Edward D. Wood Jr.

Edward D. Wood Jr.
(Worst Director of All Time)

Frank Henenlotter

Frank Henenlotter
(Film Maker & Film Historian)
Mostrar mensagens com a etiqueta James Cameron. Mostrar todas as mensagens
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sexta-feira, 14 de setembro de 2012

O Exterminador Implacável 2 - O Dia do Julgamento (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)














































































Info About The Second Instalment Of The Terminator Series:

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film, the second installment of the Terminator franchise and the sequel to The Terminator (1984). Directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher, Jr., it stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong. Terminator 2 follows Sarah Connor (Hamilton) and her son John (Furlong) as they are pursued by a new, more advanced Terminator, the liquid metal, shapeshifting T-1000 (Patrick), sent back in time to kill John and prevent him from becoming the leader of the human Resistance against the machines. An older, less advanced Terminator (Schwarzenegger) is also sent back in time to protect John.
After a troubled pre-production characterized by legal disputes, Mario Kassar of Carolco Pictures emerged with the franchise's property rights in early 1990. This paved the way for the completion of the screenplay by the Cameron-led production team, and the October 1990 start of a shorter-than-originally-planned 186-day filming schedule. The production of Terminator 2 required an unprecedented budget of more than $94 million (1991 dollars), much of which was spent on filming and special effects. The film was released on July 3, 1991, in time for the U.S. Fourth of July weekend.
Terminator 2, a box office and critical success, influenced popular culture and especially movies in the genres of action and science fiction.[5] The film's visual effects saw many breakthroughs in computer-generated imagery, including the first use of natural human motion for a computer-generated character and the first partially computer-generated main character.[6] It received many accolades, including four Academy Awards for makeup, sound mixing, sound editing, and visual effects.[7]

Plot

In 1995, eleven years after the events of The Terminator, John Connor (Edward Furlong) is ten years old and living in Los Angeles with foster parents. His mother Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) had been preparing him throughout his childhood for his future role as the leader of the human Resistance against Skynet, but was arrested after attempting to bomb a computer factory and remanded to a hospital for the criminally insane under the supervision of Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen). Skynet sends a new Terminator, a T-1000 (Robert Patrick), back in time to kill John. A prototype which is more advanced than the Terminator sent after Sarah, the T-1000 is composed of a "mimetic poly-alloy", a liquid metal that allows it to take the shape and appearance of anyone or anything it touches. Though it cannot mimic complex machines such as guns or bombs, it can shape parts of itself into knives and stabbing weapons and can mimic the voice and appearance of humans. It assumes the identity of a police officer and goes in pursuit of John. Meanwhile, the future John Connor has sent back a reprogrammed T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to protect his younger self.
The Terminator and the T-1000 converge on John in a shopping mall, and a chase ensues in which John and the Terminator escape by motorcycle. Fearing that the T-1000 will kill Sarah in order to get to him, John orders the Terminator to help free her. They encounter Sarah in the midst of her own escape attempt. She is initially terrified by the Terminator but accepts its assistance after it helps them to escape the T-1000. The Terminator informs John and Sarah about Skynet, the artificial intelligence that will initiate a nuclear war on "Judgment Day" and go on to create the machines that will hunt the remnants of humanity.[N 1] Sarah learns that the man most directly responsible for Skynet's creation is Miles Dyson (Joe Morton), a Cyberdyne Systems engineer working on a revolutionary new microprocessor that will form the basis for Skynet.
Sarah gathers weapons from an old friend and plans to flee with John to Mexico, but after having a horrific nightmare of a nuclear explosion she awakens and sets out to kill Miles Dyson to prevent "Judgment Day" from occurring. She wounds him at his home but finds herself unable to kill him in front of his family. John and the Terminator arrive and inform Miles of the consequences of his work and learn that much of his research has been reverse engineered from the CPU and arm of the previous Terminator sent after Sarah. Convincing him that these items and his designs must be destroyed, they break into the Cyberdyne building and retrieve the CPU and arm. The police and the T-1000 arrive and Miles is mortally shot and stays behind to trigger a detonator that will destroy his research.
The T-1000 pursues John, Sarah, and the Terminator, catching up to them in a steel mill. In a climactic battle, the Terminator fires a grenade into the T-1000 and it falls into a vat of molten steel, where it is destroyed. John throws the components of the original Terminator into the vat as well. The Terminator then sacrifices itself, asking Sarah to lower it into the steel so that its technology cannot be used to create Skynet. Sarah looks to the future with hope, believing that if a machine can learn the value of human life, humanity may not be doomed to self-destruction.

