Predator/Trivia

Trivia for the first movie:

• Acting for Two: It's brief and subtle, but the unnamed choppah! pilot at the end is none other than the Predator himself, Kevin Peter Hall.
• All-Star Cast: It reads like an '80s action fan's wet dream.
• Based on a Dream: Writer Jim Thomas admitted that the Predator's cloaking was inspired by his dreams of an invisible man.
• Cast the Expert: Jesse Ventura was a former Navy UDT (Underwater Demolition Team, the percursors of the SEAL teams), while Richard Chaves was a Vietnam veteran.
• Completely Different Title:
  • The Hunter (Greece) (also the working title of the movie, minus "the", until the design was refined).
  • Prey (Turkey).
• Dyeing for Your Art: Arnold Schwarzenegger lost over twenty-five pounds before filming began, in order to better fit the role of a special warfare operative, who would be lean, as well as muscular.
• Executive Meddling: The studio sent a memo that there should be more gunshots in the film. This led to John McTiernan adding the scene where the team panics and pumps hundreds of rounds into empty jungle.
• He Also Did: The Predator himself, Kevin Peter Hall, also played Bigfoot in Harry and the Hendersons.
• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura were both elected and served as state governors; Sonny Landham also ran for governor, but lost.
  • And for non-politicians, Apollo Creed and the black henchman from Commando.
  • You might not recognize Hawkins, but he is the guy who wrote Lethal Weapon. In fact, the studio requested that he be in it in order to have an experienced action writer/producer on the ground to make sure director knew what he was doing.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Peter Cullen was the voice of the Predator in the first movie, including his infamous haunting laugh. Yes, that Peter Cullen.
• Production Nickname: The Sound Editors called the Predator's shoulder gun the "Parrot Gun" because when it moved independent of the Predator while aiming, it reminded them of "Peter Sellers with a rubber parrot on his shoulder."
• Throw It In!:
  • Dutch's "Stick Around!" Bond One-Liner was improvised by Schwarzenegger.
  • Courtesy of James Cameron himself! When the production crew's first attempt at the creature effect failed spectacularly, they decided to hire Stan Winston for the film. The two were flying to Japan and while Winston was doing preliminary design sketches, Cameron saw what he was doing and said "You know, I always wanted to see something with mandibles." Winston then included them in his designs.
  • Bill Duke improvised the shaving. The crew scrambled on-set to make a razor that squirts blood.
• Working Title: Hunter.

Trivia for the second movie

• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Shock television talk show host Morton Downey, Jr. as a shock television reporter. It was funny at the time.
  • Adam Baldwin (Firefly, Chuck, Angel and The X-Files) has a minor role as one of Keyes' men.
  • Private Hudson had joined the LAPD. This time he takes the situation with a cool head. Given the canon connection between the two series now, perhaps he's an ancestor.
• What Could Have Been: Keyes was originally going to be Dutch (once again played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), and Anna was originally going to appear again. Her face is seen on the screen while Keyes show Harrigan videos of the jungle from which the first film took place.