ratings and thoughts on the whole lineup:

Predator (1987) - 9.5/10

This is easily one of my top 15 Sci-Fi films of all time. It's one of those rare gems you could watch once a month for an entire year and never once feel like you're wasting your time...

I've seen it... man, I must have watched it at least 30 times by now, haha. Seriously. 😁

I also have a massive nostalgic connection to this movie because it was the very FIRST film I ever rented from a video store—back in the mid-90s, back when that was actually a thing.

The film delivers everything you want from a movie like this. Everything. Period. You've got an elite special forces unit dropped into the jungle on a mission, only to run headfirst into an Alien—well, a Predator—that hunts humans for sport. It's just... WOW. FUCKING YEAH. Honestly, it's peak cinema. I absolutely love the atmosphere, and even today, the design of the Predator still hits hard. The concept of the creature is flawlessly executed in every single aspect.

Every character has a distinct personality, and not once does anyone feel like filler. In fact, there isn't a single boring moment in the entire runtime; everything feels perfectly paced and positioned. It’s just masterfully done.

The tension is relentless from start to finish, the score is incredible, and the structure—from the setup to the climax—is flawless.

Throw in Schwarzenegger's sheer charisma ("Get to the CHOPPA!", "If it bleeds, we can kill it"), and what more is there to say? It's a masterpiece. For me, this is the definitive Cult film.

Moving on:

Predator 2 (1990) - 7.5/10

This was a staple of my childhood. I used to hunt it down at the video stores and watch it constantly. I haven't revisited it quite as often as the first one, but I'd say I've seen it at least 10 times.

It obviously couldn't touch the original, but I actually dig the decision to move the setting to the city. Danny Glover gives a rock-solid performance, the characters work well enough, and what can I even say about the perpetually unhinged Gary Busey? Hahaha. That guy was always playing some high-strung character in every movie he was in—usually shouting things like "I'm gonna save your ass!" at Glover. 🤣

It's a well-constructed film. I'm not sure why the reception on IMDb wasn't higher, because in my book, this is a very solid effort that deserves a 7.5/10.

Next:

Predators (2010) - 7.5/10

I'm giving this the same score as Predator 2, but I'm ranking it below the second one simply because of that childhood nostalgia factor.

That being said, I actually thought it was a pretty good flick. It definitely captures that Predator essence. Specifically, that fight between the Predator and the Samurai (Yakuza style) was freaking awesome... maybe it's just my affinity for old-school Japan and Samurai culture, but that scene was perfect.

The rest of the movie is decent to very good. The characters felt right, and you can tell the director was trying to pay homage to the original without making a carbon copy.

I have to admit, though, I wasn't a huge fan of the whole "big Predators vs. small Predators" concept. I suppose it's a matter of taste, but personally, I didn't see the point. To me, it felt unnecessary.

Look, let’s be real—it isn't exactly a disaster, but it's not exactly anything to write home about either. It didn't exactly knock my socks off, though if I'm being honest, it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I found myself sitting there thinking, "What's next? Are we really going to see even bigger predators than these guys?" Honestly, what kind of mess are we dealing with here? WTF. 😲Alright, fine. Let's get into it.

The whole concept of dropping soldiers from different corners of the globe onto a foreign planet was actually a solid premise—it had potential. But I honestly cannot wrap my head around the sheer stupidity of the characters' situational awareness. How on earth do you miss a massive celestial body hanging in the sky? They had multiple opportunities to look up and see it, yet somehow they missed it entirely. I mean, seriously, how do you fail to notice a planet the size of Jupiter looming overhead unless you’re standing on some specific, isolated cliffside at the edge of a jungle? It makes zero sense. WTF?

Unless we’re talking about a planet that rotates differently or somehow orbits multiple suns—which would be a wild scenario to wrap one's head around—I don't see how that works. If that were the case, how would you even account for nightfall? It just doesn't add up. Honestly... WTF. 😁 Doesn't matter. 🤣

To be perfectly honest, I don't think Adrien Brody was quite the right fit for that role—I mean, look, he did a decent enough job, but... I don't know... it just didn't hit the mark. It wasn't quite there.

All things considered—and I’ve given this a fair amount of thought—I actually walked away from the film feeling pretty satisfied. It wasn't perfect, but it certainly hit the mark for me. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say it earns a solid 7.5/10.

Let's keep this moving.

AVP 2004 - 7/10

Look, I don't hand out high marks easily—certainly not an eight or a nine, which aren't even on my radar—but let’s be real here: regardless of what anyone else is claiming right now, this movie wasn't half bad.