Cast

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic organism—living tissue over a powerful, metal endoskeleton—reprogrammed and sent back in time to protect John Connor while he is still a child. Schwarzenegger was paid a salary of $12–15 million for his role as the Terminator.[8][9]
  • Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, mother of the future leader of the human Resistance in the war against Skynet. Hamilton reprised her role from the 1984 film for a salary of $1 million.[10] In preparation for the role, Hamilton underwent an extensive thirteen-week training regimen with personal trainer Anthony Cortes, training for three hours each day, six days a week before filming began. She additionally lost 12 pounds (5.4 kg) on a nonfat diet, conducted throughout the film's six-month shoot. Actor and former Israeli commando Uzi Gal provided her with training for her action scenes. On her work with Gal, Hamilton stated that she undertook "judo and heavy-duty military training" and "learned to load clips, change mags, check out a room upon entry, verify kills."[11] Hamilton's twin sister Leslie Hamilton Gearren also portrayed Sarah when it was required that there be two of the character in the same shot.[11]
  • Robert Patrick as the T-1000, an advanced prototype Terminator composed of liquid metal, sent back in time to assassinate John. Billy Idol was Cameron's original choice for the T-1000, and Cameron had drawn storyboards to resemble him, but Idol could not accept the role following a motorcycle accident.[12] Cameron stated that he "wanted to find someone who would be a good contrast to Arnold. If the 800 series [the model played by Schwarzenegger] is a kind of human Panzer tank, then the 1000 series had to be a Porsche."[13][14]
  • Edward Furlong as John Connor, the ten-year-old son of Sarah, given survival training from a young age, but taken into foster care after his mother is institutionalized. Furlong was discovered by casting director Mali Finn while visiting the Pasadena Boys and Girls Club.[15] Furlong, who had no acting ambitions at the time, stated, "I fell into [acting], it wasn't something that I planned".[16] The adult John of 2029 AD is played by Michael Edwards.
  • Earl Boen as Dr. Peter Silberman, Sarah's psychiatrist, skeptical of her prophecies of machines destroying humanity.
  • Joe Morton as Miles Dyson, director of special projects at Cyberdyne and considered the man most responsible for the creation of Skynet.
The cast was rounded out with Jenette Goldstein and Xander Berkeley, who portray John's foster parents, Janelle and Todd Voight. Cástulo Guerra plays Sarah's friend, Enrique Salceda, who provides her with weapons. Danny Cooksey plays Tim, John's friend. S. Epatha Merkerson plays Tarissa Dyson, the wife of Miles Dyson. Michael Biehn returned to the series as Kyle Reese, a soldier from 2029, in a cameo appearance, appearing in Sarah's dream. Biehn did not appear at all in the theatrically released version of the film,[17] but his scene was restored in extended versions of the film. Hamilton's then-twenty-month-old son Dalton plays her on-screen son in a dream sequence set in a playground.[11]

Production

Development

Talk of a potential sequel to The Terminator arose soon after the original's release, but several outstanding issues precluded such a production. There were technical setbacks regarding computer imagery, a vital aspect of the film that would be crucial in the creation of the T-1000 Terminator. The production of James Cameron's 1988 film The Abyss provided the proof of concept necessary to satisfactorily resolve the technical concerns.[18] Perhaps more serious were the intellectual-property disputes between Hemdale Film, which owned the franchise and stymied efforts to produce a sequel, and Carolco Pictures.[19] Given that Hemdale was then experiencing financial problems, Arnold Schwarzenegger urged Mario Kassar, head of Carolco, to bid for the rights: "I reminded Mario that this is something that we've been looking for four years, and that it should be him that should go all-out, no matter what it takes to make this deal."[19] Carolco eventually paid Hemdale $5 million for the franchise in 1990, resolving the legal gridlock.[18][19]
The end of the legal disputes coincided with the willingness and availability of Cameron, Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton to participate in the film; Schwarzenegger, who portrayed the Terminator in the first film, commented: "I always felt we should continue the story of The Terminator, I told Jim that right after we finished the first film."[20] He and Hamilton reprised their respective roles from the first Terminator film. After an extensive casting search, 12-year-old Edward Furlong was selected from hundreds of candidates to portray John Connor; Robert Patrick was chosen to play the T-1000 Terminator because his agility emphasized the disparity between the advanced T-1000 and Schwarzenegger's older T-800 (Cameron characterized the two as "a Porsche" and "a human Panzer tank" respectively).[18][19] Patrick had previously appeared in the action feature Die Hard 2, but Furlong had no formal acting experience.[18] Joe Morton was picked to portray Miles Dyson, a Cyberdyne scientist who helped develop the new microprocessor for the T-800 Terminators.[18]
Calling themselves T2 Productions, James and co-producers Stephanie Austin and B.J. Rack rented an office in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, before starting to assemble the film crew for Terminator 2. Adam Greenberg, who worked on The Terminator and Ghost (1990), became director of photography, while Joseph Nemec III, who had worked with Cameron on The Abyss, was tasked with production design.[18] The team conducted a national search for a steel mill suitable for the film's climax, eventually selecting a dormant mill in Fontana, California, after weeks of negotiations.[18] Locating a potential Cyberdyne building was more difficult, as the site was to host numerous stunts, shootouts, and explosions. An industrial park in Fremont, California, was eventually rented for the duration of the film's production.[18] Cameron and William Wisher completed the 140-page screenplay draft on May 10, 1990, and by July 15, the first shooting draft had been distributed to the cast and crew;[18] particulars of the technically-detailed scripts were shrouded in secrecy.[19] Both the six-week turnaround for the script and the film's accelerated production schedule were to enable a 1991 Fourth of July release.[18]

