By Sam Tucker
Many moons ago, when I had my first job as a movie “critic,” I was tasked with watching the new release Terminator: Genisys. I had low hopes, stemming from the Entertainment Weekly spread that showed a bunch of mid-tier actors holding prop guns and screaming (which now ironically looks like most Zoomers’ YouTube home pages). My love for all things Terminator trumped my skepticism, however, and I headed to my local Chicago multiplex with my friend Scott in tow. Unfortunately, I was right after all, as we both considered leaving the movie less than a third of the way through. It prompted me to reflect on how sour the franchise had turned since T2, one of my favorite films of all time. So when I was asked to talk about a good Terminator movie (one of two?), I jumped at the chance.
The Terminator is making a short run at IPH on its 40th anniversary, in celebration of National Art House Theater Day. Following screenings is a filmed Q&A featuring ole Jimmy Cameron himself, and from the trailer I saw, he is actually on dry land as opposed to the bottom of the ocean, if you can believe it. If you’re wondering whether you should go, I can make it easy for you: It’s a resounding YES. The Terminator stands out from the rest of the series, with more noir/horror influences than the strange robo/sci-fi/time-travel paradox loops the franchise gets trapped in later. Part of the beauty is its simplicity. It doesn’t need to account for differing views and timelines from several different studios and directors.
For the three readers who don’t know, The Terminator follows Sarah Connor, a Disney-style princess in the sense that she lives a normal life but is destined for greatness by forces she doesn’t understand or control. A soldier named Kyle Reece is sent back in time to protect her from another time traveler who….may not be what he seems! It’s hard to discuss this any further without getting into spoiler territory, which is almost a farce of a statement considering how much this film has permeated pop culture. Regardless if this is your first or 40th viewing, I would still recommend you see this on the big screen, as you can focus on just how brilliant and streamlined this movie feels.
The casting really stands out, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the bad guy working on so many levels. My favorite podcast Blank Check has some of their best episodes discussing this film and the sequel. The funniest thing to me is how they describe Arnold as a sort of “beautiful structure” instead of a sexual object.
The casting also offers some oddball choices, but after watching again recently, I could tell that the filmmakers knew what they were doing. Michael Biehn nails the interrogation room scene, showing the quiet desperation and fear he had been hiding. And of course Linda Hamilton is almost unrecognizable as the “damsel in distress,” taking charge of her own destiny by the end of the movie…or does she?! This will spur plenty of discussions of fate and destiny in the lobby. If anyone has a “There’s no fate but what we make for ourselves” tattoo, I will buy you a round!
Add in an excellent synthwave soundtrack and a grimy, smoky mise en scene with the awesome ’80s film stock, and you get a techno-thriller with an unstoppable killer no less scary than Jason, Freddy or Victor (Crowley, but the true horror heads will know who I’m talking about).
So, as always, head over to IPH, turn your phone off and enjoy a nice beverage during a truly groundbreaking film that rarely gets a theatrical rerelease.