"It's your job, right? You know, the guy who kills me, I hope he does it 'cause he hates my gut...
"It's your job, right? You know, the guy who kills me, I hope he does it 'cause he hates my guts. Not 'cause it's his job" - Sonny (Al Pacino) in 'Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
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Many of us may not choose to remember the eighties. The shoulderpads, the mullets, the dodgy makeup, the synthesised music, the yuppies, the drugs etc etc etc. Fortunately I was bron in the mid eighties and therefore don't really remember the decade as well as some of you who are reading the somewhat irrelevant things I am writing. The only way we can get access to that once worrying decade is by either by watching Only Fools And Horses (classic), Top Of The Pops 2 or films of the era.
The eighties saw many iconic screen characters in brainless but very enjoyable actioners. John Macleane in "Die Hard", RoboCop in err... "RoboCop", the Predator in "Predator", the comedy stylings of Riggs and Murtaugh in "Lethal Weapon" and of course the Terminator in "The Terminator". But what makes "The Terminator" different from the rest of these eighties' classics? The Terminator has a bag guy that you actually want to see succeed, even if it does mean that mankind in the future becomes extinct...
The year is 1984, it is early morning. A few flashes and a bolt of electricity later a man appears, naked, from the future. He is the very imposing, muscular Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a robot covered in living tissue, hence: Cyborg (cybonetic organism). His mission is to search for a woman named Sarah Conner and starts to systematically murder every Sarah Conner in the city phonebook.
In another part of town, another mysterious person (Michael Biehn) appears from a spherical vortex of energy, who is also searching for Conner. The Sarah Conner in question (Linda Hamilton), a sometimes clumsy waitress, starts to get a little concerned when it's reported on the news
that there is a serial killer on the prowl in Los Angeles who seems to only be killing people by the name of 'Sarah Conner'. She descovers, via looking the phone book that she's next, as she waits in a nightclub to wait for the police to pick her up she notices that the mysterious man (Biehn) has been following her. But she shouldn't really be worrying about him as it turns out that he is there to protect her from the Terminator, who shrugs of gunshot wounds without a second thought and thinks that high speed car crashes are nothing more than minor inconviences. It is he who is doing the killing. Biehn turns out to be Kyle Reese, a soldier who's mission is to keep Conner alive for a very special reason.
It turns out that both Reese and the Terminator come from the future, in the year 2029. In 2029, machines rule the earth and are hunting down the remaining human rebels, fighting for freedom. But what does this have to do with Sarah Conner. Well it turns out that she's going to be the future mother of the leader of the human resistance - John Conner. Therefore it is imperrative that she is kept alive for the sake of humanity. A cat and mouse style chase between Reese and Sarah and the Terminator ensues.
Performances from the three leads are good. Schwarzenegger is silent but deadly as the emotionless cyborg, it was as if the part was written for him. Well... actually it was going to be Lance Henrikson playing the killer cyborg as James Cameron's (the director's) conception that the Terminator would be able to blend into a crowd of poeple without arrousing suspicion. Arnie can't exactly do that, but has the physique to be believable as an object made of steel.
Linda Hamilton plays the helpless bimbo character nicely. Although the whole situation is an invaluable learning curve for her character, making her more independent and single minded. Again, Hamilton handle this change in gestus well proving to be a competent actress who is sometimes under ratted. This is arguably her best performance.
Michael Biehn, another under ratted actor proves that he is talented as the humane protector, Reese. Although his build is nothing like Schwarzenegger's, he can still maintain a huge presence on screen, being ultimately the hero. This is a good performance that is quite convincing. Although (this includes all) there was nothing of Oscar quality.
There are also some solid performance from Lance Henrikson (Aliens), oh and Bill Paxton makes a short but memorable appearence.
James Cameron (one of favourite directors) splices heart stopping action sequences with engaging characters seemlessly and despite it being a cheap $7 or so million project, it's not your standard popcorn faire. The building love interest between Conner and Reese makes it a more emotionally charged picture and ironically the love story (which is the eventual core of the plot) ironically leads to the conception of John Conner. This in itself leads to a serious of bewildering time travel related questions. If the Terminator hadn't gone back in time, Reese would never have met Sarah at that time and therefore no John Conner??? I think i'll stop there... But the story is much more clever than it makes out to be.
Cameron's script (he wrote it as well) is simple but very, very effective. To maintain the horror that is th Terminator character, his dialogue is minimal. For the entirety of the film (103 minutes), Schwarzenegger has these lines to say:
Nice night for a walk. Nothing clean, right. Your clothes. Give them to me. Now. The 12 Gauge Autoloader. The .45 Longslide with laser sighting. Phased Plasma rifle in 40 watt range. The Uzi nine millimeter All. Wrong. Sarah Conner? I'm a friend of Sarah Conner. I was told she was here. Can I see her please? Where is she? I'll be back F**k you a$$hole Give me your address there Get Out
Not alot really, but hey, it works. The special effects for a film of such a low budget are fairly impressive, even by today's standard. Gunfights, car chases, explosions, the metal Terminator endo-skeleton. It looks like effects guru Stan Winston had his work cut out for him. The future scenes with the humans fighting the machine HKs (hunter killers) are also done well, cutting corners at every opportunity. Some models for the scenes weren't finished due to the filming schedule so carboard cutout accessories were stuck to them (boasters etc) to make them look more complete.
Soundtrack is of course, eighties, all the way. The signature theme tune is haunting with the synthesised drones. Cameron ("T2", "Aliens") obviously knows that music is improtant in increasing tension and that all important scare factor, which this film experiements with but fortunately doesn't rest the whole story on it.
BOTTOM LINE The seventies had Darth Vader, the eighties had the Terminator. It stands tall over all the imitations made after it, due to its believable love story that doesn't feel forced at all. A dark and daring motion picture that has been planned exhaustively and it shows. Cameron proves that he is a jack of all trades for all film genres as this film blends most of them into a cocktail of pure, classic entertainment. Watch it, if you want to live...
CERTIFICATE : 15/18 (depending if it on VHS or DVD: see note) TIME APPROX : 103 minutes
CAUTION Strong lanuguge Strong violence Some sex
IF YOU LIKE THIS, TRY : Terminator 2: Judgement Day - the bigger and arguably better sequel that is an action masterpiece.
You'll be back
<DarkMark
NOTE : since its DVD release and due to the high quality of picture, the BBFC decided that a stop motion skeleton model just isn't scary anymore and therefore bumped it down to 15. The VHS remains 18 due to its lack of picture quality compared to DVD.
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Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Advantages: Uncommonly good storyline for an action film, super special effects, imaginative design, excellent value DVD Disadvantages: Many won't enjoy it for its occasionally-graphic violence
tom1clare 07.03.2004 (10.03.2004)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Terminator
Advantages: Uncommonly good storyline for an action film, super special effects, imaginative design, excellent value DVD Disadvantages: Many won't enjoy it for its occasionally-graphic violence
tom1clare 07.03.2004 (10.03.2004)
·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Terminator
Advantages: Some visually entertaining if unengaging special effects Disadvantages: Terrible dialogue, direction, plot and acting, Unoriginal, dull and unengaging.
Burning_Darkness 28.07.2009 ·
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Review of Terminator Salvation
May 12th, 2004
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