Filming

Principal photography of Terminator 2 spanned over 186 days between October 9, 1990, and April 4, 1991, during which the crew filmed at the Mojave Desert before visiting 20 different sites throughout California and New Mexico.[18][21][22] These locations ran the gamut from the crowded Santa Monica Place shopping mall, where the two Terminators converged on John, to flood control channels in the San Fernando Valley, which played host to the chase between the Terminators and John; a river had to be redirected to allow filming on the otherwise wet channels.[18][23][24] Cameron and his crew also filmed Terminator 2 at The Corral Bar and the Lake View Medical Center (known as Pescadero State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in the film), both located in Lakeview Terrace.[22][25] The external shots of Cyberdyne Systems Corporation were filmed on location at an office building on the corner of Gateway Boulevard and Bayside Parkway in Fremont, California.[22] Working with up to 1,000 crew members,[26] the production team oversaw numerous stunts and chase sequences, the most notable of which took place on the Los AngelesLong Beach Terminal Island Freeway, prior to Terminator 2's climax. Ten miles (16 km) of electric cables were laid to illuminate the night-time chase, which saw a full-scale helicopter crash, a sliding tanker, and other elaborate paraphernalia.[18][27]
Hamilton's twin sister, Leslie Hamilton Gearren, was used in some shots that required two Sarahs. She is the mirror image of Sarah in the scene where they open up the Terminator's head (deleted from the theatrical release), and in some of the shots as the T-1000 impersonated Sarah.[11] Gearren is playing whichever "Sarah" is farthest from the camera, alternating between the real Sarah and the T-1000 based on camera position. Another set of twins, Don and Dan Stanton, were used to play the psychiatric hospital security guard and the T-1000 copying him.[28]
An unprecedented budget of $94 million (1991 dollars)—3.5 times the cost of the average film and approximately 15 times the $6.4 million budget of The Terminator[3][29]—was reserved for Terminator 2. A significant proportion of this was for actor and film-crew salaries. According to The Daily Sentinel and The Daily Beast, Arnold Schwarzenegger was given a $11–12 million Gulfstream III business jet, while $5–6 million was allocated towards James Cameron's salary.[3][30] The production itself, which included special effects and stunts, totalled $51 million.[3] Despite the significant expenditure, the film had nearly recovered its budget prior to its release. Worldwide rights were sold for $65 million, video rights for $10 million, and television rights for $7 million.[29]

Effects

Terminator 2 made extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) to vivify the main two Terminators. The use of such technology was the most ambitious since the 1982 science fiction film Tron,[31] and would be integral to the critical success of the film. CGI was required particularly for the T-1000, a "mimetic poly-alloy" (liquid metal) structure, since the shapeshifting character can morph into almost anything it touches.[18][32] Most of the key Terminator effects were provided by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for computer graphics and Stan Winston for practical effects.[33] Creation of the visual effects took 35 people, including animators, computer scientists, technicians and artists, ten months to produce, for a total of 25 man-years.[18][31] Despite the large amount of time spent, the CGI sequences only total five minutes of running time.[31] Enlisted to produce articulated puppets and prosthetic effects was Stan Winston's studio, who was also responsible for the metal skeleton effects of the T-800.[34] ILM's Visual Effects Supervisor, Dennis Muren, remarked, "We still have not lost the spirit of amazement when we see ... [the special effects on the T-1000] coming up."[35] Such was the role and creation of CGI that the visual-effects team was awarded the 1992 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.[36]
For Sarah's nuclear nightmare scene, Robert and Dennis Skotak of 4-Ward Production constructed a cityscape of Los Angeles using large-scale miniature buildings and realistic roads and vehicles. The pair, after having studied actual footages of nuclear tests, then simulated nuclear blast by using air mortars to knock over the cityscape, including the intricately-built buildings.[18][37]

Release and reception

Terminator 2 had its worldwide premiere at the Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Cinemas in Century City, Los Angeles, on July 1, 1991, attended by VIPs including Nicolas Cage,[38] Christian Slater,[39] Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver.[40] Following its domestic release two days later, the film was progressively distributed to cinemas in Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Spain, and at least ten other countries by the year's end.[41]

