I
read a compelling article about the film Predator, and then got Elena to watch it with me. Her father adores the movie, so she has seen it many, many times, but amusingly only ever in the Spanish dub -- she had no idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger has an Austrian accent.
I had tried to watch the movie by myself before, and got kind of bored halfway through, but I stuck it out this time and enjoyed the film. I found Dutch's occasional one-liners to be a little off-theme, but on the whole the movie is tightly focused and entertaining. The article I read stresses that the film is principally about the way that the modern world undermines and destroys the masculine warrior ideal, which is a compelling thesis.
Basically, Dutch and his crew represent an older form of military and masculine prowess, one in which principles are held to, men can trust one another, and martial skill is honed to a high degree. This group of warriors is first tested weakened by bureaucratic deception and moral compromise, then abandoned to be the prey of a technologically advanced hunter, whose weaponry and stealth capabilities easily undo all the training and valor of Dutch's crew. Dutch ultimately prevails by shucking all vestiges of civilization, becoming a primeval barbarian -- but even in this state of unleashed fury, he only prevails by chance and trickery. The film is a parable about what it means to be a man in a world that cannot abide the free existence of that kind of energy, and must either control it, or extinguish it.