I always thought Michael Biehn didn't get enough credit for his performance as Kyle Reese. He has some TOUGH stuff to act through. He has to sell the fact that he's a time-traveling soldier from a post-apocalyptic future where Machines have inherited the earth. Yet we, the audience, totally buy it! During every minute of the film he seems totally convinced of what he's saying, and his body-language has that poised nervousness of a man growing up with a lot of trauma. If Biehn hadn't giving such a convincing performence, I don't think the movie would have worked so well at all. His acting totally sells the grim, serious tone the movie tries to convey. Without this thick atmosphere, Terminator would just have been another good-action movie with superb special effects, which is excactly what Cameron didn't want!
I agree completely. If Hollywood wasn't such a fucking snob-fest, he would have been nominated for an Oscar. It truly was an amazing performance, from his obvious athleticism to his understated realism he just nailed it. Linda Hamilton was excellent also despite a few uneven moments, but that was partly the script's fault. Cameron isn't great with female dialog, and he makes similar errors with Sigourney Weaver's dialog in Aliens (mostly inconsequential though, as that is a masterpiece also). When you stop to think about how low the budget was, it's no wonder Cameron went on to become one of the greats in action films.
I know, right?! I wish I could hit your Like button a thousand times more, cause I wholeheartedly agree with you, Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese is criminally underrated, he doesn't get a lot of recognition here. Reese is honestly one of the very best action heroes out there, he made everything he said sound so believable, and we really believe him. I also love how, even though he isn't physically buffed up, he is so determined in his mission you actually cheer him on to defeat the Terminator. If you ask me, there's a part of me that wishes he survived the end of the film.
+George Bean Absolutely! He was almost more sympathetic than Sarah! Just an amazingly tragic death, and almost too much given his obvious resourcefulness and strength. I suppose though that his life had been one of such deprivation and misery that dying for Sarah was his ultimate salvation and release. Of course also the time travel paradox demanded that he 'died before the war' so in a sense, his fate was sealed, and on some level we knew that to be true before he died. The tragedy is almost Shakespearean. I sure wish Biehn's career could have blossomed more than it did. He was so great in this movie. It's always been a favorite of mine, and he's a big part of that.
Yea yea, Reese is up there in my list of personal favorite heroes, very inspirational to me as a writer. Yea his death is unbearable to watch, in fact I once turned off the movie when Kyle and Sarah embrace after the truck explosion. ;P I heard about Biehn being considered for Colonel Quaritch in _Avatar_ . As much as I enjoyed Stephen Lang in that, small part of me wishes Biehn *_was_* in it in some form. Maybe in one of the sequels...? Wishful thinking. He was also the one big reason I was excited for Blomkamp's _Alien 5_. Shame, he's such a cool guy. ;(
Couldn't have said it better. Things could have EASILY gone the other way and come off as silly but Biehn is so completely sincere you have no choice but to become wrapped up in it. Imo he is the "heart" of the movie.
My 15 year old brother watched “The Terminator” for the first time a couple of days ago. It scared him. It’s still an effective horror movie today, and the effects still look amazing.
23:45 He bandages it so that he hides the machinery that is now showing through his wound, and his wound is bleeding. What is less obvious, a man with a bandaged arm, or a man who's arm is bleeding and has all sorts of metal bits moving inside it???
i'm glad i found this channel. your reviews are great, well structured, the videos are well put together, and you guys actually make valid points about those movies. coming from the big channels with their adhd, jump cut, 4 minute reviews this feels really refreshing
Remember the Terminator is LIVING tissue round an exoskeleton so i imagine the skin has the ability to repair just as ours does. Hence the bandage. Also i have always presumed that the damage to the terminator at that stage was more serious than we as an audience really see or appreciate. I imagine the damage to his eye has seriously impaired his vision and that his arm was basically fucked at that point. So the terminator makes a judgement call and sees a better chance at completing its mission after repairing rather than risk further damage at that point.
I'm torn on this point. He had them cornered and could have easily finished them off unless the damage really was severe. If Cameron really wanted to sell this point, they should have had Arnold really glitching out at the hotel. Given that he is essentially indestructible without high-explosives or a hydraulic press, it's a little bit of a stretch for him to flee, especially because he had no way of knowing whether the cops might believe Kyle's story (another stretch I know) and move them to a fortified/secret location. All in all it was a smart move for the pacing of the film. I bet 90% of people watching didn't notice that slight misstep.
Stop the Philosophical Zombies he actually does glitch out a bit at the motel, during that whole chase sequence his vision has visual tearing like the monitor is messing up.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 > Given that he is essentially indestructible without high-explosives or a hydraulic press I imagine that ramming police cars into him repeatedly might do damage comparable to a hydraulic press. Yeah, he might be able to shoot some of the police officers first, but he is if not outgunned then at least out-manned and out-car'ed. I know I'm stretching for a defense, but I think it kinda' sorta' works.
> Remember the Terminator is LIVING tissue round an exoskeleton so i imagine the skin has the ability to repair just as ours does. Hence the bandage. That's a good point. Additionally, if I was a robot I wouldn't want any foreign objects entering the path of the finger and arm pistons-that might reduce the functionality of my hand, which would interfere with my mission objective by limiting my ability to operate firearms. Bandages are easily available and reasonably well-suited to preventing me malfunctioning in this way. Also, if I'm an infiltration unit I want to hide my arm pistons and (continue to) appear human.
They depending on how old the skin on a terminator is determines how it grows back you see in t2 his skin starts to grow back when Sara reaches into his wound the more skin that comes off the longer it takes to come back
I finally caught this movie, after having seen T2 a billion times growing up. It was amazing, I loved everything about it, loved the lack of Ed Furlong, loved Michael Biehn as Reese, Arnold as the villain, and this movie has probably the best sex scene ever in a movie thanks to how important it is to the main story thread of the franchise as well as the awesome music. As Gary put it, "its fucking awesome"
In the anime Dragon Ball Z, there is a certain part of the show that mimics Terminator. The character Trunks is a cross between Kyle Reese and John Connor. Like Kyle, he travels to the past to warn the others about what will happen. Like John, he is the son of the woman(Bulma) who will bring hope to the future. There's even a scene where Trunks walks around a shelter, seeing the scared survivors of the androids' assault.
