Several directors were approached to direct this film including Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Brian De Palma, Richard Donner, John Milius, John Carpenter and Renny Harlin. However, they would all pass stating they didn't want to shoot an Alien/Monster movie in the jungle. John McTiernan would eventually be chosen to direct this film instead.
The invisibility cloaking effect was achieved with a bright red suit (because it was the farthest opposite of the green of the jungle and the blue of the sky) the size of the Predator. The red was removed with chroma key techniques, leaving an empty area. The take was then repeated without the actors using a 30% wider lens on the camera. When the two takes were combined optically, the jungle from the second take filled in the empty area. Because the second take was filmed with a wider lens, a vague outline of the alien could be seen with the background scenery bending around its shape.
Jesse Ventura was delighted to find out from the wardrobe department that his arms were one inch bigger than Arnold Schwarzenegger's. He suggested to Schwarzenegger that they measure arms, with the winner getting a bottle of champagne. Ventura lost, because Schwarzenegger had told the wardrobe department to tell Ventura that his arms were bigger.
Dutch's line "Get to the chopper!" is Arnold Schwarzenegger's personal favorite catchphrase of all of his films that he appears in.
The Predator's blood - a goopy substance with the color of Mountain Dew - was made on-set using a mixture of the liquid from inside glow sticks and KY Jelly.