"The Terminator" is, without a doubt, a modern landmark in science fiction cinema and, why not, a cinematographic landmark independent of genres

Rating: 8/10 (21 May 2020)

"The Terminator" is, without a doubt, a modern landmark in science fiction cinema and, why not, a cinematographic landmark independent of genres, alongside other works of the size of "2001 - A Space Odyssey", the classic "Star Wars" trilogy. Behind an unprecedented and even frightening concept - of a future dominated by machines - mainly if transported to the current reality in which technology increasingly assumes new roles in people's daily lives. The work of visionary James Cameron, who wrote the script alongside Gale Ann Hurd (another visionary) who was responsible for the final format of the work - there were two Terminators from the future, one made of liquid metal, which was cut to reduce costs and then famously reused in the sequel. This film was one of the first to present the perfect balance between action and pure science fiction (not fantasy as is the case with Star Wars), challenging definitions and the barriers of the genre. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates that creativity and inventiveness will always, under any circumstances, be able to overcome budget constraints.
The script is a master of narrative economy and deceptive simplicity. It is a masterpiece of efficiency to convey very interesting concepts about time travel and the resulting paradoxes. In the same way, without resorting to much exposure (some is necessary and inevitable), we learn details about the painful life of Kyle Reese (Biehn), soldier of the future who is sent to the past to protect Sarah Connor from a cyborg sent by the machines to kill the mother of the future leader of the rebellion against the machines. While rejecting the cyborg attacks, Kyle is guiding not only Sarah, but us spectators as well, through the bases that support the film. For example, Cameron intelligently makes him tell a good part of the details of the future in an interrogation to the police, a simple exposition that gives us the necessary knowledge about the gears that move tomorrow. Gradually, we realize that Kyle will have an importance beyond the protection of Sarah's life, as he will play another key role in the war against Skynet. In these few exhibition scenes, it is possible to convey the whole idea of a dark future caused by a nuclear war, and which is dominated by machines, which take humans to extermination camps. The first infiltrated robots had rubber skin and were easy to identify, but then more real skins, blood and everything were made to make them more human, so dogs had to be used to identify them. It still shows the remaining humans living hidden, underground, dirty, hungry (even rats are eating to survive), with John Connor his only hope. We see Reese's past (or would it be the future?) In flashbacks (or flash-forwards, if you look at it chronologically) perfectly stitched into the plot and visually inserted by Cameron with original and smooth transitions, now as a dream, now as a "bedtime story".
The immersion in Sarah Connor's drama is total since we see her free, light and loose on her scooter, with a smile on her face. We want to know what those two men who appeared just before want with her. Who is the villain? What kind of story is being told? Dropper revelations - but never slow or sluggish - make up for any problems that exist even today with special effects. Only after about forty minutes did we begin to know the story behind the persecutions and first deaths revealed in the script. The pace of the film is also helped by the work of Mark Goldblatt, who oscillates between action and calm, with long cuts that never hinder the understanding of the action. Adam Greenberg's photograph, darkened to mask the problems in the visual effects, but well designed to maintain suspense, has no outbursts of creativity only that works to convey the idea of hopelessness that Cameron needed. Both in violent Los Angeles in 1984 and in the future without much hope for the human race.
The soundtrack by Brad Fiedel (Terminator 2 and True Lies) is heavily dependent on synthesizers to convey inhuman aspects, even strange to the narrative, with the iconic opening song. Although the composition does not vary much (including the love scene between Reese and Sarah has a more romantic version of the theme), it fulfills its role well and transports us that story and emphasizes that climate of robots, future, artificial and futuristic intelligence. They are somewhat metallic / synthesized compositions.
