Terminator Franchise Retrospective

A new ‘Terminator’ film is on the horizon in the form of ‘Terminator: Genisys’… and yes, that spelling of the subtitle is intentional. And the fact that I had to highlight that should give you an idea of the general apprehension of most film fans in regards to this upcoming film and some of the creative choices that have been made for it. Personally I’m looking forward to the film as I am a fan of the franchise and contrary to public opinion, I don’t think it looks bad at all. I even like the idea of the film going back to the story of the first film but doing a new take on it through the creation of an alternate universe a la the new ‘Star Trek’ films. But at the same time, I do recognize that this definitely is one of those films that could go either way. But there was recently a video released where the series’ original creator James Cameron stated that he enjoyed the film, stating that it is “extremely respectful of the first two movies”. So if James Cameron, the same guy who hasn’t been involved with the franchise for years and was critical of both of the previous two ‘Terminator’ sequels, says that this new film is good, then I think it’ll at least be solid and not the ‘disaster’ that most film fans on the internet are predicting it to be. Perhaps one of the reasons for this unease towards the film is the fact that the ‘Terminator’ franchise is one of those film franchises that has arguably gone on for longer than it needed to be.

It all started back in the early 80’s before James Cameron was known as the director of the two highest-grossing films of all time, ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’. Back then, his only major directing credit was for the 1981 B-movie ‘Piranha II: The Spawning’. Heck, he wasn’t even the original director of the film… and he was even fired by the producer just a few weeks into the shoot. But if there was anything good that came out of working on that film for Cameron, it is that during the film’s release, he had a nightmare about being chased by a metallic endoskeleton. This led him to develop the story of ‘The Terminator’, which was released in 1984. Produced for just $6.4 million, the film went on to become one of the most iconic sci-fi films of all time, followed by an equally successful and beloved sequel in 1991. The sequel ended up tying up all loose ends, resulting in what would’ve been a proper ending to the series… that is, until Hollywood decided to bring the franchise back, which it did in 2003 by retconning the ending of the second film so that the franchise could continue, hence why we are here today with the newest film set to come out in a few days. So today, in honor of the upcoming release, it’s time to look back upon the last four ‘Terminator’ films, the two from Cameron and the two that were produced without his input.

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

While all three of its sequels are firmly rooted in the sci-fi action genre, the first ‘Terminator’ actually goes down a different route. After all, as noted earlier, part of Cameron’s inspiration for the film basically came from a nightmare he had so as a result, the original ‘Terminator’ film is sort of a sci-fi horror film with its premise of a young woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) being chased by an unstoppable human-looking cyborg known as the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) with only Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier from the future, to protect her so that she can give birth to the future leader of the resistance, John Connor. This terrifying premise is executed perfectly not only in the writing but also through the film’s noir-like style with its darker-lit environments. All in all, this is one low-budget sci-fi film that uses its low-budget status to great effect. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast in what would become the most iconic role of his career and both Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn do excellent jobs as well. All in all, what James Cameron has since referred to as his ‘first film’ (not ‘Piranha II’) still stands as one of the absolute best films of the sci-fi genre, and it did it all with a minimal budget.

Rating: 5/5!

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (1991)

It’s rare when you have a sequel that’s not only as good as the original film, but is arguably the better film. Don’t get me wrong… the first ‘Terminator’ is still a fantastic film, no doubt about that. But at the end of the day, I do prefer the second film, which is much more action-based compared to the horror-like premise of the first film. ‘Judgement Day’ is basically the first film but with a budget that allows Cameron to go all out with the action sequences and effects. As such, the film’s action sequences are excellent and the visuals are quite impressive for the time as the film ended up being one of the pioneers of the use of CGI alongside films like ‘Jurassic Park’. But what really makes ‘Terminator 2’ stand out more so than its action and visuals is Cameron’s exceptional writing which adds plenty of layers to both the story and the characters. Cameron perfectly captures the paranoia of the impending doomsday, Judgement Day, through the eyes of the main characters; Sarah in how much she has changed since her first encounter with a Terminator and her drive to stop Judgement Day from happening, John in coming to terms with his destiny while facing the same situation his mother endured before (except in this case Robert Patrick’s T-1000 is arguably an even more intimidating antagonist than Arnold’s T-800 due to his more ‘unsuspecting’ nature), and so on. But amidst all of that, the film still manages to find moments of levity, namely through the father-son relationship between John and the T-800 that was programmed to protect him. And that is ultimately why ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’ is not only one of the best sequels of all time, but quite frankly also one of the best films of all time as it perfectly balances its action with its storytelling to produce a true cinematic masterpiece.

