The Terminator: Revisiting the Movie That Made Schwarzenegger An Icon

there's one line that will forever go down in movie history as one of the most iconic moments of dialogue ever and it was almost never to be I don't like sand it's co no not little Anakin sand bashing something a touch more memorable than that I'll be back while filming the 1984 sci-fi SL action slh horror classic the Terminator director James Cameron had initially written the line for Arnold swarzenegger as I'll come back however as seen in the recent Netflix documentary series on the Austrian o Arie and Cameron had a heated Clash over the line Schwarzenegger hadn't said the line correctly so Cameron suggested he just say the now iconic I'll be back instead leading Arie to question the director's writing and getting a suitably pissed off response in return this is just one example of how the Terminator not only became one of the most Beloved movie franchises in Hollywood history well it is if you stop at part two that is but that's a story for another video it also launched the career of an actor who up until its release had been an enormously successful bodybuilder with roles in smaller features plus an awesome turn as Corin the Barbarian in the John milus Epic from 1982 so get yourselves glammed up for a night at Tech Noir as we head out to party with the Terminator here on visited come with me if you want to live so unnecessary the air 1984 is much beloved by movie fans for many reasons it gave a snarky cops with an attitude horror icons with inventive weapons adorably fluffy pets who multiply in water and were still become a leving little bastards when fed after midnight plus countless other movie gems small around prepare to meet KH in Hell the 80s is an era much mimicked and drawn upon for not just film studios to suck the blood out of franchises wherever possible but also to look back up with fresh eyes once in a while and eyes don't come more fresh than one that's just been plucked from the skull of a T800 in a motel bathroom by the way how great does the VFX look in that scene still yeah it's dated but [ __ ] like that is what makes movies feel alive and also come to life you know what i' take a rubber looking on head or even a stop motion Ed 209 over a DH Indiana Jones any day of the week how about new the initial concept for the Terminator came from a somewhat unusual incident director James Cameron had fallen ill and during what must have been one hell of a messed up fever dream he envisioned a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion this along with his inspiration from John Carpenter's Halloween was the launch inat for Cameron to write the movie we now all know and adore as well as a seminal Halloween from 1978 Cameron also Drew inspiration from the 1960s fantasy TV series The Outer Limits plus Walter Hills the driver and the post-apocalyptic dystopian classic Mad Max 2 the initial concept of the script had two Terminators being sent to the past to kill the unfortunate but ultimate badass Sarah Conor plus all other Sarah Connors in the area of course however ceron didn't think he could successfully visualize the second Terminator which was to be made of liquid metal and was more or less indestructible as we all know that idea did eventually come to fruition but that's a story for our next episode what the [ __ ] is it what the [ __ ] is going on with almost everything in place for the project to be green lit all camera needed was to secure sufficient Financial backing that would see his ambitious Vision come to robotic life and in what was probably a slightly desperate and uncharacteristic move Cameron sold the rights for the Terminator to produce a gale and herd for the measly sum of one whole American dollar that's right just a solitary dollar with the all important caveat being that Cameron would be guaranteed to direct it after some negotiations oryan pictures agree to distribute the movie if Cameron could Source Financial backin elsewhere chairman and president of hemdale film Corporation John Daly picked up the script and became executive producer on the project Cameron still needed to pitch his film daily and his partners and in an amusing anecdote he enlisted his friend and future aliens robot Bishop Lance henriksson to help out the actor dawned the full Terminator costume leather jacket scars on his face gold foil on his teeth the whole works and bir through the office door before sitting menacingly in a chair the ACT worked and daily agreed to help fin the film with backing from HBO and Orion Not only was the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Relentless cyborg in The Terminator inspired it was also somewhat fortuitous and also the first time an initially reluctant Schwarzenegger would play a villain the Studio's first choice for the role of the Terminator was former NFL star OJ Simpson however the movie's producers weren't convinced stating that they couldn't see Simpson as quote unquote a killing machine Mike medow the co-founder of Orion pitches had Whitted down the cast to have OJ Simpson play in The Terminator and Arie as resistance fighter Kyle ree it wasn't until director James Carman