The Terminator

Up next another couple of absolute favourites that I rewatched for my top 100 list to help sort out the rankings and also help me write a substantial amount about why they're favourites of mine










Plot - In the year 2029, a vicious war is raging between man and machine. A computer system called Skynet gained sentience in 1997 and declared war on all of humanity. With billions already dead, all that stands between Skynet and the complete destruction of the human race are pockets of resistance groups. Despite their seemingly untenable position, mankind actually stands on the brink of victory when Skynet takes one final roll of the dice. It sends a cybernetic killer known as a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) back through time to 1984 with the goal of killing Sarah Connor (Hamilton). She may not know it yet but Sarah Connor is to prove vital to the resistance effort. She is due to give birth to a son named John, a son who will grow up and lead the resistance to victory. The Terminator has been tasked with killing her before she ever gives birth, attempting to turn the tide back in favour of the machines. The resistance follows suit however by sending a warrior of its own back on the Terminator's trail, Kyle Reese (Biehn). It becomes a race against time for Reese to reach Sarah before the Terminator does.

For many years I considered the sequel as the superior film. That was probably due to the sequel being so much bigger and more action-packed than the original, and that greatly appealed to my juvenile tastes. While I still love T2 I now feel this is clearly the best film that the Terminator series has to offer. It's just such a mean, lean film which moves along at a tremendous pace. In a number of ways resembling a noir thriller it's a gripping experience, and Arnie's Terminator remains quite a terrifying presence. You just can't stop him!

While the film has many attributes going for it (which I will get on to), without a doubt the one single element that made this film so iconic and ensured its place in cinema history is the involvement of Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator. There can be few actors out there with careers as productive as Arnie that have less acting ability and nuance than him; no-one is ever going to mistake him for being a classically trained performer! On the other hand however there have been very few actors in the history of cinema who have such a strong screen presence as the Austrian Oak. And for a character that only speaks a total of 18 lines, for a combined total of less than 100 words, you really need someone like that so that the character makes an impression. And oh boy does he make an impression! While it may be a sentiment that is over-used these days by reviewers such as myself, on this occasion it really does bear saying; it is impossible to imagine how anyone else could have inhabited this role. On a purely physical level his imposing frame is a perfect fit, but it's more than just that. It's the stilted voice, the unnatural mannerisms and the dead eyes that create this terrifically mechanical performance. Schwarzenegger really did deliver one of cinema's all time great villains. It's just such a classic nightmare for people, being chased by something that is apparently impossible to escape from. There's also a deeper, metaphorical edge to these machines that I think I had somehow overlooked until now; that of being an allegory for the Nazis. Like the Nazi forces under Hitler's command, the machines are this seemingly unstoppable force intent on wiping out all of humanity. Through the stories of Reese we learn that the machines hold humans captive in work camps, while he also shows Sarah the ID number that he has imprinted on his forearm. How I didn't put this together before is baffling to me.

As much credit as Schwarzenegger deserves for the creation, side-by-side with him in the recognition stakes would have to be Stan Winston. Given the many years that have now passed since the film's release, and the tight budget at its disposal, it really is a great testament to the skill of Winston just how well much of his work still holds up. There are still great little moments such as our opportunity to see under the Terminator's skin when he is repairing his arm, with all the moving gears and gizmos inside; moments which you wouldn't bat an eye at in even a film released today. And the endoskeleton at the end is just an incredible achievement; it's a tremendous piece of design that just enhances the character's menace to an even greater level. There's no doubt that some of the effects may flag up the film's limitations; you can see the seams so to speak. During the scene where he repairs his eye at a motel it's very obvious when we're dealing with the real Schwarzenegger, and when we're dealing with his animatronic replacement. However it's still such a fantastic creation from the Stan Winston studio that you can't help but admire the craftsmanship. And when it comes to the aforementioned endoskeleton at the film's conclusion, the stop motion is admittedly a bit dodgy, with the Terminator's movements taking on a very awkward, jerking nature. Personally I actually think this works to its advantage however. It seems to heighten the inhumanity of this metallic monstrosity, making it even more creepy somehow. In fact just about all of the film's effects are still able to hold up today, whether it be the time travel effects, the make-up used to convey the damage to Schwarzenegger's face or at realising the post-apocalyptic world of 2029. The future world in particular is terrifically impressive. The opening sequence that shows the humans and machines battling on this wasteland, and ending with the tank's tracks crushing the human skulls, is just such a vivid and instantly engrossing start. We are only given another couple of brief glimpses at this world, but they are just so enticing. And it's just a shame that we're still waiting really for that potential to be fully realised in any of the subsequent films.

As strong a showing as Schwarzenegger gives, you could make the argument that his job is easier than that of his co-stars. This is especially true of Michael Biehn who has the unenviable job of trying to ground this fantastic tale by explaining to both Sarah and the audience just what the hell is going on. So throughout he gets saddled with some extremely heavy exposition that he has to deliver, very often right in the middle of a big action sequence. Biehn proves to be more than up to the task however. This is particularly evident during the interrogation scene at the police station while he's talking to Dr. Silberman. He relays the whole preposterous story about the war and the Terminators with such indignant anger and conviction that we completely buy every single word he's saying. He is just this furious ball of energy throughout, fuelled by pure anger. He convinces you fully that he is a character born out of war, that he grew up in a wasteland where he had to scavenge just to survive and that as a kid he didn't play games, but instead he learnt to build bombs. He's also a pretty tough b*stard, as is seen by his ability to just shake off being shot as if it's nothing.

