The Terminator

Posted on the 30 July 2015 by Christopher Saunders
James Cameron scored his breakthrough hit with The Terminator (1984). Besides putting Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger on the map, it remains one of the '80s best action movies.
Future Earth is torn by conflict between machines and mankind. Two parties go back in time to 1980s Los Angeles. One is the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a cyborg assigned to murder Sarah Connor (Michael Biehn), mother of future resistance leader John Connor. The other is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a resistance fighter sent to protect Sarah. A running battle rages through Los Angeles and beyond as Sarah and Reese try to defeat the indestructible robot.
More than anything, The Terminator is a successful genre hybrid. Besides the obvious science fiction elements, it has the moody style of film noir and the decay of a '70s urban drama: garbage-littered, crime-ridden LA seems more dystopian than the skull-strewn future. It also resembles a high-caliber slash movie, from its implacable antagonist to the virtuous heroine outlasting her horny friends. Somehow, Cameron fits these disparate elements together into a near-seamless vehicle.
Cameron carefully builds suspense and atmosphere, then unleashes the expertly-staged action. Things escalate quickly from an early foot-and-car chase to the Terminator's assault on a police station. The latter scene seems transplanted from a horror film, less thrilling than horrifying: dozens of cops blast the Terminator with shotguns and assault weapons, without leaving a scratch. The Terminator's impregnability becomes terrifying: after being shot, crashed and immolated, he returns as a metal skeleton. Compare the sequels, where he comically knee-caps cops while tossing lame quips.
Terminator pits its cyborg against down-to-earth protagonists. Kyle's blandly heroic, with some traumatic flashbacks to spice his character. Sarah's a more relatable heroine, a clumsy waitress who unwittingly embodies the world's fate. The two cops (Paul Winfield and Lance Henriksen) protecting Sarah take the Terminator threat seriously; they just can't imagine an indestructible robot. Cameron and Gael Ann Hurd draw these characters between commendably economical storytelling. Even the obligatory sex scene serves a plot purpose.
Made on a modest budget, Terminator impresses visually. Despite some clunky effects in the future scenes, the main effects work through minimalism. Arnold gets impressive make-up to show Terminator's degeneration and damage; a photo-real puppet's used for a few key close-ups, and stop-motion for his metallic incarnation. Terminator 2 appeared after a revolution in visual effects, with CGI that's still jaw-dropping. But the original's minimalism holds up well, bolstered by Cameron's direction and Brad Fiedel's iconic synth score.
Though Arnold Schwarzenegger made his star turn in Conan the Barbarian, this is his signature role. Schwarzenegger exudes ice-cold menace and physicality that dominates the screen. Nobody's ever called Arnold's a great actor, but it takes a special kind of star to sell an emotionless cyborg. While Schwarzenegger's self-effacement served later roles well, he's much better as a straightforward stone killer.
Michael Biehn is likeable but lacks the charisma to carry the picture. That chore falls to Linda Hamilton; her Sarah evolves credibly from hard-luck ingénue to tough, canny survivor. By the second film, she'll evolve into one of cinema's iconic action heroines. Paul Winfield and Lance Henriksen provide Terminator's few glimmers of humor; Earl Boen's obnoxious therapist graced the first two sequels. Bill Paxton gets wasted in the opening scene.
With thirty years' hindsight, The Terminator's main virtue is its straightforwardness: little humor and just one portentous monologue, focusing instead on action, atmosphere and characters. Terminator 2 upped the action and effects, but also the goofiness and pretentious ponderings on Man's fate. Terminator 3 is a bad joke, while Terminator Salvation is barely a poor man's Transformers. I haven't seen the new excretion with ancient Arnie, but I'm dubious.