Couple of days ago I had the wonderful opportunity to actually see the original Predator in theatre.
This was the closest I can get to experiencing the movie as if I'm seeing it for the first time.
What an incredible experience it was!
The theatre was full. Some obviously have seen the movie before, but some haven't.
It was brilliant to see reactions from people.
As the movie has many impactful scenes, the theatre was laughing, cheering, shrieking, etc.
It was interesting to hear the audiance laugh at some of the 80s trademarks that we do not get to see today. Over the top characters, macho behavior like having a cigar in helicopter, puns, etc. It was like a breath of fresh air to see that on a screen and people enjoyed the hell out of it.
A woman behind me really loved Hawkin's pussy jokes.
And it was interesting to see sudden switch from laughing at the action scenes and how over the top they are, to sudden serious attitude when the Predator started doing his thing. The genre switch was palpable.
What also added to the atmosphere was that it is a theatre out in the open, near a beach.
The intro scene with the ship in space blended perfectly with the actual starry sky around the screen.
The theatre is also surrounded by trees and I don't have to mention how perfect that fits in.
By the time the movie got to the night scenes, the real moon moved from behind the trees into the open, so it was right there as Mac was talking to it or when Dutch took a look at it before he yelled out his battle cry.
I didn't think the movie could be any better, but seeing it in theatre kicked it into yet another sphere. And I think I've literally seen it around 100 times before.
The year is 2022 and Predator is now the best movie I have seen in the theatre.
