“Terminator” and “Terminator II”: A Surprisingly small story gives rise to a giant franchise

• Director and writer James Cameron supposedly conceived this idea while writing the script, which was inspired by his own nightmares.
• But The Terminator doesn’t have the same atmosphere as Halloween or Friday the 13th.
• The Terminator’s narrative is likewise unassuming.

 I realized around halfway through the first time I watched The Terminator that I would effectively be watching a slashed movie if Arnold Schwarzenegger had a knife instead of a small armoury of weapons. Director and writer James Cameron supposedly conceived this idea while writing the script, which was inspired by his own nightmares. A list of victims who were stalked and slain one by one, the last heroine who was left alone to face the assault, and a lot of nighttime running—all of the necessary elements are present.

But The Terminator doesn’t have the same atmosphere as Halloween or Friday the 13th. Even as a monotone robot, Schwarzenegger has more personality than a killer in the mold of Michael Myers. The fact that Laurie Strode (Linda Hamilton) was in danger puts the threats against Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in a whole different perspective. Then there are all the shootouts, chases, and explosions—things you don’t see as frequently in conventional horror.

I anticipated a strong dose of activity. Additionally, I had a good idea of what the plot would include. Being the origin story of a series that has been heavily parodied and imitated, it would be difficult to avoid knowing something about Skynet’s annihilation of humanity in 2029, John Connor’s leadership of the resistance, the Terminator’s quest to kill Sarah in order to stop John from being born, and Kyle Reese’s (Michael Biehn) efforts to save her that ultimately led to John’s birth. What I wasn’t prepared for was how brief The Terminator is.

The Terminator was expected to be similarly expensive, sleek, and, quite frankly, self-important as Cameron’s subsequent work because it marks the start of such a massive franchise and because of the excesses of his prior movies. But the film is really understated. For a low-budget film of the era, it appears classy, but the effects show the film’s minimal resources.

The stop-motion utilized for the endoskeleton is choppy, the stop-motion used for the 2029 hells capes is obviously stop-motion on a small scale, and the puppets and animatronics used for the battle-damaged Terminator don’t cut well with Schwarzenegger and his make-up. It does, however, limit the scope of a film. This isn’t a complaint, since one of the great charms of practical effects on low-budget films like this is seeing artists and craftsmen come up with ways to convey an idea without too much photorealism.

The Terminator’s narrative is likewise unassuming. It somewhat reminds me of Highlander, another action movie from the 1980s that does a straightforward concept well and relies more on characters than narrative. There isn’t much discussion of the story’s broader relevance for humanity or the immense significance of Sarah’s position in history, with the exception of a few motivational speeches by Reese.

There are just two targets being sought, and Sarah undergoes a transformation along the way from a hapless schlub to an independent heroine, making the journey all the more enjoyable for not being overly explained in conversation. Although Reese is responsible for a big laugh I suspect was unintentional – the guy who claims “I don’t know tech stuff” spends half his dialogue rattling off specs on future gear – Biehn’s manic desperation as Reese injects a level of tension into the film that the lengthy action scenes occasionally threaten to undermine.

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