Simply named The Terminator, James Cameron’s breakout film was produced on a limited budget, but left a towering legacy that remains to this day. Its relentless action, well crafted effects and strong writing and performances have elevated the film to the status of Sci-Fi classic.
The film hooks the viewer in with an effective mystery of an unstoppable killer on the loose executing his victims with the ruthless efficiency of a calculated assassin. The tense soundtrack alternates between subtle heartbeat like pulses and the hard, minimalist pounding of the series’ signature theme.
Combined with great tension building, the film almost becomes a horror movie, with the relentless Terminator edging ever closer to his poor target Sarah Connor. Like Michael Myers, this is an emotionless killing machine that won’t stop no matter what and keeps coming back regardless of what is thrown at him.
He is contrasted and sort of mirrored by Kyle Reese, an excellent performance by Michael Biehn whose desperation and single mindedness are key in convincing both the audience and Sarah Connor of the threat the Terminator poses should he succeed in his mission. He’s a reckless and desperate hero who’s always getting shot at, ducking for cover, running or rolling around. Like Die Hard’s John McClane, he’s a dangerous man who knows his stuff, but he’s out-gunned and on the back foot in a losing battle that makes a great change from the seemingly invincible heroes of many contemporary action films. He’s hardy and resourceful: within the first few hours of arriving with nothing, he manages to acquire some clothes, saw off a shotgun to conceal, and hot-wires a car to get to Sarah.
The brilliant, cool looking future man-machine war scenes are impressively bleak and harrowing, with lasers and explosions flying everywhere; and the humans crawling through the dirt or crouching behind cover. These flashbacks don’t just tell us about the post apocalyptic future that awaits should he fail, but also suggest that Kyle is a combat veteran suffering from PTSD. This is also more subtly implied by his obsession with warfare and stopping the Terminator at all costs, like when he teaches Sarah to make explosives. She asks him “Kyle, the women in your time, what are they like?” when probing him about the future and he says “Good fighters.” He doesn’t even think of any other answer because his entire life is defined by fighting for survival. We never see him so much as stop to eat a cheeseburger or watch TV. I can’t say I’d be as disciplined if I got back to the 20th century after being stuck in a hellish war with the machines.
Arnold is great in one of his first major roles, and mostly lets his physique and body language communicate the character and its ultimate robotic efficiency. This film can be credited by giving Arnold his most quoted catch phrase “I’ll be back.” and is definitely remembered as his most iconic role.
Linda Hamilton is perfectly believable as Sarah Connor, giving a nuanced performance that only serves to strengthen the more well known version of the character in the sequel. The rest of the cast are also well written, and there’s little moments of humour that James Cameron seems to do really well, though it never goes too far or feels forced. Small details like having Sarah own a pet Iguana are completely irrelevant but help to add to this world and make it believable. None of the victims act stupidly or as if they know they are fulfilling a role in a movie, which helps punctuate the carnage the Terminator causes on his murderous rampage. The action scenes themselves are engaging and tense, but thanks to the small budget they rarely go overboard and retain an understated grit and realism that still manages to evoke panic and hopelessness in the face of relentless violence that the spectacles and set-pieces of the sequels don’t live up to.
The pacing of the film is excellently done with just enough breaks in the action to let the audience catch their breath and add some much needed character and personality to the people that inhabit this world. We get to know Sarah Connor well and witness her average life before we see it all fall apart as she becomes aware of her future and the importance of her own survival and that of her son. The romance between the two leads feels relatively organic and doesn’t get in the way of the plot. When the film ends, it’s not a triumphant victory but a feeling that Sarah only just made it out alive and that the real battle lies ahead – “There’s a storm coming”- leaving us wanting more of this world and eager for a sequel.
Though it launched one of the most recognised franchises in Hollywood, it’s definitely the Terminator movie for me, and in my mind the best one.
Badd Motivator 