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The Terminator

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For video games based on the film, see The Terminator (video game); for the titular cybernetic organism, see Terminator (character); for the Donald Hamilton novel of similar name, see The Terminators.
The Terminator
File:Terminator.jpg
The Terminator theatrical poster.
Directed byJames Cameron
Written byJames Cameron
Gale Anne Hurd
Produced byJohn Daly
Derek Gibson
Gale Anne Hurd
StarringArnold Schwarzenegger
Michael Biehn
Linda Hamilton
CinematographyAdam Greenberg
Edited byMark Goldblatt
Music byBrad Fiedel
Distributed byOrion Pictures Corporation
Release dates
October 26, 1984
Running time
108 min.
Country United States
LanguageEnglish
BudgetUS$6.5 million

The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction/action film featuring former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger in what would become his best-known role, and also starred Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn. Directed by James Cameron, who was only 30 years old at the time, the premise of the movie is that a "Terminator" cyborg (played by Schwarzenegger) has been transported back in time from 2029 to May 12, 1984 to assassinate a woman named Sarah Connor (played by Hamilton). Issues raised by the film include nuclear war, time travel, causal loops and artificial intelligence.

The sequels to the movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, further developed the story line and explored the ethical implications of machine intelligence as well as what it means to be truly human.

The setting and characters have also been adapted into video games and comic books, including some in which the characters are paired with (or against) characters from other movie-licensed properties, including Predator, Robocop, Superman and Alien.

Plot

Bold text

Headline text

LOL TIME PARDOX

Cast

Actor Role
Arnold Schwarzenegger The Terminator
Michael Biehn Kyle Reese
Linda Hamilton Sarah Connor
Paul Winfield Lieutenant Ed Traxler
Lance Henriksen Detective Hal Vukovich
Bess Motta Ginger Ventura
Earl Boen Dr. Peter Silberman
Rick Rossovich Matt Buchanan
Dick Miller Pawnshop Clerk
Shawn Schepps Nancy
Bruce M. Kerner Desk Sergeant
Franco Columbu Future Terminator
Bill Paxton Punk Leader
Brad Rearden Punk
Brian Thompson Punk
Chino 'Fats' Williams Truck Driver

Inspirations

Some aspects of the story were sufficiently similar to two episodes of the TV series The Outer Limits — both episodes written by Harlan Ellison — that Ellison pursued legal action against Cameron. Cameron settled out of court and acknowledged Ellison's work in the film's credits. However, some time later, the credits were mysteriously taken out (rumored to have been removed by Cameron himself) [citation needed]. Another lawsuit was filed until the credit was reinserted.

The episodes in question were called "Soldier" (which involves a specially-trained man accidentally sent back in time) and "Demon with a Glass Hand" (concerning a time traveler who suffers memory loss and relies on a computer chip implanted in his artificial hand to give him information about his mission while assassins sent from the future attempt to kill him). There is also some similarity between the concept of Skynet and the evil intelligence featured in Ellison's short story, "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream".[citation needed]

Despite settling out of court, Cameron still maintains to this day that the Terminator was his original concept. He claims that the concept of the Terminator came to him in a dream; furthermore, he states that in his original vision, the Terminator was a small, unremarkable man (as opposed to the large, muscular appearance of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger). This would allow the Terminator even greater ability to conceal itself among the human population. Only when Schwarzenegger, who had originally auditioned for the role of Reese, was cast as the Terminator instead did this concept begin to change[citation needed].

The story also bears strong resemblance to two short stories by Philip K. Dick: "Second Variety" (1953) (itself adapted to film in 1995 as Screamers) and "Jon's World" (1954). These stories feature a post-apocalyptic world where robots (originally designed to fight on behalf of one human faction against another) develop newer models which disguise themselves as humans to infiltrate human bunkers belonging to both factions. "John's World" also involves time-travelling. The 1972 novel Cyborg, by Martin Caidin depicted a cybernetic assassin and intelligence operative, able to rely on its outwardly merely-human appearance for purposes of infiltration. The cyborg of the title was a human, rebuilt with cybernetic prosthetics (the book's portrayal of Steve Austin's role as a killing machine was watered down in the television show adaption, the Six Million Dollar Man).

Another potential inspiration is the well-regarded 1962 French film, La Jetée,[1] a short black and white film by director Chris Marker. Told entirely in still images and narration, the film concerns a man in an underground post-nuclear future sent back into the pre-apocalyptic past to obtain resources necessary to continue humanity. The man is selected for his mission because his fixation on a memory from that period, in which he sees a beautiful woman and a man dying. The film concludes, as The Terminator does, with a predestination paradox; while in the past, the man falls in love with a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the woman in his memory, and then fulfills his own destiny by becoming the very man he witnessed dying, thus enabling him to travel back into the past. That story was later adapted by Terry Gilliam in his film, Twelve Monkeys.[2]

A similar plot of a killer machine (A. Balcers) sent back in time to change history was seen in a fairly obscure film from 1966 entitled Cyborg 2087. [3]

Production

File:Terminator Polish promo poster.jpg
A Polish promo poster for The Terminator (Elektroniczny Morderca, lit. "Electronic Murderer").

