| REVIEWS COMING SOON |
| The Terminator - 1984 Terminator 2: Judgment Day - 1991 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - 2003 |
Rarely does a genre say more about a time and place than science fiction. While
themes and nuances of plots in Westerns or romances might hint at the time in
which they were made, science fiction is almost always a direct window to the
thoughts and feelings of an era. There is no way to be subtle with aliens, robots
and laser blasters. In the 1980s, the world was free from Watergate. Film found
room to breathe again and experiment in lighter fare. Science fiction took a
whimsical turn and director James Cameron turned that relief on its ear and
created one of the most important science fiction forays of the 1980s, if not of all
time with the brutal time-travel saga of Skynet and the Terminator.
themes and nuances of plots in Westerns or romances might hint at the time in
which they were made, science fiction is almost always a direct window to the
thoughts and feelings of an era. There is no way to be subtle with aliens, robots
and laser blasters. In the 1980s, the world was free from Watergate. Film found
room to breathe again and experiment in lighter fare. Science fiction took a
whimsical turn and director James Cameron turned that relief on its ear and
created one of the most important science fiction forays of the 1980s, if not of all
time with the brutal time-travel saga of Skynet and the Terminator.
| Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original 1984 film, "The Terminator." |
A fledgling director, Cameron, and fresh-off-of-Conan body builder Arnold
Schwarzenegger paired to create a story of an apocalyptic future in which man's
obsession with computers had ensnared humanity. A computer known as Skynet at
some point in the near future had discovered sentience and killed billions of people
by launching a global nuclear strike. Yes, vestiges of the Cold War still troubled us
in the 1980s and "The Terminator" series reveals a frantic helplessness in the
fabric of humanity. Can we save ourselves from...ourselves?
In Skynet's wake, the human survivors are in a war with Skynet's robotic army of
terminator robots. The only way they can save themselves is to send an agent
back in time to protect the future mother of their leader, John Connor, because
Skynet has sent a terminator back in time to kill her before she can conceive
Earth's last hope. "The Terminator" and its two sequels have become iconic in
science fiction cinema. Each film was rife with ground-breaking special effects, tight
plotting and intense, unrelenting action. Cameron played the original story with
such intensity and authenticity that viewers today still get caught up in the saga of a
woman and her son against the deadly androids of the future.
Schwarzenegger paired to create a story of an apocalyptic future in which man's
obsession with computers had ensnared humanity. A computer known as Skynet at
some point in the near future had discovered sentience and killed billions of people
by launching a global nuclear strike. Yes, vestiges of the Cold War still troubled us
in the 1980s and "The Terminator" series reveals a frantic helplessness in the
fabric of humanity. Can we save ourselves from...ourselves?
In Skynet's wake, the human survivors are in a war with Skynet's robotic army of
terminator robots. The only way they can save themselves is to send an agent
back in time to protect the future mother of their leader, John Connor, because
Skynet has sent a terminator back in time to kill her before she can conceive
Earth's last hope. "The Terminator" and its two sequels have become iconic in
science fiction cinema. Each film was rife with ground-breaking special effects, tight
plotting and intense, unrelenting action. Cameron played the original story with
such intensity and authenticity that viewers today still get caught up in the saga of a
woman and her son against the deadly androids of the future.
| The robot rises from ruin to kill Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton in "The Terminator." |
| In "Terminator 2," Schwarzenegger is on the defensive, protecting John Connor from the T-1000, a much deadlier terminator. |
| Nick Stahl and Claire Danes face a future without hope and the lethal T-X in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." |