Critical response

The film received a positive reception from critics[42], earning a score of 68 out of 100 from 16 critics on review aggregate website Metacritic[43] and garnering 98% "certified fresh" rating from 44 critics—an average rating of 8.4 out of 10—on Rotten Tomatoes, whose assessment reads: "T2 features thrilling action sequences and eye-popping visual effects, but what takes this sci-fi/ action landmark to the next level is the depth of the human (and cyborg) characters."
The Montreal Film Journal called it "one of the best crafted Hollywood action flicks."[44] Screenwriting guru Syd Field lauded the plot of Terminator 2, saying, for example, "every scene sets up the next, like links in a chain of dramatic action."[45] Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, who gave the film 3.5 stars out of a possible 4, complimented Schwarzenegger's performance, saying that "Schwarzenegger's genius as a movie star is to find roles that build on, rather than undermine, his physical and vocal characteristics."[46] Hal Hinson, reviewer for The Washington Post, was also very positive in his review, writing that: "No one in the movies today can match Cameron's talent for this kind of hyperbolic, big-screen action. Cameron, who directed the first Terminator and Aliens, doesn't just slam us over the head with the action. In staging the movie's gigantic set pieces, he has an eye for both grandeur and beauty; he possesses that rare director's gift for transforming the objects he shoots so that we see, for example, the lyrical muscularity of an 18-wheel truck. Because of Cameron, the movie is the opposite of its Terminator character; it's a machine with a human heart."[32]
Writing for Time, Richard Corliss was far less pleased, stating that the film was "[a] humongous, visionary parable that intermittently enthralls and ultimately disappoints. T2 is half of a terrific movie—the wrong half."[47]

Box office

Opening in 2,274 theaters in the United States, Terminator 2 earned $54 million during its Fourth of July opening weekend, $3 million behind Batman (1989) during its opening five-day weekend.[48][N 2] One theater chain owner was reported as saying "[b]ut nothing since Batman has created the frenzy for tickets we saw this weekend with Terminator. At virtually all our locations, we were selling out well in advance of showings, and the word-of-mouth buzz out there is just phenomenal."[50] Elsewhere, the film grossed $3.4 million in Australia and $7.1 million in Germany during their opening weekends in September and October 1991, respectively.[41]
According to Box Office Mojo, the film's production costs was $102 million,[4] which, at the time, was the highest ever. However, if adjusted for inflation, Cleopatra (1963), which cost $44 million when it was made in 1963, would have been $219 million in 1995 dollars.[51] Terminator 2 was a box-office success, earning $204.8 million in the United States and Canada alone, and $519.8 million worldwide. It was the highest grossing film of 1991, beating Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and is TriStar Pictures' highest grossing film to date.[4][52] The film is ranked 110 in box office earnings of all time in the U.S. and Canada, and 84 worldwide.[4] The original Terminator grossed only $38 million in the U.S. in its theatrical run,[53] making Terminator 2's 434 percent increase a record for a sequel.

Home media

The movie was first released on DVD as a single disc in August 1997. Upon its release, the theatrical cut ran 139 minutes. On November 24, 1993, the Terminator 2: Judgment Day: Special Edition cut of the film was released to Laserdisc and VHS, containing 17 minutes of previously-unseen footage including scenes with Michael Biehn reprising his role as Kyle Reese in a dream sequence. however, the normal version was released in 1992. The subsequent "Ultimate Edition" and "Extreme Edition" DVD releases also contain this version of the film.[59]
The Extreme Edition DVD has several DVD-ROM features, including Infiltration Unit Simulator and T2 FX Studio, an application where images of a person can be imported and morphed into a T-800 or T-1000, and Skynet Combat Chassis Designer, a program where viewers could build a fighting machine and be able to track progress online.[60] The Extreme DVD also contains a WMV-HD theatrical edition of T2, where the film can be watched, for the first time, in Full HD 1080p format.
In 2006, Lionsgate released a Blu-ray of the film that is presented in a slightly washed-out 1080p transfer and included no special features and a DTS 5.1 audio track from the DVDs instead of a lossless audio track.[61] On May 19, 2009, Lionsgate re-released the film on Blu-ray with an enhanced and improved video transfer, as well as a THX certified DTS-Master Audio 6.1 audio. This "SkyNet Edition" also saw a limited collector's edition encased in an Endoskull. The limited collector's edition includes the 2009 Blu-ray, as well as the Extreme Edition and Ultimate Edition DVDs and a digital copy of the film.[62]

Impact and legacy

Recognition

In June 2001, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked the film at number 77 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills, a list of films considered to be the most thrilling in film history.[66][67] In 2003, the AFI released the AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains, a list of the 100 greatest screen heroes and villains of all time. The Terminator, as portrayed by Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, was ranked at number 48 on the list of heroes, as well as at number 22 on the list of villains for its appearance in the first Terminator film.[68] The character was the only entry to appear on both lists, though they are different characters based on the same model. In 2005, Schwarzenegger's famous quote "Hasta la vista, baby" was ranked at number 76 on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes best film quotes list.[69][70]
The film placed number 33 on Total Film's 2006 list of The Top 100 Films of All Time.[71] In 2008, the film was voted the eighth best science fiction film ever on AFI's 10 Top 10.[72] Empire ranked the film number 35 on its list of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[73]

