There are many great alien designs, but my favorite design has a great story attached to it. Read on to find out why the design changed and what inspired the Predator "dreadlocks."
Check out the rest of the story and pictures after the jump. Click on the images to enlarge.
The creature we see in the final film Predator (1987) is nothing like the original suit design. There are no surviving pictures of the first creature (then called Hunter), but it was described as an "ungainly, disproportionate dog creature with big yellow eyes." Problems with the mechanics of the suit and overall look forced the studio to scrap the original design and come up with something new.
The movie was behind schedule and they needed a brand new monster in six weeks to complete the film's production schedule. Lead actor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested his friend, the late, great special effects artist Stan Winston. Winston agreed to do it under budget and within the tight time constraints the studio was under. "I met with John McTiernan and Joel Silver and we talked about the Predator," Winston said, "My feeling from reading the script was that the Predator had to be a real character, rather than a generic creature. He needed to be a very specific character - and that's what we came up with."
The designs began from an image of a Rastafarian warrior in Joel Silver's office. "I saw that and I thought it was a great starting concept for the Predator," Winston said. "I started drawing and designing this alien character with quills that in silhouette would look like dreadlocks. During this same period of time, Aliens had come out, and Jim Cameron and I were flying to Japan to participate in a symposium about the movie. We were sitting next to each other on the plane, and I was sketching and drawing the Predator. Jim suddenly said, 'You know, I've always wanted to see something with mandibles.' And I said, 'Hmmm, that's an interesting idea.' And I stared drawing the now-famous mandibles of the Predator. So, between the Rastafarian painting in Joel Silver's office and the mandible idea from Jim Cameron, I came up with 'Stan Winston's Predator'. And I take complete credit for it, even though I had nothing to do with it, obviously!"
The mandibles almost got cut from the Predator design though. Steve Yang, who designed the Predator costume and weaponry said, they thought about getting rid of it when they felt the "sideways mouth" had already been done.
The rest is history as the Predator design is one of the most recognizable aliens ever.
That's why I love the Predator design. Because it was designed on a plane as an after thought of an original design.
The images below give an idea of the first creature. The original script for the first Predator film included a sequence in which a trophy of the Hunter alien is shown. Steve Wang sculpted a model based on the designs from when Steve Johnson and Boss film were working on the film. The trophy was left unfilmed. The trophy room concept made it's way into Predator 2.
You can see more of the late Stan Winston's work and visit his school at https://www.stanwinstonschool.
Images via
https://www.stanwinstonschool.
http://monsterlegacy.blogspot.
Wikipedia Description
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The story follows an elite special forces team, led by 'Dutch' (Arnold Schwarzenegger), on a mission to rescue hostages from guerrilla territory in Central America. Unbeknownst to the group, they are being hunted by a technologically advanced form of extraterrestrial life, the Predator. Predator was scripted by Jim and John Thomas in 1985, under the working title of Hunter.
Directed by John McTiernan
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Peter Hall, Carl Weathers
This post is part of the "My Favorite Martian" blog hop. Find out more and visit other great blogs in the "My Favorite Martian" blog hop.
What do you think of the illustrations?
@ Copyright 1987 Amercent Films, American Entertainment Partners L.P., Davis Entertainment, Stan Winston. All rights reserved
Check out the rest of the story and pictures after the jump. Click on the images to enlarge.
The creature we see in the final film Predator (1987) is nothing like the original suit design. There are no surviving pictures of the first creature (then called Hunter), but it was described as an "ungainly, disproportionate dog creature with big yellow eyes." Problems with the mechanics of the suit and overall look forced the studio to scrap the original design and come up with something new.
The movie was behind schedule and they needed a brand new monster in six weeks to complete the film's production schedule. Lead actor Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested his friend, the late, great special effects artist Stan Winston. Winston agreed to do it under budget and within the tight time constraints the studio was under. "I met with John McTiernan and Joel Silver and we talked about the Predator," Winston said, "My feeling from reading the script was that the Predator had to be a real character, rather than a generic creature. He needed to be a very specific character - and that's what we came up with."
