Terminator 1 (1984 movie) finally

I will take a break from the movies and books post ... take a break from the past (few months content) and write something from the present timeline :)

When I first saw the Terminator movie more than 16-17 years ago; (Terminator 2: Judgment Day); It was an awesome mind blowing experience. It had absolutely amazing computer graphics and it was unlike any movie I had ever watched. It was a game changer of its time ... doing things ahead of its time.

Then came T3 (Terminator: Rise of the Machines, 2003) and it was a bit of a disappointment. There was a gap of almost 10 years between the two movies and I still had T2 imprinted in my memory. The expectations with the Terminator genre were very high and it disappointed. The technological advancements from T2 to T3 hardly significant.

The trilogy seemed to be over. But then T4 arrives as Terminator Salvation last year. A Terminator movie without Arnold was already unthinkable; add to that the movie not having the usual one-to-one between two cyborgs and it lost half its charm. Technologically speaking, T4 might have been a pretty good movie, but it simply did not resonate with me.

All in all, I felt nothing could match or superimpose on the effect created by T2.

And then … I saw Terminator. Yes, finally I saw the first and original Terminator movie from 1984 and realized that although it had the worst techno-effects amongst all T movies; it was obviously made a quarter of a century ago and whatever they did then was pretty much ground-breaking and mind blowing. I was actually impressed by the movie, its technological aspect and even the Arnold puppets/masks for shots where he is shown to have the metallic red-iris eye.

Winston had a team of seven artists who worked for six months to create a puppet of the Terminator. It was first molded in clay, then plaster then forced with steel ribbing. These pieces were then sanded, painted and then chrome-plated. Winston sculpted a reproduction of Schwarzenegger's face in several poses out of silicone, clay and plaster – source: Wikipedia

While I was reading about the Terminator movie on Wikipedia, some faint memory reminded me that the trilogy of Terminator will be followed by another Trilogy. So after Terminator Salvation, we can expect T5 & T6 to come out in a couple of years.

The earlier movies had the challenge and charm of some technology to showcase that came from the future. The cyborgs coming back in time etc. The movies which are coming out now, actually are showing the post-Judgement day period when the technological advances are not that great. The cyborgs shown in T2 & T3 are not yet invented.

We are now in the past of the future that was shown in the earlier movies. (Did you get that; rad it again)

So should we expect technological wizardry that we saw in T2 & T3 or simply accept the fact that the movies now will be more ghastly and raw. The post Judgement Day era of nuclear holocaust

I would ask ... should they even make Terminator movies.

I always believe that certain movies create a genre of their own and they take on a personality which can best be described by themselves and not by existing standards. Example: James Bond movies, Terminator Trilogy, Matrix trilogy, Indiana Jones Trilogy … and so on. When a new team takes charge and try and play with this base character and personality of the movie or the characters, it can create a peculiar situation. You go to the movie theatre expecting something and what you see is something different. Something that you don't really identify with, since you are already tuned to some different frequency. The movie might actually be good; but it does not meet your expectation.

It happened to me for Terminator 4. It happened with me for Indiana Jones 4. It happened with me for the new James Bond Daniel Craig movies. And yes, it even happened when I saw the Sherlock Holmes movie this year. That disconnect prevents me from enjoying the movie.