Cinemablography@gmail.com
Cinemablography
  • Home
  • About
  • Journal
    • Existentialism in Film >
      • The Existential Philosophy of Melancholia
      • The Philosophy of Camus in The Dead Don't Die
      • The Existentialist Subtext of Dear Evan Hansen
      • An Existentialist Reading of "The Turin Horse"
    • A Woman's Perspective: Gender, and Identity in the Romanian New Wave
    • Film Theory Issue 1
    • Film Theory Issue 2
    • Science Fiction
    • Science Fiction Issue 2
    • Pan's Labyrinth
    • Kathryn Bigelow >
      • Opening Scene
      • Supermarket Scene
      • Round Table Discussion
  • Blog
  • Articles by Category
  • Contributors
  • Videographic Essays
  • Our Work
    • Links

The 30th Anniversary of The Terminator

10/30/2014

0 Comments

 
By Scott Orris
Picture
Picture
               





        
                "I’ll be back, "claims Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 in James Cameron’s 1984 film The Terminator 
and indeed thirty years later the film is as iconic as ever.  With the 67 year old Schwarzenegger set to star in next summer’s Terminator: Genisys (Hale, 2015), the iconic cyborg will again don his sunglasses in the newest addition in the series.  At the 30th Anniversary showing of the film at LA’s Egyptian Theater, Cameron explained how Arnold’s 67 year old physique will make sense in the context of the film,
“I pointed out that the outer covering (of the Terminator) was actually not synthetic, that it was organic and therefore could age. You could theoretically have a Terminator that was sent back in time, missed his target, and ended up just kind of living on in society. Because he is a learning computer and has a brain as a central processor he could actually become more human as he went along without getting discovered" (Yamato, "Terminator's James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd: Hasta La Vista to "Fear Based" Studio Filmmaking").” 
             But why has The Terminator film itself endured despite the original film’s miniscule budget of only 6.5 million dollars (French 7)?  I believe the original film’s themes are relevant due to the context in which the film was made.  Coming out in the midst of the cyberpunk movement in the early 1980’s, the film’s dark noir type atmosphere, and action, are coupled with a cautionary message on the dangers of technology.  The T-800 character still represents this chiseled form of mechanical perfection, yet still possesses the flesh of a human.  Schwarzenegger was an Austrian body builder who was relatively new to acting, and actually the financer's pick for the role of the film’s protagonist Kyle Reese ( Keegan, "Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese?! James Cameron on Terminator casting").  It was actually Cameron, who asked if he could play the role of the terminator (Keegan, "Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese?! James Cameron on Terminator casting").  
            In our currently tech driven world of drones, and, the film’s warnings about what could happen if we allow technology to progress faster than we're able to control it, remains just as relevant today.  Chosen by the Library of Congress National Film register as being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” the film will forever remain relevant in this fast paced tech driven world.

Works Cited:

French, Sean. The Terminator. London: British Film Institute, 1996. Print.

Keegan, Rebecca. "Schwarzenegger as Kyle Reese?! James Cameron on 'Terminator' Casting." Hero Complex Movies Comics Pop Culture Los Angeles Times. Hero Complex, 12 June 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.


Terminator. By James Cameron and Brad Fiedel. Perf. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1984. DVD.

Yamato, Jen. "‘Terminator’s James Cameron & Gale Anne Hurd: Hasta La Vista To “Fear-Based” Studio Filmmaking." Deadline
. Deadline, 18 Oct. 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2014.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.