So, for this post I've dug well back into the past to redo an old one, so this will be based on my very old review of the sci-fi action classic, The Terminator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role as the ruthless killing machine that targets a young woman named Sarah Connor. Also given its now the film's 40th anniversary, its also a perfect time redo this post as well given its been given a brand new 4K release (which I am watching at the time of typing this sentence!).
So, after 40 years, let's see how this action classic fairs...
And the usual warning is coming...
PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!
So, the story is set in Los Angeles in 1984, where at night a strange electric storm takes place and from a blinding white light, the figure of a naked man appears, the Terminator (Schwarzenegger). The Terminator soon comes by a group of punks, who attack him with flick knives, but the terminator fends them off with ease and kills one of the punks, ripping out his heart, and he takes the clothes from one of the others. Around the same time another electric storm occurs, where we see another naked man materialise, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) who quickly evades nearby policeman, by breaking into a closed clothestore, he gives them the slip, and takes a shotgun out of one of the cop cars.
The next day, a young woman, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who works as a waitress in a local diner, learns on the TV of a murder of a woman with the same name as her, but she brushes it off as a coincidence. The murder was of course committed by the Terminator, who later on kills another woman of the same name. With the police deciding to make this information public, Sarah hears this on TV and get's in touch with the police, and when she walks out on the streets, she notices Reese following her, so she goes into a nearby nightclub. Sarah phones the police on the payphone inside, and speaks to Lt Traxler (Paul Winfield) who tells her to stay put.
Meanwhile the Terminator locates Sarah's apartment and
goes in and kills her flatmate Ginger (Bess Motta) and her boyfriend
Matt (Rick Rossovich), and listens to Sarah's voice message who calls
from the club. The Terminator soon tracks Sarah to the nightclub, and
before he can shoot her, Reese guns down the Terminator with his
shotgun, just in time, as people flee the nightclub, he helps Sarah up
and they escape the club, just as the Terminator get's up and chases
them, unharmed by the gunshots. Reese and Sarah drive off with the
terminator in pursuit as well as the cops, and after eventually shaking
off the police, Reese ditches the car in a parking lot and sneaks into
another car.
Reese then explains to Sarah that he is from the future and also that in the future that the world was nearly destroyed by
a nuclear war created by the AI military defense machine network
Skynet, and out of the ashes rose the machines, who took over the world
and put the surviving humans into slave labour. Reese then tells Sarah
that he has been sent back in time to protect her from the terminator,
who he reveals is a cyborg assassin, who has been sent to kill her as
her future son John Connor, will become a future resistance leader
against the machines. The terminator soon gives them chase again on the
streets, but Sarah and Reese are soon arrested by the cops, who take
them both into custody.
At the police station, Reese is questioned by a criminal psychologist, Dr Silberman (Earl Boen) whom he tells his story to, but naturally Silberman thinks he is delusional. The terminator soon however arrives, and crashes his car into the station, killing many of the police officers in the station, in searching for Sarah. Reese however manages to escape custody and rescues Sarah before the terminator can get to her.
On the road, Sarah and Reese soon stop at a motel, to lay low, however while at the hote, Sarah phones her mother's cabin house, where the Terminator, who has already gotten there, has killed her mother, and pretends to be her on the phone (as the Terminator can mimic anyone's voice) in order to find out where she is. Reese later on confesses to Sarah that he travelled back in time to meet her because he had always been in love with her since John gave him a picture of her, Sarah touched by this, kisses Reese and they make love.
Later on the Terminator tracks them down at the motel where they are staying, and Sarah and Reese escape just in time, but the terminator soon chases them again for the final time...
THOUGHTS
The Terminator is without a doubt one of the best sci-fi films of the
1980s, and it stands as one of James Cameron's very best films. Cameron
himself stated that the idea of the terminator came to him in a
nightmare he had when he was suffering from a fever, which gave him the
image of the metal skeletal figure surrounded by flames. Cameron also
said that he was also influenced by the sci-fi series
Outer Limits as well as films such as The Driver, that helped give him
the ideas he needed to develop the story.