Cultural references

Patrick cameos in character as the T-1000 in Wayne's World (1992) where he forces Wayne Campbell to pull his car over and questions if he has seen John Connor.[74] Patrick also cameos as the T-1000 in the Schwarzenegger-starring Last Action Hero (1993), passing Schwarzenegger as he enters Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. In the same film— a universe where Schwarzenegger does not exist—Sylvester Stallone replaces Schwarzenegger in the Terminator 2 poster, having taken the role of the Terminator.[75] In Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993), a caricature of Saddam Hussein is frozen, shattered, and reforms in a direct parody of the T-1000 from the final scene of Terminator 2.[76] The film is also referenced multiple times in the animated series The Simpsons, including "Homer Loves Flanders" (1994),[77] "Treehouse of Horror VI" (1995),[78] "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" (1995),[79] and "Day of the Jackanapes" (2001).[80] The film is also parodied in the animated series American Dad.[81][82]


All Extracts Taken From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminator_2:_Judgment_Day

More Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/
http://pt.scribd.com/doc/105938537/Exterminador-Implacavel-2-O-Dia-do-Julgamento-Booklet


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O Exterminador Implacável (The Terminator)














































































Info About This Major SciFi Action Movie:

The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd and William Wisher Jr. and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the year 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, played by Hamilton. Biehn plays Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect Sarah.
Though not expected to be either a commercial or critical success, The Terminator topped the American box office for two weeks and helped launch the film career of Cameron and consolidate that of Schwarzenegger. Three sequels have been produced: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and Terminator Salvation (2009), as well as a television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-2009). In 2008, The Terminator was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

In a post-apocalyptic 2029, artificially intelligent machines seek to exterminate what is left of the human race. Two beings from this era travel back in time to 1984 Los Angeles: One is a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a cyborg assassin programmed to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton); the other is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a human resistance fighter sent to protect her. After killing two other Sarah Connors listed in the telephone directory, the Terminator tracks its target to a nightclub. Kyle saves Sarah from the Terminator's attack and the two make an escape.
Kyle explains that in the near future an artificial intelligence network called Skynet will become self-aware and initiate a nuclear holocaust of mankind. Sarah's yet-unborn son John will rally the survivors and lead a resistance movement against Skynet and its army of machines. With the Resistance on the verge of victory, Skynet has sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah before John can be born, as a last-ditch effort to avert the formation of the Resistance. The Terminator is an emotionless and efficient killing machine with a powerful metal endoskeleton, but with an external layer of living tissue that makes it resemble a human being.
Kyle and Sarah are again attacked by the Terminator, leading to a car chase and their arrest. Lieutenant Ed Traxler (Paul Winfield) and Detective Hal Vukovich (Lance Henriksen) tell Sarah that Kyle is insane. Kyle is questioned by psychologist Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen), who concludes that he is paranoid and delusional. The Terminator attacks the police station and kills many police officers, including Traxler and Vukovich, in its attempt to locate Sarah, but she and Kyle escape and seek refuge in a motel. Kyle confesses that he has long been in love with Sarah, having been given a photograph of her by her son John. Sarah reciprocates Kyle's feelings and they have sex.
The Terminator tracks them to the motel and wounds Kyle. In the ensuing chase the Terminator is caught in the blast of an exploding gasoline tank truck. With its flesh coating burned away, it pursues Sarah and Kyle into a factory. Kyle jams a pipe bomb into its abdomen, causing an explosion that severely damages it but also kills him. Still partially functional, the Terminator tries to kill Sarah. She leads it into a hydraulic press and crushes it, causing it to deactivate.
Later, a pregnant Sarah is traveling through Mexico. Along the way she records audio tapes which she intends to pass on to her unborn son, John. She debates whether to tell him that Kyle is his father. A Mexican boy takes a photograph of her which she purchases—it is the photograph that John will later give to Kyle. She drives on towards approaching storm clouds.

