The Terminator is a beautiful example of this. He takes the mechanical, cyber-punk style of the early 1980s and uses this effect to create a dark science fiction thriller which soon became a huge cultural icon.
The Terminator is now a hugely recognizable figure amongst popular culture. It sits comfortably around the top spot of this scoreboard with Back to the Future, Indiana Jones, E.T and even Star Wars. Yet this is not the only reason why I love The Terminator so unconditionally. There is also something else which pushes this feature even closer to the perfection mark.
What is so marvelous about this film is how it manages to portray two very distinct realities amongst a single textual space. There is the story of the dream world and the story of the nightmare.
The story of the nightmare is the world of tomorrow; humanity versus machine. The opening shots of the film reveal a cold and dead world. The low, harsh slashes of Brad Fidel's mechanical score give us a crystal clear idea of what this world is like. It's dangerous, terrifying and a place which no one should ever find themselves in. Further exposition - in the form of subtitles - inform us of a brief history to this eerie realm.
LOS ANGELES 2029 A.D. THE MACHINES ROSE FROM THE ASHES OF THE NUCLEAR FIRE. THEIR WAR TO EXTERMINATE MANKIND HAS RAGED FOR DECADES, BUT THE FINAL BATTLE WOULD NOT BE FOUGHT IN THE FUTURE. IT WOULD BE FOUGHT HERE, IN OUR PRESENT.
After the opening titles, the world of tomorrow vanishes from our view. We are not allowed to witness it any further. It is not a world that the viewer is meant spend too much time in. For this story to work, the nightmare must be limited in its presence. It is not the space that this film's text is meant to be set within. It works as an idea, a vision of a potential tomorrow. It is a premonition, not a physical space for the story to be told within.
Instead, we are whisked back to the present day. It's 1984 and at first it appears as though we are still in the story of the nightmare. The streets are dark and two highly dangerous individuals upset the status quo of the midnight streets which occupy this environment.
Yet regardless of what we think we see, this is not the world of the nightmare. Instead, this is the world of the dream. What results in this deceitful misunderstanding is that two characters from the yet-to-exist nightmare have leaked into this world. They have thrown themselves back in time in order to invade the dreamlike space of The Terminator's core narrative.
The difference between the two characters of the nightmare world is that one is here in the name of good, whilst the other is here in the name of evil.
The good is Kyle Reece; a soldier who has been sent back in time to protect a woman named Sarah Conner. Sarah is destined to one day give birth to a child - John Connor - who will become the main catalyst in the uprising against the dominating machines of planet earth.
The evil is the Terminator, a cybernetic death machine who's mission is to murder Sarah before she is able to give birth to humanities' last hope. Both Reese and the Terminator race against one another, each determined to complete their mission successfully.
The ultimate irony of this story is that both of them will end up becoming the architects to the thing that they are fighting against. Kyle Reece will end up becoming the farther to John Conner. His presence in 1984 will result in the conception of this child. He is partly to blame for the uprising that will defeat Cyberdyne. Likewise, the death of the Terminator who has also traveled back to 1984 will go on to be the model that inspires the inception of Cyberdyne systems (however this is a plot that will not make itself known until the director's cut of the film's breathtaking sequel).
But regardless of these opening moments, the world of 1984 is still a dreamlike realm of sorts. Both Cameron's direction and Fidel's score will portray this world as a period of bliss which is on the verge of an apocalyptic meltdown. Their melancholic portrayal of contemporary LA will ignite an enigmatic quality within the story. Even the most mundane of streets will eminate the feel of something wonderful, something that is destined to be lost in the near future.
And this is where Cameron excels beautifully in his directing talents. Today, Cameron is celebrated as the builder of worlds. This title took on most of its meaning upon the release of Avatar; a film which created an alien world which was vast in its scale. But Avatar was not where Cameron's talent formulated. It started as far back as here.
Cameron has successful structured a version of LA that sits on the edge of reality. It's soft lighting and use of emphasizing empty spaces will make it appear almost like a character of its own. It is a world that is almost a ghost town. But what makes this ghost town so enchantingly beautiful is the characters that occupy it.
Sarah Conner starts out as your average, 1980s, everyday woman. She goes to work, shares a flat with her friend Ginger, and is a hopeless romantic who wants to find the right man to spend her life with. Kyle Reese, on the other hand is a soldier from the future who is really in the past to fight in the name of love. As a younger man, he saw a photo of Sarah Conner, and from that moment on, his heart belong to her.
It is these two characters who end up being solely responsible for what make this story the workings of a dream world. Sarah is just an average girl who is terrified at the fact that she will one day give birth to a history defying soldier. As the narrative moves forward, she herself will begin to grow into a soldier. Kyle Reese, on the other hand, will begin to reveal his inner human flaws. He overplays the role of the hero, but deep down he is functioning solely to protect a woman that he is madly in awe over.
Both characters slowly begin to switch roles as the plot progresses. As Sarah becomes more in tune to what her future will entail, Kyle starts to fall for the beauties of everyday life. He's in love and is trying with much difficulty to adapt to the world which he will now spend the rest of his life in.
The aesthetic of the dream reaches its all time height during the climax of the film's second act. After Sarah and Kyle make love for the first time - finally conceiving the fate of the future - the two of them playfully tease one another. What makes this moment so painfully heartbreaking is that that it's the last glimpse that both the characters and viewers will ever get of normality in this story. This is the end of the dream. The nightmare world leaks in throughout the entire duration of The Terminator, but it is here where it finally invades in full force.
