It is pretty impossible to imagine that a movie that only cost slightly under a million dollars could be so well made. The premise is quite the mind-buster. A demonic cyborg from a future where computers have managed to take over the world, returns to the year 1984 to terminate the mother of the leader of a future rebellion that would turn the tides of the future war against the machines.

Along with this mechanical terror is Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future who volunteered for the dangerous mission based solely on love. In time, both Sarah Conner (the mother) and Kyle would end up joining forces to escape the wrath of the cyborg, and possibly even find the way to destroy it for good.

James Cameron’s screenplay absolutely sparkles with life and emotions. The dialogue is wonderfully sharp for a low budget science fiction flick, something which is quite surprising since this is only Cameron’s second film. The premise offers up the chance for some highly campy dialogue scenes and costumes which reek of wacky colours and funny hair attributed to that time period.

Cameron makes the wise decision to not have his movie bogged down in exposition. Of course, the standard introduction to the characters is present and accounted for, although there is an unusual approach taken here. For much of the first act, Cameron places the audience right with protagonist Sarah Conner, so that we may experience her fear and confusion as well. This kind of thing brings us almost uncomfortably close to the characters, which lets us get into their minds and experience all of their fears and emotions. The Terminator’s motive is not readily given out for the first act of the film, so we are just as confused as Sarah Conner as to what this being wants to do. Cameron establishes one of those atmospheres where one is constantly unsure of what is going to happen next. Characters that we come to love are ruthlessly killed off by the Terminator, which not only enhances our want for this thing to die, but our fear that maybe the lead characters won’t get away.

As mentioned earlier, the one thing that could have completely caused this whole thing to collapse was the science fiction elements of the story. The Terminator is a cyborg, so it naturally does what a cyborg would do. It stares coldly at its targets, scanning them, before pulling out its gun and blowing them away. This could have been one of the film elements that became unintentionally comical. A thing that just stares coldly at someone is not something that one may be afraid of…unless, it was done properly. There are many elements in Cameron’s script that help turn this Terminator into a true being of terror. Cameron thankfully doesn’t direct the Terminator to do anything too over the top. The stare is exactly what it is supposed to be, cold and methodical. One may think that this is one of those campy elements, but anyone who sees the stupendous work done with the character will become a believer. Scenes like the Terminator repairing damaged parts after vicious gun battles may not seem like much, until one realises that all this thing has to do to heal itself is a quick repair job. Not only do gunshots not effect this being, but trying to kill it is a chore.

Indeed, this is one of those movies which has that terrifying never-ending nightmare feeling to it. The movie is driven by a breathless pace, with hardly any scene allowing the audience to catch a breath.

There is an element to The Terminator that most definitely would have failed miserably had it been done in any other way: the exposition. Thankfully, Cameron again impresses with a very unique way of presenting the exposition. Instead of having the Reese character simply sitting down and explaining everything to Sarah (and insultingly to the audience as well), Cameron has every scene of exposition delivery take place during action scenes. This just makes all the ho-hum seem much more lively, as how the exposition being explained actually reflects how one may have to explain it in real life. The Sarah character asks the questions while things are happening, just as we are, and she (and we) get our answers.

As for Cameron’s scene construction, it sparkles just as much as every other part of this movie. Like every one of his films, he shows an absolute love for everything that goes up on the screen, something that has made even the most serious of his pictures highly enjoyable. Cameron employs almost every technique available to him to make his movie work, and the effect is spellbinding. Cameron makes his first good choice by not choosing to use any overtly artsy or obvious camera angles. In fact, the camera photographs things to make them appear just like everyday life, which helps the film immensely.

However, just because Cameron doesn’t do anything fancy, doesn’t mean he doesn’t do anything at all. Working with cinematographer Adam Greenberg, Cameron has been able to create a gritty appearance that matches perfectly with the film. Colours aren’t very blown out, always appearing muted. The movie looks drab, making it absolutely perfect for Los Angeles. If there had been any fancy colours and obvious camera movements, the whole thing just wouldn’t have seemed right. The hard-edged quality of the movie would have fallen on its face. The camera is always in movement at one point or another. There is never a still shot to be found here, and that works to maximum effect. The never-ending feeling of the camera movements enhances the urgency of this film, and makes the film seem even more desperate.

