The Terminator
James Cameron has said the first film came from a fever dream in Rome of a chrome skeleton pulling itself out of fire, and the image is essentially the whole franchise. Made for around six million dollars, The Terminator works by inversion: the pursuing machine is the title character, the human protagonist is a waitress, and the film is structurally a slasher in which the killer cannot be reasoned with, bargained with or stopped.
About The Terminator
James Cameron has said the first film came from a fever dream in Rome of a chrome skeleton pulling itself out of fire, and the image is essentially the whole franchise. Made for around six million dollars, The Terminator works by inversion: the pursuing machine is the title character, the human protagonist is a waitress, and the film is structurally a slasher in which the killer cannot be reasoned with, bargained with or stopped. The 1991 sequel then inverted it again by making the same model the protector, and its liquid-metal antagonist was among the first sustained uses of computer-generated character animation in a live-action film.
Cameron reportedly sold the screenplay for one dollar on condition that he direct it.
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Key eras
| Era | Years | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Original | 1984 | A low-budget chase film that became a phenomenon. |
| Judgment Day | 1991 | Landmark computer-generated effects and a reversed premise. |
| Later films | 2003–2019 | Several sequels with competing continuities. |