12 Most Heart-Stopping Sci-Fi Movie Scenes Ever

Despite an abundance of sequels and spinoffs, The Predator franchise has never come close to matching the quality of the epic 1986 original. The story of the toughest looking mercenaries in cinema being systematically taken down by a near on invisible alien is tension filled throughout, even though half the movie is the actors staring at trees.

The scene that displays both the film's intensity and cleverness comes when The Predator appears to be about to claim its final victory. After Arnie's character Dutch yells out his iconic line - 'get to the choppa!' - the battle between he and The Predator begins in earnest.

Having seen The Predator brutally take down his crew and with Dutch already injured by the brutal alien, we are left on tenterhooks as our hero makes a last valiant attempt to escape. Crawling on hands and knees, Dutch appears to receive a lucky break when he falls down a waterfall and seemingly out of the grasps of his pursuer.Dutch and the audience get a momentary breather, before the invisible threat comes a crashing in and ramps the tension levels back up to 11.

The scene works so well because of what came before it, the toughest men alive who are not to be messed with treated as easy prey. The fact the alien remains largely unseen throughout makes the predator seem even more of a threat. Credit must also go to Arnie, who acts his heart out here, and makes us believe he truly is terrified.