The Terminator was a low-budget movie (at roughly $6.5 million) which turned out to be a surprise box-office hit, earning $38,371,200, a respectable amount in 1984. The film went on to gross more than $78 million worldwide, [4] and had also a nice critical reception (it was placed in Time Magazine's Top 10 Films of 1984 and currently has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes).

A pair of documentaries about the film, which appear on the DVD version, have a number of explanations of various issues about the movie. The Terminator and its sequels all occur (mostly) in Los Angeles, which is also where the films are shot.

Casting

For the key role of the Terminator, Cameron originally wanted a typical-looking male of average size, who could easily infiltrate human society. As a result, Cameron's first choice to play the Terminator was Lance Henriksen, who eventually took the role of Lt. Vukovich. Both Cameron and co-writer William Wisher claim that originally Schwarzenegger was going to be offered the part of Reese, the hero. However, as a result of a lunch meeting, both he and Cameron independently realized that he would be better suited to play the part of the title character. However, Gale Ann Hurd, the film's producer, claims that Schwarzenegger was never considered for Reese's part.[5] Once Schwarzenegger was cast, the film had to be placed on hold for a year after Dino DeLaurentis chose to option Schwarzenegger to film Conan the Destroyer. The film was originally scheduled to be shot in Spring 1983 in Toronto, and filming eventually began in March 1984 in Los Angeles, California. Several date inconsistencies in the film were the result of this change of scheduling.

Deleted scenes

Several scenes deleted from the theatrical release have been made available on DVD and other media. The most significant of these in the context of later films are a pair of scenes relating to Cyberdyne Systems.

In one deleted scene ("Sarah fights back"), between the scenes in the underpass and the scenes in the motel, Sarah takes to heart John Connor's message to her relayed by Reese ("The future is not set."), and convinces Reese to find Cyberdyne Systems (the creators of Skynet) and destroy it. As it originally played out, Reese disagreed with Sarah, flatly saying that destroying Cyberdyne was "tactically dangerous" and simply not his mission; his stubbornness angers Sarah and a confrontation between the two ensues, with Sarah striking Reese in the face. On reflex, Reese pulls the revolver out on Sarah without realizing it; Sarah berates Reese for this and not recognizing her own fear in the situation, but Reese, weary and exhausted, does not listen, for he is too transfixed on their forest surroundings. Reese breaks down in tears as he laments that he "wasn't meant to see this", causing Sarah to develop more sympathy for him as he relates to her how the beauty of her time hurts him more than anything else. "It's gone..." he reminds her, "all gone... all of it... it's gone!" Sarah then uses this to persuade him to help her destroy Cyberdyne, thus changing the outcome. The purpose of this scene was to expand upon the character of Reese, showing his own Terminator-like mentality and then showing his vulnerability in suffering the emotional breakdown of a man out of time.

The counterpart sequence to this occurs after the factory fight scenes, when one of the factory workers finds the Terminator's CPU and gives it to another worker, saying he'll bring it to R&D (although never said onscreen, these two characters are sometimes referred to as Greg Simmons and Jack Kroll).[1] As Sarah is taken away by paramedics, the camera pulls out to show the factory sign: Cyberdyne Systems.

Also deleted was a segment known as "Traxler's Arc" which placed more emphasis on the roles of the police officers Lt. Traxler and Sgt. Vukovich, with three scenes intercutting them into the chase sequence following the Tech Noir shootout and two that indicated Traxler had come to believe Reese: in Traxler's death scene he hands his gun to Reese telling him to do what he needs to do.

Other, less significant scenes included Sarah talking to herself in her mirror at work, showing her own wry view of herself in the world, the Terminator walking away from the murder of the first wrong Sarah, an extension of the pipe bomb making scene where Sarah talks about all the things she'll show Reese once they get past the Terminator (meant to show Sarah's growing realization of her importance in the world and contrasting it with her desire to live a "normal" existence with Reese while also indicating her growing affection for him), and a post-lovemaking scene where Sarah tickled Reese in bed.

