SPLATTERdrome

Release Date: October 26th, 1984

Director: James Cameron

Screenwriter: James Cameron & Gale Anne Hurd

Genre: Science fiction

 

 

In many ways CGI has ruined live-action film making. Things may change as the industry advances but, between the early nineties and today, there was no easier way to date your movie than to use computer generated characters alongside real actors. You can see it in modern franchises such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and The Mummy films or go back to the stop-motion creations of earlier eras. These effects do not stand up and hurt the product greatly over time.

 

I'm so very pleased that The Terminator was made before such technologies became fashionable. James Cameron and his production team outfitted this picture with impressively detailed models, puppets, and other visual effects which have enabled it to remain relevant for new generations of viewers. Watching this film again I was most struck by how good these elements still look and, were it not for some regrettable fashions of the time cropping up, The Terminator would be essentially timeless (as much as a film about time travel and artificial intelligence can be).

 

The worst thing about the movie is how often it leans on long bouts of exposition to explain the backstory. The best thing about the movie is, well, everything else. In order to adequately praise the film I must be sophomoric for a moment; The Terminator is just awesome. It's the rare action film which thrills without being over-the-top and displays the gritty cinematography normally associated with lower budget projects. It's also unusual when the villain gets top billing, this likely attracted horror fans who, to various degrees, tend to root for the bad guy. 

 

I've always enjoyed The Terminator much more than its bombastic first sequel T2: Judgment Day although the latter tends to garner more attention. The ominous soundtrack fills you with dread and the grim aesthetic feels more authentically science fiction to me than anything that came after. When dealing with human extinction and an impending armageddon scenario I feel it's best to keep pop music out of it (talking to you, Guns N' Roses).