The terminator itself remains one of the great villains in modern cinema, as a killing machine, that has no pity, fear, remorse, or any emotion, and is programmed to do just one thing: kill. The idea of the terminator as a cyborg is also great, and also how tough and resilient the terminator is, as a cyborg it takes on the appearance of a human on the outside, but has a powerful metal endoskeleton underneath, and in the final scenes where we see the terminator emerge from the flaming remains of the big fuel tanker truck, is one of the film's most memorable images.
PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!)
In terms of the performances in the film well you have to say that
Arnold Schwarzenegger is the star of the film, even if he isn't a great actor, his performance as the T-800 series Terminator is sheer perfection, as he plays the ruthless killing machine better
than anyone ever could have.
Arnie himself of course has plenty of great moments in the film such as his first scene where (or second technically) where he walks naked, up to three punks and demands them to give him their clothes. So, in the scene one of the punks (played by Bill Paxton) says "Nice night for a walk, eh?" and Terminator responds "Nice night for a walk" and the 2nd punk asks "Wash tomorrow, nothing clean right?" and Terminator says "Nothing clean, right". The 1st punk then says "I think this guy is a couple of cans short of a six pack!" and the Terminator then says "Your clothes, give them to me now!". The 1st punk then shouts "Fuck you, asshole!" as they bring out their flick knives and the Terminator knocks out the 1st punk and kills the second one, leaving the terrified third one to strip off his clothes.
Then there is the scene where the Terminator goes to a gun store to get some weapons and he asks the salesmen behimd the counter for various weapons. So, the Terminator asks for "The 12 auto gauge loader" and the salesman says "That's Italian, you can go pump or auto". The Terminator then asks for "The .45 long slide with the laser sighting" and the salesman then hands him it and says "These are brand new. I just got them in. Just pull the trigger and red beam comes and you put the gun where you want the bullet to go, you can't miss". The saleman then asks "Anything else?" and the Terminator asks "Phase plasma rifle in the 40 watt range" and the salesman irritated says "Just what you see pal" and the Terminator looks above him and says "The Uzi 9mm". The salesman then get's down the Uzi and says "You sure know your weapons, buddy" but as he get's it, the Terminator helps himself to a shotgun shell and loads it into the gun and the salesman says "You can't do that!" and the Terminator aims it at the salesman and says "Wrong!" and shoots him.
And then we have the iconic scene where the Terminator enters the police station to find Sarah and he asks the desk sergeant at the front desk of her whereabouts. So, the Terminator says to the sergreant "I'm a friend of Sarah Connor's. I was told she was here, could I see her please?" and the sergeant says "You can't see her, she's making a statement" and the Terminator asks "Where is she?" and the sergeant says "Look, it could take a while, if you want to a wait, a bench is over there". The Terminator then scans the room for its structural weaknesses and looks at the sergeant and delivers the immortal line "I'll be back" and he walks out.
Then there is the scene where the Terminator sits in his dingy motel room, reading through Sarah's address book and there is a porter outside his room, who knocks on the door. So, the poter knocks the door and asks "Hey buddy, you got a dead cat in there or what?" and the Terminator, looking all sweaty and presumably smelling from body odour visualises some response on his vision "YES, OR WHAT? GO AWAY? COME BACK LATER. FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!" and of course he selects the final one and says "Fuck you, asshole" and the porter walks away.
And last of all is the scene where the Terminator in pursuit of Sarah and Kyle comes off his bike and goes underneath a large tanker and with the driver jumping out to check the back off the tanker, the Terminator kills him and limps toward the driver seat. So, as the Terminator get's in, the driver's passenger says "Let's get out of here" and the Terminator turns to him and we see his remaining eye socket is damaged and tells him "Get out".
Linda Hamilton is excellent as Sarah Connor, a young lass who basically went from having an ordinary life, working as a waitress, living with her somewhat self absorbed flatmate Ginger, to being thrown into the chaos of playing a crucial part in the fate of the future of the world, and being hunted relentlessly by an unstoppable enemy. Linda also makes that nice transition from a young scared woman, into a strong independent fighter by the end of the film.
