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Arnold Schwarzenegger leads an elite commando team into a Central American jungle to help a CIA operative (Rocky‘s Carl Weathers) fulfill a clandestine mission. The mission becomes a distant afterthought, however, when a mysterious alien with advanced weaponry and the ability to camouflage itself begins slaughtering Arnold’s team one-by-one.

Even though it’s essentially ‘Alien in the Jungle’, Predator is one of the most enduring films of 1987. If you ask ten men from Generation X what their favorite movie is, there’s a good chance they’ll say “Predator.” And for many obvious reasons: It’s got muscle men acting bad-ass, it’s got guns and explosions, it’s got cool one-liners and gore, and a climactic monster reveal that delivers in spades. Predator is testosterone on parade, to the point where it’s almost considered camp by today’s standards. But it’s also extremely well made, a lot of fun, and designed for repeat viewing.

The charismatic supporting cast includes Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke, Sonny Landham, and Lethal Weapon scribe Shane Black (who was cast to help spruce up the script during production). Relatively new director John McTiernan does a phenomenal job building suspense and staging the action (his next film, Die Hard, would become the new benchmark for action films). Sending the film over the top are makeup effects artist Stan Winston, whose creature design for the Rastafarian space warrior is among the finest in all of cinema, and composer Alan Silvestri, whose militaristic marches do wonders to keep the film moving at a brisk and exciting pace.

Oscar Nomination: Best Visual Effects