Also very impressive is Linda Hamilton as the iconic heroine Sarah Connor, though in a way it's not until the sequel that you really come to admire just how good she is. In the sequel we see her in full-on warrior mode, making her character at the start of this film seem a world away. There is still good work on show here however as she conveys the extreme, bewildering terror that enters the life of this working class suburbanite who you can imagine spent every day of her teenage years in a mall. And we do get a preview of what she is going to become at the film's conclusion. Finally managing to destroy the Terminator she delivers the line “You're terminated f*cker!”, and does it with such fury in her eyes that you can see she is well on her way to the transformation into the bad-ass we see in Judgment Day. While that trio carry the huge majority of the film all by themselves, on the rare occasion when others are required to step in they prove to be more than up to the task. Paul Winfield and Lance Henrikesen add some real colour and flavour as a couple of cops, just as Earl Boen does in the role of Dr. Silberman.

Every so often a film comes along that has reviewers waxing lyrical about how taut, tightly scripted and economical it is. If you've never been sure exactly what they're talking about, just give this film a watch and you should get the idea. The pace of this film is just incredible. For all of its robots, time travel and high concept story the film is basically a stripped to the bare bones chase movie. In fact the film at large rather mirrors the nature of The Terminator itself, careering along at an almost unrelenting pace. There is no wasted motion whatsoever, everything is aimed at one single goal. And this is true pretty much from its opening seconds. The film really does waste absolutely no time in getting going, handling all of the exposition in a mere few sentences and then dropping Arnie right into proceedings in a brilliant flash of light. And that's us, we're off, and we barely pause for breath for the next 90 minutes. A large factor in creating this incessant pace is the terrific editing by Mark Goldblatt which never allows the character or the audience to rest. Although it's not all about the rapid tempo of the film, there's also some great storytelling to be found in Goldblatt's work. The juxtaposition of The Terminator and Kyle Reese and how they go about acquiring clothing, weaponry and a vehicle is a nice sequence; The Terminator just mowing down anyone in his way and breaking every law imaginable while Reese attempts a much more restrained approach. My favourite example however is the introduction of the Sarah Connor character, allowing us to see just how completely out of her depth she is. Up until this point the film had been predominantly set in a grubby world of urban blight, but it then switches instantly to this sunny, colourful suburb as we find Sarah riding along on a bicycle. The edgy, electronic score also gives way to a much lighter, happy-go-lucky and playful piece of piano music. For Sarah, the biggest problem in her life is being late for work and we see that she can't even handle being a waitress, and yet she's expected to help save the world?

While he may have directed bigger films, including the two most successful films of all time, and even won an Oscar for his work on Titanic, I personally don't think that James Cameron's direction has ever been better than here with The Terminator. As well as keeping the narrative flowing at an unrelenting pace, he frequently shows a great eye for framing and composition to deliver some terrific shots and images; moments such as when the Terminator emerges from the flames sans its skin. I also really enjoy his occasional use of slow motion in the film. He uses it to highlight the horror and tension of scenes such as when The Terminator tracks down Sarah in the club, and not just because it's stylish in the way that a Zack Snyder does. Cameron also seems to have a real sense of fun at times throughout the film; for example I love the little shot that foreshadows what is to come later on as a small toy truck is destroyed under the wheel of the car that Arnie is driving. Later on in the film the Terminator will drive a truck that looks almost identical to this, and which also gets destroyed.

Cameron also brings his A-game to the action sequences, and when combined with Goldblatt's razor-sharp editing and Brad Fiedel's pulsing, electronic score they become tremendously exhilarating. While the action in the sequel may have unfolded on a larger scale thanks to its vastly superior budget and the huge leap forward in special effects, I think that the action here more than makes up for it with its fast and ferocious nature. In fact I'm not sure that the sequel was quite able to capture the sheer intensity and raw urgency of the set-pieces in this film. It doesn't matter whether it's the wild shootout at the night club, the ensuing car chase or the phenomenal assault on the police station, all of the action sequences are just fantastic. For all its ruthless speed and manic chaos however, it is perhaps when the action slows right down that we get the most thrilling sequence. I'm talking about the film's concluding chase between the severely wounded Sarah and the Terminator which is now only a torso but keeps on coming. With both individuals so worse for wear the chase becomes a crawl, and it's just so slow and tense that it is agonising.

The whole story unfolds from the tremendous original concept in the script. And the script at large is actually very impressive. Admittedly some of the romantic dialogue between Kyle and Sarah is a little bit clunky but it works because Hamilton and Biehn sell it so well and with such sincerity. They make lines that could easily be ridiculous ("I came across time for you Sarah. I love you; I always have.") come across as very touching. It also works because we understand the attraction on both sides of the coin. For Reese the romance almost works an example of celebrity worship. He has grown up admiring Sarah as this great hero; so much so that he feels like he has known her his whole life, even if he's never actually met her. While for Sarah we understand the sheer terror she must be feeling and the need for comfort. And I've got to say that their sex scene in the motel is really quite a sexy, erotic sequence.

It's very obvious that the budget for this film was very small, minuscule in fact when compared with its sequel. While Judgment Day was bankrolled by a budget of approximately $100 million, Cameron was able to craft this film out of an astonishingly paltry $6 million! And while that tight budget may be clear to see on the screen I actually think its to the benefit of the film. It gives it a cheap and grubby aesthetic which I think works for the subject matter, really heightening its noirish roots as the action takes place predominantly on these streets cloaked in shadows. The film even acknowledges the direction that Cameron is aiming for in the name of the club that the Terminator tracks Sarah down in - Tech Noir.

Conclusion - One of the great action films. One of the great thrillers. And one of the great sci-fi films. The Terminator is able to not only work but flourish on all of these levels. Not bad for a film made on such a tight budget by an unproven director whose only previous film to this had been the not-quite masterpiece Piranha II: The Spawning, and starring a trio of fairly inexperienced actors. Despite these inauspicious factors however, they were all able to come together to create an absolute classic.