Linda also has her share of good scenes such as the one where Sarah calls the police at the nightclub, Tech Noir. So, Sarah tells Lt Traxler, "Look don't put me on hold and don't transfer me to another department!" and Traxler says "Look don't worry I won't, can you tell me where you are?" and Sarah says "I'm in this bar called Tech Noir" and Traxler "Yeah, I know it, its on Pico. Are you alright?" and Sarah says "Yeah but I don't want to leave, I think there's a guy following me". Traxler then tells her "Look don't go into the restroom, stay visible and I'll have a police car out there in a hot minute" and Sarah says "OK" and hangs up.
Then there is the scene where Sarah patches up Reese's bullet wound on his arm under a bridge as they are on the run from the Terminator and the authorities. So, Sarah as she dresses up Reese's arm wound, asks "You're talking about things I've done in the past tense. Its driving me crazy! Are you sure you've got the right person" and Kyle smiles a little and says "I'm sure". Sarah then angrily says "Oh come on, do I look like the mother of the future?! I mean, am I tough? Organised?! I can't even balance my cheque book!!". Sarah finishes the dressing and angrily says "Look Reese, I didn't ask for this honour and I don't WANT IT! ANY OF IT!!". Kyle then tells her a message he was told by her son John and memorised it for her, so after he flexes his arm and says "That's a good field dressing" and Sarah says "You like it? Its my first".
And then there is the scene where Sarah and a badly injured Kyle, flee from the Terminator into a factory and Kyle activates some machinery to distract the Terminator. So, Sarah asks "What are you doing?" and Kyle weakly says "Cover, so he can't track us" but he soon collapses having been shot by the Terminator. So, Sarah screams at Kyle to get up as the Terminator, now in steel skeletal form, smashes its way into the factory, so Sarah grabs Kyle and shouts "On your feet, soldier! ON YOUR FEET!!!" and he finally get's up.
This is then later followed by the moment where the Terminator, having been blown apart by a stick of dynamite, comes alive again and crawls after Sarah as she crawls her way through a hydraulic press and climbs out the other side and shuts down the gate on the Terminator, who claws at her. So, Sarah reaches for the button to activate the press and tells him "You're terminated, fucker!!" and hits the button, finally crushing the Terminator once and for all.
And last of all is the final scene where out in the Mexican desert, we see Sarah, alone in a jeep, now pregnant with her future son and she records her thoughts on tape. So, she says into the recorder "The hardest thing is deciding what I should tell you and what not to. But I guess I've got a while yet before you're old enough to even understand the tapes. They're more for me at this point just so I can get it straight. Should I tell you about your father? Boy, that's a tough one. Will it affect your decision to send him here, knowing that he is you father? If you don't send Kyle, you can never be. God, a person can go crazy thinking about all this...".
So, as she finishes her thought, a young Mexican boy takes her picture and an older man translates what the boy says to her "He said you are a very beautiful senioritta and he wants you to pay dollars for this photo but if you don't, his father will beat him". Sarah smiles and says "Pretty good hustle, kid" and she takes the photo and its the photo that Kyle had on him in the future we saw earlier on. The young boy says something in Spanish and Sarah asks "What did he say?" and the old man says "He said there is a storm coming" and Sarah looks ahead and says "Yes, I know" and she drives off.
Michael Biehn is also excellent as Kyle Reese, the human resistance fighter from the future, who protects Sarah from the terminator, who he plays it pretty much straight and serious down the line, but its a good solid performance, and he captures the pain and loneliness of Reese's character very well.
Biehn himself has plenty of good moments such as the one where he prevents the Terminator from killing Sarah, so he shoots the Terminator at the nightclub. So, Kyle runs up to Sarah and urgently tells her "Come with me if you wanna live" and we see to Sarah's disbelief, the Terminator get up slowly after being hit several shotgun rounds, and Kyle shouts at her "COME ON!!!" as Sarah get's up and they run for their lives.
