“I’d Die for John Connor”: Why We Shouldn’t Disregard 1984’s “The Terminator”
“You’ve never seen The Terminator?!” was a response typically heard when friends and I share details of popular movies we’ve never seen. Despite being such a huge fan of action cinema, I’d never seen any movie from the Terminator series, which to my friends, is almost a cardinal sin. The strangest part was that I never knew exactly why I’d never seen the sci-fi action flick, and so one late Saturday night in September, I took the dive and checked it out. And I never could have guessed that I’d be as fond of both The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day as I am after watching them. However, there’s a common sentiment that I see where typically, you watch the first Terminator movie, and then the sequel is so much more superior, that you forget that the first movie exists. While I love the explosive, shotgun-flipping action of the second movie, the first Terminator film offers something special that we shouldn’t forget.
What is The Terminator?
The Terminator is the first in a series of science-fiction action films created by acclaimed director James Cameron (Aliens, Titanic, Avatar). The series focuses on Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) and her role in the future war between autonomous machines, influenced by the sentient artificial intelligence Skynet, and the human resistance led by her son, John Connor. In order for Skynet to win the war on humans, they send back a cybernetic organism known as the “Terminator” (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) with the single mission to kill Sarah Connor, and by extension, John Connor. However, John Connor, aware of Skynet’s plans decides to send resistance soldier Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn) back in time to the year 1984 to protect Sarah Connor. Bullets fly and blood is spilled, as these two try to escape from the Terminator in the fight for the fate of humanity.
Why Should We Remember The Terminator?
As I said, the common sentiment happens to be that while the first Terminator film is still fantastic, the second movie overshadows the first and you forget about the first. While I agree that the second movie is more entertaining, the first offers a much more bleak, tense tone than the second. With plenty of action to spare, there’s a lot of moments of downtime in The Terminator in which the characters will delve into the lore of the war on humanity, which I still feel holds up, and delivers a strong message on the dangers of warfare technology and weaponizing computers. In these moments of downtime, we watch the characters grow and begin to understand the weight of their responsibilities, and the consequences of the future. This is all of course held together by an incredible dark synth soundtrack by Brad Fiedel, memorable performances by both Hamilton and Biehn, and of course, the iconic portrayal of the Terminator by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Again, while The Terminator is a classic in almost every sense of the word, I feel like we shouldn’t disregard it as inferior or something easily overshadowed, because at its cybernetic heart, it has a soul that most action films from the era don’t possess.