I remember back when this was first hitting theaters—before I even stepped foot in the cinema—the sheer amount of hate being thrown at it online was relentless. People were absolutely trashing it everywhere, and honestly, it made me brace myself for some kind of absolute disaster. I went in fully expecting to witness a complete train wreck—something that would be bottom-of-the-barrel garbage—but instead, what I actually got was just a solid, decent movie.

To be perfectly honest, I found the movie entertaining—even if it’s riddled with flaws. There's that constant, heavy-handed push to force the whole Alien vs. Predator concept, though we shouldn't forget that they actually planted the seeds for this crossover way back when they showed that Alien skull sitting among the Predator trophies in Predator 2.

To be honest, I found the film to be quite charmingly executed. As someone who actually works in archaeology and history, I found the whole mystery surrounding the pyramids—and even the specific choice to make one of the lead characters an Italian archaeologist—to be a really nice touch.

The fights between Alien and Predator were executed quite well—honestly, I didn't even catch any noticeably bad CGI, which was a pleasant surprise. The characters were all alright, though that one guy from Scotland really got under my skin; I found myself sitting there practically rooting for an Alien or a Predator to just take him out and get it over with.

Look, this movie definitely has its flaws—I'm not going to sit here and pretend it's perfect—but honestly, people tend to be way too negative about it. They blow the downsides out of proportion. As far as I'm concerned, it's an OK FILM. I mean that quite literally: it’s an OK FILM. I’ve sat through it three times now, and it holds its own.

And finally, bringing up the rear in last place:

Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) — 5.5/10

I’ll keep this brief—mostly because I don't feel like wasting any more breath on this thing—but here it is: it was absolutely terrible.

That’s that.

I’m saying this once more—and I really mean it—if you don't mind, please just vote for two movies. Two options. No more than that—unless, of course, you absolutely feel the need to pick three.

The first installment stands out primarily because of how effective the Predator looks, that iconic cloaking tech, and the overall palpable sense of tension paired with that gritty, tooth-and-nail action through the jungle. Not to mention those legendary lines like If it bleeds we can kill it...

Schwarzenegger once mentioned how intense and hyper-focused the cast was; apparently, some guys were hitting the gym from dawn until filming actually started just to ensure they had more muscle mass than the colleagues who weren't putting in that kind of work, ha...

Here is what the Predator looked like before they went with the different design that’s been carried through all the sequels...



...And yeah, believe it or not, Jean-Claude Van Damme was actually in the suit at one point. He supposedly thought he’d get his big moment to showcase his karate skills in a final showdown against Schwarzenegger, but instead, he just got kicked off the set entirely.

Original suit with Van Damme

As for the other sequels—aside from Predator 2, which I have a soft spot for in my own way—they're all just a bit mediocre for me...

I wasn't even aware there were more than two installments 🤣

I finally sat down and watched Predators recently, mostly because I was stuck in bed with a fever. I actually went looking for his specific thread on the forum to share my thoughts, but I couldn't find 😢 . Since this topic popped up so perfectly, I’ll just leave my impressions right here.

In short, the movie left me with more positive than negative vibes. I can't quite tell if that's because Nimród Antal played directly to the fans by making Predators feel so much like Predator 1, or if I simply enjoyed the film as its own standalone piece. I suspect it's the former, but don't get me wrong—that isn't a bad thing. If they had to lean into the essence of Predator 1, they executed it quite well, and I'm happy with the result because it transported me back to when I first saw Predator 1. You know that feeling when you watch a great movie for the first time and you almost feel a sense of loss once that initial magic wears off? That's exactly what Predators gave me: a chance to relive that youthful magic, just in a slightly different way.

By today's standards, the story was actually quite solid. A handful of individuals from various military branches and social statuses on Earth are abducted and dropped onto another planet that serves as a hunting ground for Predators. My only real complaint is that the planet looked a little too much like Earth. Honestly, the only obvious difference we saw was that one scene where the characters pushed through the jungle on a cliffside and spotted strange objects in the sky. I wish they had used a bit more imagination to make this planet feel distinct from our own jungles while still keeping it somewhat recognizable. Then again, I suppose you could argue the Predators shaped the planet to look like the home worlds of the species they hunt.

It felt a bit silly to me that the Predators just drop their subjects from ships in a semi-conscious state. I mean, what's the point of going through the trouble of transporting absolute bad-asses—like the kind of guy Schwarzenegger was in the first film—to this planet if they might just die because a 😁 fails to open during a jump?

