Thirty-five years ago today, James Cameron unofficially joined George Lucas and Steven Spielberg on the short list of essential commercial filmmakers. It's a postion he has not budged from since, as millions of film fans nervously await the "Avatar" sequels that might be better than anything Marvel and "Star Wars" have to offer up in the 2020s(there's no reason to doubt it). Of course, Pandora never would have been such an appealing prospect without a little movie called "The Terminator". Let's not allow needless legacy sequels and prequels in this reboot-obsessed business dull our devotion to the original T-800. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a seven-time Mr. Universe with little hope of an acting career beyond "Conan" when he met Cameron for lunch to discuss the role of Kyle Reese. The Austrian Oak would soon be hard at work at the shooting range after a casting reconsideration, and nothing's been the same since. "The Terminator" blew me away when I first saw it on basic cable as a teenager in the '90s, and that was an edited-for-content PG-13 version. You can imagine how I felt when I got my hands on a VHS copy on my next birthday(thanks, Aunt Christine). Join me as I count Arnie's lines and kills, and explain in great detail why you should love this bullet-riddled classic as much as I do.
This movie felt iconic from the moment a naked former bodybuilding champion magically appears at 2 in the morning, ready to tear through Los Angeles and anyone that stands in his way. I believe you should grab the audience right away and never let go, and "The Terminator" does just that. Legend has it that Cameron, then a 28 year old Roger Corman disciple, began writing the script that would change his life after a vivid dream about a killer robot that can blend into the population.
Nice night for a walk. The hulking T-800 eyes three young punks in the vicinity, and quickly achieves his clothing objective. Brian Thompson of "Cobra" fame, thinks that clean laundry is the problem. "I think this guy's a couple cans short of a six-pack" has gotta be one of the best lines ever delivered in the first five minutes of a movie, and was the start of a long relationship between Cameron and the late Bill Paxton(he tangled onscreen with an Alien, a Predator, AND a Terminator).
Enter our hero, Kyle Reese. We immediately notice a difference in the way Arnold arrives in 1984 L.A., and his much-leaner counterpart. Reese is a battle-tested warrior but he's very human. If this movie has a flaw, it's that bum's pants, not that Kyle cares about appearances. He's on a mission and the fate of mankind is at stake. A 27 year old Michael Biehn is good-looking, intense, and perfect for this role.
Sarah Connor is young and care-free, with no clue that the course of her life is about to be dramatically altered. No more diner shifts or roommate shenanigans. This role and her subsequent marriage to Cameron(they became a couple on "T2") came to define Linda Hamilton, then a New York actress slumming it in a sci-fi actioner that wasn't supposed to become one of the most famous films ever made. It's now impossible to imagine anyone else in the part.
Watching the Terminator go gun shopping is something I could do every day for the rest of my life. 'That Guy' Dick Miller, the same year he appeared in summer smash "Gremlins", gets to take the first bullet.
This is a scary moment that drives home the horror movie vibe that Cameron was aiming for in a post-"Halloween" world. The first Sarah Connor is a defenseless, middle-aged mom in the suburbs that Arnold finds in the phonebook(remember those?). He shoots her five times. It's horrifying. Imagine being a viewer in October '84 and not really knowing what this movie is about. There was no internet to sell you on this world beforehand, or spoil the Terminator's murderous rampage. This scene leaves you on edge and totally hooked.
Reese falls asleep in the middle of a car theft, as the frightening reality of the early 21st Century is never far from his mind. We get the first of two future flashbacks, revealing a war-torn wasteland where human beings are in a constant fight for survival. Cameron does what he can with no CGI and a $6 million budget, and the film's low-tech effects have a certain dated charm.
