# 157 The Terminator (1984)

The Terminator is a low-budget scientce fiction movie from the eighties about a human-looking and unstoppable cyborg assassin that came from the future in order to kill a woman, whose yet-unborn son will lead a resistance movement against cyborgs.

It's very hard to understand what's going on, and what the movie is about when you first start watching it. Who is Kyle Reese? Is he just a good-looking lunatic? And, like in any good movie with a twisted plot, we have a character who is completely unaware of the situation, and through that character we are introduced to the world of The Terminator. So basically we have Kyle Reese explaining everything to Sarah, just like in Inception Cobb explains everything to Ariadne.

It's a very dark thriller, both literally and metaphorically. I think one of the reasons it's shot in very dark colors is that they were unable to provide high-quality special effects back then, so that's what they did. I believe the same trick was used when filming Alien (1979). Of course, this technique also creates the right mood.

I liked The Terminator. Even Arnold's terrible accent didn't seem out of place here. The idea itself is very interesting, and back in the eighties I'm sure it gave many people nightmares. So I think this movie definitely deserves being on the list, and I'm glad I watched it again, now that I'm older and able to understand it.

Interesting fact: Near the beginning of the movie, when Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) receives a message on her answering machine breaking her date, the voice on the machine is James Cameron's. Years later, Hamilton and Cameron got married and subsequently divorced.

Favorite quote: Sarah Connor: So Reese is crazy?

Dr. Silberman: In technical terminology: he's a loon.