The Terminator

James Cameron’s motion picture directorial debut, The Terminator continues to define the action/sci-fi genre thanks to all that the production crew exploited using their minimal resources. Even nearly forty years after its release, it’s incredible to see the different techniques used to make the near-invincible T-800 scarier than anything from a horror movie, right down to the shark-like way he prowls around in search of Sarah Connor. These techniques included the human-lookalike mechanics that were built to resemble Arnold Schwarzenegger’s head, which even then weren’t as ambitious as this one brief shot where the Terminator’s hand punches through a windshield; that was actually the first time a mechanical arm was used for a stunt like this. Furthermore, the elaborate Terminator endoskeleton puppet took almost a year to create.

​​To make the production requirements even more stressful, there were numerous miniature sets that had to be built, and for the future scenes, those miniatures had to include smoke on the set so the cutouts in the back couldn’t be as noticeable. It’s wild to think of how much was done to really test the limits of the budget, even the night scenes were immense leaps of bravery for the production crew! Yet it all paid off, as had they not done all this under James Cameron’s direction, other creators of action/sci-fi movies today wouldn’t be as brave to attempt going all out with a minimal budget.

R (DLSNV)
Sci-fi/Action
1 hr. 47 min.

Watch it for FUN.
Watch it to feel HAPPY and AFRAID.