The Terminator
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron. It features Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn.
The film takes place in 1984, introducing the concept of a "terminator", specifically the titular character (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a seemingly unstoppable cyborg assassin who has been sent back from the year 2029 by a race of artificially intelligent computer-controlled machines bent on the extermination of mankind. The Terminator's mission is to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) whose future son founds a resistance against the machines. A human, Kyle Reese, is also sent back from the future to protect her.
Actor
Role
Arnold Schwarzenegger The Terminator
Michael Biehn Kyle Reese
Linda
Hamilton Sarah Connor
Paul Winfield Lieutenant Ed Traxler
Lance Henriksen
Detective Hal Vukovich
Bess Motta Ginger Ventura
Earl Boen Dr. Peter Silberman
Rick Rossovich Matt Buchanan
Dick Miller Pawnshop Clerk
Shawn Schepps
Nancy
Bruce M. Kerner Desk Sergeant
Franco Columbu Future Terminator
Bill
Paxton Punk Leader
Brad Rearden Punk
Brian Thompson Punk
Plot
In
2029, machines control the world, bent on the extermination of mankind, and they
have sent back someone from the future to May 12, 1984. This mysterious musclebound
man begins to hunt all of the Sarah Connors in the phone book, successfully killing
two of the three listed. When he attempts to kill the last, he is stopped by another
time traveler, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), sent back to protect her. While hiding
in a parking garage, he explains to her that the man after her is actually a Terminator,
a cyborg assassin. These Terminators were invented by Skynet, an artificially
intelligent computer that, in the near future, takes over all military hardware
and launches a nuclear war against humanity. John Connor, Sarah's son, leads a
human resistance against the machines. In a last ditch effort, Skynet sent a Terminator
back in time to kill Sarah before John is born, preventing the resistance from
ever being founded, allowing the machines to win by default. John sends Reese
back in time to protect her, allowing him to be born.
Ground HK Tank
from the future warThe Terminator feels no pain, has no emotions and will stop
at nothing to accomplish its mission. Time travel can only send living tissue
back, preventing Reese from bringing any advanced weaponry, and 20th century small
arms are not enough to destroy the Terminator's hard metal skeleton. With its
disguise of real living tissue over the metal, it is indistinguishable from normal
humans, so no one will believe Reese's story.
After Kyle finishes his story, he and Sarah are attacked by the Terminator again, resulting in a chase that leads to their arrest. At the West Highland Police Station, Sarah is looked after by Lieutenant Ed Traxler (Paul Winfield) and Detective Hal Vukovich (Lance Henriksen) while Reese is questioned by a criminal psychologist, Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen). He concludes that Reese's story is a delusion, constructed in a such a way that it requires no evidence, preventing anyone from refuting it.
The Terminator arrives at the police station, uttering his catch phrase "I'll be back", before going on a rampage through the building, killing everyone it sees, including 17 police officers[1]. Reese manages to escape and rescue Sarah. They hide out in a motel, where Reese makes pipe bombs, teaching Sarah how to make the explosive from household supplies. Sarah asks Reese if she measures up to the stories about her and if he's ever been in love. While replying no to both questions, he confesses that he is in love with her. At first, Reese thinks he has made a fool of himself, but Sarah feels the same way, and they make love.
Later that night, the Terminator tracks them down and shoots Reese, wounding him. Sarah manages to knock the Terminator off its motorcycle, running over it. The Terminator commandeers a tanker truck and drives it at them. They use one of their last bombs to blow the truck, seeing the Terminator collapse in a burnt heap.
They believe that it has been destroyed, but its bare metal skeleton is still functional and pursues them into a factory. In the ensuing battle, Reese jams a pipe bomb into the Terminator's abdomen, blowing its legs off, but also killing himself. The Terminator, still partially functional, drags itself by its hands to pursue Sarah, until she finally crushes it in a machine press, destroying it.
The end of the film shows Sarah traveling in Mexico, several months pregnant. She records audio tapes which she intends to play to the child, John, at some point in his life. She reveals that Reese is John's father, conceiving him in their one night at the motel. While Sarah's gas tank is being filled, a young Mexican boy takes a picture of her, the same picture John will give to Reese in the future. Then Sarah pulls out of the gas station and drives into the distance where storms are approaching over the mountains. Thus the end credits start to roll as her jeep disappears.
Track listing
"The Terminator:
Theme" 4:30
"Terminator Arrival" 3:00
"Tunnel Chase"
2:50
"Love Scene" 1:15
"Future Remembered" 2:40
"Factory
Chase" 3:50
"You Can't Do That" (Tahnee Cain, Tryanglz) 3:25
"Burnin' in the Third Degree" (Tahnee Cain, Tryanglz) 3:38
"Pictures
of You" (Jay Ferguson, Sixteen Millimeter) 3:58
"Photoplay"
(Tahnee Cain, Tryanglz) 3:30
"Intimacy" (Linn VanHek) 3:40
Inspirations
James
Cameron states that the Terminator idea was originally his, and that it came to
him in a dream after becoming ill in Rome. However, several works that predate
his script bear some similarity. Some aspects of the story were sufficiently similar
to two episodes of the TV series The Outer Limits written by Harlan Ellison, "Soldier"
and "Demon with a Glass Hand", that Ellison pursued legal action against
Cameron. The two settled out of court, and Cameron acknowledged Ellison's work
in the film's credits. The concept of Skynet is similar to the evil intelligence
featured in Ellison's short story, "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream".[citation
needed]
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