Together with my wife, I rewatched all three Terminator movies (and isn't it really sad that they never made any more of these?). These are pretty old now. The first Terminator came out in 1984, the second in 1991 and the third in 2003. By the way, isn't it fascinating how much space lies between these? Unimaginable in the Hollywood of today, leaving a brand laying around like that. Aaaanywyay.
Terminator
The first movie in the franchise is a bit weird to watch today. Its pace is pretty slow, and a lot of the sequences that would today be action sequences play out as...actors moving a bit faster than usual, I guess? A lot of it comes down to a relatively small budget and the limitations of the special effects available back in the day.
However, the foundational importance of this work can't be overstated, with time travel, killer robots, time paradoxes and post-apocalyptic aesthetics popularized for generations of film makers to imitate.
Just being a precursor and foundational influence, however, doesn't merit rewatching a movie outside film school. So does it still hold up?
I think it does, although barely. The awkward pacing and lackluster action sequences as well as the bad lighting in night sequences make it problematic at times, and certain sequences - looking at you, police station scene - don't work very well, with the police officers never really gaining any character depth despite having a lot of screen time and remaining on a caricature level most of the time.
What really rescues the first Terminator is the strong chemistry between Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn, with James Cameron wisely centering the whole story around their budding love relationship that culminates in one of the legitimately sexiest love scenes ever put to screen.
Terminator 2 - Judgement Day
The sequel is also infamous for breaking new ground, being the most expensive movie of all time until James Cameron broke his own record in 1997 with "Titanic" and then again in 2009 with "Avatar". The man likes new tech and huge budgets. In 1991, he broke new ground in CGI technique with the "liquid metal" of the T-1000.
Unlike the first Terminator movie, the second one still holds up today. Sure, the effects for the T-1000 look a bit dated today, but that fits the storyline, and strangely, the movie holds up better visually than its sequel twelve years later!
Again, Cameron also grounds the plot line in a strong interpersonal drama, this time between the unlikely parents of Sarah Connor and the T-800. John Connor, who starts the movie off as an unlikable brat with very strong 1990s vibes luckily snaps out of it quickly, and the movie loses all topical stuff after the first half hour, becoming more timeless, which hugely helps its rewatchability.
Plus, to this day, it remains one of the best action movies ever. The sequences are great even today, 30 years later. The pacing is excellent, with the movie never lagging despite its two-and-a-half-hour running time. Terminator 2 remains the best entry in the franchise today, one of the rare cases in which a sequel actually surpassed the original in a time where sequels weren't the norm yet and usually done more as cash-grabs than works in their own right.
Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines
The last entry in the Terminator series was produced in 2003, shortly before Schwarzenegger made his bid into politics (which overshadowed the discussion back then). The movie had a huge budget, with Schwarzenegger collecting a paycheck over more than 30 million dollars, and it was one of those sequels no one really had demanded, by a largely unknown director and with a rather unknown and not generically attractive lead (sorry, Nick Stahl).
Terminator 3 is in many ways an underrated sequel, though. It was widely derided when it came out and doesn't have a lot of ardent fans even today. While it's clearly the weakest of the entries in the trilogy, it does actually find a reason for existing and to sow up the story in a satisfying manner.
The story is surprisingly good, one has to say. In case you don't remember, I don't want to spoil it here, but suffice to say, it makes a lot of sense and wraps up coherently. John Connor is a real departure from what one would expect, and Claire Dane's Katherine Brewster is a welcome addition to the cast.
Where Terminator 3 falters is especially in its first half, which is very much early 2000s and can't really shed its roots. There's a lot of gratuitous explosions, effects just for the sake of them (shoving your face into "look there!" penetrantes) and, especially, a lot of cringe-inducing moments of storytelling.
There's a blue collar guy who's so blue collar he could be on stage with Kid Rock, the gender politics surrounding the T-X are just...ewgh...and for some reason the movie insists on self-referential, ironic bits (like the T-800 remembering things from Terminator 2 despite explicitly being established as having no memory of the events) and breaking the seriousness of the story with elements like the T-800 entering a Ladies Night at the strip club. These elements are unbelievable and really chafe against the general seriousness and dreary tone of the main plotline. Luckily, they're abandoned completely in the latter half.
Conclusion
Terminator 1 and 2 are absolutely foundational works of the action genre and were hugely influential up to this day. Terminator 2 at least remains eminently watchable to this day, whereas, for different reasons, Terminator and Terminator 3 have a slightly dated aspect on them, but remain entertaining enough to merit a rewatch after all this time.
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