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| The Terminator (1984) |
Part of what makes this film so great is exactly what made Alien so great: its atmosphere. This is a horror movie disguised as an action movie, and the two genres blend together so naturally it's mindblowing. The future presented in this film is so bleak and without hope that you'd expect the scenes in the present (or the past, I guess) to be a little brighter, but that's not the case. The majority of the scenes in 1984 are set at night, and that's a great way to draw a connection back to the future, to make good on the opening text claiming the war would be won in the past (or the present, wait, no... time travel is confusing). It also helps to establish the Terminator as a legitimate threat.
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| The future |
My God, the Terminator. This thing is just unstoppable. They do a fantastic job of setting up how unkillable he is, and it's such a chore to take down just one of these things, it further helps to establish how dark the future is. Arnie gives an amazingly subtle performance here, and he really sells the cyborg role he's been given. It goes without saying, of course, but even his one-liners were wonderfully delivered, and it's easy to see why he became a household name after this movie. I also love that musical motif of his, with those throbbing drumbeats, and they use it to great effect. They sometimes use the music when the Terminator's nowhere near the scene we're being shown, just to put us on edge even more. Great stuff.
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| Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator |
Another great thing about this movie is how quickly they endear us to Sarah Connor. Linda Hamilton's performance is very grounded, and it's really refreshing. I guess you could make the argument that she's not as 'badass' as you'd like her to be, but that's very much the point. Imagine a killer cyborg from the future was after you, and think of how you'd handle the situation. It'd be very similar to what she goes through in the film, especially since it plays into her arc by the end. Michael Biehn also does a fantastic job as Kyle Reese, and although I wasn't 100% on board with the romance subplot, it did make sense by the end and it wasn't a big deal overall. My only real complaint is that I felt that Paul Winfield's character wasn't used quite as much as I'd have liked him to be. I really liked his character, and I liked how caring he was. I guess I would have liked to have seen a little more of him, and that would have made me happy.
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| Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor |
Once again I must praise the practical effects employed here. Everything in this film looks stunning, particularly the way they brought the Terminator itself to life. The animatronics in the arm to the piercing red eye to the final showdown, it all looked wonderful, especially for the mid 80s. There were one or two effects that didn't quite land as well as the others, but it didn't matter too much considering how often the effects hit bullseyes. The lighting is also once again gorgeous. Considering how much of this film was spent at night, nothing was ever in the dark, and I could see everything with no issues, which is something some recent films could learn a thing or two about. Even the war with the machines in the future was well-lit. I don't have much more to say. This movie's beautiful.
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| Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese |
The Terminator (1984) is another movie that I whole-heartedly recommend, if you're one of those people who's just as stupid as me and hasn't seen this before. From beginning to end, the film is a delight to watch, and I'm sure to be coming back to this film time and time again. 9.5/10
Tomorrow: ... ugh. It's Twilight.
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