I thought it was pretty cool how The Terminator premiered in the same year as another slasher film, A Nightmare on Elm Street. However, that movie is supernatural horror while this is science fiction horror. In The Terminator, the plot is always on the move - just like the main characters trying to get away from the T-800. Kyle Reese told Sarah Connor all she needs to know about the future he is from and the Terminator while he is driving her away from the Terminator. Arnold Schwarzenegger was worried that playing a villain would be terrible for his acting career, but he turned out to like playing the bad guy for once and he had the right body to play a strong robot who looked like a human. However, his one condition for James Cameron getting him back for Terminator 2 was that his T-800 character would become the hero protecting Sarah Connor from a new Terminator villain. In the 1-hour "Other Voices" documentary from the The Terminator DVD, I learned that Linda Hamilton really broke her ankle during filming, which meant all of her running scenes were filmed late in the schedule, and that made the peril of those moments feel even more real to me when I know why Sarah was having a hard time running away from a huge truck and carrying Kyle Reese at the same time.
Review of The Terminator
The Terminator
(1984)
A very fun romp through chase scenes by an evil robot from the future.
28 October 2021