Production


Development

In Rome, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning director James Cameron grew ill and had a dream about a metallic torso dragging itself from an explosion while holding kitchen knives.[3] When Cameron returned to Pomona, California, he stayed at Randall Frakes' home where he wrote a draft for The Terminator.[4] Cameron later stated that his influences while writing the script were 1950s science fiction films and episodes of The Outer Limits as well as contemporary films including The Driver and The Road Warrior.[5][6] To translate the draft into a script, Cameron enlisted his friend Bill Wisher, who had a similar approach to storytelling. Cameron gave Wisher the early scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department scenes to write. As Wisher lived far away from Cameron, the two communicated script ideas by recording tapes of what they wrote by telephone. Cameron's agent hated the idea for The Terminator and told him to work on something else. After this, Cameron fired his agent.[7] The initial outline of the script involved two Terminators sent to the past. The first was similar to the Terminator in the film, while the second was a liquid metal cyborg that could not be destroyed with conventional weaponry.[8] Cameron could not think of a good way to depict this robot, stating that he "was seeing things in his head that couldn't be done with existing technology."[8][9] The story of the cyborgs in the film was cut down to a single robot idea.[9] The liquid metal Terminator would be revisited with the T-1000 character in the 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day.[10]
Gale Anne Hurd, who had worked at New World Pictures as Roger Corman's assistant, showed interest in the film project.[7] Cameron sold the rights for The Terminator to Hurd for one dollar with the promise that she would produce it only if Cameron was to direct it. As a producer, Hurd had suggested edits to the script and took a screen writing credit in the film. Cameron has stated that Hurd "did no actual writing at all".[11] Cameron and Hurd had friends who worked with Roger Corman previously and who were now working at Orion Pictures. Orion agreed to distribute the film if Cameron could get financial backing elsewhere. The script was picked up by John Daly at Hemdale Pictures. Cameron wanted his pitch for Daly to finalize the deal and had his friend Lance Henriksen show up to the meeting early dressed and acting like the Terminator. Henriksen showed up at the office kicking open the door wearing a leather jacket and had gold foil smothered on his teeth and fake cuts on his face and then sat in a chair. Cameron arrived shortly after which relieved the staff from Henriksen's act. Daly was impressed by the screenplay and Cameron's sketches and passion for the film.[12] In late 1982 Daly agreed to back the film with help from HBO and Orion.[12][13] The Terminator was originally budgeted at $4 million and later raised to $6.5 million.[14]

Pre-production


One of Cameron's first tasks was to find someone to play Kyle Reese. Orion wanted a star whose popularity was rising in the United States but who also would have foreign appeal. Orion's co-founder Mike Medavoy had met Arnold Schwarzenegger and sent his agent the script for The Terminator.[13] Cameron was dubious about casting Schwarzenegger as Reese as he felt he would need someone even bigger to play the Terminator. The studio had suggested O. J. Simpson for the role of the Terminator, but Cameron did not feel that Simpson would be believable as a killer.[16][17] Cameron still agreed to meet with Schwarzenegger about the film and devised a plan to avoid casting him. Cameron planned to pick a fight with him and return to Hemdale and find him unfit for the role. Upon meeting with Schwarzenegger, Cameron was entertained by Schwarzenegger who would talk about how the villain should be played. Cameron began sketching his face on a notepad and asked Schwarzenegger to stop talking and remain still.[17] After the meeting, Cameron returned to Daly saying Schwarzenegger would not play Reese but that "he'd make a hell of a Terminator".[18] Schwarzenegger was not as excited by the film; during an interview on the set of Conan the Barbarian, an interviewer asked him about a pair of shoes he had (which were for The Terminator). Schwarzenegger responded, "Oh some shit movie I'm doing, take a couple weeks."[19] In preparation for the role, Schwarzenegger spent three months training with weapons to be able to use them and feel comfortable around them.[18]
For the role of Reese, various other suggestions were made for the role including rock musician Sting.[20] Cameron chose Michael Biehn for the role. Biehn was originally skeptical about the part, feeling that the film was silly. After meeting with Cameron, Biehn stated his "feelings about the project changed".[20] Hurd stated that "almost everyone else who came in from the audition was so tough that you just never believed that there was gonna be this human connection between [Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese]. They have very little time to fall in love. A lot of people came in and just could not pull it off."[21] In the first few pages of the script, the character of Sarah Connor is written as "19, small and delicate features. Pretty in a flawed, accessible way. She doesn't stop the party when she walks in, but you'd like to get to know her. Her vulnerable quality masks a strength even she doesn't know exists."[22] For the role, Cameron chose Linda Hamilton, who had just finished filming Children of the Corn.[23] Rosanna Arquette had previously auditioned.[24] Cameron found a role for Lance Henriksen as Detective Hal Vukovich, as Henriksen had been essential to finding finances for the film.[25] For the special effects shots in the film, Cameron wanted Dick Smith who had previously worked on The Godfather and Taxi Driver. Smith did not take Cameron's offer and suggested his friend Stan Winston for the job.[26]