Don't worry about Reese's age...he was only supposed to be in his early 20s; the movie tie in made mention of Traxler marveling how tough Reese was. He knew Reese had to be a combat vet, but as he put it: He'd have to have been 8 years old during the 1968 Tet Offensive (which was 15 years previously). That would have made Reese 23 - 24 years old.
Say what you will about Titanic and Avatar; but Terminator, Terminator 2 and Aliens prove Cameron is a good director and those 3 movies alone is a more impressive resume than 99% of other directors, living or dead.
On the bandaging, one aspect of the design of the T800, as it is living tissue over an armored endoskeleton, is a pump to run a circulatory system, so it could bleed when injured. Blood flow would also be necessary, for it to heal, otherwise, it would be harder to pass as a human. Within Cameron's script, there is also a scene of the machine eating a Snickers bar, as the living tissue did require nourishment, to continue to function as designed. So, the T800 M 101, bandages it's wound, to prevent blood from soaking into it's sleeve, which would alert others that something was off about it.
I like to think the terminator was making a tactical decision by going to repair himself, not to be incognito. The eye was probably knackered enough he had to peel the damaged lense and fix the arm, that he calculated the probability of beating the police then and there at the site of the crash and decided the risk of taking on the cops then and there was not viable. That’s why he has no hesitation about attacking the police station later, he’s not trying to be incognito, simply giving himself the best probability for success in killing Sarah Connor
About Kyle and Sarah's age gap conundrum, in fact both Michael and Linda are the same age, both born in 1956, so at the time of the filming they were 28 yrs old, but Kyle comming from fucked up apocalyptic world looks older, and Sarah (Linda) generally looks younger than she is, and in T2 she's suposed to be 29, but in real she is 35
Found out my 21 yo nephew had never seen it, so we watched it the other day. He thought it was fantastic, so we'll be viewing T2 soon. Skynet edition of course.
What else can you say about this film, it's just epic! Love the beginning after Reese arrives and he steals the homeless guys pants and the cop begins to chase him on foot. That music score is so awesome with that foot chase & those 80's synths, it just works so well, great score by Brad Fidel which often gets overlooked when talking about the Terminator.
Michael Biehn wasn't in his late 30s in this film, he wasn't even in his early 30s. I always assumed the character was supposed to be any older than 25 or so.
regarding the terminator's driving, it was stated in the Darkhorse Comics that the terminators were programmed and familiar with 20th century human machinery and vehicles so they can adapt in their time travel and also these vehicles exist in the future even on film which helps in their efficiency as infiltrators
Between Harlan Ellison's episodes in outer Limits and The Terminator, there was a 1978 short japanese comic "Black Lion" (kuro no shishi) which kinda starts off as a immortal samurai who hunts down ninjas, only to find out the samurai is a cyborg (even gets the half face exposed, a few years before terminator). Also has time travel, but this part has more in common with TimeCop.
I love the Arnie puppets because I feel like it adds to the inhumanity of his character, the puppet looks close enough to real while lacking any real humanity and I feel like it unintentionally enhances the character’s terror factor
Great review but I wish you spent more time on the "Tech Noir" shootout scene. You did mention it and love that you brought up how the music flows from the 80s dance song into the score and how haunting that was. Best part of the movie for me.
So Lance Henrikson, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Arnold, James Cameron was involved at least 2 of the 3 mega franchises the 80s-90s of Predator, Alien and Terminator.. Amazing.
The way I've always seen the time travel in Terminator - this first one specifically - is as follows: There was never an original timeline; what we see in the movie is simply a snapshot of the one and only timeline that has ever existed, and Kyle Reese has always been the father of John Connor. So, then if we are to assume that the world begins to exist in the big bang, and the laws of physics are set, which create a deterministic domino effect that, at some point in the timeline, makes time travel possible, it is inevitable that travelers from the future visit the past at an earlier point, prior to the actual invention of time travel. That is, if the universe is entirely deterministic, which we have to assume for this to make any sense. There can only be one singular timeline, and everything that ever happens takes place on that one timeline. Of course, this was all retconned in 2 where the timeline can be altered, and then again 3 in which the timeline self-corrects itself anyway. But Terminator, the original one-off movie, works this way, I think. At least that's how I've made peace with it. The reason John Connor originally having a different father makes no sense is, John Connor would have gotten 50% of his genes from a different person, meaning that Kyle then fathering him would mess everything up. He might grow up an IT specialist for all we know. Or a guy who reviews movies on RUclips. Who knows. I really enjoy your videos, guys, keep em coming. :)
Everything you say about this movie is 100% accurate Terminator 1 and 2 mean a lot to me T1 was filmed in Los Angeles California in the '80s then when I was 10 years old we moved from LA to Fontana California in 1990 where they would shoot the ending of T2 at the Kaiser steel mill and at the very time that T2 came out in 1992 I was exactly the same age as John Connor was and my parents had just got a divorce so my dad was fading away from my life but he took me to go see T2 LOL and that movie had a real emotional impact on me thanks for listening
There were a lot of deleted scenes that I felt should've stayed in the final product. Like that one scene where kyle breaks down in tears when he gets the chance to see how beautiful the world is compared to the future he was born in and also how Sarah suggested that they should blow up cyberdyne system to stop judgement day from happening. That would've gave the duo an actual endgame rather than to stay on the run from the terminator the whole film I'm mean obviously the damned thing was going to catch up to them at some point.
I would love to see this movie again for the first time!! An amazing movie, It is one of my all time favourites. I just about prefer it to T2. What a great sound track also
Seeing your two Terminator [1 & 2] reviews, you earned yourself another follower - thorough, well-considered discussions are highly appriciated; looking foreward to what other videos you have! :) Regards!
One of my favorite lines that nobody seems to mention is when after hearing Reese talk about how John is as a man, she says "well at least I know what to name him" subtle humour there
Regarding the love story, if you ever see the movie "Somewhere in Time", there are A LOT of similarities between that film and Terminator. I think Cameron might've taken some inspiration from that film as well. Even "Titanic" reminds me of SIT, since they have the same endings, though the difference being that in "titanic" the only time travel is through flashbacks and narration (so basically, "time travel" for the audience).