Then there is the scene where in a parking lot, Kyle explains himself and what the Terminator is, so as he tells her about the Terminator being a cyborg, Sarah says "Look I am not stupid, they can't make things like that yet!" and Kyle says "Not yet, not for about 40 years". So, Sarah asks "So, are you saying its from the future?" and Kyle says "One possible future, from your point of view, I don't know tech stuff". So, Sarah asks "So, that means your from the future too?" and Kyle says "Yeah" and Sarah says "Right!" and she tries to leave the car but he stops her and she bites his hand and Kyle let's go and warns her "Cyborgs don't feel pain, I do! Don't do that again!". Sarah then says "Just let me go" and Kyle warns her "Listen and understand! That Terminator is out there! It can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with and it doesn't feel pity, remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop EVER until you are dead!".
Another good scene is when Kyle is held at the police station and questioned by Dr Silberman, the criminal psychologist (who appears in Terminator 2 and 3) about how he came to the past and the Terminator.
So, in the scene Silberman asks how did Kyle go through the time machine equipment to arrive in the past and why didn't he take any weapons with him. So, Kyle says "Something to do with the field of a living generator, nothing dead will go" and Silberman asks "Why?" and Kyle annoyed says "I didn't build the fucking thing!". So, Silberman then asks "So, how are you supposed to get back?" and Kyle says "I can't, nobody goes home, no one else comes through, its just him and me".
So, in the recorded video tape later played back to Sarah, Silbermen then tries to ask more questions but Kyle grows impatient and demands "Look! You've heard enough! I've answered your questions, now I have to see Sarah Connor!". Silbermen however then says "Well, I'm afraid its not up to me" and Kyle looks incredulously and asks "Then why am I talking to you? Who's in authority here???!" and Silberman says "Reese..." and Kyle shouts "SHUT UP!". Kyle then looks straight at the camera and says "You still don't get it, do you?? He'll find her! That's what he does! That's ALL HE DOES! You can't stop him!" he then get's up and is restrained by the officers in the room as he shouts "He'll wade through you and reach down her throat and PULL HER FUCKING HEART OUT!! LET...LET GO OF ME!!!" and Silberman turns the tape off at Traxler's request as Sarah looks upset and Silberman says sheepishly "Sorry".
Then there is of course the big reveal of why Kyle came to the past and he tells Sarah of his feelings for her as they sit alone in a motel room. So, Kyle says to Sarah "John Connor gave me a picture of you once. I didn't know why at the time. It was very old - torn, faded. You were young like you are now. You seemed just a little sad. I used to always wonder what you were thinking at that moment. I memorized every line, every curve... I came across time for you, Sarah. I love you; I always have". Kyle then get's up and goes over to the table and feeling embarrassed, starts to shove the pipe bombs he made into a bag, and he says "I shouldn't have said that!" but then Sarah comes over and they start to kiss and we know the rest!
And last of all is the scene where Kyle and Sarah run into a factory and Kyle activates some machinery to cover themselves from the Terminator, who breaks its way into the factory by bashing the front door in. So, Sarah asks Kyle "What are you doing?" and Kyle tells her "Cover, so he can't track us!" but very soon, the Terminator in skeletal form, catches up to them and Kyle tells Sarah "Sarah, run!" and picks up a metal pipe and he yells at Sarah "RUN!!!!" and he takes aim at the Terminator as it nears him and he says "Come on, motherfucker!!!" and he gives it a few almighty whacks with the pipe but it soon recovers and knocks him back down the stairs.
There are also some good supporting cast performances as well, especially from Paul Winfield, as the police Lieutenant Traxler, who tries to help Sarah, before the goes down at the station. Winfield also shares a nice bit of banter with Lance Henriksen in the film, who plays the part of one of his fellow policeman, Hal, and I like the way Traxler always cuts off what Hal says before he can finish.
And Winfield has some good scenes that include the one where Traxler and Hal talk with each other, as Hal tells him about the two murder victims that were both named Sarah Connor. So, as the press hound them outside Traxler's office, Traxler decides to go and see them and does up his top button on his shirt. So, Traxler says to Hal "I'm going to talk to them, maybe I can get on the tube by 11pm, make these jackals work for us for a change" Traxler removes his glasses and asks Hal "How do I look?" and Hal bluntly says "Like shit, boss" and Traxler says "Your mama!" and walks outside to the press.