Production


Filming for The Terminator was set to begin in early 1983 in Toronto. Production was halted when producer Dino De Laurentiis applied an option in Schwarzenegger's contract that would make him unattainable for nine months while he was filming Conan the Destroyer. During the waiting period, Cameron was contracted to write the script for Rambo: First Blood Part II. He also used this time to refine parts of The Terminator's script and meet with producers David Giler and Walter Hill to discuss a sequel to Alien.[25][27]
There was limited interference from Orion Pictures. Two suggestions Orion put forward included the addition of a canine cyborg for Reese which Cameron turned down and the second was to strengthen the love interest between Sarah and Reese which Cameron accepted.[28] On creating the Terminator's look, Winston and Cameron passed their sketches back and forth. They eventually decided on a design that was nearly identical to the original one Cameron drew in Rome.[26][29] Winston had a team of seven artists work for six months to create a puppet of the Terminator. It was first molded in clay, then plaster reinforced 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.[29] Both the sequences in 2029 and stop motion scenes in the film were developed by Fantasy II, a special effects company headed by Gene Warren Junior.[30] A stop motion model is used in several scenes in the film involving the skeletal frame. Cameron wanted to convince the audience that the model of the structure was capable of doing what they saw Schwarzenegger doing. To allow this, a scene was filmed of Schwarzenegger injured and limping away. This limp made it easier for the model to imitate Schwarzenegger.[31][32]
One of the guns seen in the film and on the film's poster was an AMT Hardballer Longslide modified by Ed Reynolds from SureFire to include a laser sight. Both non-functioning and functioning versions of the prop were created. Due to cost considerations, the laser sights used an external power supply that Arnold Schwarzenegger had to activate manually. Reynolds states that his only compensation for the project was promotional material for the film.[33]
In March 1984, the film began production in Los Angeles.[29][34] Cameron felt that with Schwarzenegger on the set, the style of the film changed, explaining that "...the movie took on a larger than life sheen. I just found myself on the set doing things I didn't think I would do – scenes that were just purely horrific that just couldn't be, because now they were too flamboyant."[35][36] Most of The Terminator's action scenes were filmed at night, which led to tight filming schedules before sunrise. A week before filming started, Linda Hamilton sprained her ankle, leading to a production change whereby the scenes in which Hamilton needed to run occurred as late as the filming schedule allowed. Hamilton's ankle was taped every day and she spent most of the film production in pain.[37]

Post-production


After production finished on The Terminator, some post-production shots were needed.[38] These included scenes showing the Terminator outside Sarah Connor's apartment, Reese being zipped into a body bag, and the Terminator's head being crushed in a press.[16][34][38] The film's soundtrack was synthesizer music composed by Brad Fiedel.[39] Fiedel described the film's music as being about "a mechanical man and his heartbeat".[40] Almost all the music in the film was performed live.[7][40] The Terminator's theme is played over the opening credits and is played in various points in the film in sped up versions: a slowed down version when Reese dies, and a piano version during the love scene.[41] Fiedel created music for when Reese and Connor escape from the police station that would be appropriate for a "heroic moment". Cameron turned down this theme, as he believed it would lose the audience's excitement.[40] The soundtrack to the film was released in 1984.[39]

Release


Orion Pictures did not have faith in The Terminator performing well at the box office and feared a negative critical reception.[42] At an early screening of the film, the actors' agents insisted to the producers that the film should be screened for critics.[16] Orion only held one press screening for the film.[42] The film was premiered on October 26, 1984. On its opening week, The Terminator played at 1,005 theaters and grossed $4,020,663 making it number one in the box office. The film remained at number one in its second week. It lost its number one spot in the third week to Oh, God! You Devil.[43][44] Cameron noted that The Terminator was a hit "relative to its market, which is between the summer and the Christmas blockbusters. But it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way around."[45]
Writer Harlan Ellison stated that he "loved the movie, was just blown away by it",[46] but believed that the screenplay was based on an episode of The Outer Limits he had written, titled "Soldier".[47] Orion gave Ellison an undisclosed amount of money and an acknowledgment credit in later prints of the film.[47] Some accounts of the settlement state that "Demon with a Glass Hand", another Outer Limits episode written by Ellison, was also claimed to have been plagiarized by the film,[46][48][49][50][51] but Ellison has explicitly stated that The Terminator "was a ripoff" of "Soldier" rather than "Demon with a Glass Hand".[47]
Cameron was against Orion's decision and was told that if he did not agree with the settlement, they would have Cameron pay for any damages if Orion lost Ellison's suit.[48] Cameron replied that he "had no choice but to agree with the settlement. Of course there was a gag order as well, so I couldn't tell this story, but now I frankly don't care. It's the truth. Harlan Ellison is a parasite who can kiss my ass."[48][52]

Marketing


Around and shortly after The Terminator's release in theaters, a number of merchandise items and media were released and sold to coincide with the film. Shaun Hutson wrote a novelization of the film which was published in 1984.[53] In September 1988, NOW Comics released a comic based on the film. Dark Horse Comics published a comic in 1990 that took place 39 years after the film.[54] Several video games based on The Terminator were released between 1991 and 1993 for various Nintendo and Sega systems.[55] A soundtrack to the film was released on 1984 which included the score by Brad Fiedel and the pop and rock songs used in the club scenes.[39]

