PREDATOR

ALAN SILVESTRI

Rating:

Original Review: Predator was one of the seminal action flicks of the 1980s, a classic American movie in terms of its content and style. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as the infallible, almost superhuman leader of a group of crack commandos sent into the deepest, darkest parts of the South American jungle to infiltrate a guerrilla camp and rescue some diplomats lost behind enemy lines. Once the mission is accomplished, however, the troop find themselves fighting a new enemy - a camouflaged alien, laden down with gadgets and an incredible arsenal of weapons, who is hunting them one by one for sport and the thrill of the kill. One of the unusual things, especially considering that Predator was such a successful film, was the lack of any accompanying soundtrack release. This 1998 private release (bootleg) has gone some way towards putting that right The sound quality of the release is just about bearable, but is more than made up for by the generous running time (over an hour) and the decent packaging and presentation. Alan Silvestri, who was scoring one of his first major action movies, came up with a score full of his now familiar genre characteristics: heavy horn blasts, staccato string rhythms, undulating timpani rolls and the like. Although the vast majority of Predator is made up of this non-thematic, dissonant action music, there are a couple of recurring central themes which appear during the score. 'Main Title' includes the first rendition of the powerful central theme which, when accompanied by various ethnic rattles and percussion effects, sometimes seems to evoke, and even mimic, the sounds of the film's tropical setting. 'Grim Discovery' introduces the haunting four-note motif for the Predator itself which, as the score wears on, becomes more and more prominent as the creature's increasingly violent actions begin to dominate the movie. The majority of the 'underscore' cues are all quite similar, featuring an array of urgent brass trills and ominous string figures combined with a wide variety of both live and sampled percussion effects ranging from an echo similar to the cry of a howler monkey ('The Chopper') to frantic tom-tom solos ('Dog Tags'). Admittedly, these cues don't make espesially pleasent listening, but are extremely effective in capturing the feeling of oppression and omnipresent danger given off by both the stifling and confining jungle setting and, later, the invisible predator. 'Goodbye' and 'Mac on Watch' are also worth noting, featuring as they do an unexpectedly moving last-post style trumpet elegy in tribute to the recently disembowelled Blain. Throughout the score, there are plenty of action cues. During the first half, 'First Strike', 'Pig Alarm', 'Mac Loses It' and 'Dillon Disarmed' are especially effective - loud, powerful and feverishly going about their business of leaving the listener breathless and on the edge of their seat, but the entire last half hour is virtually one long action sequence. Schwarzenegger, being the sole survivor of his platoon, pits his wits against the deadly foe in a battle to the death and, of these final cues, 'Preparation', the wondrous 'Predator Unmasked' and the 'End Title' cue are of particular note. Ultimately, there is very little in Predator that is immediately striking or original. The main title is justly famous and recognised, and the score itself helped define Silvestri's style of action music but, beyond those limited constraints, the score is enjoyable but fairly unremarkable. However, for fans of the genre, or of Silvestri in particular, Predator nevertheless offers a decent sample of some of his best work of this type. For those who don't feel like coughing up the dough, though, there is always the sequel - Predator 2 - which is more widely available and contains much of the same music.

Track Listing: Running Time: 66 minutes 31 seconds

Private Release (1997/1987)

Music composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri.


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These web pages were designed and maintained by Jonathan Broxton copyright 1999. All opinions and views expressed on these pages are my own and are in no way intended to reflect those of my employer, the Trent Institute for Health Services Research, or those of the University of Sheffield.