Here's Paul Winfield, an Oscar-nominee for 1972's "Sounder", as the ill-fated cop whose fourth coffee break is interrupted by news of the Sarah Connor murders. Is there a psycho phone-book killer out there? Lt. Traxler is the fourth most important person in this movie, and uninitiated first-time viewers would be forgiven for thinking he's the hero, with Kyle Reese creeping around in a homeless guy's pants. Fun fact- Lance Henrikson was Cameron's first choice to play the Terminator, until Jim had visions of Arnie's leather-clad iconography. His cop sidekick(and moreso Bishop in "Aliens") wasn't a bad conciliation.
Sarah's date gets cancelled, leaving her and her hair to fend for themselves on a Friday evening. Her best friend's boyfriend Matt(Rick Rossovich) is still planning a big night. This guy wouldn't survive the era of MeToo. Spoiler alert- he won't survive this movie.
Sarah is stunned by the news that two Sarah Connors have been murdered as the suspense mounts. Brad Fiedel may not be among the more famous music composers, but his distinct synthesizer score heightens the tension throughout. Sarah calls the cops and is advised to find a safe space. Who is that shabbily-dressed guy she keeps seeing in her periphery?
If Ginger(Beth Motta) hadn't been so intensely focused on her Walkman and her post-sex sandwich, she might be alive today. The Terminator wakes up Matt before beating him to death, and unloads all the bullets he saved on Sarah's best friend. The answering machine reveals that he didn't hit his actual target. This is another chilling scene that puts Arnold firmly on the path to the all-time greatest villains list.
The cleverly-titled nightclub Tech Noir is the place to be on the weekends. As long as a heavily-armed killer robot from the future doesn't walk in. Cameron is already looking like a master filmmaker, forty minutes into his first real movie("Pirahna II" was his long-fogotten debut).
Sarah is seconds away from having her brains splattered, when a shotgun-wielding Kyle Reese makes the save. Did I mention that this is one of the coolest movies in existence? Kyle has been fighting Terminators his entire life and is clearly good at it. "Come with me if you want to live". Sarah does and the chase is on.
Expository dialogue is notoriously tough to pull off. Feeding the audience information that they NEED to retain in order to stick with a movie is often the kiss of death. I've rarely seen it done better than in "The Terminator", as Michael Biehn breathlessly tells us everything we need to know. This high-speed car chase is very much in the tradition of "Bullitt", "The French Connection","The Seven Ups", and "The Driver", all movies to further your education with. Cameron never allows us to get bored for one minute, as Kyle and Sarah are forced to switch vehicles in a parking garage, with the T-800 in hot pursuit in a stolen cop car. Speaking of cop cars, every officer working the night shift is eager to arrest our misunderstood soldier from a possible future. Sarah was starting to believe him.
Kyle tells these dumb cops that they're wasting time in an interrogation room in another passionate monologue. I used to wonder why Michael Biehn didn't have a bigger career, outside the world of James Cameron. Maybe he was TOO earnest and intense. Maybe the leading man arena was just too competitive during his prime years, with Cruise, Costner, and Gibson grabbing up all the great roles. Here's Earl Boen as Dr. Silberman, the pompous shrink that deems Reese "a loon", and the only actor other than Arnold to appear in the first three "Terminator" films.
The Terminator regroups in a run-down motel room, where he presumably keeps his gun collection and stolen clothes. His left eye comes out, the result of a Reese shotgun blast, revealing a robotic red-eye underneath. Even with limited FX, this is still awesome. We're seeing "the machine" for the first time, and he doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear. He'll find her. That's what he does, and he absolutely will not stop EVER. A mythology is being built from the ground up before our very eyes, and it's thrilling.
The Terminator sizes up the police station he's about to destroy and delivers the immortal line that would make him one of the unlikeliest A-listers in Hollywood history. He's got his sunglasses and leather jacket, it's all there, getting Sylvester Stallone more pissed with each passing minute. We don't feel bad when this brusque, bespectacled desk cop gets his midsection crushed by a speeding car.
He killed seventeen police officers that night. This movie was tailor-made for the cable/VHS era, that would turn it into a firm favorite by the late '80s, as Arnold's fame increased with "Predator", "Twins", and "Total Recall". Thanks for coming, Paul Winfield. Cameron accurately predicted the Terminator's antihero status when he staged this historic gun-blazing. From pro wrestling to politics, we're all guilty of rooting for the bad guy.
