"The future" inspires lots of great sci-fi movie-making thanks to "Terminator"

Rating: 8/10 (30 December 2008)

The explosion of Arnold Schwarzenegger's career, the emergence of James Cameron, and a couple classic one-liners are among the many things "Terminator" brought into cinematic culture forever, but one of the least considered gifts of this 1984 smash sci-fi action thriller is the introduction of movie goers everywhere to "the future."
A "terminator" cyborg (Schwarzenegger) is sent from the future with a specific objective to kill a girl named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Hot on the terminator's trail, however, is a human from the future named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) who must save Sarah. Why? Sarah is the mother of John Connor, the leader of humanity's only resistance in the future when our machines/computers turn on us. The machines, desperate during this future war, have turned to time travel to completely eliminate Connor's existence. "Terminator" is a story that takes place in the present (well, 1984 present) but it's relevance is for the future and does include some "flash-forwards" of what creator James Cameron's man vs. machine apocalyptic future might look like. Most significantly, it's film's first serious attempt to imagine where science and technology might lead us.
Sure, "Star Trek" and "2001: Space Odyssey" are among some of the ways Hollywood has imagined the future, but those are much more fantastical and not focused on Earth. "Terminator" is a much darker depiction that strongly considers science, not on dreaming up crazy sci-fi gadgets and the like. It's also more of an action thriller than sci-fi, seeing as the action mostly takes place in the 80s. Basically, the Terminator is an unstoppable force that follows Sarah and Kyle wherever they go no matter how many bullets he takes or explosions he endures. It's a non-stop thrill ride that really gets your blood pumping.
While the movie thrives mostly on your amazement with the Terminator, wondering if he'll ever be stopped and how much carnage you'll get to watch along the way, eventually you get hooked on the future/sci-fi element as Kyle tells Sarah all about what's going on or he tries to convince the police to believe him. What makes each scene so attention-grabbing, however, is the mechanical nature of the way Cameron has shot this movie. Everything the terminator does is filmed in a very sequential manner, using lots of angles instead of constant camera movement. What's interesting is that he films construction vehicles and other normal machines we're used to in the same way, using close ups as if they're working on their own, without humans. It's his way of using the present to foreshadow the future.
The acting in the movie and love story that develops between Sarah and Kyle are among it's biggest weak points. Hamilton is good, she really stands out as the most normal, human thing about the whole film, but Biehn is terrible as a lead actor. He comes across as creepy and odd and you only like him because he's helping Sarah, so when she starts to like him, you're kind of grossed out. Someone stronger would have made this a nearly flawless action film.
So while "Terminator' may seem like an example of a classic because of Schwarzenegger and all the action and explosions, it really leaves its mark as showing how capable Hollywood can be of creating an entertaining AND believable future, inspiring future films (no pun intended) to do just that.