The Terminator (1984) | Movie Retrospective
The Terminator showed us how to the break boundaries of a filmgenre.
In my first movie retrospective I will be discussing the James Cameron movie “The Terminator” from 1984. This movie is one of the greatest sci-fi films of the 80s. Today I have written an article about why I think The Terminator was a revolutionary film.
It all started with … a Nightmare?
Some filmmakers turn their dreams into movies. But director James Cameron turned his nightmare into a huge movie-franchise. A franchise that (sadly) won’t stay terminated. Screenwriter William Wisher once said that Cameron loved his own nightmares, because they consist of strong and horrific images. Dreams are nothing for the director. He once stated that he finds them a waste of time.
The Terminator from 1984 is direct result of a feverish nightmare. Let me explain. James Cameron worked on the post-production of Piranha II in Rome. While he was there he got a feverish nightmare with vision-like images. He had a nightmare of a Terminator that rose from the fire. This Terminator was a robot — that at first looked like a cyborg with human flesh. The director knew that this nightmare could contain strong material for a movie.
Cameron started working on a story that would be so irresistible, that everyone would want him to direct the picture. So in a way — it all started with a nightmare. He started working with Gale Anne Hurd, who would go on to produce the film. However — they got denied by every major movie studio. Luckily they had a connection at Orion Pictures. This connection loved the script. They could finally start their work on the film.
It all started with Schwarzenegger as … the Hero?
I have a fun story for you. James Cameron’s first choice for the role of The Terminator was Lance Henriksen. They had worked together on Piranha II, so they had already connected with each other. Cameron was looking for an actor who could blend in with a large group of people. A Terminator that would come across as a normal person. Lance saw the Terminator as “praying mantis” that could blend in with the crowd. A praying mantis is a predator that also attacks larger enemies. In the end — Henriksen would not get the role of the Terminator. He would get the role of detective Hal Vukovich.
The fun part of this story is that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally asked to be the hero in this sci-fi film. James Cameron thought it would be amazing to have Arnold as the hero. When Arnold had read the scrip, he found the role of the Terminator to be more fitting for himself. He discussed this with James Cameron at a lunch. Guess what — the director was totally blown away by this idea! Because of how he was build, it would be more difficult for Arnold to blend in a crowd of people. But in the end, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the right choice because of how strong he was and looked. People would be afraid of him. Even if they didn’t know he was a Terminator.
Breaking the norm of Sci-Fi Films
The Terminator is after more than 35 years still a huge part of pop-culture. To this day a lot of fans and critics still talk about this movie. There’s a reason for this fact and that’s also why this film is so revolutionary. Director James Cameron took a great risk in the 80’s by breaking the tradition of the usual sci-fi film. Most sci-fi films from the 80’s were about adventures in space or thrilling dystopian futures. But Cameron decided to let his film play out in the present of 1984 and the near future.
Cameron holds back information about the future. He does this by not showing too much scenes that take place in the future. He decided to focus on the fight in the present, which made it unique for its time.
Empathy First — Action will Follow
Many action-movies then (and nowadays) focused on meaningless and endless destruction. Director James Cameron gives the audience sensation and joy with his action-film The Terminator. Cameron gives the audience time to build up a relation with the cast of characters.
He gives the audience time to connect with these characters. He wants the audience to feel empathy for what is going on in the story. You can give a movie tension, but you can only raise the stakes when the audience actually cares for what is happening on the screen. Empathy is much more important than most filmmakers realize. But James Cameron knows this. When we see Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator aim a gun at Sarah Connor’s head, we shiver. We are scared for her, because we feel for her.
The Rise of Technology
The opening of the The Terminator shows how the end of mankind is near thanks to the domination of technology. Mankind seems to have no chance against such an enormous cybernetic danger. The 80s was a time period where more and more technical inventions came to be. This film could symbolize this technology revolution, by showing us the danger of becoming too dependent on it.
Even now we still fear for this danger. Especially in a global pandemic crisis like today, you can see how much we depend on our technology to help us through this problem. And I’m not even talking about the technical inventions that could help us battle this pandemic. I’m talking about that we can’t even spend a day without scrolling through Instagram or watching an episode of our favorite Netflix-series. We’ve become so dependent on our technology, that just like in the Terminator it could have predicted our demise.
Sarah Conner — The Best character of the Terminator-franchise
Let’s finally talk about Linda Hamilton and her character — Sarah Connor. She’s played this character in the first two Terminator-films. She has also played Sarah Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate. Hamilton’s Sarah represents the hope for mankind. That’s because she will give birth to John Connor — who will lead mankind’s last battle against the machines.
Sarah represents the everyday person at the start of the first Terminator-film. Her life is everyday-like and could also be called ordinary in some areas. Sarah finds it difficult to accept she is the mother of the future. Especially because she sees herself as unimportant and because she never asked for this. She just wants her life to back to the way it was.
The reason why The Terminator works so well is because James Cameron tries to put us in the shoes of Sarah Connor. As an audience member it also feels like we’re being hunted by the Terminator. The film asks us the question if fate decides who we are? Are we supposed to accept this fact and embrace the upcoming storm? Or are we supposed to turn out like the Terminator. Are we supposed to stop our own — or someone else’s — fate?
Summary
The Terminator is a revolutionary film. That is something that can’t be denied. It has a female lead as the hero — who goes from a scaredy cat to complete badass. It breaks the boundaries of sci-fi and time travel films. Besides these facts it shows us how to feel empathy for the characters. It also contains rich symbolism of our connection and struggle with technology. Something that we — as a species — still struggle with today. I highly recommend you to watch The Terminator if you haven’t seen the film yet.
