Trevor Week Five

Although The Terminator is a film classic, I had never actually seen it until last Thursday. In my opinion, the movie definitely lives up to the praise. It’s no wonder I had always heard my dad saying “I’ll be back” and “come with me if you want to live” as I was growing up. I personally found the viewing experience to be really enjoyable. I didn’t think there was a single wasted minute, but I guess that’s necessary if you only have 108 minutes to work with. Having been released in the 80’s, produced with a low budget, and containing a plot dealing with the intricacies of time-travel, the movie is sure to have some flaws and plot-holes, but I would have to say James Cameron does pretty damn well for what he’s working with.

Although it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the film, I think other viewers may be upset about the lack of high-quality special effects within the movie. For example, when the Terminator removes his eye in the mirror, it’s very obvious that they’re using a prosthetic head. Also, the stop-motion animation of the Terminator near the end of the film is a little jerky. I personally feel that the use of practical effects to achieve these scenes on screen is pretty cool, but others may expect better effects after watching the beautiful CGI of modern movies.

Content-wise, I think many viewers would possibly want the romantic tension between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese to be more fleshed-out, as it is only really given 5-10 minutes to develop. Viewers could also be left wanting a more in-depth explanation on the origins of Skynet and want to be given the answers to some of the time-travel-related questions. It is not explained at all in the film how Kyle Reese was alive during the war fighting alongside John Connor even though he’s John’s father, who apparently “died before the war started”. These issues take a backseat during the film while chase scenes, explosions, and cool fight sequences take the spotlight, and this could definitely pose a problem for viewers who are more used to the traditional structure of a Hollywood film.