a cold war masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (4 May 2006)

As used to say a friend of mine watching Terminator : cold war masterpiece. You couldn't say it a better way. James Cameron's best movie might be the most dry movie you'll ever see. It is not a movie, in fact, it is a tunnel. Once you enter it, you cannot go out until the end. The talent of great directors is to operate a kind of fusion between a great universal story (here : primal fear, pure fear, and violence) and powerful images. The talent of genius is to invent a character that will be used out of the context of the art form : it has been the case for Lewis Carrol's Alice, Jerry Siegel's Superman, it is the case for TERMINATOR. Cameron, alongside with Schwarzenneger, has invented a legend : the pure, the perfect killing machine. It never stops. The Terminator is the definition of cinema : once the film has started, it wont stop until THE END. Once the Terminator arrives, it won't stop either. After that very simple (but so powerful) basic rule, Cameron has just put everything he had in his hands to make it quick, straight and super clear. The editing is direct. Pictures are clear. Music is brilliant, reminding of Carpenter's Assault, meeting with an industrial rock band. Each element of the script is given in a short dialog between bullets storm. So why a cold war masterpiece ? Well, with this dark light, poor areas, lost streets, suburbs houses looking all alike, with Schwarzenneger and his very far far away English accent, you've never seen a movie making the USA look that close to the Soviet Union.