Eva Week Five

I personally feel like The Terminator is, although simple, a movie of complete plot and character development. The movie successfully implies its bleak vision of human future by inserting fragments about the hardship in the future life; at the same time, it exhibits a smooth progress in the relationship between Sarah and Kyle, making it easy for viewers to see them being a across-time couple in the second half of the movie.

However, some viewers might still argue that the movie lacks depiction of the future world. In 2019, we have seen enough future-predicting movies that it is no longer difficult to imagine a future nuclear war or a utopian/distopian future world dominated by undefeated power holders. In 1984, however, when the movie first came out, many viewers might have only seen star wars, so the post-nuclear war generation being watched by emotionless human-shape robots could just be as intriguing as the plot itself. Some viewers would therefore wish that the movie provided shots on the future governors, the future city, and even the robot manufacture scenes.

It is also possible for people to feel as if the plot, especially the romantic part of it, is too simple. “A woman falls in love for her savior, who died in the end.” For people who always look for some intriguing love stories in all movies, this might be the most underdeveloped story line. Before the couple had shown enough tenderness on screen, one of them is six-feet under. Since Sarah’s transformation is fueled by her experience with Kyle, this might contribute to a feeling of insufficient foreshadowing for Sarah’s transformation into a strong woman, who, in the closing scene, pregnant, alone, but still determined to drives toward whatever future that awaits.