I remember this first being released on VHS in the 80s. My auntie worked at a video rental shop in Blackley, Manchester and brought this home when it first came out (we all still lived at my grandparents as my mum was only young when she had me). I was told by my mum I was going to bed while they all watched this in the evening. I turned on the tears and my nana told my mum to let me stay up to watch it with everyone. I was glued to the film and the rest is history. A film that's always gonna be close to my heart cause if memories 🙏 a great review guys. Loving it 🙏
I'd argue with the terminator leaving the accident, if he fought there, he might lose, with like 20 guns trained on him at the same time. If he came the way he did later it was a surprise taking officers out 1 by 1; he had a better chance after the repairs anyway.
That's one of the only issues I have w the film as well. Didn't make sense that the T-800 would just flee like that, especially considering later he attacks a MUCH more possibly formidable resistance from the police precinct.
Just a little interesting fact. When Kyle asks the homeless guy what day it is in the beginning of the original movie, he says Thursday, May 12th. May 12th, 1984 was actually a Saturday. However the movie was originally meant to come out in 1983. May 12th, 1983 was in fact a Thursday. I only know this because my birthday is Tuesday May 15th, 1984 lol 👍
I still fail to find a problem with this film Jesus guys I'm sorry I didn't mean to edit this so much in one time but goddamn you made me realize how much I love this film it is my all time favorite movie everything about it is great. The behind the scenes story of it's creation, and every heart stopping moment makes me love it even more. If I could have anything right now it would be to make this video with you guys, talk about my opinions and best parts. Hell this may be my first video I make! You inspired me allot with this I can't express my love for this movie in one comment.
When Sarah leans over and the 800 misses her on the first pass, I always wondered if it was her fate to do that and buy enough time for Reese to get a beat on him. I'd like to think that no matter what, Skynet is destined to lose.
Your assessment of Kyle is kind of spot on but I would like to add that in one of the best continuities between the two films the idea that John was told who his father was and trained by his mom to survive would train Kyle knowing he was going to send him back so there would be no surprises nor distractions in the past that would take away from the importance of the mission. Stopping to watch a TV would have been so out of character for Kyle. Especially since he was trained to think like a Terminator and stay hyper focused on the mission. I absolutely do not agree with your assessment of the cops they did not take cover because the shooter is in a tshirt and leather jacket and in plain view so why would the cops not believe that their bullets wouldn’t drop this idiot immediately. I don’t think they were being stupid because they, as you guys said it, were woefully unprepared for the Terminator. Even a guy on drugs would drop if shot at close range. The reason the Terminator ran off was because the initial assessment was he was damaged just enough that the percentage of failure was too high. You are placing human traits on a robot. Kyle even said Terminators are programmed to infiltrate and yes he doesn’t heal but it had a goal to kill Sarah and the damage and risk of failure is higher if he goes against all those police but he needs the disguise because he still needs to get close to her. It is only when it crosses into the chase where all the pretense of infiltration is gone. Ian is right, it sounds creepy now but John groomed Kyle knowing who he is. You guys are a pleasure to watch, great job.
This was the only movie that scared me shitless and gave feverish nightmares as a 6 year old. No movie on VHS ever gave me that impact since then. And up to today i always find uncanny humanoid bots more scary than traditional monsters. One thing that bugged me later though, was why was there no red light peeking through the sunglasses after its eye was cut open. They were not that dark.
Would you believe there were almost 40 actresses to be considered for Sarah Conner before Linda was given the role? Here are some of the actresses considered: Angelica Houston Bridgette Fonda Michelle Phieffer Rosana Argette Darryl Hanna Kathleen Turner Madonna Jennifer Grey Sissy Spacek Cybill Shepard Gina Davis Sharon Stone Diane Lane Carrie Fisher Susan Sarandon Leah Thompson Sigorney Weaver Jane Seymor Goldie Hawn Ria Peralman Kim Basinger this is just some of the almost 40 ladies chosen.
The Terminator doesn’t fix his arm and his eye to remain incognito guys. He probably computes that the serious injury to his arm and eye will make him less effective at being able to beat the police who outnumber him and have more fire power. Remember, he’s been shot with a shot gun multiple times and just crashed into a wall. He has to cut his arm open and literally fix the mechanism in his hand and get it working again. Once that’s done he can wrap it and remain incognito until he gets to the police station where he’s probably strategised that with his repaired arm and the element of surprise he can launch a full scale attack on the police and achieve his mission of killing Sarah Connor.
The Terminator escapes from the crash, I think, because after a quick assessment of the situation -it was just him, practically unarmed, verses the all those cops at once (remember in the police station they pretty much came at him one at a time) and Reece, he might have been stopped. Shotguns do hurt him, just enough for that to be a risk. And because failure is not an option, he decides not to risk it and withdraw and rearm.
As much as I love you guys I have to correct 1 thing. Kyle was only about 25. Both Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton were 26 at the time of filming. I'm not sure how you guys came up with late 30's. Also Michael Biehn gave the performance in this. Arnold basically had to walk around looking big and menacing. He is big and menacing. Biehn had to be a warrior yet scared. He was slightly terrifying and then he naive and wide eyed. He was so intense. He was the ultimate hero. Everything he did because in the end he loved Sarah.
Jackie Vester I thought Michael biehn and Linda were both about 27 when Terminator was filmed, but what's 1 year that much of a difference of a year right? And I don't think the movie of the script ever says how old Kyle really was.
You never know that Ed and Lt Traxler were killed, either of them could have survived. Also it makes sense for a damaged Terminator who has lost all its' weapons and is confronted head on by a large number of shotgun wielding police officers (and we've seen shotguns can damage it) to retreat, repair itself, re-equip and take the police on 1 on 1 (and largely wielding just handguns) rather than en masse. Also it needs to maintain its' cover as much as possible, if its' reality were revealed to humanity in the present it would undoubtedly change the future.
Awesome review. The Terminator is a masterpiece amongst Sci-fi films. My favourite scene is also the one in Tech Noir, where the shootout and chase between Kyle Reese and the T-101 starts out. I also loved Stan Winston's stop motion effects on the terminator near the end, although my friend thought it was hilariously bad on his first watch. My only issue with this film is that it is overshadowed by its sequel, Terminator 2, and there are people out there that had seen the second movie and not the first one.
