The Apocalypse is Here: He Said He Would Be Back
This week’s assemblage of films includes:
· The Terminator
· Terminator 2: Judgment Day
· Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
· Terminator Salvation
· Terminator Genisys
If you think it’s going to be any film besides Terminator 2, you would be wrong.
The third or fourth proposed sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day is out in theatres as of the moment I give this one final revision. While my hopes are still high, it’s high time to revisit the indomitable film that should have finished the franchise. The day of reckoning is finally here.
Ten years (and nine months, presumably) after the events of The Terminator, two terminators have been sent back through time to carry out a mission. The advanced T-1000 (Robert Patrick) has been sent back by Cyberdyne to kill John Connor. The T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has been sent by John Connor to protect John Connor. In the current time, John (Edward Furlong) is a bad influence to say the least. Using his hacking skills, he robs ATMs to play arcade games at the mall, in the process disobeying and frustrating his foster parents. As the Terminators vie to complete their missions, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) attempts to break out of a mental hospital for the umpteenth time. The intersection of past, present, and future will bring them face to face with what comes before Judgment Day.
This film opens with a slap and never pulls its punches. I try to be nicer, so I will warn you that there will be spoilers ahead.
The first thing I have to praise is the way in which information is presented and the way in which the sanctity of that information is preserved. John functions as an everyman of sorts for most of the introduction of new facts, similarly to Harry Potter in the 'Wizarding World' franchise. He asks the Terminator to explain the mimetic polyalloy of the T-1000, and he discovers that he can give the Terminator orders it must follow. Besides verbal information, the visuals are extremely powerful as well. Before we know certainly that we are following an older John Connor, we see how people react to the shadowed figure walking through the ruins of LA. Even before that, we see the chrome color scheme so strongly associated with Cyberdyne and the dusty and torn clothing of the Human Resistance soldiers. Costuming, set, and story comes together to make a film that is seamless at giving information to the viewers.
No film is perfect. When there are mistakes, they usually are not noticeable. I must now admit that I have seen the movie somewhere between twenty and thirty times. On my most recent rewatch, I noticed that the first one or two times Dyson swipes his badge to get the second key, the computer screens do not show that the alarm has been set off; however, these computers are how Sarah finds out the alarm has been set off, and it is visible on them immediately after and for the remainder of the scene. Is this really a mistake? I can’t be sure. Would I have noticed this the first time around? No.
Interestingly, the biggest criticism I can make in this regard is the T-1000’s arrival to the present. The Terminator introduces the idea that only organic matter can travel through time, or at least the outer layer must be organic. Without any explanation, suddenly liquid metal is in the modern day. While this barely detracts from the story, and I’m certain it’s not that big of a deal to most people, I do wonder how this was possible. One proposed solution is that Kyle Reese is technologically illiterate. Many of the others are word of God information that is uncertain. Furthermore, while I call the Terminators in this film the T-1000 and the T-800, the T-800 calls himself a “Model 101,” which refers to his organic “exoskeleton” according to other lore. This discrepancy is far from a criticism or a failure. It simply reflects the way in which we focus on the machine and the T-800 focuses on the man.
When we first see the Terminators, neither have a truly developed personality. As the film progresses, they pick up mannerisms and habits they wouldn’t have ever thought about, but they are static in their aspirations. The T-800 no longer kills humans and has picked up language quirks John has taught it. In a deleted scene, the T-1000 holds Max’s bloody dog collar, showing that he took the time to take his revenge on Max for barking and alerting the T-800 to his presence. Later the T-1000 seems to take pleasure in causing Sarah pain, no longer quickly killing and imitating. He wags his finger and takes his time as she fumbles with her weaponry. Even when battling each other, the T-800 continues faithfully with its job as programmed, while the T-1000 waits for the T-800 to reach for his weapon to terminate it. It is a powerful choice to humanize both of them. Perhaps it offers some insight into James Cameron’s thoughts on the nature vs. nurture argument as well. We can see the human represented in not just the good but also the evil. Sarah offers the T-800 a final handshake before its death, and her final monologue mentions hope that we humans can learn to respect human life like he did.
On the opposite end of this, we have an example of a human acting like a Terminator. When Sarah Connor decides to change fate by killing Miles Bennet Dyson, she goes on a rampage. Sarah is clinical, not caring about the man or his family. She sees only the mission. It is when she stops to think after seeing Dyson’s wife and son that she becomes fully aware of what she is doing and stops. John and the T-800 arrive at this point and help the Dysons understand why she has done what she has done, but even for the sake of the world Sarah realizes outright murder is not the answer.