Score

Untitled

Track listing

  1. The Terminator: Theme 4:30
  2. Terminator Arrival 3:00
  3. Tunnel Chase 2:50
  4. Love Scene 1:15
  5. Future Remembered 2:40
  6. Factory Chase 3:50
  7. You Can't Do That (Tahnee Cain, Tryanglz) 3:25
  8. Burnin' in the Third Degree (Tahnee Cain, Tryanglz) 3:38
  9. Pictures of You (Jay Ferguson, Sixteen Millimeter) 3:58
  10. Photoplay (Tahnee Cain, Tryanglz) 3:30
  11. Intimacy (Linn VanHek) 3:40

Philosophy

The movie contains an example of a predestination paradox. The Terminator's mission, as described by Skynet, was to go back in time and kill Sarah Connor, thereby preventing John Connor from being the leader of the resistance forces that would destroy Skynet. However, had the Terminator not attacked the police station in its attempt to fulfill its programming, Kyle Reese would have been kept separate from Sarah Connor and John Connor (Skynet's real objective) would not have been born. This paradox can also be seen generally, in that if the machines had not tried to stop John's birth, he never would have been born (as Kyle Reese would never have had cause to go back in time). But the machines had to send The Terminator back in time regardless to ensure their own existence as Cyberdyne Systems uses the scrap from the destroyed Terminator in 1984 to create Skynet. John Connor cannot exist without Skynet and Skynet cannot exist without John Connor.

Information on The Terminator DVD commentary

  • Writer / director James Cameron provided the voice, breaking his date with Linda Hamilton on her message machine. Cameron would later marry and divorce Linda Hamilton.
  • The life-size Terminator model was actually made of steel, a production error which complicated the film's shooting. The model was so heavy that it required four people to hold it and move it during close-ups.
  • In 2003, The American Film Institute released its list of the 100 greatest screen heroes and villains of all time. The Terminator appeared as number 22 on the list of villains. He also appeared at number 48 on the list of heroes (for subsequent roles).
  • Schwarzenegger's famous line "I'll be back", which originated from The Terminator, was originally written as "I'll come back".[citation needed]
  • Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen are the only two actors to play characters killed or injured by a Terminator, an Alien and a Predator. Paxton was killed inThe Terminator, Aliens and Predator 2, while Henriksen was killed in The Terminator, ripped in two (as an android) in Aliens and killed in Alien vs. Predator.
  • Every film in the Terminator series has a chase scene featuring a truck. The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day both have scenes in a parking garage.
  • When the Terminator traces Sarah Connor to the motel just after the love scene, the eye-vision of the Terminator is displayed. There are several printouts of assembly code from the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor.
  • In the UK, The Terminator was originally rated as an 18. When the film was released to DVD, it was re-rated to a 15.
  • The original script had another soldier sent back with Reese to protect Sarah, but the other soldier, called "Sumner", was cut from the final script. He would not have received much screen time, as he died upon arriving, fused into a fire escape by the time displacement field. This contradicts what the sequels show of the time displacement field simply melting whatever is in its path.
  • The original screen treatment and drafts gave Reese's age as 21 or 22 while Sarah's age was only 19. In real life, actors Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton were both 27. The second Terminator film gave Sarah's age at the time of her attack as 19, while the third indicated that she was 25.
  • In the original script, the Terminator had to eat in order to maintain its organic flesh. After killing the first wrong Sarah Connor, the Terminator was shown eating a candy bar - complete with the wrapping.[citation needed]
  • The original script said that Sarah had a pin in her knee from an old skating accident. The Terminator would then go about mutilating its victims in order to find this identifying pin.
  • Although playing the title character, Arnold Schwarzenegger has only 58 spoken words in the film (the Terminator also has more sentences in Sarah Connor's mother voice, but they are said off-screen and it is only discovered that it is the cyborg in the last one).

Trivia

  • The "first" feature film for director Cameron (he had been replaced on the unsuccessful Piranha II: The Spawning), this low-budget movie established Cameron as a talented action director. He would then go on to produce a string of successful action movies, continuing with Aliens in 1986, and the sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day (the most expensive film ever produced at the time).
  • This film was #82 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
  • The Terminator character uses the following weapons throughout the movie:
An AMT 1911 Hardballer .45 ACP longslide pistol with laser aiming device (up to the Tech Noir nightclub)
A Smith and Wesson classic type 2.5-inch barrel revolver, caliber .357Mag (during the tunnel chase)
An Uzi 9mm submachine gun (in the Tech Noir nightclub)
A SPAS-12 self-loading shotgun (during the police station shootout)
An AR-180 rifle (during the police station shootout and the tunnel chase)
  • Kyle and the Terminator were sent back in time to Thursday, May 12 1984. However, the 12th did not fall on a Thursday in 1984, but in the previous year, 1983.
  • Originally the Terminator was supposed to look like an average man, someone who could blend into a crowd. An actor they wanted to play this version was former NFL player and movie actor O. J. Simpson. However, Simpson was ultimately turned down for the role because they thought that audiences would think he was "too nice" to be believable as a cold-blooded killer.[citation needed]

See also

If you listen closely to the speech Reese recited to Sarah, given to him by John Connor of the future, the words "the future is not set" and "there's no fate but what we make for ourselves" as used in Terminator 2, were not acutally used in Terminator.

Official websites

Template:James Cameron Films

  1. ^ mentioned in the novelisation
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