Another bit of trivia guys (though you likely know of this) O.J. Simpson was originally going to be cast as the "Terminator" this was around the time that Arnold was going for the "Reese" role.....of course as everyone knows SImpson would go on to have a real life terminator episode of his own ..of course depending on whether or not you believe the jury lol
Hi Gary, Ian. I just finished watching the Abyss and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. You've reviewed T1 and everyone wants to hear you review T2, but before you do I want to see you do the abyss. Its a lot better than I remember and I think it would be perfect for off the shelf.
The Terminator works in a systemathic way. It calculates the best possible way to achieve it's mission and having to face off all the cops at once would obviously not be the optimal strategy.
Richard Dean Anderson Could have starred in this movie although the First Episode of MacGyver would air a Year later which means he was probably filming at least a year in advance being that there's 6 and a half years of episodes from 1985 to 1992 .
QUANTUM TEMPORAL PARADOX JOHN CONNOR'S original father should've been mentioned BECAUSE in some stories he was a U.S. MILITARY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER and he ended up working at CRS CYBERDYNE RESEARCH SYSTEMS including the SKYNET PROJECT
We have the apocalyptic war movie already, its the First 5 min. of T2. I am totally okay with this, it will not be reached again. I dare to say that the scenes in t1 are even better, deeper, sadder.
Fun fact: Kyle Reese was used as the cover art for the first metal gear game in the US. Also when talks about a MGS movie was being kicked around they were trying to secure a Michael Biehn to play Snake
A lot of special effects looked better on the lower def that was available at the time. A lot of stuff was designed with the technology of the time in mind knowing you wouldn't be able to see as much detail as we can now. Back in the 80's some of the effects that look really cheesy now were much more passable. Independence day, which I used to think looked just fine, looked amazing fake in High Def when I saw it playing at the store just the other day.
Epic film well the first 2 definitely.. the 3rd n 4ths pretty good. The punk scene. I love n can't help but imagine Edd Boon saying "flawless victory - fatality" against the actor who played Sho Kahn lol
The reason why i liked the terminator genysis is because it explains how kyle most likely knew what 1984 was like from john conner and his mom telling him what she went through
I say that the sub-par (arguably) acting of Arnold in this film helped the believability of his character. After all, a machine trying to act human would seem a little off in some way to most people.
the bigger the picture the better this movie is. projected, this movie is totally convincing, even the "bad"effect of the terminator repairing itself is awesome!
why was only 1 human ever sent back and only machines after that ? KYLE REESE was supposed to be JOHN CONNOR'S FATHER the future humans couldn't risk sending humans back that would change history by having kids that aren't supposed to exist
Absolutely epic movie. The Terminator movies that we got after this movie just do not come close to being as good. This is an awesome sci-fi movie. I understand why the movie going masses would probably prefer the other Terminator movies. But for sci-fi movie fans this film is where its at.
fun fact Lance Henrikson was originally cast as the TERMINATOR the original TERMINATOR ENDOSKELETON can be seen in SCREAM 3 2000 in LANCE HENRIKSON as JOHN MILTON's office he brought that to the set as a background prop as an easter egg for HARDCORE FANS to find
great review but Kyle Reese isn't in his 30s. He's dirty and tired and the war has made him look older than he is. according to the book, he's a teenager. obviously I don't buy that but in another screenplay by Cameron the age of Sarah is 19 and kyle is 21. sorry if this is a repeat.
Since Kyle was supposed to have been born after Judgment Day (which occurred in 1997), and was sent back from 2029, he couldn't have been older than 32 at the most.
I always thought Michael Biehn didn't get enough credit for his performance as Kyle Reese. He has some TOUGH stuff to act through. He has to sell the fact that he's a time-traveling soldier from a post-apocalyptic future where Machines have inherited the earth. Yet we, the audience, totally buy it! During every minute of the film he seems totally convinced of what he's saying, and his body-language has that poised nervousness of a man growing up with a lot of trauma.
If Biehn hadn't giving such a convincing performence, I don't think the movie would have worked so well at all. His acting totally sells the grim, serious tone the movie tries to convey. Without this thick atmosphere, Terminator would just have been another good-action movie with superb special effects, which is excactly what Cameron didn't want!
I agree completely. If Hollywood wasn't such a fucking snob-fest, he would have been nominated for an Oscar. It truly was an amazing performance, from his obvious athleticism to his understated realism he just nailed it. Linda Hamilton was excellent also despite a few uneven moments, but that was partly the script's fault. Cameron isn't great with female dialog, and he makes similar errors with Sigourney Weaver's dialog in Aliens (mostly inconsequential though, as that is a masterpiece also).
When you stop to think about how low the budget was, it's no wonder Cameron went on to become one of the greats in action films.
I know, right?! I wish I could hit your Like button a thousand times more, cause I wholeheartedly agree with you, Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese is criminally underrated, he doesn't get a lot of recognition here. Reese is honestly one of the very best action heroes out there, he made everything he said sound so believable, and we really believe him.
I also love how, even though he isn't physically buffed up, he is so determined in his mission you actually cheer him on to defeat the Terminator. If you ask me, there's a part of me that wishes he survived the end of the film.
+George Bean Absolutely! He was almost more sympathetic than Sarah! Just an amazingly tragic death, and almost too much given his obvious resourcefulness and strength. I suppose though that his life had been one of such deprivation and misery that dying for Sarah was his ultimate salvation and release. Of course also the time travel paradox demanded that he 'died before the war' so in a sense, his fate was sealed, and on some level we knew that to be true before he died. The tragedy is almost Shakespearean.
I sure wish Biehn's career could have blossomed more than it did. He was so great in this movie. It's always been a favorite of mine, and he's a big part of that.
Yea yea, Reese is up there in my list of personal favorite heroes, very inspirational to me as a writer. Yea his death is unbearable to watch, in fact I once turned off the movie when Kyle and Sarah embrace after the truck explosion. ;P
I heard about Biehn being considered for Colonel Quaritch in _Avatar_ . As much as I enjoyed Stephen Lang in that, small part of me wishes Biehn *_was_* in it in some form. Maybe in one of the sequels...? Wishful thinking. He was also the one big reason I was excited for Blomkamp's _Alien 5_. Shame, he's such a cool guy. ;(
Couldn't have said it better. Things could have EASILY gone the other way and come off as silly but Biehn is so completely sincere you have no choice but to become wrapped up in it. Imo he is the "heart" of the movie.
