Customer Reviews

The Terminator (BFI Modern Classics)

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This was a very good look at "The Terminator." It covers issues such as the debt to Harlan Ellison, the image of Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how the violence and anti-social nature of the original movie were sanitized in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." There is a fascinating discussion on why the audience responds to the villain in "Terminator" and not the hero (Michael Biehn), and the analysis of the scenes of the film and their duration is quite interesting.

In short, this book takes its topic seriously and addresses issues that previous articles I had seen on "The Terminator" hadn't really raised.

The "Appropriate Response" to this book by people who enjoyed the movie is to buy it.

Whereas many of the BFI film guides descend into realms of film-school arsiness (literally so in the case of Michael Rogin's semi-classic 'Independence Day'), this is a refreshingly straightforward collection of trivia and informed commentary on 'The Terminator', and probably the best that is likely to appear. Given that 'The Terminator' was produced quickly on a low budget, and that not much was expected of it, no records were kept of the filming, and there really isn't much to write about the making of the film itself. Rather, the author takes us through the film, pointing out the clever bits, and writing about them. It's almost as spartan and efficient as the film itself - you'll probably finish it in half an hour, and wish that it was longer.

Over the last few years, I have taken a particular interest in the BFI series, particularly since many excellent film theorists, critics and academics have contributed excellent essays on many modern classic films. For many fans, The Terminator seems an obvious choice for inclusion in the BFI series. However, much is missing from this short and odd volume. While the usual infamous film stills are present (and for the most part are fine), the argument and presentation lack considerable depth. No fan of the series (academic or otherwise) will learn anything substantial that has not already featured previously in interviews and 'making of' documentaries about T1 or T2. Speaking of T2, French seems particularly interested in bringing it up at every given opportunity - a film that should in no way dominate any interesting discussion on the original film. Furthermore, the tone of the book is as times quite flippant - hardly what anyone wanting an interesting read about the film wishes to be burdened with.
While this book certainly does not reflect the usual quality of the BFI Modern Classics series, it unfortunately treats a modern classic film as a minor piece of textual analysis, which, for any fan or film scholar, is truly disappointing.

Blessedly free of the pretentious lingo of too many others in this series by the British Film Institute, Sean French provides fans of The Terminator a very good, quick overview of why it is that we enjoy this movie so much. Low budget, low expectations (director James Cameron was well on his way to having a straight-to-video career), little publicity, the movie The Terminator turned out to pack as much of a wallop as the cyborg, and even more staying power. French discusses those areas in which the movie borrows heavily from the sci-fi genre, such as machines going amok (think Westworld and Blade Runner) and a dystopian future (Escape From New York, on which Cameron worked), but combines them in such a way as to make it all fresh.

Of course, the film worked tremendously in no small part due to the casting. I recently wrote in a review of the BFI book on M (BFI Film Classics), that casting Peter Lorre in the main role could well have been the best casting decision in film history. I have to amend that. Schwarzenegger in the lead role here had simply slipped my mind. The dude is massive? Well, he is, literally, a killing machine. He has a thick accent? Well, let's just give the guy, what?, 72, 74 words of dialogue. I mean, this casting was brilliant, and, not surprisingly, the chapter on Schwarzenegger is the longest one in this book. Clearly, French knows what made this flick so good and his analysis of why the audience identifies with Schwarzenegger as the killing machine rather than the ostensible heroes is exceptionally insightful.

Given that The Terminator came out in the Reagan years, it would have been all too easy to develop an entire thesis around some ridiculous analysis of political machismo, thereby ruining the chance to write a good monograph on a great film. Although French does throw in, by my count, two such political references, they are only in passing and do not take away from the rest of the book. For the most part, he gives his readers what they want - a book that will allow them to enjoy a favorite movie even more.

To be fair, I may have got the wrong end of the stick, or expected too much - but with such a high regard in the realm of Sci-Fi, I would expect anyone to come away thinking that this book should have covered better issues.

I loved the movies and I like te books. And that`s why you should read this book.