The one thing that truly disappointed me was Laurence Fishburne's character. When he shows up, revealing himself with modified Predator gear and explaining how he's survived ten seasons of hunting and personally taken down two Predators, you realize he's an absolute legend who isn't messing around. He's clearly someone who will take down even more Predators before the credits roll. Usually, in almost any film featuring Laurence Fishburne, he plays the cool, commanding type (The Matrix trilogy, Event Horizon, and the Assault on Precinct 13 remake come to mind as prime examples). Yet here, his character is reduced to a crazed cannibal who gets patheticially killed by a Predator in the very next scene. WTF?!? WTF?!? 😲 . I would have much rather seen him in the lead hero role instead of Adrien Brody. In fact, since Fishburne is known for playing heroic icons and Adrien Brody is great at playing unstable characters, I don't understand why they didn't just swap the roles 🤔.
I think the movie would have been much stronger if they had done the opposite.

The plot twist involving Dr. Edwin (Topher Grace) being a manic killer felt completely unnecessary. We have this whole lineup of hardened soldiers, mobsters, cartel members, and assassins, and yet nobody raises an eyebrow at the nice, polite doctor? It's like no one thought, "Hey, this guy definitely looks suspicious." Those kinds of twists only work if you're trying to surprise kids or the most gullible people in America.

Also, the whole subplot about the big and small Predators having some sort of blood feud was a bit of an eyesore for me. There's zero backstory or even a hint provided to explain it. They just throw it at us: big Predators, small Predators, blood feud. That's it. You're just expected to accept it. I guess they wanted to leave a little mystery so our imaginations could fill in the gaps. I assume that just like human races on Earth, there are different Predator subspecies. And since we know Predators live in clans, it's easy to assume what happens when clans clash—blood feuds, clan wars, and all that.

I really appreciated the nod to the original when Isabella (Alice Braga) tells the group about the legends of the Predator. She mentions the story of a lone special forces survivor whose entire unit was wiped out by a single Predator, yet he managed to outsmart and kill it in the end.
The special effects hit the mark and the acting is solid. That is, aside from the previously mentioned instances where I felt Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne weren't quite the right fit for their specific roles.

My final rating for the film is a satisfying 7/10.

Regarding the original Predator, I don't have much to add other than saying it is one of my all-time favorites. It serves as constant inspiration whenever I want to channel some of Schwarzenegger's best quotes 😁.

Predator 2 worked quite well as a sequel. While I was initially a bit disappointed that we didn't follow Schwarzenegger and his fight against the Predators—much like how we didn't follow Weaver and her struggle against the Aliens—that feeling quickly faded thanks to Glover's charismatic performance. I also loved the concept of shifting the setting from the jungle to an urban environment. The characters are well-developed and convincingly portrayed, the action is top-notch, and it blends perfectly with the tension. Plus, you get Bill Paxton delivering his iconic "Come on motherfucker. Let's Dance." to the Predator right before the end 🙏.

I have nothing to say regarding the Alien vs. Predator films ☕.

Predator all the way! Honestly, I don't think we're ever gonna see another legend like Winston again...

Joshua Hall4 said:Regarding the original Predator, I don't have much to add other than noting it’s one of my absolute favorite films of all time—it serves as a constant source of inspiration whenever I try to mimic some of Schwarzenegger's most iconic lines 😁.

You wrote a great post, but this specific part really caught my eye. I assume you've already heard the songs based on Schwarzenegger's movie quotes, but this one is easily one of the best, haha:

IF IT BLEEDS WE CAN KILL IT - SONG hahaha, I highly recommend anyone who hasn't heard it to give it a listen 😁.

Joshua Hall4 said:Then there's Bill Paxton and his legendary "Come on motherfucker. Let's Dance." delivered right to the Predator during the heat of battle, just moments before he goes out 🙏.

As for the Alien vs. Predator films, I'll pass on commenting on those ☕.

👍Like I said, Bill Paxton was a total legend—he's the only guy to get taken out by Terminator, Predator, and Alien
.

I honestly feel like the first two are absolute masterpieces, while Predators (2010) stands as a pretty solid entry in its own right. I actually have a soft spot for Alien vs. Predator, mostly because setting the action in Antarctica gives it this certain sense of mysticism—much like The Thing, where you're just completely isolated with nobody for thousands of miles. As for that 2007 Requiem, well, it's a bit of a disaster if I'm being honest; it’s just incredibly dark, and I don't mean that in a good, atmospheric way, but more because the lighting is so abysmal that you can barely see a thing.

Check out this fan project—a group of guys put together this piece on a $500 budget, and honestly, you have to respect the hustle:

Untitled Predator fan film

Whether people agree or not, I think this would be a killer concept for a future Predator movie. Seriously, give them credit—the idea of dropping a Predator right into the middle of a WWII battle, specifically pitting Americans against the Japanese in some remote Pacific jungle... it’s a solid premise, definitely not a bad direction to take 🙂

But looking at the work regarding Alien, you really have to hand it to them for the effort 🙂 It’s genuinely refreshing to see someone show this much passion for a film.

