{"id":8594,"date":"2024-11-18T21:49:47","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T02:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=8594"},"modified":"2024-11-18T21:49:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T02:49:47","slug":"the-terminator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/18\/the-terminator\/","title":{"rendered":"The Terminator"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Terminator <\/strong>(1984)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Orion\/Action-Sci-Fi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 107 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, gruesome and disturbing images, brief nudity and sexuality)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: James Cameron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Brad Fiedel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Adam Greenberg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 26, 1984 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, Rick Rossovich, Bess Motta, Dick Miller, Earl Boen, Franco Columbu, Bill Paxton, Brian Thompson, Brad Rearden.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $38.3M (US)\/$78.3M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0If Conan the Barbarian established Arnold Schwarzenegger as a reliable action hero, the sci-fi-actioner The Terminator<\/strong> made him a bona fide movie star. Made for only $6.4 million and directed by a newcomer named James Cameron whose only previous credit was Piranha II: The Spawning, it came out of nowhere to be one of the year\u2019s biggest hits. It went on to be the mother of five sequels and a TV series.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Schwarzenegger, in a rare bad guy turn, plays a cyborg sent to 1984 from a post-apocalyptic future to kill the mother, Sarah Connor (Hamilton, Children of the Corn), of a future resistance leader. At the same time, resistance soldier Kyle Reese (Biehn, The Fan) arrives to protect Sarah from the cyborg, known in 2029 as a \u201cTerminator\u201d. His sole function is to kill humans. We\u2019re informed in the opening titles that humanity is all but extinct, the result of a nuclear holocaust triggered by an AI defense network created by humans called Skynet. Machines like Terminators were created by Skynet to finish the job.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It takes a little while for the two time travelers to find Sarah in L.A. Arnie goes though all the Sarah Connors in the phone book, prompting a police investigation into the brutal slayings. Luckily, Reese finds her around the same time as the T-101 and saves her in the nick of time. The rest of The Terminator<\/strong> is a killer game of cat-and-mouse with Reese and Sarah constantly on the run as the murderous cyborg hunts his prey. The future must be protected or else.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Simply put, The Terminator<\/strong> is one of the greatest action movies ever made. This is mainly due to its indestructible villain. Reese puts it best when he explains to Sarah what they\u2019re up against: “It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.” He\u2019s not kidding. Nothing stops this thing, NOTHING! He takes out an entire police station\u2019s worth of cops like it\u2019s nothing. This scene contains an important historical moment. It\u2019s the first time Ah-nuld utters the line that would become his calling card, \u201cI\u2019ll be back.\u201d Speaking of trademark lines, The Terminator<\/strong> is also the first time he says \u201cf*** you, a**hole.\u201d It\u2019s actually a funny scene.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Arnie is AWESOME in the title role; that\u2019s all that needs to be said. Hamilton is similarly awesome as a potential victim who finds her inner bad ass. Biehn does solid work as the hero of the tale, one with a personal stake in the outcome of the present situation. His relationship with Sarah gives The Terminator<\/strong> its human element.<\/p>\n

\u00a0An already solid cast is made better by Paul Winfield (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and Lance Henriksen (Damien: Omen II) as the cops looking into the \u201cPhone Book Murders\u201d. Both of them are great character actors. Look also for Bill Paxton (Aliens) and Brian Thompson (Cobra) as punks who have the misfortune of crossing paths with the Terminator when he first arrives in \u201984. He\u2019s fully naked and in need of clothes. You can see where this is going, right? Roger Corman regular Dick Miller cameos as a gun shop owner.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The special effects are very good, top-notch for the time. The futuristic scenes are relentlessly grim and ugly with frightened people hiding in underground strongholds, weeping and moaning as they hunt down rats for food. Above ground, soldiers do battle with big flying machines called HKs (Hunter-Killers). SPOILER ALERT!<\/strong> My favorite effect in The Terminator <\/strong>is the metallic endoskeleton beneath the cyborg\u2019s \u201cflesh\u201d. Cameron employs stop-motion for scenes of it coming after our heroes. Looking at it now, it confirms what I\u2019ve long said about old school effects looking better than CGI. It\u2019s amazing what Cameron accomplished with only $6 million.<\/p>\n

\u00a0While Conan the Barbarian is still my favorite Schwarzenegger movie (as well as favorite all-time movie), The Terminator <\/strong>is pure excellence. It\u2019s as close to perfection as an action movie can get. It has a ton of action and violence. The cinematography by Adam Greenberg is just right for the material. I like that it\u2019s set in the L.A. punk scene. Brad Fiedel\u2019s score is brilliant. The songs on the soundtrack- e.g. \u201cBurnin\u2019 in the Third Degree\u201d- are a perfect fit. The Terminator <\/strong>is that rare movie that doesn\u2019t make a single misstep. It\u2019s fun, intelligent, funny and thrilling in equal measures. Man, it ROCKS!\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Terminator (1984)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Orion\/Action-Sci-Fi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 107 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong violence, gruesome and disturbing images, brief nudity and sexuality)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: James Cameron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Brad Fiedel\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Adam Greenberg\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 26, 1984 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, Rick Rossovich, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kick-ass-actioners","category-sci-fi-fantasy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/The-Terminator-PIC-1.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8594"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8658,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8594\/revisions\/8658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}