51 GREATEST FICTIONAL BAD GUYS
#9. THE T-800 from THE TERMINATOR
In the past twenty-five years, we’ve been subjected to four theatrical sequels, two seasons of a TV series, one theme park attraction, three sequel novels, 32 comic book titles and 27 video games that all add up to the TERMINATOR franchise. To date, none of them have come close to matching the imagination, succinctness and humanity of the 1984 original.
The closest is T2: JUDGMENT DAY, a largely unnecessary sequel that focuses on well-drawn characters and themes (as well as displaying some breathtaking technical achievements) but also echoes the original story and adds extraneous paradoxes. And that’s what the series has really become: an extraneous paradox. By GENISYS, the TERMINATOR franchise has become a muddled, incomprehensible joke.
It’s almost as if there’s been an unspoken trade-off in the development of filmmaking. In 1984, we were limited to stop-motion model effects and matte paintings, but storytelling was lean and focussed; in 2015, we can literally put anything on the screen, but have to endure five different subplots, generic characters with flexible “any-given-moment” motivations and no real conclusion to dangling plot threads (because world-building is hot, people!)
For me, the TERMINATOR saga will always begin and end with one rough, but perfectly structured film. As cool as they may seem in concept, there are no Terminatrixes, Marcus Wrights or Skynet possessed John Conners (WTF?!). To me, there’s just a worn-out soldier and an ordinary girl fighting forever in a Mobieus time-loop against a soulless machine. And as absolute corny as this sounds — but as effective as Jim Cameron was to show it — the only way to defeat the soulless things that seek to terminate us is through humanity and love. Christ, now I need a tissue.
Reese: “Listen, and understand! That Terminator is out there! It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.”
Now please enjoy one of the most wonderful examples of action and suspense in cinema history:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NDBVi3QdwU
