‘Come with me if you want to live…’
Like many people of my generation, I have seen Terminator 2: Judgement Day 800 times and The Terminator maybe three times. This is because T2 was an absolute unavoidable cultural juggernaut in the ’90s. While it is undoubtedly the better movie of the two, the first film in the Terminator franchise is often unfairly overlooked…
Let’s not waste too much time on plot. We all know the plot of The Terminator for chrissakes. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the eponymous metal killing machine. Linda Hamilton plays the target. Michael Biehn is the protector. The supporting cast is rounded out by Jim Cameron favourites Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton and Dick Miller.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen The Terminator, seven years in fact, and what struck me most about it on this viewing was just how indebted it is to the slasher films of the ’70s and ’80s. Cameron repeatedly cited the work of John Carpenter as his main inspiration, and the result is a film that is much more indebted to Halloween than it is to anything in the science fiction genre. The Terminator itself is essentially Michael Myers. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. You can almost imagine Dr Loomis screaming those words into the face of some small-town Haddonfield sheriff, such is the similarity between the two characters. What sets this film apart from any of the slasher titles, however, is that despite being shot on a relatively low budget, the effects were revolutionary at the time, and they retain much of their dark power today. Because everything is done practically, even the more shoddy moments only add to the sense of the uncanny that, in turn, helps to create the general mood of unease and dread that Cameron was going for.
Elsewhere, Hamilton is great (although nowhere near as good as she would go on to be in the sequel), Adam Greenberg’s dark and moody lighting fits the film perfectly, and Brad Fiedel’s arresting and often genuinely frightening score is now iconic. As much as Cameron could definitely be considered an auteur, this is very much a collaborative process. And we’ve not even mentioned Arnie yet! This wasn’t his first film, of course (he’d already found success as Conan the Barbarian), but this is undoubtedly the film that led to a long and successful career as a genuine action movie superstar. Both Stallone and Mel Gibson turned down the role (and OJ Simpson was briefly considered before thankfully being dismissed), but it is unimaginable that anybody could have bettered what Schwarzenegger delivers here. He simply is the Terminator. Ice cold. Detached. Relentless. Intimidating. He plays it perfectly.
The Terminator is a classic of modern sci-fi, and it absolutely deserves its place in the pantheon of great science fiction movies – a bona fide masterpiece.