Home video

The Terminator was released on VHS and Betamax in 1985.[56] The film performed well financially on its initial release. The Terminator premiered at number 35 on the top video cassette rentals and number 20 on top video cassette sales charts. In its second week, The Terminator reached number 4 on the top video cassette rentals and number 12 on top video cassette sales charts.[57][58] In March 1995, The Terminator was released as a letter boxed edition on Laserdisc.[59] The film premiered on DVD on September 3, 1997.[43][60] IGN referred to this DVD as "pretty bare-bones...released with just a mono soundtrack and a kind of poor transfer."[61] A special edition of the film was released on October 2, 2001 which included documentaries, the script and advertisements for the film.[62][63] On 23 January 2001 a VCD version was release for the Hong Kong Market.[64] On June 20, 2006, the film was released on Blu-ray in the United States.[65]

Reception and legacy


Positive reviews of The Terminator focused on the action scenes and rapid pacing. Variety praised the film, calling it a "blazing, cinematic comic book, full of virtuoso moviemaking, terrific momentum, solid performances and a compelling story...Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast in a machine-like portrayal that requires only a few lines of dialog."[66] Richard Corliss of Time magazine said that the film has "Plenty of tech-noir savvy to keep infidels and action fans satisfied."[67] Time placed The Terminator on its "10 Best" list for 1984.[42] The Los Angeles Times called the film "a crackling thriller full of all sorts of gory treats...loaded with fuel-injected chase scenes, clever special effects and a sly humor."[42] The Milwaukee Journal gave the film 3 stars, calling it "the most chilling science fiction thriller since Alien."[68] A review in Orange Coast magazine stated that "the distinguishing virtue of The Terminator is its relentless tension. Right from the start it's all action and violence with no time taken to set up the story...It's like a streamlined Dirty Harry movie–no exposition at all; just guns, guns and more guns."[69] In the May 1985 issue of Cinefantastique it was referred to as a film that "manages to be both derivative and original at the same time...not since the Road Warrior has the genre exhibited so much exuberant carnage" and "an example of science fiction/horror at its best...Cameron's no-nonsense approach will make him a sought-after commodity".[70] In the United Kingdom the Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film's script, special effects, design and Schwarzenegger's performance.[70][71]
Other reviews focused on the film's level of violence and story-telling quality. The New York Times opined that the film was a "B-movie with flair. Much of it...has suspense and personality, and only the obligatory mayhem becomes dull. There is far too much of the latter, in the form of car chases, messy shootouts and Mr. Schwarzenegger's slamming brutally into anything that gets in his way."[72] The Pittsburgh Press wrote a negative review, calling the film "just another of the films drenched in artsy ugliness like Streets of Fire and Blade Runner."[73] The Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars, adding that "at times it's horrifyingly violent and suspenseful at others it giggles at itself. This schizoid style actually helps, providing a little humor just when the sci-fi plot turns too sluggish or the dialogue too hokey."[74] The Newhouse News Service called the film a "lurid, violent, pretentious piece of claptrap".[75] The film won three Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, best make-up and best writing.[76]
In 1991, Richard Schickel of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the film giving it an "A" rating, writing that "what originally seemed a somewhat inflated, if generous and energetic, big picture, now seems quite a good little film" and called it "one of the most original movies of the 1980s and seems likely to remain one of the best sci-fi films ever made."[77] Film4 gave the film five stars, calling it the "sci-fi action-thriller that launched the careers of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the stratosphere. Still endlessly entertaining."[78] TV Guide gave the film four stars referring to it as an "amazingly effective picture that becomes doubly impressive when one considers its small budget...For our money, this film is far superior to its mega-grossing mega-budgeted sequel."[79] Empire gave the film five stars calling it "As chillingly efficient in exacting thrills from its audience as its titular character is in executing its targets."[80] The film database Allmovie gave the film five stars, saying that it "established James Cameron as a master of action, special effects, and quasi-mythic narrative intrigue, while turning Arnold Schwarzenegger into the hard-body star of the 1980s."[81] Halliwell's Film Guide described the film as "slick, rather nasty but undeniably compelling comic book adventures."[82] The film holds a 100% "Certified Fresh" rating and a score of 84/100 ("universal acclaim"), respectively, on the review aggregate websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.[83][84]
The Terminator has received recognition from the American Film Institute. The film ranked 42nd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films.[85] The character of the Terminator was selected as the 22nd greatest movie villain on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.[86] Arnold's catch phrase "I'll be back" was voted the 37th greatest movie quote by the AFI.[87] In 2005, Total Film named The Terminator the 72nd best film ever made.[88] In 2008, Empire magazine selected The Terminator as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.[89] Empire also placed the T-800 14th on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters.[90] In 2008, The Terminator was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.[91]


All Extracts Taken From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminator

More Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/


YouTube HD Trailer:


 




Schwarzenegger with President Ronald Reagan
two months before The Terminator's premiere in 1984.


( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reagan%2BSchwarzenegger1984.jpg )