Then there is the scene where Traxler comforts Sarah after her and Kyle are detained at the police station. So, Traxler tells Sarah "Why don't you stay here, it will be at least an hour before your mother get's here from Big Ben" and Sarah says "I can't sleep". Traxler then says "Try" and he get's Sarah to lie down on a couch and he says "It may not look it but that couch is very comfortable" and Sarah says "Thank you".
Earl Boen is also very good as the criminal pscyhologist, Dr Silberman, who plays him as being rather smarmy, and he would later on go to play a larger part in Terminator 2 and 3.
Boen has a few good scenes in the film such as his first where Traxler introduces Silberman to Sarah and Silberman warmly says to her "Hi, Sarah". So, Sarah, still shaken up by her experienced asks Silberman "Are you a Doctor?" and Silberman yawns and says "Criminal psychology". Sarah then asks "Is Reese crazy?" and Silberman takes out his clipboard and pen and says "Well, that's what we're going to find out".
And lastly there is the scene where Silberman shows the video footage of his interview with Reese, and in the video he asks Reese "Why didn't you bring any weapons with you? Like ray guns" and Reese missing his sarcasm replise "Its something to do with the field generator, nothing dead will go" and Silberman asks "Why?" and Kyle angrily says "I didn't the build the fucking thing!" and Silberman backs off and says "OK OK". So, Silberman stops the tape at one point and he then says to the Traxler "I could make a career out of this guy! Do you see how he doesn't require a shred of proof? I mean most paranoid delusions are intricate but this is brilliant!". So, he resumes the tape, which culiminates with Kyle shouting in the camera how the Terminator will find Sarah and Traxler tells Silberman to turn it off. So, Silberman does and he turns to Sarah awkwardly and says "Sorry" and Sarah after a pause asks "So, is Reese crazy?" and Silberman says "In technical terminology, he's a loon!".
Lance Henriksen is also pretty good in his role as the cop, Hal, who shares a rather comical relationship with his superior officer, Lt Traxler.
So, I will quickly mention a couple of his scenes, such as his first one where the press are outside and Hal shows the record of the two murders of the women named Sarah Connor. So, Hal says to Traxler "Look at the name, Ed" and Traxler reads it in surprise "Sarah Connor" and Hal nods and Traxler says "A one day pattern killer" and Hal says "I hate the weird ones! Especially the press cases!".
Then there is the scene where after Sarah watches the tape of Kyle, is shown a bullet proof vest and suggests the Terminator must have been wearing one. So, Sarah then asks about the Terminator punching his arm through the car windshield "What about his arm?" and Hal says "He might have been on PCP. He could have broken every bone in his hand and he wouldn't feel it for hours. There was this one guy..." and Traxler cuts him off and says "Thank you".
Finally Bill Paxton makes an amusing brief cameo as the
punk leader at the start of the film who taunts the naked terminator. So, in the scene the punk leader says "Nice night for a walk eh?" and the Terminator stops and repeats "Nice night for a walk". So, the 2nd punk asks "Wash day tomorrow, nothing clean right?" and the Terminator says "Nothing clean right". So, the leader then grins and says"I think this guy is a couple of cans short of a six pack!". So, the Terminator then demands "Your clothes, give them to me now!" and the punks all take out their flick knives and the leader says "Fuck you, asshole!".
DIRECTOR
Moving onto the director, James Cameron does a great job in what was only his second feature film, having directed Piranha II, two years previously, which bombed critically and financially. Cameron also took influence from 1970's thriller, The Driver and the 1981 sci-fi thriller Mad Max 2 as well. Interestingly enough, Cameron had the idea to make the plot of the first film feature two Terminators, one of which was made of liquid metal, which would later become the plot of Terminator 2, but the technical constraints of the 1980's made his original plot not feasible to shoot as a movie.
Cameron of course here does a terrific job at building the suspense throughout and keeps both the Terminator and Reese's intentions not truly apparent as both of them could be out to kill Sarah but its not until the nightclub scene we see what is happening with his motives. Cameron also expertly handles the action scenes, which are also very suspenseful and intense and the image of seeing the metal sekelton Terminator rise from the fire, is one of the most memorable in the film. So, overall this is definitely one of Cameron's very best films.
