Review of The Terminator (1984) by Liam C — 09 Jul 2015

'The Terminator' is what you get when a writer/director has a solid idea for a story and a clear vision for what they want to say and just jumps all in; true, other people have written scripts with him, but this is Cameron's baby... Or perhaps not, considering the plagiarism allegations and James Cameron sold the rights to this film for a dollar! But I'm pretty sure Cameron's old agent is now eating his words for saying he hated this idea; even Arnold, who initially auditioned for Kyle Reese, didn't like the idea. With the studios wanting O.J. Simpson to be the Terminator, which certainly would have been very different but probably wouldn't have played out well in the headlines, given what happened and where would the film series have gone if that did happen? You might wonder why the Terminators look the way they do, and Cameron thought the same thing.

Nevertheless, this film is about as iconic and influential a film can get with its larger than life ideas right down to its characters. The film has an absolutely excellent and relevant concept and is perfect right from its opening battle sequences, with its smart and iconic opening titles all the way until the ending credits. You might wonder how a human could beat something like a Terminator but the way the film plays out, there are quite a few surprises in store and it just adds to the tension. I just like the little nuances characters were given to make them stand out, like when Kyle Reese held up his gun in a playful way to the children, that little bit there just added to his character and they all have things like this. I really did like how Michael Biehn portrayed Kyle Reese; he gave him such depth and really made him human, vulnerable and emotional, and made an action hero the way they should be, relatable.

The story honestly gets quite touching at some points, and some of the twists to the story are quite sad, I also don't think I've ever seen dream sequences used as effectively as I have in this film. You might think there are some plot holes with the time travel elements but they unravel the longer the film goes on and work with the world that has been set up in this film. You might think that someone knowing too much about their own future would cause issues but, honestly, any change they make would most likely be good because the future in this world is so horrible anyway and besides that was the whole point of going back in time in the first place. It works in its circular loop, predestination paradox, and they explain them with its many twists and turns and they explain them even more in the future, I'm sure it was a surprise to those who saw it when it was released. Hell, they even explain why he wears sunglasses in this film, but just becomes a trademark for the sequels. The film has an excellently chosen cast and they are all perfect in their roles, most of which will work again with Cameron in the future, even Bill Paxton in his very small role, of which, would they really mess with someone that looked like Arnold? I kind of thought Sarah Connor would believe what was going on when she herself noted that the Terminator keeps getting back up after being shot, but her scepticism makes sense, clearly.

The tone of this film borderlines on horror, the imagery and just pure eerie feeling that this machine will stop at nothing to kill a person is perfectly captured, the film is very well crafted and has a perfect build up of tension. The sequences at the end with the Terminator are very effective but it did seem odd that the effects for it got better as time went on. The cinematography is great and very wide, giving a clear shot of the action, the film also has a feeling of film-noir to it with some of the shots, one of them is when the camera is below the Terminator but given the angle and lighting, we can see his red eye underneath his glasses. There was also a scene that takes place in a night-club with 'noir' in the title. We also have a shot that zooms in on a toy truck that's about to be run over because of course, foreshadowing perhaps? But it also has the iconic skull-crushing moments as well. The soundtrack is also incredibly iconic but it is also very unique as well, I really like that we do not hear the entirety of the theme until the end credits, it cuts off right before it gets any further in the song than the opening, it is a nice little touch. The theme perfectly captures the feeling of desperation of fighting for the future, well done Brad Fiedel. The action is memorable, relentless and has many spectacular set-pieces. The film also has many jokes that were written on purpose to fit the concept, like, 'in 100 years nobody will care', '...you're talking to a machine...' and '...dying for a shower', I thought the motto shot, 'To Protect and Serve', on the police car was funny, although apparently the police cars have two and sort of goes on to be somewhat of subtle a running gag for those paying attention. It's funny to think the famous one-liner was originally written as, 'I'll come back', but the film has many great one-liners, of course, and they are awesome, I did think that a fight would happen after what he said to that cleaner, but no. But it isn't just Arnold that gets all the one-liners to say either.

It'd be nice to say that this was James Cameron's debut film but we have another David Fincher situation going on here, however, like in that situation, I'll take note of what the directors say and this is his debut, it's his vision and this is his film. It is also, as of this review, the only film of his to not be nominated for Best Visual Effects, go figure. Also there is a really long time between each sequel, but it's better to wait and put care in and I like that the sequels aren't just big jokes where they take the iconic things and just play them up. 'The Terminator' is an action classic that has smart themes, pulse pounding action, heart and just that little bit of humour to add up to a defining action masterpiece. When the film was wrapping up, I just had a big smile on my face; this film was directed so well. I've seen it many times before and I'll continue to see it many times after.