'The Terminator' (1984): Nihilism goes mainstream

The 1985 issue of Cinefantastique brilliantly described The Terminator as "both derivative and original at the same time." The movie owes a tremendous debt to some of the films that preceded it. There's Westworld (1973), featuring robot run amok at a theme park (it later inspired the 'Itchy and Scratchy Land' episode of The Simpsons). It borrowed the silent, indestructible killer from Halloween (1978). And it features a bleak futuristic wasteland straight out of Mad Max (1979).

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Yet the movie stands on its own because of its audacious concept and its almost gleeful nihilistic spirit. It ushered in an era of the 'dark' mainstream blockbuster. It has a cold, viciousness that would never be welcome in a Spielberg or Lucas spectacle of its time. It provided a blueprint for the Christopher Nolans to come.

Like Alien (1979) it is essentially a B-movie with top-notch production values and it has a refreshing self-awareness that keeps it from ever feeling too trivial or unintentionally funny.

In fact, one of the things I love about the original is how few jokes there are in it. Schwarzenegger deadpan is always better than when he's trying to be funny.

The sequel squanders perfection with unforgivable moments like the Terminator quipping "I need a vacation." In the original incarnation he barely speaks and when he does it's only because it's absolutely necessary.

Revisiting the movie again, 30 years later, I find myself wishing Schwarzenegger had played more villains in his career (let's all collectively try to forget/not count Batman & Robin (1997)), because he is so terrific in this and he could be a truly scary presence in a film if he wanted to, even in his advanced age.

Michael Biehn

Also, in a just world Michael Biehn should have been a movie star. He has a really hard part in this film, with a lot of exposition dialogue, and he pulls it off with heroic charisma and even some truly romantic appeal. The scene where he reveals that he fell in love with Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton) based on her photo is genuinely touching.

 "I came across time for you Sarah." -- C'mon, what a line!

With this and Aliens (1986) he had a nice little run going. I was happy to see that Robert Rodriguez paid homage to this 80s mainstay by giving him a prominent part in his love letter to the creature-feature genre, Planet Terror (2007).

Sure, some of the effects don't hold up great but considering the budget constraints of the production the movie looks and still plays great after all these years. James Cameron still provokes eye rolls from me, but he will always get my respect for having launched one of my all-time favorite franchises.