A murderous cyborg from the future is sent back in time to kill the mother of a future resistance leader, while a soldier from that time is sent back to protect her. That's the basic premise of James Cameron's original, thrilling sci-fi classic (or "tech-noir," as he prefers) The Terminator, which celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.
Set in Los Angeles in 1984 (present day), and in a futuristic and dystopic 2029 (which is now ten years away), the film is very dated and cheesy by today's standards (with its electronic score and special effects by the late great Stan Winston). Even so, its titular T-800 endoskeleton villain, who apparently cannot be stopped, remains just as merciless, pitiless, fearless, emotionless, and iconic as ever. (The role practically made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name, as did many other action films of the 1980s.)
Its chase sequences (done with guerrilla-style camerawork) remain just as dynamic a la a horror-thriller, with relentless action, chills, thrills, and a sharp script, providing enough exposition through dialogue on themes of the dark side of technology and fears of the future. (According to IMDb, one of Cameron's cinematic influences was 1981's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior.)
 |
| Michael Beihn and Linda Hamilton in The Terminator |
And its central relationship between traumatized future soldier Kyle Reese (Michael Beihn's performance is arguably the best in this film) and present-day Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a young woman suddenly pulled into an unexpected situation and questioning her own future in the process.
Yet, as well-known and iconic as this movie (and its franchise) may be to both adults and kids ("I'll be back" may be the most famous movie line in history), the movie(s) itself/themselves are far from child-friendly. The first half of the 1984 original will seem nihilistic to some viewers. And consider the film's level of violence, sometimes merciless and graphic, as well as occasional profanities and brief scenes of nudity.
"No fate but what we make."
The 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (or, T2), is the film in this series that is most remembered, the one that has arguably stood the test of time the most, and the one that cemented its status as an iconic and groundbreaking franchise. T2 tops the first movie in so many ways, and not just by its increased budget and knockout action sequences. It genuinely pushes the characters forward (especially Sarah Connor, which gave a beefed-up and developed Hamilton a role to really sink her teeth into), showing complexities and changes in technology (Arnold's "reprogrammed" T-800), shifting what was created for evil and destruction into something good, while maintaining the central themes of preventing or changing the future.
 |
| Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day |
Hamilton and Arnold (especially on a motorcycle, clocking a shotgun one-handed) practically own the movie, as does the subversive T-1000 liquid metal assassin (Robert Patrick), brought to life by revolutionary visual effects and Stan Winston's groundbreaking practical studio. According to IMDb, the premise of sending these two Terminators back in time was Cameron's initial idea for the first film. His ideas, however, proved "too ambitious" at the time. But when he made The Abyss in 1989, the computer-generated water creature sequence proved so successful that Cameron returned to his initial concept and incorporated it into this film.
If the film has a weakness, it may be in how it portrays John Connor (Edward Furlong) as a rebellious teenage boy. Plus, the film's opening credits sequence (with everything on fire) and sequences involving a nightmarish nuclear explosion (with flesh-burning results), an intense assassination attempt, and graphic robot imagery are a reminder of how non-child-friendly these films are.
Three sequels followed in the next three decades, none of which retained the same excitement or originality of the first two films. 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines at least had Arnold, and special effects artist Stan Winston (who passed away five years later) was still at the top of his game. 2008's Terminator Salvation, despite a reportedly-heated Christian Bale on set, had a compellingly gritty look, nonetheless, and newcomer Sam Worthington (one year before he was in Cameron's Avatar) made an impressive character. 2015's Terminator Genysis messed with the space-time continuum of the series and became convoluted.
 |
| They'll be back. |
"You changed the future, but you didn't change our fate."
And now, Cameron has returned to the franchise with a sixth installment, next weekend's Terminator: Dark Fate, helmed by Deadpool director Tim Miller, and reportedly a direct sequel to the 1991 film (just as last year's Halloween followed the 1978 horror classic and completely ignored the other films that followed since). Most exciting is the return of Hamilton as a seasoned Sarah Connor, who will fight alongside an enhanced soldier (Blade Runner 2049's Mackenzie Davis) to protect a young woman from a new, more deadly, Terminator. One can also expect an appearance from a certain, seasoned T-800.
He said he'd be back, didn't he?
No comments:
Post a Comment