By: John M Jerva

35 years ago today, yours truly along with countless others, experienced one of the greatest opening weekend Friday afternoon at the movies ever. It was an age when larger than life action heroes took the box office by storm and delivered some of the most unapologetic, politically incorrect and body count fueled action films ever. Living today, I miss those days with a passion.

On June 12th, 1987, 20th Century Fox released the Arnold Schwarzenegger action drenched classic Predator. It was a movie that seamlessly merged genres delivering one of the most explosive actioners ever coupled with mind blowing science fiction ushering in a new breed of antagonistic alien warrior that would stand the test of time.

Predator told the story of an elite search and rescue spec ops unit who, while on a mission in Central America, discovered that they were being hunted by the ultimate intergalactic trophy hunter who mercilessly and systematically began taking them down one by one until only Arnie was left to do savage and unbridled combat with the beast.

Unfortunately, the sequels never captured the blood soaked magic of the original so while we wait to see if this August’s newest entry Prey proves a worthy successor or not, we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original that captured our hearts and imagination while filling the screen with some of the most violent action set pieces ever and characters we have all grown to love.

This week’s Action Fix boasts not one, not two but three iconic scenes from the film because after all, with such a classic, it’s impossible to share just one. From the epic assault on the rebels’ compound that has to be one of the greatest military moments ever in action to the mowing down the jungle with endless amounts of ammunition to the inevitable and ultimate one on one battle royal at the end, it’s all here to enjoy. But if you’re like me, you’re just going to watch the full movie later on anyway.

Predator is the ultimate, testosterone driven action spectacle featuring larger than life macho characters and enough firepower to fill two movies. Happy Anniversary because we all know, “if it bleeds, we can kill it.”