|
| Rating: |
   
|
| Run Time: |
108 min |
| MPAA Rating: |
R |
| Released: |
1984 |
| Directors: |
James Cameron
|
| Genre/Type: |
Action
Science Fiction
Sci-Fi Action
|
| Producers: |
Gale Anne Hurd
|
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Endlessly imitated, The Terminator made the reputation of cowriter/director
James Cameron -- who would go on to make 1997's titanic
Titanic -- and solidified the stardom of
Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie begins in a post-apocalyptic 2029, when Los Angeles has been largely reduced to rubble and is under the thumb of all-powerful ruling machines. Kyle Reese (
Michael Biehn), a member of the human resistance movement, is teleported back to 1984. His purpose: to rescue Sarah Connor (
Linda Hamilton), the mother of the man who will lead the 21st-century rebels against the tyrannical machines, from being assassinated before she can give birth. Likewise thrust back to 1984 is The Terminator (Schwarzenegger), a grim, well-armed, virtually indestructable cyborg who has been programmed to eliminate Sarah Connor. After killing two "Sarah Connors" who turn out to be the wrong women, he finally aims his gunsights at the genuine article. This is the film in which Schwarzenegger declared "I'll be baaaack" -- and back he was, in "kinder and gentler" form, in the even more successful
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
As relentless as the taciturn titular villain, The Terminator (1984) established
James Cameron as a master of action, special effects, and quasi-mythic narrative intrigue, while turning
Arnold Schwarzenegger into the hard-body star of the 1980s. With a budget well under $10 million, Cameron created a dystopic, trashed future world ruled by sinister robots, before returning to a darkly ominous 1984 Los Angeles where Schwarzenegger's leather-clad cyborg fits right in. Like the adversaries in
Alien (1979) and
Blade Runner (1982), the Terminator, with his computer matrix vision, embodied 1980s technological anxiety, an implacable, human-looking assassin engineered by machines and empowered through nuclear holocaust. Schwarzenegger's pumped-up physical presence, sparse dialogue, and "I'll be back" slyness rendered him both terrifying and charismatic; as with
Sylvester Stallone, his body would become his signature special effect. With a time-bending romance to temper the perpetual violence, The Terminator became a sleeper hit, powering Cameron, Schwarzenegger, and producer/co-writer Gale Anne Hurd to the forefront of Hollywood action movies. As Schwarzenegger's image softened by the late 1980s, Cameron resurrected him as a "kinder, gentler" Terminator in the blockbuster sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991).