VISUAL EFFECTS
So for a change, I thought I would also mention the film's visual effects and visually the film looks very impressive given its small budget of 6.4
million dollars, the model effects of the machines in the future look great. Also great credit must go to the effects make-up of Stan Winston, for the terminator which are great as is the actual design of the terminator skeleton metal
frame. Although of course it is pretty obvious the scenes where we cut
from the mechanical version of Arnie's head, to the live make-up he is
given to wear! The terminator's infra-red vision effects are for their
time are actually quite impressive and I quite like the way they are
revealed in the chase scene after Sarah and Reese escape from the
nightclub.
The only downside to the effects is the scenes where we
see the skeletal terminator stalk towards Sarah and Kyle at the end and
these scenes are done using stop motion instead, which makes it look a
bit false. Despite all this though, the film does very well with its efffects espeially given it was on such a meagre budget.
MUSIC
As for the music, the score by Brad Fiedel is excellent and very memorable, particularly the film's main theme, which plays over the start and end credits. Fiedel himself composed the score primarily for synthesizer but there are also some piano pieces, particularly for Sarah and Kyle's love scene. Fiedel's theme for the Terminator himself is also great with the effective use of a creepy synth and the mechanical heartbeat. So, overall this is definitely a fine and memorable score from Fiedel, who later go on to score Terminator 2 and True Lies for Cameron.
FLAWS
So, does the Terminator does have any flaws worth a mention? Well, yeah there are some.
For starters I would say the film probably like others of its time is a victim of the fashions of the 1980s, and it is populated by some cheesy 80s pop tunes, which we hear Ginger listen to on hear tape player, and the scene in the nightclub and when Kyle turns on the car radio. So, overall the film does have a pretty dated feel but despite that, it still of course works.
Another scene that bugged me somewhat is where the Terminator has Sarah in his sights with his laser sighted gun and she doesn't move or anything and sits still with a blank expression waiting to be shot! I mean its clear as day, the Terminator means to kill her yet she just sits there and does nothing at all to protect herself, such as run or even duck under the table! So, yeah its a pretty daft moment in itself and just as well Kyle turned up at this point to shoot the Terminator.
Then there is of course the question as to why didn't the
Terminator ever think to wash itself and give itself a bath or a
shower???! As surely its skeletal frame would be able to cope with
water, as it can certainly cope with fire! The scene where the
housekeeper in the motel knocks on the terminator's door and asks if he
has a dead cat in there or what, is quite funny, especially when the
terminator responds by telling the housekeeper to go f himself, but
it also highlights the terminator has no regard or concern for trying to
fit in and not drawing attention to itself by stinking out the place. But wouldn't it make a bit more sense if it did, rather than walking
round with stinky BO?! But ah well, the Terminator doesn't care about his hygiene even if he does care a little about his hair, as we catch him fluff his hair a bit in the mirror after he puts back on his shades after removing his damaged eyeball.
And I always thought the line where Sarah finally kills off the terminator by crushing it in the hyrdaulic press, and saying "you're terminated, fucker!" was a bit unecessary, as I think it would be better if she just said "you're terminated!", or at least they could have made it funny by her saying "you're terminated, bitch!" or "you're terminated, shithead!".
You could also argue that the Terminator lucked out in finding someone who's clothes would be a good fit for him in the last standing punk at the start, who strips off to give the Terminator his clothes. So, the fact that the punk's clothing fitted the Terminator so well, is a pretty neat coincidence if nothing else! Although they did make up for this in the sequel where the Terminator analyses one of the bikers in the bar at the start for his build to assess if his clothes were suitable.
Anyway that's it for the flaws.
SUM UP
So, in the end The Terminator still to this day remains a must see classic action film thanks to its suspenseful and relentless action and fine performances from Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn, not to mention Arnie is perfect in his role as the ruthless killing machine, the Terminator. James Cameron also provides some tight direction throughout and the music score by Brad Fiedel is also very memorable and the special effects of the film are also impressive given the film's small budget. And out of all the Terminator films, the original is still unquestionably the best.
So, I will rate The Terminator:
10 out of 10
So, that's it for now and to paraphrase Arnie, "I will be back" for another post soon!
Until then bye for now!
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