My 15 year old brother watched “The Terminator” for the first time a couple of days ago. It scared him. It’s still an effective horror movie today, and the effects still look amazing.
To me it’s a sci-fi slasher
23:45 He bandages it so that he hides the machinery that is now showing through his wound, and his wound is bleeding. What is less obvious, a man with a bandaged arm, or a man who's arm is bleeding and has all sorts of metal bits moving inside it???
i'm glad i found this channel. your reviews are great, well structured, the videos are well put together, and you guys actually make valid points about those movies. coming from the big channels with their adhd, jump cut, 4 minute reviews this feels really refreshing
Remember the Terminator is LIVING tissue round an exoskeleton so i imagine the skin has the ability to repair just as ours does. Hence the bandage.
Also i have always presumed that the damage to the terminator at that stage was more serious than we as an audience really see or appreciate. I imagine the damage to his eye has seriously impaired his vision and that his arm was basically fucked at that point.
So the terminator makes a judgement call and sees a better chance at completing its mission after repairing rather than risk further damage at that point.
I'm torn on this point. He had them cornered and could have easily finished them off unless the damage really was severe. If Cameron really wanted to sell this point, they should have had Arnold really glitching out at the hotel. Given that he is essentially indestructible without high-explosives or a hydraulic press, it's a little bit of a stretch for him to flee, especially because he had no way of knowing whether the cops might believe Kyle's story (another stretch I know) and move them to a fortified/secret location.
All in all it was a smart move for the pacing of the film. I bet 90% of people watching didn't notice that slight misstep.
Stop the Philosophical Zombies he actually does glitch out a bit at the motel, during that whole chase sequence his vision has visual tearing like the monitor is messing up.
@@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017 > Given that he is essentially indestructible without high-explosives or a hydraulic press
I imagine that ramming police cars into him repeatedly might do damage comparable to a hydraulic press. Yeah, he might be able to shoot some of the police officers first, but he is if not outgunned then at least out-manned and out-car'ed.
I know I'm stretching for a defense, but I think it kinda' sorta' works.
> Remember the Terminator is LIVING tissue round an exoskeleton so i imagine the skin has the ability to repair just as ours does. Hence the bandage.
That's a good point. Additionally, if I was a robot I wouldn't want any foreign objects entering the path of the finger and arm pistons-that might reduce the functionality of my hand, which would interfere with my mission objective by limiting my ability to operate firearms. Bandages are easily available and reasonably well-suited to preventing me malfunctioning in this way.
Also, if I'm an infiltration unit I want to hide my arm pistons and (continue to) appear human.
They depending on how old the skin on a terminator is determines how it grows back you see in t2 his skin starts to grow back when Sara reaches into his wound the more skin that comes off the longer it takes to come back
I finally caught this movie, after having seen T2 a billion times growing up. It was amazing, I loved everything about it, loved the lack of Ed Furlong, loved Michael Biehn as Reese, Arnold as the villain, and this movie has probably the best sex scene ever in a movie thanks to how important it is to the main story thread of the franchise as well as the awesome music.
As Gary put it, "its fucking awesome"
Michael Biehn represents everything 80s in my mind. Before I knew his name I'd say you know that 80s actor in the Terminator.
I loved him in terminator and aliens and he was great in the abyss
In the anime Dragon Ball Z, there is a certain part of the show that mimics Terminator. The character Trunks is a cross between Kyle Reese and John Connor. Like Kyle, he travels to the past to warn the others about what will happen. Like John, he is the son of the woman(Bulma) who will bring hope to the future. There's even a scene where Trunks walks around a shelter, seeing the scared survivors of the androids' assault.
Don't worry about Reese's age...he was only supposed to be in his early 20s; the movie tie in made mention of Traxler marveling how tough Reese was. He knew Reese had to be a combat vet, but as he put it: He'd have to have been 8 years old during the 1968 Tet Offensive (which was 15 years previously). That would have made Reese 23 - 24 years old.
Say what you will about Titanic and Avatar; but Terminator, Terminator 2 and Aliens prove Cameron is a good director and those 3 movies alone is a more impressive resume than 99% of other directors, living or dead.
irllcd13 True lies was epic and funny
Titanic is not a bad movie. Avatar sucks ass though.
Don't forget alita battle angel
Abyss was also a good movie and so was true lies
Titanic is a great piece of cinema. Avatar is flawed (its story not very original), but was an amazing technological accomplishment.
On the bandaging, one aspect of the design of the T800, as it is living tissue over an armored endoskeleton, is a pump to run a circulatory system, so it could bleed when injured. Blood flow would also be necessary, for it to heal, otherwise, it would be harder to pass as a human.
Within Cameron's script, there is also a scene of the machine eating a Snickers bar, as the living tissue did require nourishment, to continue to function as designed.
So, the T800 M 101, bandages it's wound, to prevent blood from soaking into it's sleeve, which would alert others that something was off about it.
I like to think the terminator was making a tactical decision by going to repair himself, not to be incognito. The eye was probably knackered enough he had to peel the damaged lense and fix the arm, that he calculated the probability of beating the police then and there at the site of the crash and decided the risk of taking on the cops then and there was not viable. That’s why he has no hesitation about attacking the police station later, he’s not trying to be incognito, simply giving himself the best probability for success in killing Sarah Connor
About Kyle and Sarah's age gap conundrum, in fact both Michael and Linda are the same age, both born in 1956, so at the time of the filming they were 28 yrs old, but Kyle comming from fucked up apocalyptic world looks older, and Sarah (Linda) generally looks younger than she is, and in T2 she's suposed to be 29, but in real she is 35
Found out my 21 yo nephew had never seen it, so we watched it the other day. He thought it was fantastic, so we'll be viewing T2 soon. Skynet edition of course.
What else can you say about this film, it's just epic! Love the beginning after Reese arrives and he steals the homeless guys pants and the cop begins to chase him on foot. That music score is so awesome with that foot chase & those 80's synths, it just works so well, great score by Brad Fidel which often gets overlooked when talking about the Terminator.