Rating: 5/5!

TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003)

‘Terminator 2’ ended on a pretty conclusive note. The Connors, with the help of the T-800, destroyed all traces of Skynet so that Judgement Day could be prevented. There was absolutely no way that the series could continue on after that, right? Well, Hollywood found a way, hence why in 2003, without any involvement whatsoever from James Cameron, ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ was released. It pulled a major retcon by establishing that the Connors’ efforts in ‘Terminator 2’ only postponed the inevitable doomsday. So with that in mind, you can probably tell that this film is obviously not as well-liked by fans as much as the first two films. But you know what? I actually think this film isn’t that bad; in fact, I’d say it’s quite underrated. Now again, let me be clear. This is easily one of the most unnecessary sequels of all-time. There was no need to continue this franchise after ‘Terminator 2’ because that film tied up pretty much every major loose end and this film instead goes against that by saying that no, that didn’t stop Judgement Day from happening… that and the film does not feature Sarah Connor, killing her off instead prior to the events of the film. This film also re-hashes the same plotline of the previous film (and technically speaking the first as well minus the fact that Kyle Reese was not a Terminator) of a Terminator being sent back in time to kill John Connor and a Guardian Terminator sent back as well to protect him.

But despite all of that, the film itself is still a pretty darn solid sci-fi action flick. The action sequences are still really solid, especially the highway chase where the Terminator crashes through buildings hanging onto a big hook. The humor is emphasized a bit more in this entry than the previous film but I didn’t mind that too much. Yes, I thought the scenes where the Terminator puts on silly glasses and tells a convenience store clerk to ‘talk to the hand’ were actually pretty funny moments. Of course, the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger to his iconic role of the Terminator is very much welcome. I’d also argue that Nick Stahl has been the best John Connor out of all of the actors who have been in the role so far. Sure he spends most of the film looking/acting depressed as hell but I think that actually works well with the character at this point in his life, forced to stay off the grid and haunted by the destiny that awaits him after Judgement Day. So at the end of the day, I actually really liked ‘Terminator 3’. Did it need to be made? No. In being made, did it go against the excellent ending of ‘Terminator 2’ with a shameless retcon that was the only way the series could even continue? Yes. But is it a ‘bad’ film? No, not at all. It is by no means the best entry of the series but it is still pretty darn entertaining and by no means as ‘terrible’ as some on the internet may put it out to be.

Rating: 4/5

TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009)

On a positive note, ‘Terminator Salvation’ is the first entry in the series that actually takes place during the future and does not rehash the same ‘Terminator hunting the Connors’ plotline of the first three films. But the downside? It’s easily the weakest of the first four ‘Terminator’ films. Ultimately this is one of those cases of ‘style over substance’. Director McG, to his credit, does a solid job with the action sequences even under that pesky PG-13 rating that drew red flags amongst hardcore fans even though it’s really not that big of a deal. But the writing on the other hand… is pretty darn weak. The overall story is fairly dull and despite being a ‘Terminator’ film, John Connor actually isn’t even the main character of the film. And while Christian Bale may be one of the best actors working today, the most memorable thing about his turn here in ‘Terminator’ was his infamous rant at cinematographer Shane Hurlbut and that’s about it. Instead, the main character of the film is Marcus Wright, a death row inmate who discovers that he has been turned into a ‘Terminator’. It may just be because Christian Bale’s turn as John Connor didn’t turn out so good, but Sam Worthington is actually one of the bright spots of the film as what is ultimately the more interesting character. Another major standout of the cast is Anton Yelchin as young Kyle Reese, as Yelchin does a great job in capturing the mannerisms of the character as portrayed by Michael Biehn in the original film. ‘Terminator Salvation’ is by no means a ‘terrible’ film but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily ‘great’ either. McG tried his best but lacked the good writing of the first two films. Ultimately though, ‘Terminator Salvation’ is a decent popcorn flick.

Rating: 2.5/5