Val Verde is a fictional country or city used by Hollywood writer and producer Steven E. de Souza when his stories require a South or Central American locale that will not cause legal or diplomatic problems. [1] The location first appeared in his 1985 film Commando .
The name translates as "Green Valley", as val means valley in multiple Romance languages (Portuguese, [2] Italian, [3] Spanish, [4] old-fashioned French, Galician and others) and verde means green in many languages.
A fictional country carrying the name of Val Verde has appeared in a number of films, television programs, and comics by de Souza:
Outside of de Souza's own work, there are other appearances, either linked by shared personnel, or as a direct reference. For example:
Steven de Souza explained his reason for using Val Verde in his Sheena comic: [9]
It's something like Guyana, a country which encompasses lush Caribbean resorts popular with tourists, an unexplored mysterious rainforest, and a mix of Anglo, Spanish, African, Creole and indigenous cultures. This is a country of the imagination I've used in several films and TV programs, which I thought was my little inside baseball joke, but Eric Lichtenfield, the author of 'Actions Speak Louder,' recently sent me a Wikipedia page on it! Seriously, my Dad's family is from that part of the world and it's something I can write about with some familiarity.
Val Verde has principally been used as a plot device or location in place of real Latin American countries in action and adventure movies, as a particular result of the United States' rocky relations with many nations in the region during the 1980s.
When glimpsed in Commando, it appears to be a poor nation, where subsistence agriculture (i.e., livestock) is side-by-side with military propaganda and constant military presence. Inhabitants appear poor but happy, and there is evidence of a trade embargo reminiscent of that placed on Cuba in the presence of battered but functional vintage 1950s cars.
As well as studio shots, other locations have been used to portray Val Verde on film:
The spider genus Predatoroonops , named after the spiders' similarity to the Predator himself, has a species named Predatoroonops valverde. [11]
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, filmmaker, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder known for his roles in high-profile action films. He served as the 38th governor of California from 2003 to 2011.
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films, television programs, video games, and role-playing games. Robert E. Howard created the character in 1932 for a series of fantasy stories published in Weird Tales magazine.
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. It stars Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Alexander Godunov, and Bonnie Bedelia, with Reginald VelJohnson, William Atherton, Paul Gleason, and Hart Bochner in supporting roles. Die Hard follows New York City police detective John McClane (Willis) who is caught up in a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper while visiting his estranged wife.
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Commando is a 1985 American action thriller film directed by Mark L. Lester and produced by Joel Silver. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role, alongside Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Vernon Wells, Bill Duke and Dan Hedaya. The musical score was composed by James Horner.
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Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger has appeared in over 40 films, and has also ventured into directing and producing. He began his acting career primarily with small roles in film and television starting in 1969. For his first film role, he was credited as "Arnold Strong", but was credited with his birth name thereafter. He has appeared mainly in action and comedy films. In addition to films and television, he has appeared in music videos for AC/DC, Bon Jovi, and Guns N' Roses.
Superman vs. Predator is an intercompany crossover pitting DC Comics icon Superman against the Predator creature first seen in the 1987 John McTiernan film Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Predator is an American science fiction action anthology media franchise centered on the film series depicting humankind's encounters with an intelligent race of extraterrestrial trophy-seeking hunters known as the "Yautja". Produced and distributed by 20th Century Studios, the series began with Predator (1987), directed by John McTiernan, and was followed by three sequels, Predator 2 (1990), Predators (2010), The Predator (2018), and one prequel, Prey (2022). The series has led to numerous novels, comics, and video game spin-offs such as Predator: Concrete Jungle (2005) and Predator: Hunting Grounds (2020). The Alien vs. Predator franchise combines the continuities and universe of the Alien franchise with the Predator franchise and consists of two films as well as varying series of comics, books, and video games. Unlike the Alien franchise, which features a continuous story arc, the Predator films are more non-linear, instead focusing on individual encounters with the Predators spread across multiple timeframes.
Predators is a 2010 American science fiction action film directed by Nimród Antal, serving as the third film in the main series but fifth film overall of the Predator franchise. The film follows an ensemble cast starring Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walton Goggins, and Laurence Fishburne, and follows a group of proficient killers who have been abducted and placed on a planet that acts as a game reserve for two warring tribes of extraterrestrial predators, leading them to try and survive and look for a way back to Earth.
Predatoroonops is a genus of goblin spiders endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The genus is characterized by the extremely modified male chelicerae and long pairs of ventral spines. It is the first fully revised endemic Brazilian genus of spiders, uncovered in 2012 after two and a half years of research at São Paulo's Instituto Butantan.
Commando Ninja is a 2018 English-language French martial arts action comedy film written and directed by Benjamin Combes. It pays homage to 1980s action films such as Commando, The Terminator, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Predator, and American Ninja. The film stars Eric Carlesi, Philippe Allier, Stéphane Asensio, Olivier Dobremel, Anaëlle Rincent, and Charlotte Poncin.
Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer, commonly known simply as Dutch, is a fictional character in the Predator and Alien vs. Predator franchises, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film Predator (1987) and the video game Predator: Hunting Grounds (2020), and voiced by James Patrick Cronin in the audiobook for Predator: Stalking Shadows (2020). A United States Army special forces operator, he first encounters a Yautja (Predator) in Predator when it massacres his crew of mercenaries in Val Verde, before he is recruited to join the OWLF to hunt Yautja in Predator: South China Sea (2008), Stalking Shadows and Hunting Grounds, as Agent Onyx. Following his death, in Alien vs. Predator (1994), Dutch is rebuilt as an android by the United States Colonial Marine Corps, and he and his partner Linn Kurosawa join forces with two Yautja to fend off an invasion of xenomorphs.