Michael Biehn wasn't in his late 30s in this film, he wasn't even in his early 30s. I always assumed the character was supposed to be any older than 25 or so.
I ordered a cyberdyme model 101 as a sex robot. Great relief~
regarding the terminator's driving, it was stated in the Darkhorse Comics that the terminators were programmed and familiar with 20th century human machinery and vehicles so they can adapt in their time travel and also these vehicles exist in the future even on film which helps in their efficiency as infiltrators
Between Harlan Ellison's episodes in outer Limits and The Terminator, there was a 1978 short japanese comic "Black Lion" (kuro no shishi) which kinda starts off as a immortal samurai who hunts down ninjas, only to find out the samurai is a cyborg (even gets the half face exposed, a few years before terminator).
Also has time travel, but this part has more in common with TimeCop.
I love the Arnie puppets because I feel like it adds to the inhumanity of his character, the puppet looks close enough to real while lacking any real humanity and I feel like it unintentionally enhances the character’s terror factor
He looks like an android robot there not a cyborg robot.😮😊.
Great review but I wish you spent more time on the "Tech Noir" shootout scene. You did mention it and love that you brought up how the music flows from the 80s dance song into the score and how haunting that was. Best part of the movie for me.
He should of stole new pants 😂😂
So Lance Henrikson, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Arnold, James Cameron was involved at least 2 of the 3 mega franchises the 80s-90s of Predator, Alien and Terminator.. Amazing.
The way I've always seen the time travel in Terminator - this first one specifically - is as follows:
There was never an original timeline; what we see in the movie is simply a snapshot of the one and only timeline that has ever existed, and Kyle Reese has always been the father of John Connor. So, then if we are to assume that the world begins to exist in the big bang, and the laws of physics are set, which create a deterministic domino effect that, at some point in the timeline, makes time travel possible, it is inevitable that travelers from the future visit the past at an earlier point, prior to the actual invention of time travel. That is, if the universe is entirely deterministic, which we have to assume for this to make any sense.
There can only be one singular timeline, and everything that ever happens takes place on that one timeline.
Of course, this was all retconned in 2 where the timeline can be altered, and then again 3 in which the timeline self-corrects itself anyway. But Terminator, the original one-off movie, works this way, I think. At least that's how I've made peace with it.
The reason John Connor originally having a different father makes no sense is, John Connor would have gotten 50% of his genes from a different person, meaning that Kyle then fathering him would mess everything up. He might grow up an IT specialist for all we know.
Or a guy who reviews movies on RUclips. Who knows.
I really enjoy your videos, guys, keep em coming. :)
The reason he bandaged his arm is because his wounds do heal. It's living tissue. That's also why Sarah Conor stitches him up in T2.
The "Phone Book Killer" there's a Thriller .
Why would you think Kyle is that much older than Sarah? Looking at all the written info, he is only around 22, though the actor was 27.
Everything you say about this movie is 100% accurate Terminator 1 and 2 mean a lot to me T1 was filmed in Los Angeles California in the '80s then when I was 10 years old we moved from LA to Fontana California in 1990 where they would shoot the ending of T2 at the Kaiser steel mill and at the very time that T2 came out in 1992 I was exactly the same age as John Connor was and my parents had just got a divorce so my dad was fading away from my life but he took me to go see T2 LOL and that movie had a real emotional impact on me thanks for listening
There were a lot of deleted scenes that I felt should've stayed in the final product. Like that one scene where kyle breaks down in tears when he gets the chance to see how beautiful the world is compared to the future he was born in and also how Sarah suggested that they should blow up cyberdyne system to stop judgement day from happening. That would've gave the duo an actual endgame rather than to stay on the run from the terminator the whole film I'm mean obviously the damned thing was going to catch up to them at some point.
I would love to see this movie again for the first time!! An amazing movie, It is one of my all time favourites. I just about prefer it to T2. What a great sound track also
Seeing your two Terminator [1 & 2] reviews, you earned yourself another follower - thorough, well-considered discussions are highly appriciated; looking foreward to what other videos you have! :)
Regards!
One of my favorite lines that nobody seems to mention is when after hearing Reese talk about how John is as a man, she says "well at least I know what to name him" subtle humour there
RIP Bill Paxton.
Game over man game over
It sucks that he's gone the good ones go too quickly
Regarding the love story, if you ever see the movie "Somewhere in Time", there are A LOT of similarities between that film and Terminator. I think Cameron might've taken some inspiration from that film as well. Even "Titanic" reminds me of SIT, since they have the same endings, though the difference being that in "titanic" the only time travel is through flashbacks and narration (so basically, "time travel" for the audience).
I remember this first being released on VHS in the 80s. My auntie worked at a video rental shop in Blackley, Manchester and brought this home when it first came out (we all still lived at my grandparents as my mum was only young when she had me). I was told by my mum I was going to bed while they all watched this in the evening. I turned on the tears and my nana told my mum to let me stay up to watch it with everyone. I was glued to the film and the rest is history. A film that's always gonna be close to my heart cause if memories 🙏 a great review guys. Loving it 🙏
I'd argue with the terminator leaving the accident, if he fought there, he might lose, with like 20 guns trained on him at the same time. If he came the way he did later it was a surprise taking officers out 1 by 1; he had a better chance after the repairs anyway.
That's one of the only issues I have w the film as well. Didn't make sense that the T-800 would just flee like that, especially considering later he attacks a MUCH more possibly formidable resistance from the police precinct.
Just a little interesting fact. When Kyle asks the homeless guy what day it is in the beginning of the original movie, he says Thursday, May 12th. May 12th, 1984 was actually a Saturday. However the movie was originally meant to come out in 1983. May 12th, 1983 was in fact a Thursday. I only know this because my birthday is Tuesday May 15th, 1984 lol 👍
FUN FACT
LANCE HENRIKSON
was supposed to be the
TERMINATOR
and in
SCREAM 3
in
LANCE HENRIKSON's
JOHN MILTON's
office is the original
ENDO SKELETON
.
I think that you guys are missing a point. The terminator is not completely indestructible. Hence, he took out the power in the police station. Why?
