I'll be back
I'll be back
In the year 2028 an Earth devastated by nuclear war is ruled by machines who are hunting down the last remaining humans. On the eve of the humans victory Skynet, the computer controlling the machines, sends a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a cyborg made to look human, back to the year 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a woman who's unborn son, John Connor will become the human resistance leader. The humans are able to send one man, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), back to 1984 to try and stop the Terminator. While on the run from this Terminator, Kyle and Sarah fall in love. Kyle ends up sacrificing himself to save Sarah, but not before impregnating her with a son who will become the future leader of the resistance.
The Terminator was first conceived by Cameron in a dream, actually a nightmare about being chased by one of the endoskeletons, like at the end of the movie. He wrote it along with his wife, producer Gale Ann Hurd, whom he had met while working for B-movie king Roger Corman. Cameron and Hurd's only real previous experience had been in technical and business roles in some low budget movies. Everything that the duo lacked in experience they more than made up for in talent, and ambition.
Casting his two leads was Cameron's biggest concern. He did not see casting the Terminator as a big deal, The Terminator being just the monster who chases the heroes from time to time. Linda Hamilton of TVs Beauty and the Beast was chosen for Sarah. The investors wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the hero, Kyle Reese (they also wanted OJ Simpson as the Terminator, somebody must have been physic). Cameron knew that was a bad idea and originally wanted Schwarzenegger as far away from consideration as he could be. After the two met Cameron decided that Schwarzenegger was perfect for The Terminator. Originally Cameron's friend Lance Henriksen was first choice for the Terminator (which was supposed to have an "everyman" look). Henriksen even dressed as the Terminator for some early screen test to show the investors what a terminator is. After Schwarzenegger stepped into what would become his most famous role Henriksen, who defiantly not have been able to play the hero, was given the smaller role of a police detective. Michael Biehn was finally chosen to play Kyle Reese, the hero.
They got most of there funding from Hemdale Film Corporation (which is owned by HBO) They had only a budget of $6.4 million (about the same as Platoon, which had no killer cyborg optical effects to pay for) For the Terminator effects Cameron went to makeup FX whiz Stan Winston (who had done some TV work and very little film work of note at the time). For the scene where the Terminator has had all of it's skin burned off it's mettle bones but keeps coming Cameron originally wanted them to just build a stop motion animation puppet (based on a painting he had done). Winston had the idea of using a full size mock-up for several crucial shots. The mock up was divided into several sections. Close-ups of the legs walking was a man holding just the legs moving them up-down and forward to simulate walking. A shot of the torso while walking, shot from the side with the legs out of frame, was the torso sitting on two poles healed by one man in front, one in back walking in unison. All I can say is thank god they did use those live physical effects (Jim, Stan, Gale, I love all you guys, and I understand the budget and time constraints, and the time period 1984) but let's be honest, the rear-projection stop motion animation shots, do look like rear-projection stop-motion effects.
The movie had a successful domestic, and later foreign, theater run; and went to become one of the most rented videos of the time. Of course "I'll be back" became part of American pop-culture. Schwarzenegger became an American icon, the movie was an instant classic, and Cameron became the hottest new director in Hollywood.