CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

The Terminator

Director

James Cameron

Year

1984

Rating

Reviewed by

Gon Curiel a.k.a. Groucho

Review date

Thursday, September 13, 2007

The Terminator has always been and will always be a thrilling film to watch. After all these years, you might think of it and say “Hey, I’ll just sit back, get some popcorn, and watch it”. You’ll think you know all about it and it simply can’t pull off the thrills on you again, not like the first time, not at all. Then you push the play button, you watch the film, and before you know it it’s over and you never touched your popcorn.

That’s because this film is an exemplary thriller. I wouldn’t call it a perfect film, but that’s absolutely NOT on account of the way it works in that department. You’ll still be shocked by the suddenness of its happenings, by the bleakness of its future, by the amazing change of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), by the heroism of Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) and by the unbelievable determination of the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

In a possible future, machines take over and set to terminate human beings, creating a holocaust like has never been seen. This human-looking cyborg has come from the future with the sole mission of destroying (or rather, terminating) the mother of the one man who will threaten to destroy the machines, John Connor, before he’s even born.

Sarah is a simple young woman who can’t handle a situation like this. But neither Kyle, who has been sent by John to protect his mother, nor the Terminator, is kidding. Sarah is caught between a hero and a villain and she’s not sure what hit her. The glorious moment comes when she realizes she’s really on her own, and will be, until her son is a rebellious leader.

I guess The Terminator could have been easily forgotten if it wasn’t for some key elements: Schwarzenegger for one, brilliant as the unstoppable machine; Brad Fiedel’s music, sometimes unbearably 80s style, but sometimes haunting and quite moody; and of course Cameron’s don’t-stop-for-a-darn-second approach in his direction, which is why he’ll be remembered. These elements bring attention to the film, and it’s easy to watch it and be immersed by its irresistible reality. It’s humanity we’re talking about after all, and we don’t really get to see the future, except in a couple of quick scenes. It’s a reality that we don’t see, which we fear the most. It works like magic, and has proved quite successful.

This film is also responsible for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s superstardom. He became the most famous stiff actor Hollywood will ever have. His casting is so perfect that one wonders why he hadn’t been cast as a robot before. Frankly, I’ve always liked this guy (as an actor, though he’s usually not a good one), but I like him much better as a killer robot than as any other character. Because this killer robot, as scripted by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, has an edge: sense of humor.

Hamilton and Biehn are a good contrast to Arnold’s “robotic” performance. Though their most important love scene is awful, most of the time they’re credible human beings and she’s especially poignant and believable throughout. I love that subplot about the photo, and how it develops into something larger-than-life. I spent years believing that this movie’s reality was indeed real. Now I know it’s not. Or is it?

“I’ll be back.”

Gon C Curiel en Twitter | CriticSociety en Twitter | CriticSociety en Facebook

Share on Facebook | Share on Twitter

Other reviews of The Terminator (1984): Vincent