“The Terminator” (1984) tells the story of a time-traveling android, or “Cybernetic Organism,” from a bleak future where self-aware robots wreak havoc against a limited human resistance.
Ah-nold Schwarznegger, the former Governator and Nanny Lover, turns monotone into an art in “Terminator,” dispatching stunt men and dislodging eyeballs with aplomb. It took James Cameron, a director whose weakness usually lies in the script department, to exploit Arnold’s limitations as an actor and spin it into gold. In fact, Arnold spoke only 58 words throughout the entire film. With more judicious editing, it could have been 48.
Anyway, it doesn’t take Shakespearean monologues to get the point across to Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton, the former long-suffering Mrs. Cameron) that her life is in danger, and suddenly she’s taking a crash-course in dodging murderous robots alongside her savior, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn).