The cast is also certainly one of the great assets of the production. Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn, in the same way, show a perfect chemistry, as they pass the urgency, fear and anxiety that their roles need. The character of the actress gradually leaves the position of victim, assuming the place that the future holds for her, that of parent and guide of the messiah who will lead humanity against the machines. Schwarzenegger - who was never a good actor - on the other hand, already showed all his charisma on the scene. And, like a murdering cyborg, he definitely found his home, even making his strong Austrian accent function in some way like a robot's voice, perhaps because of the strangeness it causes. The cyborg is losing the apparent humanity represented by the flesh and sage that cover its mechanisms. Thus, Kyle and Sarah expose attack after attack, the antagonist who, as we know, follows different paths in the sequences.
However, it is important to emphasize that, despite dealing with a theme that refers to the future and advanced technologies, it is clear that James Cameron's work has not aged well over time, both technologically and in fashion and customs, being an authentic example of a film from the 1980s. Throughout the film, we have numerous peculiarities that become curious these days, which even ends up taking a little out of focus of the plot itself, generating even awe in the audience. We see on the scene phone books being used to locate people's phone addresses, giant walkmans used to listen to the music of the time, mentions of checkbooks, landlines in the middle of the streets and in homes and establishments (we had to buy a card to make connection), pagers, analog televisions, VCRs that allowed recording and watching recordings. I still mention the sound effects of the bullets of the revolvers very typical of western American films and fashion in general. The clothes and hair, especially those of women, leave no doubt that we are located many decades ago.
Another factor that does not negate the time of filming is the practical and visual effects. The film was produced after two films of the revolutionary "Star Wars" in terms of spectral effects. Not that the effects of the space franchise are excellent (like the beings assembled by Luke Skywalker and Han Solo just before the battle of Hoth in "The Empire Strikes Back", launched four years earlier), but what we see is of a lower level. In the scenes in which the Terminator Model 101 makes self-repairs and prepares to continue its mission to eliminate Sarah Connor, the prostheses molded from Schwarzenegger's head, face and arm are clear. We are clearly faced with prosthetics who cannot pass the necessary realism to believe that. What to say then when the Exterminator, already only in its metallic exoskeleton, starts a chase in a shed behind Reese and Sarah Connor? Although the metal model works with the camera still (even if head movement is totally limited), the same cannot be said of when the exoskeleton needs to move. The movements are extremely artificial based on stop motion techniques. It is curious to think that the film, as it was originally conceived, would not work today, except obviously the fictional plot that remains the most interesting and thought-provoking. It would be necessary to completely reinvent the script in search of new solutions for the situations presented throughout the film. Of course, for a world accustomed to the (boring and banal) effects in computer graphics, really what we see in Terminator is outdated. But this is not the way to measure such a film. It must be seen for its quality at the time and for the time it lasted as a cutting edge work, especially if, in this calculation, we take into account the limited budget available. In addition, I challenge someone to review the sequences in which the cyborg T-800 repairs itself in an apartment without shivering and looking away even for a hundredth of a second. It is the magic of cinema.
But the dated effects, of course, do not in any way detract from the merits of this James Cameron masterpiece, especially for the concept behind the film. The action scenes are incredible and memorable. How to forget the iconic scenes from Terminator 101 and Kyle Reese arriving transported from the future to the present day? There is also a hunt inside a bar, inside a parking lot, inside the house where Sarah lived with her colleague Ginger (Bess Motta) and even inside a roadside motel room and a police station with dozens of police officers facing in vain the virtually indestructible machine of the future. We also see mind-boggling pursuits through the dark and dangerous streets of Los Angeles with motorbikes, cars and even trucks.
The film is a product of its time and was a landmark in science fiction cinema. "The Terminator" was acclaimed by the specialized critics at the time of its release and the film is seen by critics and the general public as one of the precursors of the science fiction genre. Given its importance for cinema, it was selected in 2008, by the United States Library of Congress, to be preserved in the National Film Registry, being considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". In addition, the film was responsible for the consolidation of Arnold Schwarzenegger's career and for raising James Cameron, who until then had only directed two films, to another level in Hollywood cinema.