In the end the Terminator will triumph - that is the real terror of mankind

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2012)

The basic plot of the movie is that a highly sophisticated machine (The Terminator) with extraordinary physical powers that also looks like a human on the outside (Schwarzenegger) has been sent from the future to the present so that the machines can terminate the mother of the only person who can save the human species in the final war between humans and machines that rages in the future world. This is being done so that the 'savior of the human species' is never born, and with that done the machines of the future can win easily. The humans of the future come to know of this plan, and so they too send a human into the present time to stop the terminator from carrying out this plan. All the action revolves around this plot, and all the sequences are brilliantly choreographed, along with superb visual effects and dialogs. The role of Schwarzenegger is so perfectly fitting as 'The Terminator', that it is spooky. This has rightly earned him the nickname 'Terminator' of which he too is proud of. It is this spooky feeling that indicates that this is no simple sci-fi action movie, and that there runs beneath the surface theme of man versus machine, a more fundamental theme of life and death, of 'Eros' and 'Thanatos' than just action and adventure, and that is why this is a classic.
Coming to the abstract ideas behind the movie, the idea of 'time travel' is now well recognized as purely fictional and therefore serves as an artistic and imaginative prop or support for other ideas. The core abstract idea is that of an ongoing struggle between mankind and the destructive effects of the reckless use of technology, also unleashed by man, which going 'out of control' threatens the entire human species. So this is actually a metaphysical battle taking place within the human mind at the 'collective unconscious' (Jungian term) level. The 'archetypes' of 'savior' and 'terminator' are again props for this battle between those human minds that through their actions and creative expressions support the sustaining force of life, and those human minds that act mechanically and insensitively, and who by their actions support the 'life terminating' or 'death' force.
"Our technology has already outstripped our ability to control it." Gen. Omar Bradley The key fact or the truth that is not apparent is that machines themselves are not players or 'beings' in this struggle, they are not entities that act themselves because they have no 'volition' or 'will' of any kind, rather machines are value neutral tools that are used either to create or to destroy. And since this core abstract idea cannot be presented or explained very explicitly, it has to take the art form of a movie like this one. (Also compare this to The Matrix). Thus 'The Terminator' is a powerful symbol of the ever increasing potential for destruction unleashed by technology that is bound to occur in the future - the event that can only be extended in time ( 'buying time') by the creative use of technology.
"Art is a lie that reveals the truth" said Pablo Picasso. And the truth is that The Terminator will ultimately succeed in wiping out mankind because it is 'designed' or 'fated' to do so. This movie buys some more time for us by it's art.