The designs began from an image of a Rastafarian warrior in Joel Silver's office. "I saw that and I thought it was a great starting concept for the Predator," Winston said. "I started drawing and designing this alien character with quills that in silhouette would look like dreadlocks. During this same period of time, Aliens had come out, and Jim Cameron and I were flying to Japan to participate in a symposium about the movie. We were sitting next to each other on the plane, and I was sketching and drawing the Predator. Jim suddenly said, 'You know, I've always wanted to see something with mandibles.' And I said, 'Hmmm, that's an interesting idea.' And I stared drawing the now-famous mandibles of the Predator. So, between the Rastafarian painting in Joel Silver's office and the mandible idea from Jim Cameron, I came up with 'Stan Winston's Predator'. And I take complete credit for it, even though I had nothing to do with it, obviously!"
The mandibles almost got cut from the Predator design though. Steve Yang, who designed the Predator costume and weaponry said, they thought about getting rid of it when they felt the "sideways mouth" had already been done.
The rest is history as the Predator design is one of the most recognizable aliens ever.
That's why I love the Predator design. Because it was designed on a plane as an after thought of an original design.
The images below give an idea of the first creature. The original script for the first Predator film included a sequence in which a trophy of the Hunter alien is shown. Steve Wang sculpted a model based on the designs from when Steve Johnson and Boss film were working on the film. The trophy was left unfilmed. The trophy room concept made it's way into Predator 2.
You can see more of the late Stan Winston's work and visit his school at https://www.stanwinstonschool.
Images via
https://www.stanwinstonschool.
http://monsterlegacy.blogspot.
Wikipedia Description
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, and Kevin Peter Hall. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The story follows an elite special forces team, led by 'Dutch' (Arnold Schwarzenegger), on a mission to rescue hostages from guerrilla territory in Central America. Unbeknownst to the group, they are being hunted by a technologically advanced form of extraterrestrial life, the Predator. Predator was scripted by Jim and John Thomas in 1985, under the working title of Hunter.
Directed by John McTiernan
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kevin Peter Hall, Carl Weathers
This post is part of the "My Favorite Martian" blog hop. Find out more and visit other great blogs in the "My Favorite Martian" blog hop.
What do you think of the illustrations?
@ Copyright 1987 Amercent Films, American Entertainment Partners L.P., Davis Entertainment, Stan Winston. All rights reserved
About the Author
pred is one of the most horrific alien... that we would love to know more about...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful drawing and a great alien.
ReplyDeleteAll because of Arnold's suggestion - how awesome!
ReplyDeleteGuess that means you know #3 in my alien movie quotes trivia today.
Great choice. This creation seems to be too well designed to be an afterthought or rush job.
ReplyDeleteYou really appreciate this movie knowing Schwarzenegger was covered in mud for weeks during filming and to make matters interesting, the terrain was never flat. Kevin Peter Halls Predator costume had serious claws and the guy couldn't see out of it, so everything had to be memorized with the mask off before filming. Great pick Maurice Predator sure is one ugly, scary alien.
ReplyDeleteSo I finally get to see your other blog. I know, I'm so unbelievably slow. LOL I loved Predator ad it was a film my dad and i watched often together. He was my greatest sci fi geek and he would have loved this geek culture to the core.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jeff - such a wonderful design - boggling to read how it was almost thrown together - and still, 25 years on, one of the scariest creature designs in film history. Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see the work and thought put into the design for the Predator. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI've seen Predator once, but I can't remember it. haha. I do have it on DVD though... should watch it again!
ReplyDeleteWhile the original designs are cool looking, sooo glad they went with the design they did. :p
ReplyDeleteStill one of my favorite films. Loved the heads in that trophy room in Predator 2.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Alien skull in the trophy room Joshua.
ReplyDelete