Reviews of American Movie Classics: The Terminator

Excitement! Emotion! Energy! The Terminator is yet another action-packed and adrenaline-fueled adventure from Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film is one of the most thoroughly original and distinct action, science-fiction, comedy, and family films made in the 90s, and with good reason.

The film starts out with our protagonists going about their business, hardly suspecting that someone--or something--is out to kill them. As the bodies start piling up, our two main characters--a man and a woman--must flee the killing-machine hunting them down.

Soon, our female hero, Anna, discovers that the monster is actually a predator of legend in an unnamed South American region, an alien that hunts humans for sport and skins them. As Arnold attempts to protect Anna and bring them to safety, he must also find a way to overcome their extra-terrestrial enemy. Eventually, it's just Arnold, face to face with the creature, with nothing but his fists and his cunning to defeat his opponent. The gory deaths, the gigantic explosions, and close escapes along the way ensure that this is one heart-pounding action flick that you won't soon forget.

The Terminator also has a highly cerebral and challenging plot that questions the direction of modern society and its implications in the future. Near the beginning of the film, Arnold meets his twin (played by Danny DeVito) for the first time in his life. Although polar opposites, the two find a way to get along. Arnold then learns, however, that DeVito is actually a clone of himself, even though human cloning is illegal in the future. It ends up that the cloning company Double-X Charter accidentally cloned Schwarzenegger's character, getting him caught up in a complex and deadly conspiracy on the highest level of the corporation. In order to get revenge for the unauthorized cloning, Arnold goes on the game show The Running Man, a program in which the contestants must kill each other for the amusement of the viewer until only one man remains. These scenes challenge the viewer to examine their lives in a plethora of ways: Does the unstoppable and constant evolution of technology pose a major risk to society? Do we rely on technology too much for our needs? Could our obsession with game shows and sadism possibly develop into the disgusting culture presented in this film?

Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) and Danny DeVito (right) in The Terminator

Don't let these deep and depressing questions fool you, though. The Terminator is just as much of a family film as a challenging intellectual piece or an action romp. Schwarzenegger, playing a cop hot on a lead, goes undercover as an kindergarten teacher. In one of the great screwball skits in the film, Arnold asks one of the kids what he wants for Christmas. "A Turbo Man!" the child emphatically replies. Schwarzenegger promises his young student the action figure, but puts off buying one until Christmas Eve. Unfortunately for Arnold, every kid in the nation wants a Turbo Man for Christmas, and he must fight deranged parents all over the city in his quest to find the desired toy. In one of the film's wackiest scenes, Arnold battles for a Turbo Man in an iced-over store against dozens of other parents, including Batman, Robin, and several ice-skating, imp-like creatures. The light-hearted and humorous nature of these passages of the film add a welcoming dimension that would have otherwise been absent.

Arnold competes against Batman and Robin for the last Turbo Man

Unable to obtain a Turbo Man, Arnold's character presents his student with a magical ticket to a movie featuring himself! When the student goes to the movie, he is warped into the screen and goes on action adventures alongside Arnie, beating up the bad guys and ensuring that the forces of good always prevail. Unfortunately, the main villain in the film cannot be overcome. Played by F. Murray Abraham, Johnny Practice vows to destroy Schwarzenegger because of a long-held grudge. You see, both Abraham and Schwarzenegger were composers in eighteenth century Vienna. Abraham, jealous of Arnold for his superior talent, slowly tears Schwarzenegger down over the course of the film. This leads to the tragic end of the film: Arnold dies unexpectedly, and, with no money to his name, is thrown in an unmarked mass grave.

F. Murray Abraham contemplates the murder of Arnold Schwarzenegger

The combination of romance and action, horror and comedy, complex plot lines and simple, universal themes makes The Terminator an American classic. Schwarzenegger never starred in anything quite so original or different in the course of his career. It's certainly a breath of fresh air from the crap he usually churns out.

I give The Terminator 2 stars out of 4.