Madison Week Five

The Terminator, a classic and well-known movie, prized for its engaging futuristic story line and suspenseful action sequences, is an excellent movie when considering just that. However, when taking into account finer elements of the plot, such as underdeveloped characters including Kyle Reese and lack of antagonist motive other than computer programming, The Terminator presents a film that leaves the audience craving deeper character connection.

The first quarter of the movie included a great buildup of suspense and plot, setting up the other ¾ of the movie for great emotional and plot payoff. However, when Kyle reveals the reasoning behind why he volunteered to save Sarah, the character progression comes to a halt. One of the central reasons why the characters are weaker than other successful films are because the character building in The Terminator stems mostly from dialogue and not action. Like the popular saying goes: “actions speak louder than words”. When Kyle confesses his love for Sarah Connor, Sarah seems neither taken aback nor put off. Instead, the (new) couple proceeds to create the son who is the reasoning for Sarah’s kill order. This not only stunts the character growth of Kyle Reese but also reinforces the bleak and dull view of life that The Terminator reflects. Sarah’s immediate action and movements toward Kyle highlight a strain of desperate sadness and what looks like an attempt to grasp whatever reflection of love and connection she can attain. Similarly, the flickering shadows and low lighting of the scene serve to highlight the impending doom and darkness that shrouds Sarah and Kyle’s relationship. While the filmmakers of The Terminator did reflect Kyle’s affirmations of love in the scene shortly after, the lack of action taken previous to Kyle’s words minimize the potential impact this scene (among many others) could have had.