Los Angeles in 2029 is depleted.
A cyborg is sent back through time to L.A. in 1984 to eliminate Sarah Connor, who will become the mother of the leader of the freedom fighters in the future.
This cyborg looks human, and he disposes everyone who gets in the way. Which is pretty much everyone.
Kyle Reese, a human soldier, does the time travel as well to try and save her. He explains that where he came from, a nuclear war was waged by computers against the human race. It is his mission to ensure John Connor is born. He has no idea how big the role he is playing.
An action movie, science fiction and also a love story, this movie has terrific action and set pieces, smart and stylish. The Terminator remains one of the most formidable villains ever, one of the crowning accomplishments of Stan Winston. Many of the special effects now look dated, but they are still amazing: products of stop-motion animation and techniques before there was computer-generated imagery. Animatronics, models, miniatures and matte paintings.
Adam Greenberg's photography and Brad Fiedel's score help complete tech noir.
It is easy to underestimate James Cameron's achievement, especially because time has passed.
At the time, Arnold had yet to earn his box office legs, and Cameron's own Piranha II: The Spawning did not hold promise for him.
The story itself courts turkey territory.
It was not a blockbuster when it was released in theaters, but it was a success in videotape and pay cable.
One of the conceits of the movie is how it used Arnold's features to great effect: the build, the accent, the facial expression all point to the anticipation of- uhm, robotic acting- but here, it is all perfectly fine. He spouts monosyllables and short phrases, no more than 15 lines, and he gets to convey malevolence.
Another is how Cameron has found a neat excuse for brief nudity: the time displacement machine.
Cameron has brought it all together. (Like the Terminator itself, Cameron is exacting and relentless. Legend has it that people who worked under him wore T-shirts that said: "You can't scare me. I work for James Cameron.")
And he likes putting them leading ladies through the wringer. He likes pitting them against big monsters: Here, a murderous machine that's virtually unstoppable. In Aliens, a mother predator, and in Titanic, a sinking ship with all its social conventions.
What does it say about him?
No comments:
Post a Comment