MovieChat Forums > Predator (1987) Discussion > WHat exactly happened to Blaine?

WHat exactly happened to Blaine?

posted 5 years ago by Supratad (119)
18 replies | jump to latest

When Blaine is killed, the final death shot is one of the energy bolts into his back and out the front, from the Predator, who is fairly high up and some distance away, but about a second prior to that he is hit and stunned by something on his left side and splashed with blood. Its as if he was slashed by the Pred's arm blades but it is then too far away. What happened to Blaine just then?

I'll admit I only ever saw this on VHS after release on a CRT 4:3 telly and then on TV ever since so I've never seen a full widescreen cut of it as far as I'm aware, but I did just watch this about an hour ago on a 16:9 TV and the same width shot is there. Is there more to the sides that explain this? Also the bit about the wound being cauterised and no shrapnel was cut.

(similar to Han Solo firing his blaster in defiance when Leia tells him to keep quiet, you can see the pulse hit a bit of machinery in wide cuts, but not TV cuts, it just goes off screen to the RH)

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I know what you mean, I always took it as he was hit twice but it does come off as odd in the film.

[–] Obifuntoknowme (1093) 5 years ago

Yes I have always wondered about this too.

I don’t suppose it could’ve been a splash of Hawkin’s blood that the Pred throws at Blaine ?? It is odd.

This is where we could really do with a dvd commentary by the director, it might explain things a bit more.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Ok, This may shed some light on it but I'm not sure where they came up with the gun thing. Maybe I've missed something.

"Following the destruction of the camp, Hawkins was killed by the Jungle Hunter as the team moved towards the extraction point. The others subsequently spread out to search for Hawkins' missing body and Blain became the hunter's next victim. After initially missing with its Speargun, grazing Blain's shoulder, the Predator finished him off with its Plasmacaster, blowing a hole clean through Blain's chest. The Predator then attempted to drag Blain's corpse away, but was thwarted by Mac, who fired upon the hunter and forced it to flee."

https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Blain_Cooper

[–] Supratad (119) 5 years ago

Ahhhh, well that answers it perfectly. It must be too far left, off-screen in a widened cut for television. Unlike the Predator to miss though, unless he's meant to be a rookie.

[–] MisterE (704) 5 years ago

It was a difficult shot, he was aiming at someone that didn't have time to bleed!

[–] Supratad (119) 5 years ago

And probably intimidated by him being a goddam sexual tyrannosaur.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

In fairness, Blain was also moving a bit at the time. I take it that the speargun isn't as quick as a regular firearm (and certainly not as fast as the plasma caster) so a bit of lead time would be required, making it a bit more sporting I suppose.

[–] Obifuntoknowme (1093) 5 years ago

Also the creature that Blaine sees, right before he dies - it’s quite clever by the film makers because the creature puts Blaine off guard for a moment. It also puts us, the audience off guard, makes us think that all is ok and then BAM, Blaine is hit! Genius.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7387) 5 years ago

I admit I was always perplexed by that. I like the explanation given by estcst. Also, why not just buy the DVD or Bluray? I hate TV edits and how they always screw up any line with a cussword and how they cut certain scenes.

[–] SteveG (1370) 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

To me it looked like the first hit grazed his side but blaine was either in shock or his nerves were severed as he appeard to not feel the original energy then the second blast was spot on. This was supposed to be the first reveal of the plasma caster so the first hit to me looked mysterious for dramatic effect. We were all still scratching our heads when a smoking hole appeared in his chest chest.

On review though yea it looks like a giant spear tip yet we don't see a spear like weapon untill the second movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6YQbdlpr-8

[–] FilmBuff (6652) 5 years ago

I've always thought it was clear that the Predator shot him and scored an indirect hit on his left shoulder, after which it killed him with the shot through his chest. I just rewatched it in slow motion, and that's pretty much it, although it does seem the first shot was something other than the blue plasma whatever-it-is cannon.

[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

Yea I want to remember it was just a poorly rendered plasma cast. Back then we more forgiving of poor special effects. It literally looks like a giant fountain pen sweeping past the camera.

[–] FilmBuff (6652) 5 years ago

Truthfully, I remember seeing Predator in a cinema when it was new and being amazed by how great the effects looked. Even today, that film doesn't look as dated effects-wise as some others of its era. You're right that when slowed down to a frame-by-frame playback it does look like the end of a fountain pen, but at speed I don't think it's terribly confusing. He got shot in the arm, turned, then took a hit that went through his chest.

As an aside, my main memory of watching Predator the first time was how mesmerizing the sound was. All the rattles and croaks from the alien were really effective. It was also quite well done in that most in the audience, myself included, really did not have a complete sense of what to expect from the film. Whatever commercial or ad or trailer(s) I'd seen didn't tip me off to it being an alien antagonist. The slow build to its reveal was perfectly done, and it looked believable, probably because it wasn't CGI.

[–] crc32 (2584) 5 years ago

Yea the reverb on the croaking sound the alien made really stuck out for me too.

The effects were greate for predator the only thing was that first hit doesn't strike me as a plasma hit on review but back then I always assumed it was a plasma hit to the shoulder. Freeze framing didn't work back then on VHS with out getting the 3:2 pulldown flicker movements along with out of phase tracking artifacts as my VCR didn't step between frames on the tape but rather tended to stop right at the point you paused between helical tracks.

If you didn't know it was an Alien predator then you got the full effect of the transistion from military to sci-fi. This was how from dusk till dawn was for me in that it started out as a crime movie then turned into a vampire movie. I never saw the movie on cable with out any knowledge of what disk till dawn was about.

[–] mitzibishi (1615) 5 years ago

his back and chest got splashed open with the plasma bolt. You saw the bolt go through his back, there was a spray of blood, his face changed and the body was on the floor.

His rib cage was open from it.

I watched the Predator 1987 film. Which one did you watch?

[–] Supratad (119) 5 years ago

Yeah, that one. Trouble is, you've not read this thread properly, or you have and it's passed over you, else you wouldn't make such a silly post.