The Terminator (1984)
Directed by James Cameron
In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
9 connections found
View:
9 films that influenced The Terminator
What critics say influenced The Terminator
The film they made in 1927 (von Harbou has screenplay credit, although Lang reportedly contributed) was a science fiction landmark, its extravagant imagery informing works as diverse as The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), Dr. Strangelove (1964), and The Terminator (1984).
Cameron's influences include all manner of science fiction, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Ray Bradbury to Star Wars, but the film's true creative counterpart might be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
He worked first as a production assistant, then created miniature models and directed the special effects on “Escape from New York” before getting a last-minute call as a replacement director on “Piranha II: The Spawning” — a two-bit sequel to the Corman-produced 1978 cult hit.
Later glimpses of the bombed-out future recall not only Escape From New York — on which Cameron was credited for his visual effects and matte work — but ripoffs like 1990: The Bronx Warriors.
Escape from New York is Bad-Ass John in full effect, and its influence cannot be understated; Robert Rodriguez studied the film closely, and James Cameron, who worked on the movie's special effects and matte paintings, owed a very large debt to Escape in The Terminator, which can fairly accurately be read as the best John Carpenter movie that Carpenter never made.
It is, in its entirety, a chase; I can only think to compare it to The Terminator in terms of a film that's nothing but one steady flow of action with no meaningful ellipses.
Advertisement
In 1965's "Alphaville," opening in Portland in a newly restored digital re-release, science fiction meets film noir in a way that made possible the existence of "Blade Runner," "The Terminator" and countless other books and films.
These were the follow-ups to the Sylvester Stallone "crazy 'Nam vet" picture First Blood , which was ultimately taken from Cameron by the actor, who massively re-wrote the whole thing, leaving Cameron with nothing but a largely honorary screenplay credit; and Ridley Scott's outstanding haunted house sci-fi monster movie Alien , which was not taken away from Cameron whatsoever, as we shall see.
When James Cameron came aboard the “Alien” series, he essentially took what was a dark science fiction horror film and transformed its sequel in to a action packed monster movie.
Cameron's influences include all manner of science fiction, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Ray Bradbury to Star Wars, but the film's true creative counterpart might be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Cameron's influences include all manner of science fiction, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to Ray Bradbury to Star Wars, but the film's true creative counterpart might be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Advertisement
These were the follow-ups to the Sylvester Stallone "crazy 'Nam vet" picture First Blood , which was ultimately taken from Cameron by the actor, who massively re-wrote the whole thing, leaving Cameron with nothing but a largely honorary screenplay credit; and Ridley Scott's outstanding haunted house sci-fi monster movie Alien , which was not taken away from Cameron whatsoever, as we shall see.