The Terminator

Did You Know?

• Arnold Schwarzenegger was originally approached by Orion for the role of Kyle Reese, but agreed to play the Terminator after befriending James Cameron.
• The film's special effects included miniatures and stop-motion animation.
• The Terminator grossed $4.0 million in its opening week at 1,005 theaters, remaining number one for two weeks.

Plot

In 1984 Los Angeles, a muscular man appears naked in an alley with electrical flashes and beats up some punks for their clothes. A scarred man later arrives in the same way and avoids the police. The first man steals guns from a shop, finds addresses for women named Sarah Connor, and starts killing them. A waitress named Sarah Connor watches news about the murders and spots the scarred man tailing her.

She hides in a nightclub, where the first man murders her roommate Ginger and Ginger's boyfriend. He follows her to the club, and the scarred man shoots at him. After a shootout, the scarred man drives off with Sarah in a stolen car, while the first man chases them on foot and in a police car. The scarred man says he is Sergeant Reese and explains the other is a Terminator, a cyborg killer from the future, and that he is also from the future to guard her.

Hiding in a garage, Reese says Skynet, a computer network built by Cyberdyne Systems, will become self-aware and start a nuclear war. He grew up in the ruins as machines herded survivors into camps, where Sarah's future son John would lead a rebellion. Just before the resistance won in 2029, Skynet sent the Terminator back to kill Sarah and stop John's birth. The Terminator finds them; Reese wounds it with a shot to the eye.

It crashes and vanishes as police arrest Sarah and Reese. Sarah learns of Ginger's murder while Reese is questioned by a skeptical psychologist. The Terminator returns to a hotel and fixes itself. After the psychologist leaves, the Terminator storms the police station, killing many officers.

Reese and Sarah escape in another car and reach safety. The next morning, they hide in a motel, make pipe bombs, and plan. Reese admits he loved Sarah from a photo John gave him and came back for love. Realizing Reese is John's father, Sarah returns his feelings, and they conceive their son.

Production

James Cameron conceived the premise from a fever dream during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning, in which he saw a metallic torso dragging itself from an explosion. Inspired by John Carpenter's low-budget Halloween, Cameron used the dream as a launching pad for a slasher-style film. His agent disliked the concept, and Cameron dismissed him. He wrote the draft at the home of Randall Frakes in Pomona, California.

Influences included 1950s science fiction films, The Outer Limits, The Driver, and Mad Max 2. Cameron enlisted Bill Wisher to help translate the draft into a script; Wisher wrote scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department. The initial outline involved two Terminators, including a liquid-metal one, but Cameron shelved that idea due to technological limitations. Gale Anne Hurd, a former assistant to Roger Corman, showed interest.

Cameron sold the rights to Hurd for one dollar on the condition she produce it only if he directed. Hurd suggested edits and took a screenwriting credit, though Cameron said she did no actual writing. Orion Pictures agreed to distribute if Cameron found financial backing. John Daly and Derek Gibson of Hemdale Film Corporation became executive producers and set up financing and production.

Filming took place mostly at night in Los Angeles and was delayed by Schwarzenegger's commitments to Conan the Destroyer, during which Cameron worked on scripts for Rambo: First Blood Part II and Aliens. Special effects were created by a team led by Stan Winston and Gene Warren Jr.

Critical response

Contemporary critical responses were mixed. Variety praised the film as a 'blazing, cinematic comic book' with virtuoso moviemaking and a compelling story, noting Schwarzenegger was perfectly cast. Richard Corliss of Time said it had 'plenty of tech-noir savvy' and placed it on the magazine's '10 Best' list for 1984. The Los Angeles Times called it a 'crackling thriller' with gory treats and clever special effects.

The Milwaukee Journal gave it three stars, calling it 'the most chilling science fiction thriller since Alien'. Orange Coast magazine highlighted its relentless tension and compared it to a streamlined Dirty Harry movie. Cinefantastique referred to it as derivative yet original, with exuberant carnage, and predicted Cameron would become sought-after. The Monthly Film Bulletin praised the script, special effects, design, and Schwarzenegger's performance.

Colin Greenland, writing for Imagine, called it a gripping sf horror movie and commended Linda Hamilton's performance as a woman discovering her strength.

Post-release

Writer Harlan Ellison stated he loved the film but believed the screenplay was based on his short story 'Soldier from Tomorrow' and an Outer Limits episode 'Soldier' he had written. He threatened to sue for infringement. Orion settled in 1986, giving Ellison an undisclosed amount and adding an acknowledgment credit to later prints. Ellison explicitly stated the film was a ripoff of 'Soldier' rather than of another Outer Limits episode, 'Demon with a Glass Hand'.

Cameron was against the settlement but agreed, saying he had no choice and that a gag order prevented him from telling the story. Psychoanalyst Darian Leader sees the film as an example of cinema dealing with masculinity. The Terminator explores the dangers of AI dominance and rebellion, with robots becoming self-aware and rejecting human authority. The Terminator robot has become a prevalent visual representation of AI risk.

The film features a time travel paradox called the 'predestination' or 'bootstrap' paradox, and while rarely considered a horror film, it uses slasher-film iconography such as an unstoppable villain and a final girl archetype.