sat down to meet with Schwarzenegger that he started to realize that not only did Simpson and the Austrian Oak not go together at all but the Ary may actually be the better fit for the Relentless cyborg plus it also transpired that nobody at Ryan pictures were now convinced that OJ Simpson was the right fit for the character since the movie's release Cameron has gone on record to reveal the process behind the ultimate decision to cast on in the r saying that cast an Arnold Schwarzenegger as our Terminator shouldn't have worked the guy is supposed to be an infiltration unit and there's no way you wouldn't spot a Terminator in a crowd instantly if they all look like Arnold it made no sense whatsoever but the beauty of movies is that they don't have to be logical they just have to have plausibility if there's a visceral cinematic happening that the audience likes they don't care if it goes against what's likely looking back on the movie and of course you can't imagine anybody else playing the Terminator especially OJ Simpson or even Sylvester Stallone or Mel Gibson who also allegedly turned down the role on took some convincing by camera to take on the pot but after some lengthy conversations the actors started to say that the role was the perfect vehicle to further launch his career into the stratosphere alongside Arie in the movie is a cast Whose talents Elevate the high High concept film almost as much as Schwarzenegger does for the role of Kyle ree who travels back in time to thow the Terminators plan to bump off poor Sarah Connor the studio met with an Eclectic mix of talent one intriguing example who is in the frame to play Reese was singer and fellow Jordy sting who met with James Carman to discuss the part however despite the two getting together sting felt that Carman was too unknown as a director at the time and withdrew his interest in the role also in the running to play the time traveling were the likes of Matt Dylan Christopher reev Tommy Lee Jones Kurt Russell Scott Glenn and Bruce Springsteen however there was one actor that Cameron had his heart set on but he was initially reluctant Michael Bean the actor had aspirations to work with the likes of alcino and Robert dairo on more dramatic serious movies and felt that the terminator's concept was perhaps beneath him at this point of his career however after meeting with Cameron Bean soon changed his mind and the cast in the end was inspired most of the actors who came into audition for the role of Kyle ree were hard as Nails yet Bean brought just the correct level of warmth and toughness required at the beginning of the script Sarah Connor is described as 19 small and delicate features pretty and a flawed accessible way she doesn't stop the party when she walks in but you'd like to get to know her her vulnerable quality masks a strength even she doesn't know exists Lisa long had initially been cast to play but had to turn it down ultimately as she was already filming the slugger's wife the production then considered Melissa Sue Anderson Jenifer Jason Lee Jessica Harper Rosanna arette and Leah Thompson for the role before Cameron eventually cast Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor fresh from filming Children of the Corn Hamilton joined the project with just the right amount of naive vulnerability for the part that would ultimately see the character go from meek waitress to badass heroin over the course of the first two movies at least joining Ary bean and Connor as part of the principal cast members was Cameron's buddy Lance henriksson play a member of the LAPD as a way of saying thanks for Hendrickson's part in gaining funding for the movie also definitely worth mentioning is the great Bill Paxton who shows up in a small role at the beginning of the movie as one of the Punks on his Terminator terminates rewatching the Terminator for this retrospective what really stands out is just how much of a slasher the movie actually is I've seen the movie multiple times over the years and this aspect of it isn't a sudden Revelation but it's fascinating to look at the horror tropes on display Sarah Connor is the final girl on his Terminator evoking the same kind of Menace as Michael Myers in the late '70s a hulkin brute hellbent on completing his mission by wiping out numerous members of Los Angeles on the way this is just an example of how the Terminator easily fits into the horror genre especially with the unmasking of the villain towards the end of the movie it also explains perhaps why after the hugely successful Terminator 2 the franchise has faulted in terms of quality the blueprint for the first movie works perfectly and if the studio had been brave enough not to mess with it too much the later installments could have been a lot stronger I'll be back what the movie's plot follows a cyborg assassin known as a Terminator disguised as a human who travels from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor sent to protect Sarah is Bean Kyle ree who diverges the coming of Skynet an artificial intelligence system that will spark a nuclear Holocaust obviously the cops don't buy his seemingly deranged rants about the future War cyborgs Etc until