THE TERMINATOR
A film review by Jun Yan
Copyright 1997 Jun Yan
Writer: James Cameron with Gale Ann Hurd Director: James Cameron Producer: Gale Ann Hurd Actors: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwartzennegger, Michael Beihn
One of the most popular films of all time, "The Terminator" is does not look too old for being made in 1984 except for Linda Hamilton's funky haircut. After watching it for the 6th or 7th time today, I feel it deserves a review.
Sarah Connor is just a waitress living in Los Angeles who cannot be more ordinary. She has the same problem everyone else has in this world. Then why would a ruthless killing machine from the future -- the terminator, go through every imaginable trouble just to exectute, or terminate, her? And why would another man who claims to be a soldier from the same place as the terminator, give up his own life just to protect her? Soon we learn that the future is doomed and the only hope for mankind, John Connor, is the unconceived, unborn child of Sarah. So the race is on between Kyle Reece, seagent of the underground army led by John Connor in the war against the evil machines and computers, and T101, played by Arnold, the never quitting machine that would just not give up his assignment.
Unlike the more technically refined sequal T2, this original Terminator has the crude look of a smaller and more personal film. What still amazes me now is the enormous ability of Jim Cameron to mix strong emotions and mood with breath-taking action sequences. Repeatly, scenes are set to contrast the huge and oppressing image of machines and the fragile and desperate humans struggling for survival. He preys on our fear for the dominance of computers and machines and the feeling of alienation in a technological world. The idea is not terribly original, but he does it in a sincere and unpretentious way that is convincing.
What about this movie that pushes all the right buttons in me to make me jump? I think it's the sense of the end of the world, the sadness of the inevitability of the doomed future that one can fight but cannot change. As if one is told in absolute certainty the s/he is to die of this kind of death with no escape. And no matter how hard we try to avoid it and seem to succeed, we know deep down it's coming and unstopable. It's a primal fear in us for death, symbolically.
The writers and director stress the frailty of humans, both in Kyle Reece and Sarah Conor, in sharp contrast to the indestructable terminator -- you just can't kill it. The sight of the burnt down machine chasing Sarah in the factory is a nightmare that is as effective as any horror movie. The vulnerability in our main characters are both physical and emotional. That makes the audience identify with them and be repulsed by the might powerful machine. I am particularly fascinated by the writers' constructing of the psychological state of Reece, given an entirely imaginary world in which he grew up. It is just so darn rare for a thriller to even remotely *care* about its characters.
And the romance developed in the middle of all the intense car chase and gun blasts is, believe it or not, more heart-throbbing to me than most movies that try too hard to be romantic. Because we care about the couple and we follow them through their life-and-death journy, it's natural that they generate a tender feeling toward each other since the world is gonna end anyway. I hope this explains the big soft feeling stuck in my throat every time I watch the part where he said, "I came through time for you, Sarah. I love you, I always have."
A couple words on casting. I don't know who thought of casting Arnold as the terminator. His physical appearance fits perfectly in the role of a cold-blooded, undefeatable killing machine and came through as absolutely chilling and terrifying. I'm afraid this caused type-casting for Arnold to prevent him from his future comedies just like Rambo ruined Stallone's chance of doing Ellery Quinn. Michael Biehn, as much as I like him, is truly not very good at acting. However, he has the look of a desperate and damaged man, a man in pain and hurt, more emotionally than physically. Simply the look is enough. It's no surprise that Cameron later casted him as the psychotic villain in "The Abyss." Linda Hamilton, with her "lion"-style haircut, successfully leads us down the path of Sarah Connor's transformation. In the end, we are convinced that she is capable of being a "legend" mother. And all this makes her astonishing appearance in this sequal natural and less strange. It is interesting to see her evolve from screaming and being saved (which is not at all unnatural after building up her normal life) to fighting to save both herself and her lover in the final confrontation sequence.
I am a true believer in smaller and more personal movies. It's so ironic to see Jim Cameron going bigger and bigger while becoming less and less engaging and personal. Too much technology, the power of big corporations and alienation of human emotions and feelings are the things he condemned in both Terminator, yet I find him sliding down the same slope. "The Terminator" is probably the smallest, crudest, least perfect in special effects, yet it still is my very favorite.
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