Fatality and Predestination or when running away can only be a temporary option

Rating: 9/10 (14 July 2015)

Simply said, "The Terminator" is a great film, and even greater when you watch it with the mindset of someone discovering it in 1984, a time when Arnold Schwarzenegger's career was still to be consolidated, when James Cameron wasn't yet that billion-ma'King of the world', when "I'll be back" was still a quote that could be heard in any film without being associated to a bad-ass catchphrase with an Austrian accent, when Linda Hamilton still looked like a lovely doll begging for protective hugs.
In 1984, moviegoers went to see an entertaining B-movie starring that Conan-the-Barbarian-guy whose speech pattern could hardly be taken seriously. Even the producers and director expected a backslash from the critics. Little did they know that they had just made a milestone almost as significant for the Sci-fi genre as "Alien" five years before, and that their humility would be rewarded by a close-to-unanimous praise and a lightning propulsion into Pop- Culture. Arnie became THE ultimate action-movie icon, and the rest is no less legendary.
And the reason the film works is its remarkable simplicity in each aspect. First of all, the plot : an Artificial Intelligence company named Skynet created such technologically advanced robots that they rebelled against humans and provoked a nuclear holocaust until they were almost defeated by the Rebel Chief John Connor. As a robot sent to kill his mother before he'd exist, Schwarzenegger appears at night, completely naked and takes some civilian clothes before tracking Sarah Connor. But we're in a basic Sci-fi movie and the villain calls for a hero, this is where Michael Biehn intervenes, he looks strong but he's not the alpha male muscular type, which eases the empathy process.
His mission is to protect Sarah Connor and kill the Terminator, so running away can only be a temporary option. Yet if the villain ever inspires one thing, it is not to confront him. The Terminator doesn't know what Sarah Connor looks like, but that's not an issue, any Sarah Connor can potentially be John's mother and is terminated Skynet-style. The murders are straightforward and chilling. At first, the Police don't notice anything odd with that brutal murder, until a second Sarah Connor is gunned down. What kind of serial killer works by the name? Anyway, the most urgent is to protect any Sarah Connor living in L.A., including an adorable waitress, so far from that girl-power archetype from the sequel.
And this is one of the film's beauties, the absolute contrast between the robotic killer and the harmless target. And this is where the casting pays off; Arnold Schwarzenegger was certainly criticized for the limitations of his acting range, especially at a time where his accent was stronger, but here, he's given a role that only an actor like him could have portrayed perfectly: a cold and implacable killing machine. The Terminator was nominated #22 villain in the American Film Institute, but he's not sadistic, nor vicious, he's just programmed that way, which is why he's so scary. He's like a steamroller of brutality that will ignore every obstacle until it gets him to Sarah Connor.
And the film wouldn't have worked had Linda Hamilton looked or played it like Ellen Ripley in "Alien", Obviously, a woman like Sarah Connor needs a protection whether from the cops or from Biehn, and some bits of luck that will prevent her from the fatal encounter. Indeed, when the Terminator realizes he didn't kill the right woman although she lived in Sarah's house, begins a breathtaking, spellbinding cat-and-mouse chase. There are shootouts, there are car chases, but they felt different because this time, the enemy doesn't try to get at them but to kill them, they're means as well as ends. The Terminator is an unstoppable death warrant, guided by fatality. Notice the scene when, for once, Sarah gets the illusion of being finally protected, in a commissariat. The Terminator's "I'll be back", especially when heard for the first time, sums up everything, no matter how far away you try to push him, he'll get back to you.
And this, resonates as the voice of fatality, the omen of an inevitable confrontation, something that neither Biehn nor Sarah can't avoid, the future has come to haunt them, and if Sarah is really the mother of a future fighter, even she will have to express that 'fighting' part of herself. Whether you look at the half-empty or half-full glass, you'll see "Terminator" as a predestination or fatality movie. And I guess this is why the appellation neo-noir isn't gratuitous. Noir is about people who try to escape from a painful certainty but can only triumph over it by confronting it, at the cost of something precious such as their innocence, their optimism, their faith on life or humanity.
And 'The Terminator" is mostly set at night, it features characters who hide from these robots that remind them the apocalyptic future they carry on their hands, their own responsibility. Of course, bonds ought to be made and we have some clues that the predestination thing will provide some curious loops that don't quite respect the orthodoxy of time travels. But the film isn't about time travels, it's about a sense of duty and responsibility. And in a way "The Terminator", as a villain, is an inspiration for the heroes, as much as he must kill them no mater what, they have to resist and to defeat him at any costs, the measure of a great antagonist is the degree to which he allows the heroes to overcome their weaknesses.
As a matter of fact, the whole trilogy invites humans to question their condition, from being masters to slaves of the technology, what you can control can control you, it's all up to us to take the control of our lives back. That's what Sarah Connor will do, and this is why she becomes such a great heroine, the perfect match for such a great villain.