"Hey buddy. Did you just see a really bright light?"
My favorite line from the Terminator
"That guy stole my pants!" LMFAO at that part always.
I want that line to be put on my tombstone.
Son of a bitch stole my pants...mumbles in the distance as chase continues lol
I still fail to find a problem with this film
Jesus guys I'm sorry I didn't mean to edit this so much in one time but goddamn you made me realize how much I love this film it is my all time favorite movie everything about it is great. The behind the scenes story of it's creation, and every heart stopping moment makes me love it even more. If I could have anything right now it would be to make this video with you guys, talk about my opinions and best parts. Hell this may be my first video I make! You inspired me allot with this I can't express my love for this movie in one comment.
When Sarah leans over and the 800 misses her on the first pass, I always wondered if it was her fate to do that and buy enough time for Reese to get a beat on him. I'd like to think that no matter what, Skynet is destined to lose.
What happens when Skynet realizes it though?
ah back when james cameron made good movies
Your assessment of Kyle is kind of spot on but I would like to add that in one of the best continuities between the two films the idea that John was told who his father was and trained by his mom to survive would train Kyle knowing he was going to send him back so there would be no surprises nor distractions in the past that would take away from the importance of the mission. Stopping to watch a TV would have been so out of character for Kyle. Especially since he was trained to think like a Terminator and stay hyper focused on the mission. I absolutely do not agree with your assessment of the cops they did not take cover because the shooter is in a tshirt and leather jacket and in plain view so why would the cops not believe that their bullets wouldn’t drop this idiot immediately. I don’t think they were being stupid because they, as you guys said it, were woefully unprepared for the Terminator. Even a guy on drugs would drop if shot at close range. The reason the Terminator ran off was because the initial assessment was he was damaged just enough that the percentage of failure was too high. You are placing human traits on a robot. Kyle even said Terminators are programmed to infiltrate and yes he doesn’t heal but it had a goal to kill Sarah and the damage and risk of failure is higher if he goes against all those police but he needs the disguise because he still needs to get close to her. It is only when it crosses into the chase where all the pretense of infiltration is gone. Ian is right, it sounds creepy now but John groomed Kyle knowing who he is. You guys are a pleasure to watch, great job.
This was the only movie that scared me shitless and gave feverish nightmares as a 6 year old. No movie on VHS ever gave me that impact since then. And up to today i always find uncanny humanoid bots more scary than traditional monsters. One thing that bugged me later though, was why was there no red light peeking through the sunglasses after its eye was cut open. They were not that dark.
The Terminator (to the passenger in the truck) : "Get Out"
Would you believe there were almost 40 actresses to be considered for Sarah Conner before Linda was given the role? Here are some of the actresses considered:
Angelica Houston
Bridgette Fonda
Michelle Phieffer
Rosana Argette
Darryl Hanna
Kathleen Turner
Madonna
Jennifer Grey
Sissy Spacek
Cybill Shepard
Gina Davis
Sharon Stone
Diane Lane
Carrie Fisher
Susan Sarandon
Leah Thompson
Sigorney Weaver
Jane Seymor
Goldie Hawn
Ria Peralman
Kim Basinger this is just some of the almost 40 ladies chosen.
The Terminator doesn’t fix his arm and his eye to remain incognito guys. He probably computes that the serious injury to his arm and eye will make him less effective at being able to beat the police who outnumber him and have more fire power. Remember, he’s been shot with a shot gun multiple times and just crashed into a wall. He has to cut his arm open and literally fix the mechanism in his hand and get it working again. Once that’s done he can wrap it and remain incognito until he gets to the police station where he’s probably strategised that with his repaired arm and the element of surprise he can launch a full scale attack on the police and achieve his mission of killing Sarah Connor.
The Terminator escapes from the crash, I think, because after a quick assessment of the situation -it was just him, practically unarmed, verses the all those cops at once (remember in the police station they pretty much came at him one at a time) and Reece, he might have been stopped. Shotguns do hurt him, just enough for that to be a risk. And because failure is not an option, he decides not to risk it and withdraw and rearm.
The Terminator is my all time favourite movie
Yeah, I too found the 'I love you too, sweetheart' scene offputting. I kept thinking to myself, 'that's just...wrong'.
As much as I love you guys I have to correct 1 thing. Kyle was only about 25. Both Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton were 26 at the time of filming. I'm not sure how you guys came up with late 30's. Also Michael Biehn gave the performance in this. Arnold basically had to walk around looking big and menacing. He is big and menacing. Biehn had to be a warrior yet scared. He was slightly terrifying and then he naive and wide eyed. He was so intense. He was the ultimate hero. Everything he did because in the end he loved Sarah.
Jackie Vester talking about character ages not the real ages of the people at the time.
Pretty sure they thought Biehn was in his late 30's.
Jackie Vester I thought Michael biehn and Linda were both about 27 when Terminator was filmed, but what's 1 year that much of a difference of a year right? And I don't think the movie of the script ever says how old Kyle really was.
@@LordMalice6d9 The script and both novelisations put Kyle and Sarah at about nineteen years old.
You never know that Ed and Lt Traxler were killed, either of them could have survived. Also it makes sense for a damaged Terminator who has lost all its' weapons and is confronted head on by a large number of shotgun wielding police officers (and we've seen shotguns can damage it) to retreat, repair itself, re-equip and take the police on 1 on 1 (and largely wielding just handguns) rather than en masse. Also it needs to maintain its' cover as much as possible, if its' reality were revealed to humanity in the present it would undoubtedly change the future.
That's a good point about not changing the future. Hadn't thought about that.
Iconic!! Great review guys!! Now to watch the T2 review..... my all-time favorite movie!
In a making of it was said that cameron was suprised when schwarzeneger said that he wants to play the terminator, not kyle reese.
1:17 Oi don’t forget Linda Hamilton’s lead role in long running tv series Beauty and the Beast
Awesome review. The Terminator is a masterpiece amongst Sci-fi films. My favourite scene is also the one in Tech Noir, where the shootout and chase between Kyle Reese and the T-101 starts out. I also loved Stan Winston's stop motion effects on the terminator near the end, although my friend thought it was hilariously bad on his first watch. My only issue with this film is that it is overshadowed by its sequel, Terminator 2, and there are people out there that had seen the second movie and not the first one.
