The Terminator

I am glad I didn't see this franchise until my adulthood. It really could have screwed me up. I had seen most of this movie in pieces before I finally sat down to watch the whole thing. "The Terminator" is the film that started the career of future Oscar winning director James Cameron. The show also made a certain former bodybuilder/future state governor a Hollywood celebrity. The story is simple but it became entertaining in the hands of Cameron. If it weren't for all the violence, nudity and swearing, I would really like this film.

I enjoy the opening text. The battle of the future being fought in the present is a popular story, which was made even more popular by this movie. There are two theories about time travel that are illustrated in many popular films. The first is where paradoxes don't matter. A character can create an alternate history despite the fact that the new timeline might prevent the trip to the past in the first place. The best example of this for me is the "Back to the Future" trilogy. The second theory has to do with predestination in where history cannot be altered despite the trip back in time. Any paradoxes are resolved automatically. This kind of story has been around for centuries. The Greek myth Oedipus is one example where a prophecy is made and a character tries to prevent its fulfillment only to bring it to pass anyways. A more modern example is the Harry Potter book and film franchise. "The Terminator" is another modern example of this second theory. The T-800's trip back to 1984 ultimately led to the conception of the leader against the machines. I like how Sarah is established as an average girl who is down on her luck. Her revealed destiny adds drama to the story. As mentioned, the nudity is something I have a problem with but the shot that really bugged me was where the Terminator walks up to the punks. Another element of the movie that annoys me is the swearing. In my opinion, half the swear words could have been replaced and the film would have been just as good if not better. On a more positive note, I love the two reveals of the T-800 after you think it has been defeated. In both shots, the character or characters are in the foreground and the Terminator's metal skeleton rises up. The thing in fact will never stop. This makes the climax of the show pretty good. There is much dramatic and historical irony to be had throughout the whole story. I didn't care much for the ironic lines at the start of the movie concerning Sarah but I like that the final battle takes place in a factory of primitive machines. I also like the pun with Sarah and Ginger's answering machine. My favorite example of dramatic irony is Reese's picture of Sarah. Reese used to wonder what Sarah was thinking about as the photo was taken and we later learn after he dies that she is thinking about him and her love for him when the photo is snapped. Reese fell in love with Sarah because of picture of her being in love with him.

The studio at first considered casting O. J. Simpson as the Terminator, but Cameron did not feel that Simpson had the persona needed to be a killer. I love the irony of that a lot but I am glad that Cameron passed on the idea of Simpson. Cameron also didn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger to play either Reese or the title character because if Arnold played Reese, they wouldn't be able to find anyone bigger than Arnold to play the Terminator. If Arnold played the Terminator, he would stick out from everyone else in 1984 instead of blending in like the machine was designed to do. Cameron changed his mind after meeting Schwarzenegger. Before this film, Arnold was told that he was not suited for acting because of his accent and ironically because of his body. His only box office success before 1984 was "Conan the Barbarian". This all changed in many ways with the phrase "I'll be back". The Terminator is considered by many including myself to be Arnold's best role. I would say that in future movies, his performances were better but out of all of the characters on Arnold's filmography, the Terminator is the most iconic. I grew up with the pop culture surrounding this character before I saw the movie. Arnold's facial acting in this film deserves to be mentioned. The character truly has no emotion. I love discovering fun facts about movies. Previous to seeing "The Terminator" in its entirety, I had assumed that Bill Paxton's first role for Cameron was "True Lies" but not only was Paxton in "Aliens" but he is also one of the punks who first meets the Terminator. The blue hair threw me off. Paul Winfield plays a great cop. The first role of his that I saw also had him playing a police officer. One of the hero filmmakers involved in "The Terminator" is Stan Winston, the special effects wizard. In the scenes where the T-800 takes out its eye, the mechanical head built for the movie behaves quite realistically for its time. Unfortunately, it doesn't match Arnold's real face all that well. Had the filmmakers achieved a more accurate recreation of Arnold's face and head, it would be hard to tell the difference because of how well the puppet moves.

"The Terminator" was not expected to be a hit and even Arnold wasn't eager about his role. One theory as to why the movie did well was its release date in October, between the summer and Christmas blockbusters. The American Film Institute has placed this movie on many of its lists. This film is one of its top 50 thrilling movies of all time. The T-800 is the #22 villain and "I'll be back" is #37 for movie quotes. The movie is also preserved by the US Library of Congress. It bothers me that some directors feel they need to include vulgarity in their works in order to create entertainment. Still, this movie is worth seeing once.

3.5 Stars