The performances in the film are excellent. As protector Reese, Michael Biehn is appropriately cold when he needs to be, yet startlingly emotional and alive when called for. His chemistry with co-star Hamilton is mesmerizing, mainly because it is so believable. Biehn speaks his lines with conviction and heart, and one can tell that he absolutely loves what he is doing. His performance never travels into that terrible high camp zone, and the film benefits greatly from that. Linda Hamilton provides just the right amount of normal fuddy-duddy city girl and a willingness to survive that benefits her character. Basically, if her character had turned out to be only one of those good screamers, this whole film would have felt like a dumb slasher movie with a higher budget. But Hamilton is no slouch when it comes to her character. She has Sarah behave just how anyone else would behave, never becoming annoying or unbelievable. And in the few moments of this movie when he character becomes a bit hard-edged, Hamilton makes that change seem very believable and almost one hundred percent realistic. It’s just a shame that these two performers haven’t had the best of careers, because they are both extremely talented actors who deserve lots of attention.

No review of The Terminator would be complete without mentioning the unsurpassable Arnold Schwartzenegger as the ultimate killer robot. There is simply no denying the power of this guy’s performance. His imposing form and heavy build makes him the perfect killing machine, as does the fact that he looks blank and emotionless practically at all times. There are also some other cast members here who deserve mention. Underrated actors Lance Henriksen and Paul Winfield turn in fun performances as the two policemen who are trying to crack the case of the recent spate of murders going on. While they don’t have that much to do in the movie, their performances are very memorable, from the funny conversations they have to their constant bickering, one just gets the general idea that these guys have been friends for a long time. Like Biehn and Hamilton however, it’s just too bad these guys haven’t had the best careers.

The special effects of this picture are astounding. Working with such a low budget, one would think that Cameron would be hard pressed to create visuals that could seem like anything more than Roger Corman inspired. Thankfully, Cameron managed to hire geniuses of the special effects trade. Stan Winston and Fantasy II effects master Gene Warren join forces to bring some excellent matte work and composting to the picture. In the later half of The Terminator, the demonic cyborg has all its skin burned off and continues pursuing its victims in all its crome metal glory. The animatronic puppet by Stan Winston in amazing in that it moves with just the right amount of life to seem believable. It moves with a combination of grace and that hard metal edge that still makes it seem like an emotionless deadly cyborg. The wonderful design of the thing makes the numerous times it comes back to life after having been seemingly destroyed seem very realistic and even frightening. There are also some other effects in the movie used to bring the Terminator to life. Stop motion animation is used in one part where the Terminator pursues Sarah and Reese down an empty corridor, and it is quite convincing, matching well with the model effects work of Stan Winston.

What really stands out is the future war effects provided by Gene Warren. This guy is a genius of forced perspective and model filming. The entire future war sequences were filmed with miniatures and composite photography, and it really had the risk of appearing dated or fake. Not the case, as even the composites look one hundred percent convincing.

Brad Fiedel provides a very memorable score for The Terminator which still has surprising resonance today. Comprised of mostly synthesizers, this music does two things at the same time. The synthesized score enhances the emotionless of the Terminator very well. It also manages to be surprisingly human at the same time, something which I’ve never seen done with synthesizers before. Fiedel creates themes that are very memorable, the opening theme being a clear example. Even with that opening title theme, one immediately knows that this is going to be a memorable movie, as the music just seems to flow with a kind of energy and grace that has never been equalled in any other science fiction film. The love theme music flows almost like an ocean, moving along with the steady rhythm of love-making with a very high amount of beauty. Quite basically, Fiedel has created one of the most memorable scenes to one of the most memorable movies ever made.

All in all, The Terminator is simply one of those movies which will never grow old, never loose its power or poignancy. Its themes are beautifully presented, its human qualities never push into the sugar-sweet crap valley that so many others have done. Really, The Terminator may just be the best science fiction film ever made. Period!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age