Another bit of trivia guys (though you likely know of this) O.J. Simpson was originally going to be cast as the "Terminator" this was around the time that Arnold was going for the "Reese" role.....of course as everyone knows SImpson would go on to have a real life terminator episode of his own ..of course depending on whether or not you believe the jury lol
And now that terminator is free. Luckily he's old, but you never know what he'll do next. He's obviously a sociopath.
reese packer The blame was on Simpson because he was the cohort of a NWO Jew.
fantastic review guys! You said all that needed to be said ;)
Great reviews, guys. Oliver Harper would be proud.
Hi Gary, Ian. I just finished watching the Abyss and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. You've reviewed T1 and everyone wants to hear you review T2, but before you do I want to see you do the abyss. Its a lot better than I remember and I think it would be perfect for off the shelf.
Wasn't the puck in the beginning that the terminator punch through the chest. The same person who played Shao Kahn in Mortal Kombat Annihilation
I couldn't resist. I once met Michael Biehn, asked for his autograph, and then bit his hand while he signed it. Ok, that's not true😁
Sounds like he also lifted from Somewhere in Time, and City on the Edge of Forever. Thanks guys.
The Terminator works in a systemathic way. It calculates the best possible way to achieve it's mission and having to face off all the cops at once would obviously not be the optimal strategy.
So glad you guys referenced Harlan Ellison. First class research!
Richard Dean Anderson Could have starred in this movie although the First Episode of MacGyver would air a Year later which means he was probably filming at least a year in advance being that there's 6 and a half years of episodes from 1985 to 1992 .
in T2 the love story is between John and Sarah, the son and his mother
Merry Christmas to you, iain, jess and linda mate. Thank you for this. Probably my 200th time of watching 😅
I had no idea Arnold wanted to play John Conner's future father but I it wouldn't have worked. This still one of his best roles.
QUANTUM TEMPORAL PARADOX
JOHN CONNOR'S
original father should've been
mentioned BECAUSE in some
stories he was a
U.S. MILITARY
INTELLIGENCE OFFICER
and he ended up working at
CRS
CYBERDYNE RESEARCH SYSTEMS
including the SKYNET PROJECT
When are you reviewing T2?
The film that started the amazing part of James Camerons career. Lol of course Arnold. 😊 10/10
We have the apocalyptic war movie already, its the First 5 min. of T2. I am totally okay with this, it will not be reached again. I dare to say that the scenes in t1 are even better, deeper, sadder.
Fun fact: Kyle Reese was used as the cover art for the first metal gear game in the US.
Also when talks about a MGS movie was being kicked around they were trying to secure a Michael Biehn to play Snake
A lot of special effects looked better on the lower def that was available at the time. A lot of stuff was designed with the technology of the time in mind knowing you wouldn't be able to see as much detail as we can now. Back in the 80's some of the effects that look really cheesy now were much more passable.
Independence day, which I used to think looked just fine, looked amazing fake in High Def when I saw it playing at the store just the other day.
1984
LINDA HAMILTON - SARAH
was 28 years old
Epic film well the first 2 definitely.. the 3rd n 4ths pretty good.
The punk scene. I love n can't help but imagine Edd Boon saying "flawless victory - fatality" against the actor who played Sho Kahn lol
The reason why i liked the terminator genysis is because it explains how kyle most likely knew what 1984 was like from john conner and his mom telling him what she went through
Guess which movie James Cameron, Gale Ann Hurd, Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen, Stan Winston, and Michael Biehn were involved in. Aliens (1986).
Aliens is one of the best movies ever made and the impeccable cast is one reason why its so good!
On the DVD they substituted the wall of text for some subtitles at the bottom of the screen....Why?? Fucking ruined it!?!
I say that the sub-par (arguably) acting of Arnold in this film helped the believability of his character. After all, a machine trying to act human would seem a little off in some way to most people.
I never focused on the time-romance, good point.
Linda Hamilton was in The Children of the Corn
Best reviewers on RUclips 💪
And to think that Lance Henrikson was originally offered the role of the Terminator.
32:40 love how they're about to start crying! Lol!
James Cameron is literally hands down one of the best. If you try to deny his work then I hope you have enough debate in you about it
the bigger the picture the better this movie is. projected, this movie is totally convincing, even the "bad"effect of the terminator repairing itself is awesome!
James Cameron is a true auteur. I find it hard to criticize any of his films. Maybe Titanic.
To be fair, Michael Biehn was 'only' 28 in 1984. So not quite in his late thirtees.
why was only 1 human
ever sent back and only
machines after that ?
KYLE REESE
was supposed to be
JOHN CONNOR'S
FATHER
the future humans couldn't
risk sending humans back
that would change history
by having kids that aren't
supposed to exist
There is one absolute and unconditional truth in the universe, James Cameron is the greatest director ever. He's a Canadian, eh.
Absolutely epic movie. The Terminator movies that we got after this movie just do not come close to being as good. This is an awesome sci-fi movie. I understand why the movie going masses would probably prefer the other Terminator movies. But for sci-fi movie fans this film is where its at.
Absolutely fantastic review guys, thank you so much.
I just realized that Bill Paxton was the blue-haired punk ( 6:02 ) in this. It's only taken me 35+ years to realize this.
And then you pointed that out right after :P
A stone cold all time classic
fun fact
Lance Henrikson
was originally cast
as the
TERMINATOR
the original
TERMINATOR
ENDOSKELETON
can be seen in
SCREAM 3
2000
in
LANCE HENRIKSON
as
JOHN MILTON's
office
he brought that to the set as a background prop as an
easter egg for
HARDCORE FANS
to find
This is a fantastic movie. It's a bit sad how it gets so overshadowed by its sequel.
great review but Kyle Reese isn't in his 30s. He's dirty and tired and the war has made him look older than he is. according to the book, he's a teenager. obviously I don't buy that but in another screenplay by Cameron the age of Sarah is 19 and kyle is 21. sorry if this is a repeat.
Yea I never thought he was in his late 30's, probably mid to late 20's.
Since Kyle was supposed to have been born after Judgment Day (which occurred in 1997), and was sent back from 2029, he couldn't have been older than 32 at the most.