I wonder if you all have heard the news, but a fourth installment has been announced, and there's even talk of having Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the mix! http://www.avpgalaxy.net/predator-movies/predator-4/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Black#Filmography 👍

P.S. For me, the first Predator is naturally the absolute best, don't you agree? 😁

This is hands down one of the most soul-crushing threads I've ever seen.
The winner is a foregone conclusion here. It’s obviously the 1987 original.

The first one is in a league of its own. The sequel is an excellent movie. Predators is just terrible.
AvP doesn't belong in this discussion, much like how it doesn't fit in a thread about Alien films.

hollowsailor19 said:This is easily one of the most pointless threads I've ever seen.
The winner was obvious from the jump. Of course it's the original from 1987.

Obviously it's predictable—but as I clearly stated in my opening post, I wanted to see what everyone else’s second favorite was, which is why I enabled multiple votes. Yet, everyone is just slamming their vote into the 1987 version. Honestly, I find it hard to believe that not even one person here found Predator 2 or Predators worthy of a secondary vote. But fine.

In other words, people have spoken regarding Predator 2, but I truly expected the competition to be between Predator 2 and Predators—and who knows, maybe some would have even picked AVP 2004 as a runner-up. That's all this was meant to uncover, which is why I set up the poll with primary and secondary options to capture those nuances.

Joshua Hall4 said:Then you have Bill Paxton and that iconic line, "Come on motherfucker. Let's Dance," delivered right to the Predator's face just moments before everything goes south. 🙏

Is there really any other actor who has managed to be hunted down and killed by Predator, Terminator, and Alien? It’s a bizarrely specific trifecta if you think about it.

Back in 1990, posters for Predator 2 started popping up all over Washington, D.C.—it was being handled by some big distributor from the old Soviet Union era.
It was pretty standard back then—you'd see movie posters plastered everywhere months before anything actually hit the big screen.
Since we didn't have the internet to tell us what was coming, everything felt kind of random—basically just whenever a distributor managed to snag the rights to bring a flick to theaters.
I spent months getting myself worked up, just counting down the days until I could catch Predator 2 in a theater.
But then, the war broke out and the whole Hollywood distribution machine just ground to a halt.
Honestly, even the hardcore Predator fans got screwed over by the collapse of the Soviet Union—we were stuck watching Predator 2 on some grainy, terrible VHS tape instead.

Since we’re all sitting here swapping stories, I can't help but recall a specific memory from back in the late 80s when my uncle used to take me to the movies. He looked my mother straight in the eye and assured her there was absolutely nothing to worry about, telling her we were just heading out to catch a little horror-comedy like Twilight. Naturally, being a kid, I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. We settle into our seats, the lights dim, the film begins, and suddenly—*bam*—we’re met with this crystal-clear shot of deep space filling the massive screen, flashes of light, and that terrifying sight of a meteor streaking toward Earth.

In that moment, I just sat there thinking, "Uncle, I have to hand it to you, that was a masterclass in deception." It remains a rather vivid memory...

goldenscout14 said:He’s the only actor actually killed off by Predator, Terminator, and Alien.

It was never officially confirmed whether his character actually died in Terminator.

hollowsailor19 said:It was never actually confirmed whether his character was killed off by the Terminator.

I'm just writing this down to killall time. I couldn't think of a better way to put it. 😁

I’ve been seeing a ton of hate online toward those two, and honestly, I don't get it. It makes zero sense. Even Predator only has two parts, if we aren't counting the others

Joshua Hall4 said:You’ve also got Bill Paxton and his whole "Come on motherfucker. Let's Dance." line thrown right at Predator during that fight just before things go south 🙏 .
.

I think you missed Predator's "Do you want some candy?" right before that 🤣
Honestly, it's probably one of the dumbest yet most iconic lines in action movie history.

Sargeras said:To be honest, I think they’re both equally great, but strictly speaking, 🙂 I just rewatched the first two recently and still get chills. Even though the movies are pretty straightforward, they have this unique vibe—especially thanks to the soundtracks, which are absolute masterpieces! Since I'm a huge fan of film scores, P1 and P2 OSTs are definitely in my all-time top 20.
If I had to pick a winner, I'd go with Predator (1987) over Predator 2 (1990).

As for the full franchise ranking, here is how I see it:
1) Predator (1987)
2) Predator 2 (1990)
3) AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
4) AV2: Requiem (2007)
5) Predators (2010)

Cheers to all the Predator fans out there! 🙂

Is this list ranked by release year? 😁