The Terminator

"I'll be back!" - The Terminator

"I'll be back"

For those of you who are fans of sci-fi movies, particularly The Terminator series of movies, I decided some are better than others. I just watched the most recent Terminator film from 2019 on Netflix, Terminator Dark Fate. It got me thinking about how I became such a big fan of the very first “The Terminator”.

The Terminator, 1984

Going to the movies back in the 1980s on a weekend, for us as a young couple with children, was a bit of a treat. Back then there were several movie theatres in Queen Street, Auckland. You either walked up down Queen Street sussing what was available or did the easy thing and read the classifieds. I remember that night, we found our seats and pulled out our Chinese takeaway, a no, no, at any time. Terminator looked just as interesting as any other film. Without any preconceptions or any idea of what it was all about, we bought tickets and went in.

Stunned

From beginning to end I was in awe. The scene where the Terminator first arrives in an explosion of energy, stark naked, was incredibly stunning to me. The impression stuck with me all these years. Added to that scene, was the power Arnold Schwarzenegger's portrayal as a threatening Terminator was just awesome. "Your clothes. Give them to me. Now," Arnold’s Austrian accent enhanced the threat as he easily relieved the young punks of their clothing.

To me, in the sequel Terminator 2 Judgement Day, the scene where Arnold’s Terminator in the pool hall relieved the biker of his leathers, was equally as impressive a scene as in the original The Terminator.

Box Office

All six Terminator movies were box office successes in tickets sold. Terminator 2 with sales of $520.9 million was the most successful of them all. The Terminator, released 1984, had a budget of $6.4 million was still a huge box office success with $78.3 million in sales. Stunning outcome for a movie that started as a dream by director James Cameron.

Terminator Dark Fate

After Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines, I lost some enthusiasm and enjoyment for the following sequels. Terminator 3 was ok as a movie but to me it lacked a spark, something indeterminant, that was captured in Terminator1 and Terminator 2. Finding Dark Fate was a small blessing. The involvement of James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd and David Ellison as producers in Dark Fate captured the originality and spark of the first two Terminator movies. Including Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the cast with a creative storyline, brought back the emotions I felt while watching Terminator 1.

If this is the last Terminator movie involving James Cameron, it is a fitting send off.