The Predator costume from the original 1986 movie still holds up as impressive and menacing as hell nearly three decades later, but it was far from a first draft. There was an earlier version of The Predator that was significantly less well received — in fact it was so bad, it caused Jean-Claude Van Damme to quit. Oh, did we mention Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally going to play The Predator? Because, yeah, that s–t is fact.
The original version of The Predator looked sort of, uh, praying mantis-like? Or perhaps like a marginally more menacing Zoidberg? Oh, and in order to do the Predator camouflage effect, they needed to make a bright red version of the suit that would stand out against the jungle, which is what you’re seeing in the video below…
Gotta love the Stan Winston guys snarking on JCVD. The man’s the winner of the Kumite! A little respect!