The Terminator

“Come with me if you want to live.”

Filmology Rating: 3.75 out of 4

This low-budget B-movie was released in October of 1984. James Cameron wrote and directed the film.
Before being a director, Cameron worked as a visual effects supervisor for Roger Corman. If you're unfamiliar with Corman, then you're missing out on a whole other world of film. Roger Corman is the Spielberg of the B-movie genre; cheap and quickly slapped together films. Corman took ideas that appeared very expensive and made them for dirt-cheap. He is possibly one of the most efficient at working with a low budget. James Cameron slowly worked up the ranks and began his filmmaking career after seeing 'Star Wars' in 1977. This started Cameron's dream of pushing the envelope of special effects.

One night, Cameron was deathly sick and had a nightmare about a robot trying to kill him. He envisioned a metal skeleton rising from the flames with beaming red eyes. This would later turn into his own design of the famous Terminator. Cameron is also responsible for creating many famous movie monster designs such as the Predator.

Cameron's idea for a post-apocalyptic movie about a robot trying to kill a woman was rejected by many large studios. Orion Pictures comes to the rescue, agreeing to a six million dollar budget.
Cameron looked to cast a smaller person as the Terminator. The idea was that the Terminator should be a stealthy assassin and be able to blend into a crowd. Cameron had thought of Lance Henriksen or OJ Simpson for the role. However, when 'Conan the Barbarian' star, Arnold Schwarzenegger read the script, he wanted to be the Terminator because the villain role interested him. Cameron admired his ambition and thought the idea worked better due to the contrast to hero, Kyle Reese.

The year is 2029 and the machines have taken over. Cyborgs hunt what's left of the human race. In a desperate attempt to take down the human rebellion, the cyborgs send one T-800 to 1984 to kill John Connor's mother, Sarah, to prevent him from being born. At the same time, the humans send back Kyle Reese to stop the Terminator.

This may be my favorite James Cameron film. He is famously known for 'Terminator' 1 and 2, 'Aliens', 'The Abyss' 'Titanic', and 'Avatar.' I strongly dislike 'Avatar', 'The Abyss' botched its ending, and 'Titanic' is okay. 'Terminator 2' and 'Aliens' are two of the best action films ever, but 'The Terminator' is his strongest-overall film. But, this is a film where you must remove your nostalgia glasses to evaluate it.

One of the best aspects of this film is the low-budget charm. I love movies that shoot for the stars with a low budget because, often, the filmmaker becomes more creative. The opening scene in the post-apocalypse is absolutely amazing. Every trick in the book is used in this scene: rear screen projection, miniatures, models, matte paintings, forced perspective, stop-motion; it's all so awesome.

Unfortunately, this futuristic aesthetic is never used in future movies. They don't make low-budget sci-fi films like this anymore.

This is also James Cameron at his most efficient. Most Cameron films are well over two hours *Avatar* and overstay their welcome. 'The Terminator' is an hour forty-five and it's perfect. People deliver exposition during action scenes; accomplishing two things at once keeps the audience engaged. That's called what they used to call "filmmaking!" Michael Biehn plays as Kyle Reese, a rebellion soldier in the future sent back in time. His goal is to protect Sarah Connor from the T-800. Biehn is strongly overlooked in this franchise and as an actor. He did appear in Cameron's 'Aliens', but never went big like Arnold. In every 'Terminator' movie it's always about Arnold and John/Sarah Connor. Kyle Reese is strongly overlooked.

Linda Hamilton plays Sarah Connor. She does very little in this film until the very end. She is the macguffin, but she doesn't become iconic until 'T2', as a character. She later married and divorced James Cameron. But Hamilton is coming back again for 'Terminator: Dark Fate.'

Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the famous Terminator, his most iconic role he will never leave alone. He is perfect in this film because he doesn't have to act. It was smart casting by Cameron to ensure that Arnold's acting only extends to acting like a robot; it works for the character. He is mostly known for being the T-800 in 'T2.' He doesn't even get his signature black jacket and sunglasses in this film until later. For the majority of the film, he's dressed in grey, biker coat. It may also be strange watching this film because the Terminator gets his eyebrows burned off by Kyle Reese, so for the majority of the film, Arnold has no eyebrows.

Stan Winston brings this film to life. He is responsible for the majority of the practical effects in this film like the stop-motion and prosthetics. The Arnold head does look a little uncanny-valley, but it's wonderful to see an actual prop head in a movie. But the scenes of Arnold carving out his eyeball and cut up his arm is terrific. It let's the audience see what the T-800 looks like under the skin.

This is a plot that can be described as "this happens, so therefore, this then happens." The best films usually have that plot and it works superbly well for this one.

Due to this film's low budget, sometimes the production could not acquire permits to shoot in LA. So, occasionally, Arnold, Cameron, and a few crew members had to run out into the street, quickly shoot a scene, and run away before the police showed up. It's funny to hear that James Cameron once did guerrilla filmmaking; it's so awesome and Cameron really captures how disgusting and vile LA looked in the 80s.

The score was done by Brad Fiedel. This is a great score because it's not a John Williams score. It's the perfect music for a film like this. It's very similar to a John Carpenter score; the music is just there for wallpaper.

The action sequences make this film feel so quaint. Action films today are like amusement park rides. But this film has very simple, well-edited action that serves the story. And it's great because of how unflashy it is.

The stop-motion exoskeleton of the T-800 is so fucking awesome. I love the jerkiness of the stop-motion because it makes the cyborg look creepier. I was terrified of the T-800 as a kid for that reason. But there has been no better robot design in a motion picture. The T-800 remains the most iconic and best designed.

When the film was released, writer, Harlan Ellison, accused Cameron of stealing the plot from 'Outer Limits.' There are very noticable similarities and it is obvious that Cameron may have taken some of the ideas. However, he was given a giant check and never heard of again. He is also given some credit in the recent blu-ray release of this film.

This film did okay at the box office. It finished twenty-first in 1984. However, this franchise would not become a global phenomenon until 'T2.' It's a film that is still relevant today as people still discuss the possibility of technology taking over our lives. Cameron was far ahead of his time with this film that is perfect to this day.

Rating: See It

-Nolan