Kyle and Sarah narrowly escape the carnage and grow closer(she really believes him now). We get a longer, more-detailed future flashback complete with a rampaging T-800. This is the first of many nightmares that would push Sarah toward her destiny. She goes from having an unbalanced checkbook to being the fiercest female on an endangered Earth, in Hamilton's two-film arc. The clock is ticking, and there's no turning back.
Let's talk about the photo, and the Tiki motel, and the greatest night of Kyle Reese's life. He came across time for her. This is a tender moment, the calm before the storm. We don't talk enough about Jim Cameron's softer side. Forget for a minute that he was married five times- including industrious producer Gale Anne Hurd. The man created "Titanic", or more specifically Jack and Rose, and I like to think of this scene as precursor to the most celebrated movie love story of the '90s. Reese loved Sarah from afar, a romantic notion that we're probably too cynical for now. That's why 1984 was better. Sarah initiates the love-making session, and doesn't require a condom from Reese(he smiles for the only time at the conclusion of the conception).
This may be the only time we're not happy to see Arnold, as the chase is back on. Kyle and Sarah are forced to check out of the motel early. There's a lot of car theft in this movie. Those homemade pipe bombs were a good idea, as Sarah starts taking a more active role in her survival. Reese takes another bullet in the shoulder or arm(he was grazed at the police station), and Sarah avenges it with the realization that fast-moving trucks are a great way to fight Terminators.
I've got the kill count at 27, with Sarah's poor unseen mother as the last shooting victim. Famously, Arnold only has seventeen lines in the movie. That's 58 words. The Terminator is badly hurt as he delivers his last two to a shocked tanker truck driver("Get Out"). Fiedel's score ramps up during the pulse-pounding finale.
With all his human flesh burned off, the Terminator's red-eyed endoskeleton is ready to continue his pursuit of Sarah. My mind was blown when the DVD Special Features revealed that this truck explosion was seamlessly achieved with a miniature model, an amazing testament to the old-school ingenuity of film crews before a computer could solve any on-set dilemma. This is where the wizardry of Stan Winston really comes into play. The future four-time Oscar winner arguably laid the groundwork for his legendary career in practical effects during this late-night shoot in downtown L.A. with Cameron, with both men hoping that real-life police wouldn't show up looking for the proper permits.
The endoskeleton's ropey movements actually make him scarier, for the same reason that the 1933 "King Kong" is better than all those CGI fests that Peter Jackson kicked off in '05(even he would agree). We're talking about blood, sweat, and tears vs. cold, hard machinery. The fight spills into a nearby factory where Kyle doesn't have much fight left. He does have one more pipe bomb which removes the Terminator's legs after a devastating smack from his metallic hand. That same hand is all that's left when Sarah terminates the fucker in a hydraulic press. The seeds for a sequel have been firmly planted.
Kyle was killed by the shrapnel and a fall down the stairs, leaving John Connor fatherless. Yes, Sarah is pregnant in the final scene, a stunning revelation for any laymen unfamiliar with the mythology. She's heading to Mexico to learn more about guns and explosives and to narrate the impending apocalypse on a series of cassette tapes. John's childhood won't be normal.
I have this poster on my wall. Many still see "The Terminator" as James Cameron's finest film. That's quite the compliment, when one peeks at his Kubrickian filmography. I see it as the greatest film in a year that also gave us "Ghostbusters", "The Karate Kid", "Beverly Hills Cop", and "Amadeus". It's still one of the most satisfying two hours out there, and it's expert mix of action, sci-fi, and romance trumps just about any film you can name with a bigger FX budget. It's the compelling story that Cameron cooked up when nobody knew his name that keeps us coming back, a true inspiration to all the starving artists in the world. "The Terminator" is one of the world's greatest films.