Amongst all the surrounding cyber-punk/science fiction imagery, The Terminator is essentially the first and most definitive version of the James Cameron love story. Two characters from hugely distinct worlds collide with one another. At first they reject one another, but as things progress, they begin to realize how much they mean to each other. As the seeds of their love are planted, both characters will begin to influence the other. They will start to immerse themselves within each others worlds. They ignite bliss within one anothers hearts and will fill the voids in both of their lives.
Two worlds colliding, creating a love that is only inseparable by death. And in good old fashion James Cameron style, this is how the story will go about separating them.
The love scene of the Cameron love story is always the moment of doom for the male lead. It is during these moments that both lovers sign the death warrant of one of the main protagonists. Cameron's narratives are the collision of dreams, but as is the case in all dreams, the leading character - in this case Sarah - must sooner or later wake up. This means that no matter how hard one tries, the love story must inevitably come to and end. Once they tie the not, they essentially make it impossible to break these characters apart. This leaves the narrative with only one last option; death.
The love story of The Terminator is almost identical to that of Titanic. It is essentially the same film, only belonging to a different genre and universe. Kyle and Sarah are essentially the Jack and Rose of 1980s science fiction. Both of them will be members of opposing realities. Both will find one another in an environment that is inevitably doomed. As the two of them find themselves in one another's arms, the apocalyptic consequences of their immediate environment will separate them for eternity. In response to their loss, the surviving member will go on to alter the course of their lives in remembrance of their deceased lover.
It is this very love story that makes 1984 LA a dreamland in The Terminator. It is not our own reality, but a fantasy of the main character's. They live in a world which is on the verge of destruction. A place that is set to become a nightmare, yet the power of unexpected love brings them both great bouts of joy for a premature period of time.
The Terminator is not only a film which gives birth to the Cameron love story, but is also a film which brings the director's strong portrayal of female leads into contemporary cinema.
Yet this feature does not throw such an empowering representation into the story straight away. Instead it plays with the idea, slowly introducing it into the plot as time moves forward.
At the start of this story, Sarah is a highly passive character. She possesses no knowledge of the future war against the machines and spends a majority of the time trying to escape from both the antagonist and male protagonist of this film. She is a terrified damsel in distress who wishes to play no part in this so called future.
However Sarah will soon begin to take control of this narrative. At first, it is Reese who is in control of the narrative. He wields the knowledge of the future, he makes the decisions for Sarah, and he understands all the rules of this story. Though as both characters begin to switch roles, it will be Sarah who takes control of this world.
Conner becomes a soldier in her own right. As the blindfolds come off of her, she starts to see that the world that Reese and the Terminator come from are very much real (or at least will be so one day). She is not forced by Reese to believes this, but comes to a conclusion by herself. Once she understands the rules and knowledge of the story, she possess complete control over the entire narrative.
By the end of the story, Kyle is dead and Sarah is left alone in the world. The era of the dream is on the bring of extinction. Sarah is now willing to walk into the jaws of the nightmare by herself. She chooses not to get rid of the baby that she conceived with Kyle and chooses to mold this baby into John Conner; the leader of humanity during the war against the machines.
As Brad Fidel's otherworldly score blasts onto the screen during the final moments of the story, Sarah acknowledges that "there's a storm coming". With this realization, she drives head on into the storm; both literally and metaphorically. She is the one true ruler of this narrative; the controller of the entire story.
The twisting of female representation is not the only trick that Cameron has up his sleeve however, as the film also decides to flip another convention on its head. This is done in the form of the film's antagonist.
Cameron is not the most original of storytellers when it comes to his films. Most of his stories will take a previously established idea or narrative and then twist them in a number of ways. In the case of The Terminator, he puts together a classic robot science fiction thriller, then reshapes the execution of the murderous antagonist to amplify the film's effect.
Whilst many classic science fiction stories would tell a story that would involve a man dressed up as a robot, Cameron dresses up his robot as a man. The character of the Terminator comes across in appearance as nothing more than an overly built human. The metallic monster lies deep underneath a sentient exterior of muscles, sweat and flesh. Not only does this work as a great disguise for the android who has taken up temporary residence in a time period where such creatures do not belong, but it also acts as a great anticipation tool.
Audiences know that there is a beast lying amongst the flesh of this heartless beast, but we are not allowed the privilege of witnessing its true from until the film's climax. We are gradually teased with brief encounters of the beast below, but not until the moment where the battle torn Terminator rises from the flames of the final scene do we finally get to witness its definitive form.
It is a gripping plot technique and makes it all the more breathtaking when we finally do get to see the monster with our own eyes. Even after almost thirty years of the film's aging, that moment still holds up perfectly. This is all thanks to the incredible build up that the film's twist provides us with.
These are just a few of the many reasons why The Terminator is one of the most incredible stories of the past thirty years. No matter how many times I witness it, I never grow tired of its beauty. The entire viewing experience is a form of cinematic perfection that will never fade for my mind's eye.
There's only one film that has been able to beat its brilliance, and that is Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
That is all I have to say on this film for the time being. I'm sure I will write another post on it at some point or another - as I have a million and one things to say about this masterpiece - however I think that this is enough for one entry. But before I go, I would just like to leave you all with a piece of dialogue from one of the film's most beautiful scenes:
"John Connor gave me a picture of you once. I didn't
know why at the time. It was very old, torn, faded.
You were young like you are now. you seemed just a
little sad.
I used to always wonder what you were thinking at
that moment. I memorised every line, every curve. I came across time for you, Sarah. I love you. I always have."
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