“The Terminator” is a fantastic film with action sequences that still hold their vitality even more than 30 years since their inception. Even the cheesy VFX, laughably bad dialogue and acting, over the years, have been elevated to iconic stance. Some even consider this to be a great horror film, though I more like to think of it as a haunting film, with spectacular visuals, that takes a lot of inspiration from the original “Halloween”.
I’m not quite sure how the acting and dialogue was perceived to be back in 1984, when the film came out, but watching it today I have to say that it’s so bad that it actually becomes good, laughably good. With lines like “I’ll be back” becoming embedded in pop culture. Not only that but this gave us the Arnold Schwarzenegger that many would come to know and love. He embodies the idea of an indestructible machine brilliantly, even allowing that image to spill over into his real life.
With these action films, the backstory is usually inconsequential, just adding some flavor and breath of explanation to what is going down but never really all that important. “The Terminator” was a little different, it’s backstory wasn’t all that important to the enjoyment of the film but nevertheless it was interesting and layered. With the opening shots showing a distant Los Angeles future ruled by ruthless machines bent on exterminating their human creators. This wasn’t suppose to be a standalone film but overtime this seemingly simple idea has been developed into a full fledged film series that is about to be rebooted soon, with a message that I think is more relevant than ever.
The film, though, really comes into own when it is talking through it’s images much like “Indiana Jones”. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when Kyle Reese, a solider from the future dark machine era, comes to the present and witnesses a machine crushing over gravel at a construction site, slowly the camera pans below the gravel to show bones being crushed by the machine, alluding back to the dystopian image shown in the first shot of the film. Then suddenly Reese snaps back to reality in a sweat. In just that you are able to realize who this man is, it is an excellently directed scene and there are many like it in this film.
Coming off from directing “Piranha 2”, which I refuse to watch, James Cameron helmed this film and it would be the beginning of one of the most illustrious and important careers in the history of cinema. Here you see Cameron delving into themes that he would revisit over and over again, such as that of technology trying to destroy us, and us using technology to save ourselves, like how Sarah Connor uses a machine to eventually destroy the machine trying to kill her. It’s a statement on the need to use technology wisely.
Furthermore, you also see Cameron balancing the more commercial aspects of a film with these interesting themes he was developing. Arnold appearing naked in a flash of lightening probably lended to a handful of seats being filled in the theater. But even something as commercially blatant as that is taken to another level when we see it contrasted with the entrance of Reese from the future, who comes in battered and scarred, sideways next to a hobo. Cameron is saying a lot about these characters in these first images of them without loosing any commercial value. It’s a rare, intelligent blend for a filmmaker, and over the years we’ll see Cameron continuing to balance these values, pushing the edge of filmmaking and audience sensibilities.
That’s not to say that everything was great in this film, I didn’t much care for the relationship that was developed between Connor and Reese, I felt as though it was just thrown in there for the film to have some steamy sequences. And the backstory of dystopian Los Angeles, though I thought was interesting, I felt was a little underdeveloped considering they talk about it for extended periods of time. Again, I believe it was Cameron appealing to the audience, trying to make this film a success as his future career as a filmmaker depended on it. Thankfully though, in 1984 this film was a runaway success, taking many people by surprise. Maybe the most scariest aspect of the film is what would have happened if this film hadn’t been a box office hit.