they're all dispatch brutally Sarah is targeted because Skynet knows that her unborn son will lead the fight against them with a virtually Unstoppable Terminator in Hot Pursuit Sarah and Kyle attempt to escape but find that stopping the Relentless machine is almost impossible of course the most exciting and impressive element of the movie even today is AR's T800 the actor's bulging frame and physicality elevates the movie from a great concept to a blisteringly exciting experience naturally you can't imagine the movie without Anie which is why he's been rolled out for the later vastly inferior installments surely there's another kickass Terminator movie left in the franchise let us know your thoughts in the comments section is it dead in the water now or can it be resurrected alongside the impressive cast overall the movie also features some excellent V effects that were groundbreaking if difficult to realize at the time yeah if you're being overly critical you could comment on how fake AR's faces when it damaged T800 repairs itself in the motel room removing its damaged eyeball and also cut and open its arm to patch it up however this was practical VFX at their best for the 1980s and whatever your view is of of modern CGI the VFX in The Terminator at least look like they belonged and were a real aspect of the scene there's also an awesome har Housen s quality to the Terminator at the end of the movie as it's damaged and exposed endoskeleton pursues Connor and reach through the factory the use of Stop Motion in the movie's visual effects was particularly effective and although the technique had been used several times in movies before the Terminator its use by industrial Light and magic in the film is perfect just like the awesome skeleton fight scene and Jason in the oran notes the moment when the T800 rises from the fire is a classic cinematic image it's not just a v fix that elevates the movie of course Cameron's Direction the script narrative cast and overall Verve on display is amazing and the fact that so many of the franchise's subsequent movies have been disappointing is a huge shame despite Orion pictures having little faith in the movies box office chances it actually performed above their initially low expectations opening in 1, in five theaters in the US on October 26th 1984 it gross $4 million in its opening week positioned in the movie at number one at the box office it had competition from Universal's R-rated Terror in the Isles as well as Brian the Palmer's body double before losing its grip on the top spot to the American Comedy oh God you devil in week three the Terminator eventually grows $ 38.3 million in the US and 78.3 million worldwide with director J Cameron stating that the Box Office return was relative to its Market which is between the summer and the Christmas Blockbusters but it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way around with the movie's box office proven to be favorable for both director and Studio the critical reaction was initially slightly mixed the Los Angeles Times praised the film calling it a crackling thrill full of all sorts of gory treats loaded with fuel injected Chas scenes clever special effects and Sly humor C fantastic were also full appraise for Cameron's epic stating that it manages to be both derivative and original at the same time not since the road warrior has the genre exhibited so much exuberant Carnage it's an example of Science Fiction slh horror at its best Cameron's No Nonsense approach will make him a sort after commodity not so sure of the movie's violence with the New York Times who said that the film was a b movie with Flare much of it had suspense and personality and only the obligatory Mayhem becomes dull there's far too much of the latter in the form of car chases messy shootouts and Mr Schwarzenegger slamming brutally into anything that gets in his way ultimately the movie is regarded as a classic of the genres it does such a good job of inhabiting whether that's sci-fi or as we discussed earlier a slasher however what's your take on the movie did Cameron manage to achieve his goal of mixing cutand Edge technology with a strong origal origal script that still holds it well today or are there elements of the movie that should be transported back without clothes to the early 80s next up is a deep dive into Cameron's much anticipated sequel Terminator 2 Judgment Day in which we eventually get to see the liquid metal T1000 slightly jaring child actors easy money come on plus a killer sound track thanks for watching our show and stay tuned for more on action we'll see you next time [Music] [Music]

Channel: JoBlo Originals

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Keywords: joblo videos, joblo, wtf happened to, wtf happened to this celebrity, wtf happened to this movie, wtf, the best movie you never saw, awfully good movies, joblo originals, movie review, review, arnold schwarzenegger, the terminator, james cameron, linda hamilton, arnold schwarzenegger movies, linda hamilton arnold schwarzenegger, brad fiedel, i'll be back, 1984

Id: FQKCRMYs4t4

Length: 16min 3sec (963 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 03 2023