In 1984, James Cameron made his biggest splash to cinema with the unexpected hit The Terminator, a feature that manages to remove any knowledge of first feature Piranha II: The Spawning -a critical disaster - from public awareness. It has since cemented the careers of both Cameron and lead actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and its later sequels have since helped keep the original in the public eye. And with the latest instalment being set up as both a semi-reboot and as a sequel, it's time to see whether the original is just as iconic and spectacular as it's been proclaimed...
In the far future of 2029, man is at war against machines; caused by when a defence network called Skynet becomes sentiment and brings about a human holocaust. But with a rebellious group of humans lead by John Connor being a big set-back in the machine's war, they decide to send back one of their own to a time before the war to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) - John's mother. The rebellion hears of this and Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) volunteers himself to stop the machine from destroying the future. Thus begins a chase between the soldier and the Terminator (Schwarzenegger) for the life of Sarah Connor.
As a film which revitalised the action genre in the form of a B movie, it’s a story which has stood the test of time and countless parodies. That said, it's also a story which lacks depth - man escorts woman away from impending mechanical killing machine. Certainly, the timey-wimey-ness of it all does occasionally make an appearance - especially when it comes to the Kyle Reese side of things - but outside of that it is exactly what it says on the tin. It's no less enjoyable, and the occasional moment of gore and disgust does elevate things slightly, but because of how often the trope has been repeated even by that point, it does lessen what was probably at the time something which came across as new.
As if you weren't already aware, the big guy is by far the best aspect of the film. Schwarzenegger sells his role in robotic elegance (if that's even possible), with his cold demeanour and large physique making him perfectly suitable for the role. Fellow dystopian civilian Biehn is good as Reese too, thanks largely to his outsider appearance and mad-eyed expressions suiting the later police investigation - but as one of the leads, he tries a little too hard to sell the role, and his odd romance with Sarah makes things a tad creepier in a way. Linda Hamilton is unfortunately restricted by both the times and her role as protectee, but as a damsel in distress she does a fine job. As for the secondary cast, the set of policemen are your typical 1980s police characters; Sarah's roommate is a tad annoying but is possibly the only character who's still up to date; and a quick little cameo from Bill Paxton lends to more laughs than imaginable.
The special effects are something interesting when discussing. On one hand, the sequences involving the full cyborg without the Arnold exoskeleton is something of greatness, despite the clear advancement in special effects since the days of stop motion-esque techniques. On the other hand, scenes like the Terminator dealing with his wounds have been severely affected by the tests of time, and unfortunately make what was at the time a truly tormenting sequence into something that can't be seen in the same light. That doesn't stop said sequence packing a punch though, as James Cameron's direction in this film is great stuff. There's never anything of pure spectacle, but he does grand jobs with the action setpieces and the more human moments of the piece.
The Terminator is a film that has somehow stood the test of time and deservingly made a long-lasting franchise out of itself. With a great villain in the form of Schwarzenegger, and a finely paced story which has survived endless parodies, it's a popcorn movie than can be enjoyed by many - if you can look past the dated feel to it all and the slightly cringey musical score. 7/10.
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