When Dan Trachtenberg’s “Prey” came out in 2022 it brought new life to a beloved franchise which has evolved greatly throughout the decades.
1987’s original remains a stone-cold classic, with 1990’s follow-up an interesting divergence from the usual action sequels. After the Robert Rodriguez-produced Predators (which arrived in 2010 was generally considered to be closer to a return to form for the franchise, we then had to wait more than a decade until Trachtenberg gave us Prey and called back to the original much more effectively.
And so, quite rightly, Fox/Disney saw fit to let Trachtenberg build on this success, resulting in this month’s Predator: Badlands, the trailers for which look hugely promising. With the latest franchise entry therefore quickly incoming we decided to block off some time for a rewatch so that we can reflect on what made each of the previous films enjoyable (we’ll call it the “secret sauce”).
© 2025 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS.
If you’re looking for the very best quality for your own Pre-Badlands Predator rewatch, the first five Predator films are being released in a perfectly-timed boxset on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and DVD on 10th November.
Predator (1987)
The Set-up: Arnie’s special forces unit is dropped into the South American jungle to take out a rebel base. They then find themselves tracked and picked off by an alien trophy hunter.
The Secret Sauce: Take your pick. It is (or should be) on most people’s action film Mount Rushmore, it’s so ’80s testosterone-fuelled it practically generates its own gravitational field: it’s got Arnie, it’s funny, it’s incredibly sharply written, it’s endlessly quotable. We could go on. But actually the secret sauce is the Predator. That guttural throat-growl, the ground-breaking (for the time) shimmering camouflage effect, the infra-red vision and Stan Winston’s phenomenal creature design. If they’d got the Predator wrong, none of the rest of it would have worked.
Why You Should Revisit Predator: In this era of bloated running times and everything CGI’d to within an inch of its life, 1h47m of mostly practical effects is well worth your time. Also, it is so incredibly entertaining – one of the all time greats.
Predator 2 (1990)
The Set-up: The Predator is back, this time in the urban jungle of 1997 Los Angeles, picking off the members of warring Jamaican and Colombian drug gangs.
The Secret Sauce: There are a few nice touches here – an easter egg in the final scene that places this in the Alien universe, an antique flintlock pistol that establishes that the Predators have been visiting Earth for quite some time and a Bill Paxton role that (spoiler alert for several films) enabled him to complete the trilogy of being killed by a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator. But actually the under-heralded MVP here is Danny Glover in a rare leading action role. When he defeats the Predator and then a dozen more uncloak in front of him and he drops his weapon and says “who’s next”, you cannot help but be impressed.
Why You Should Revisit Predator 2: Predator set the bar high, and the sequel does some good work in building on and extending the mythology. The aforementioned pistol that is presented to Danny Glover at the end, the greater array of weapon’s deployed (frisbee, extendable spear, razor wire net) and most of all, Gary Busey’s government agent, leading a team hoping to catch the Predator and use its weaponry and technology. A rewatch is also recommended especially for one scene: the sequence where Busey’s team set up a trap by trying to negate the Predator’s infra-red vision is genuinely gripping. Also, the poster tagline (“He’s in town with a few days to kill”) is a legitimate all-timer.
Predators (2010)
The Set-up: An assortment of soldiers, assassins and killers are air-dropped into a mysterious, other-worldly jungle, where they soon discover that they are the prey for a hunt.
The Secret Sauce: There are a few interesting elements here, but the standout is Adrien Brody’s mercenary. He certainly has the most interesting character arc and when you can’t hope to match or replicate Arnie’s unique physicality (although Brody’s wiry but well-muscled physique is impressive too) or delivery, your next best option is to get a genuinely great actor in your de facto lead role. Brody sells the role of a jaded, cynical and selfish merc, who nonetheless is believable as someone who would eventually start to care about others. More than plausible as an action hero, despite a career otherwise built on dramatic roles, Brody provides an engaging core.
Why You Should Revisit Predators: The idea of a group of soldiers, assassins and killers being thrown together and having to work together is an intriguing one. It’s a great idea which provides some effective moments, including a Yakuza enforcer fighting a Predator in a field with a samurai sword and a welcome return of Old Painless.
Prey (2022)
The Set-up: It is early 1700s North America and a Predator stalks the members of a Native American tribe, along with wildlife presenting varying degrees of threat and some French colonials.
The Secret Sauce: There is a lot to enjoy here from what is undeniably the best entry since the original, with great performances across the board, effective call-backs, a tone-perfect score, beautiful photography, thrilling set-pieces and some commendably visceral violence. But the film works as well as it does because of Amber Midthunder’s protagonist, Naru. By turns resourceful, feisty, intelligent, insightful and laser-focused (forgive the pun), the film sings when she is on screen. She is an inarguably magnetic film presence, figuring out the nature of, and how to fight the Predator, even while being roundly dismissed by the male members of her tribe. She is the charismatic core of a winningly propulsive film.
Why You Should Revisit Prey: Because it’s superb, that’s why. Also, it paved the way for how this beloved franchise could continue to thrive – pick an interesting location, society, or culture and drop a Predator into it. When Prey came out, everyone started suggesting ideas (Vikings! Feudal Japan! Aztecs!) and some of those have already been picked up by the excellent anime anthology, Predator: Killer of Killers. Prey shows that the franchise still has legs, as well as being a wildly entertaining and satisfying standalone film experience.
Predator: Badlands is in cinemas from 7th November 2025.
The PREDATOR 5-MOVIE COLLECTION is coming to 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray™ on 10th November. Pre-order now at Amazon, HMV, Zavvi and Rarewaves
Main image: © 2025 20th Century Studios.
