The Terminator (1984)

Director:

James Cameron

Writers:

James Cameron (written by) &
Gale Anne Hurd (written by) ...

Release Date:

26 October 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created 'THE TERMINATOR'

Plot:

A human-looking, apparently unstoppable cyborg is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor; Kyle Reese is sent to stop it.

Plot Keywords:

Altering History | Violent Movie | Man Versus Machine | Car Chase | Dystopian

Awards:

4 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Terminator (USA) (trailer title)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Malaysia:U | UK:18 (1985-2000) | Finland:K-16 (1991) (cut) | Ireland:15 (re-rating) (2007) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2001) | South Korea:18 | Finland:K-18 (1991) (cut) | Italy:T (re-rating) (1991) | New Zealand:M | Italy:VM14 (original rating) (1984) | Iceland:16 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Ireland:18 (1985-2006) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1984) | Finland:K-15 (uncut DVD version) | Finland:K-16 (1998) (uncut) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta) (re-rating) (1999) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Japan:R-15 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Poland:15 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 (cut) | West Germany:18 (uncut version) (JK/SPIO) | Netherlands:16 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

2nd Street Tunnel between Hill and Figueroa, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hemdale Film

Trivia:

The "fog" in the scene after Sarah and Reese leave the bridge where they spent the night is actually bug spray, due to the big "fly scare" in the filming location at that time. The crew was going to wait until the spray dissipated, but decided to use it as fog for the effect instead. This is revealed in a DVD easter egg, which can be found by pressing the right arrow in the languages section until the square on the right is lit up.

Goofs:

When Reese tosses the third pipe bomb, we can see that the pick-up and motorcycle are almost at the end of the tunnel. But when Reese tosses the fourth bomb, the two vehicles still have a long way to go. After the fourth bomb explodes, the truck and motorcycle have cleared the tunnel.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[the garbage truck's engine stops]
Truck Driver: What the hell? Goddamn son of a bitch...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Will & Grace: Big Brother Is Coming: Part 1 (#1.14)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Intimacy

Review of the Special Edition DVD

I've reviewed this classic movie before, but now I'm gonna review the DVD. To start, I must say that although they had their rationale for deleting the "terminated" scenes, as they were called, I think they definitely should have left that one scene in where Sarah Connor calls her mom and tells her to hide in the cabin, and where she finds the listing of Cyberdyne Corp. in the phone book. This scene established Sarah as one who is willing to try to take matters into her hands to stop a nuclear war and a horrible future. She talks to Reese about getting rid of Cyberdyne and they get into an arguement about whether or not that is a mission objective and Reese ends up chasing Sarah into a wooded area. I think the beauty of the woods, flowers and waterfalls was important too, because Reese starts crying and saying how all of this is destroyed, and the future is nothing but blackened, charred ruins littered with the skulls of attempted human genocide. What a terrific, powerful scene. I adore Michael Biehn, and I didn't realize what a great actor (and crier) he is!!! Maybe the other "terminated" scenes were okay to delete, although they were all delightful. The one where Sarah practices her "wholesome waitress" routine was cute. The one where she talks about Disneyland and hot dogs might have seemed silly, but it really brought home how foreign our world is to Reese, as did the crying scene. The tickling scene might have seemed silly to the editor, but I thought it really made a point: after all the violence and bleakness Reese lived through, to be with the woman he's always loved and idolized, to lay in a cozy warm bed with her experiencing the simple joys of life for the first time (I still wonder if Sarah devirginized him, since he said he'd "never" had any special someone in his life) seemed to bring everything into perspective. The scene where you discover that the factory was Cyberdyne Systems was important too, but I'll let these scenes slide. I really think they should consider releasing a TERMINATOR with the scene in the wooded area included. Nevertheless, I still consider this film as one of my favorite sci-fi films, and my favorite James Cameron film. I still admire who he infuses humanity with action and adrenaline, and the missing scenes were wonderful.