The Terminator (1984)
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The Terminator (1984)
SCHWARZENEGGER is THE TERMINATOR
It's difficult now to appreciate what an impact this film had on the rest of the eighties and nineties, and continues to have - witness the new Terminator series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the recent 4th Terminator film. Director James Cameron, in his first real directing feature (he's also credited for Piranha 2 a few years before this), managed to craft a nearly-flawless action thriller on a small budget (about $6 million), with the science fiction elements of time travel and artificial intelligence thrown into the mix.I remember the attitudes about this film even before it was released, when trailers were playing in theaters. Audiences laughed at the sight of Arnold, playing some grim killer, it looked like. Not many were laughing during the actual film. Some still needed to be convinced. When Arnold casually breaks a tough bouncer's hand at the start of the infamous disco scene, I heard a guy in back of me groan in disbelief (c'mon, not even Arnold, playing some weird soldier of the future, can be that tough). At this point, not everyone was aware of the full story; the big reveal came right after the disco scene, in the back alley, when
- Spoiler:
- Arnold's point-of-view was unveiled - a mechanized, robotic view.
The action was overlaid with a haunting theme of time lost love and the absolute danger of ever-advancing science. It all seemed simple at first: Arnold is here from the future on a mission of murder; his target is a young waitress (Linda Hamilton). Another scruffy time traveler (Biehn) is on his own mission; we're not sure what, at first. And soon, events and circumstance spiral into unexpected directions, which sometimes happens when human nature is involved. Revelations about the dark future of year 2029 are given a poignant allure due to further reveals. Famed writer Harlan Ellison, who wrote his own story about a soldier from the future (see the Outer Limits episode "Soldier"), was acknowledged in the credits after he threatened to sue (see several posts down for video). Hell, this movie even has a scene of Dick Miller selling guns to Arnold. You can't go wrong with that. BoG's Score: 10
Terminator Trivia: OJ Simpson was originally intended for the Terminator role and Arnold was slated for the human fighter (Reese) role; the character of the Terminator had only about 100 words of dialog...
Last edited by BoG on Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:26 am; edited 6 times in total
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