The Terminator

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn

Genre: Sci-fi, thriller

Year: 1984

The film which brought Schwarzenegger's iconic role to the big screen, 'The Terminator' stands out as one of the quintessential science fiction films.



The film follows Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton in her iconic role which she is best known for), an everyday woman who leads a fairly mediocre, yet unsatisfying life as a waitress. Meanwhile, two figures from the distant future enter into Connor's world - one being the terrifying, relentless Terminator (the T-800 model to be precise), the other being Kyle Reese, a lone soldier sent by resistance leader John Connor to protect his mother from the Terminator's grasps. The Terminator is tasked with 'terminating' Sarah in order to prevent the conception of John Connor, and to do that it is sent back to 1984.

This is set up relatively quickly, with snippets of information sprinkled throughout the script to keep the audience informed, which gives the film liberty to become an intense game of cat-and-mouse. Sarah is unwillingly taken by Reese to survive the Terminator's incessant pursuit and they run through Los Angeles, taking refuge wherever they can; unfortunately, this is never enough, due to the Terminator's advanced capabilities which allows it to track them.

'The Terminator' needs no introduction about how it has become an icon in film history; the Terminator's image has stapled itself to Schwarzenegger, who was perfect for the role having once been a bodybuilder, which provided him with the ideal physique of a dangerously violent killing machine. The script is also exceptionally iconic with countless lines that have managed to attach themselves to cinema history, such as 'Come with me if you want to live' or the ominous 'I'll be back' (the sequel is also famous of course for 'Hasta La Vista, Baby'). Even the intimidating soundtrack, reminiscent of a stomping robot, is memorable. Very few films have managed to achieve such status in cinema, yet Cameron's low budget science fiction thriller was able to do just that, and its impact remains as noticeable as it did back in the 80s. The threat of the Terminator is tangible throughout the entire film, despite the protagonists doing everything in their power to escape. The tension is continually built up to the explosive finale, yet the film is not shy to inject immense action after periods of suspense, and it is done in such a way that it doesn't feel over the top or unnecessarily violent.

The structure and pacing of the film are exceptional and the film brilliantly portrays how to efficiently set up a plot, and execute it, without massive expositional monologues. Granted, there are times where Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) spends a good few minutes relaying information about the Terminator and reinforcing its threat, but it is done in such a way that it doesn't feel boring or wasted. As mentioned above, the writing is very good and the way it structures the acts throughout is great, slowly building tension and gradually increasing the scale of the action, from a night club, to a police station, to, ultimately, a large factory. Additionally, the film never feels like it slows down or grinds to a halt, probably due to its well timed action sequences, and the constant build up of tension. This keeps the audience going and motivated to see the film through to its finale.

The acting is great in this film, making it feel very convincing and realistic. All the actors effortlessly adopt their characters - obviously, Schwarzenegger is sensational as the Terminator, fitting every description of this antagonist, such as his physique, his tone of voice, his stance, the clothes. Hamilton does a great job in the film, not only through her depiction of Sarah, but also by expressing her characters development and emotions. She doesn't readily accept her situation and her portrayal of Sarah's fear about her circumstance is malleable and can be felt by the audience. Biehn as Reese is good as Sarah's committed guardian who will do anything for her and her son in the future.

However, being a low budget film in the 1980s, there are some technical drawbacks which are hard not to notice that also occasionally bring the audience out of the film. Due to its low budget financing, the special effects aren't always reliant on CGI (which wasn't majorly advanced at this point, although with the sequel in 1991, there was significant improvement, where Cameron utilises the animation superbly), and the typical solution is stop-motion animation. Nonetheless, this holds up surprisingly well with spacecraft vehicles or mechanical components of the Terminator being dissected. The only thing that is evidently fake are the haunting doll-like faces of the Terminator, with one eye missing. It is laughably unrealistic, but contextually, it probably was their only options (added to that, this may not have been readily criticised by the public in the 1980s anyway, because it would have seemed well made for their standards). Other than this, the film holds up very well, with a lot of the other technicalities looking professionally done, despite not being the highest of quality.

Ultimately, 'The Terminator' is one of the most iconic films of cinematic history, from its characters to its writing, even down to its plot. By today's standard, it is a great movie, and something to be admired as one of the best science fiction thrillers. Even with his surprisingly low word count, Schwarzenegger remains timelessly memorable as the frightening antagonist, which arguably laid the foundations of his entire film career. If the technical flaws are overlooked, which is rather easy considering the supreme quality of the rest of the film, this is a definite 'must-watch' and a terrific movie, which will be remembered for decades to come.

Verdict: 9/10