I also want to take a moment and look at Sarah through a feminist lens. James Cameron was a bit controversial due to his opinions on Wonder Woman, and while I have mixed feelings about what he said, I have immense respect for the character of Sarah Connor and how well written she is. She is allowed to be flawed – to make mistakes and be afraid. Sarah is 29 years old and has been living a nightmare since an attempt on her life at 19. She almost kills Dyson. She panics when she first re-encounters the T-800, running back to her captors rather than facing it. On top of this, the traits usually associated with women that she exhibits are not shunned or otherwise pushed aside for the sake of her being an action hero. She is driven by her maternal instinct to protect John, which is portrayed in a positive way even as she is an imperfect mother. To be fair to her, I don’t believe a perfect mother exists even when there isn’t an oncoming apocalypse. Impressively, as an action hero, she is almost fully covered. Yes, her arms are bare, but compared to some of my other favorite on screen action heroines, she is wearing clothes that suit their function. I love Nice’s dress (Hotel Artemis), Natasha Romanoff’s bodysuits (because a plunging neckline is perfect for the battlefield), and Wonder Woman’s armored minidress (Wonder Woman), but they aren’t realistic and have dangerous consequences for the real life actresses and stunt performers that portray them. I wouldn’t say that the Terminator franchise is feminist because of this, but I do think that Sarah Connor is an important example of a female character who is written not only to be a realistic character but also a well-written woman.
Speaking of one Connor, it is important to highlight the other: John. John is the protagonist of this film, as the Terminators are now battling to kill or protect him. He’s a ten year-old delinquent lashing out because his childhood was a lie and his mother is crazy when he finds out that everything she warned him of is true. His mother proves she is a mastermind who can keep her cool when she feigns dissociation to steal a paperclip while knowing her son is in danger. John reflects this intelligence when he first grills the T-800 on what he is and what is happening. Instead of simply freaking out, which would have still been a valid reaction, he takes constructive action during this moment of confusion and panic. He demonstrates the growth of his leadership skills through realizing that he is being a jerk to the strangers who wanted to help him and setting rules for the Terminator. He knows that sometimes the best way to lead (or at least help) is to not be a leader, like when he reloads Sarah and the T-800’s weapons as they escape Pescadero. His mother is bilingual, and while he doesn’t actively speak Spanish, he seems to understand what is being said and once lived in Nicaragua. Thus, it is possible that he, too, is bilingual. By the end of the film, John gets his first real lesson on loss in battle, preparing him for a future he may no longer have to face.
With the most prominent four characters dissected, it’s time to pay respects to the characters that deserved better. John’s friend doesn’t die, thankfully, but he deserves a round of applause for being a real ride-or-die friend. Janelle was one of the few true innocents in this film. She tries to make a difference by raising a foster kid and tries to impose order and discipline when even her husband undermines her. The truck drivers, the helicopter pilot, and the police officers the T-1000 kills while procuring vehicles deserve a moment of sympathy. Miles Bennet Dyson is another interesting character since he is so directly responsible yet not to be blamed for Skynet and Judgment Day. He mirrors Kyle Reese in his choice to sacrifice himself in order to secure a future for his wife and child, so in this sense the narrative does him some justice.
The special effects are, for the most part, amazing, although the T-1000 meets its end in a rather silly way. After transforming into different people it took the form of, the T-1000 finally transforms into a silvery face that inverts itself and melts away. Extreme heat changed the structure of the alloy where extreme cold apparently could not.
There is so much left to talk about. I could try to explain the time travel paradox presented, or talk about whether or not the film itself is feminist (although I touched on that), or even try to define the role of technology in the film and discuss how ‘T2’ reflects a more modern retrofuturism; however, people smarter than I have probably already written about all of these things. While I wasn’t alive when Terminator 2 premiered, I was lucky enough to see it in theatres when they released the 3D remastering of the film. The 3D was less than stellar, but the cinema experience was all I went for. This film holds a special place in my heart. With that said and the recap concluded, I look forward to Terminator: Dark Fate. For the first time, like Sarah Connor before me, I face this unknown future with hope. Perhaps this sequel will be the real one.
Indira Ramgolam is a Culture writer and sophomore in Columbia College.
