Does THIS Scene Define The Terminator?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.พ. 2025
- Before The Terminator became a sprawling franchise, it was a low-budget, horror-adjacent sci-fi thriller that changed cinema forever. Today, we break down why James Cameron’s 1984 classic still holds up, how it masterfully builds tension, and why the Tech Noir nightclub scene defines everything that makes it great.
Written, Narrated and Edited by Lance Vlcek
Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon
Executive Producer by Berge Garabedian
SERIES SYNOPSIS: Scene breakdown looks at your favorite genre films, from the bid to the cult classic, and breaks down the one scene that we believe to be the defining moment.
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To me, it's the scene in the car when Kyle tries to explain to Sarah what a terminator is. It can't be reasoned with , it can't be bargained with, it absolutely will not stop until you are dead. It sets the stage for the entire story and how much of an under dog they are. Michael Bean does a perfect job of delivering the lines.
Loved it
Michael Biehn was great in that film---
I said pretty much the same thing to my missus the other day whilst we were watching it. The sense of impending dread that scene gives is so unsettling.
100%
Agreed
I fully agree. He has that fear but still carries the hope that he can still at least try and win. Even though the odds are stacked so high against them.
Still to this day, one of my absolute favorite films.
The Endoskeleton rising out of the wreckage still gets me.
That and when it follows them down the hallway in the factory while they struggle to open the door! Terrifying!
This will always be my favorite in the franchise. The darker tones and tension building and story telling was perfect imo
OMG! You are my spirit animal when it comes to this movie. You hit the nail on the head. James Cameron even said that Terminator and Aliens was an analogy for the Vietnam war where you have a much more advanced and "superior" force being beaten by a less advanced fighting force through their use of gorilla fighting tactics.
I would argue it is a horror movie. The idea of the unstoppable stalker is horrifying. It's done in Halloween and Nightmare and over and over.
I tend to agree - Terminator is a genre hybrid movie, being both a sci fi action movie and a horror movie by turns. That it something it has in common with another great Arnie movie - Predator. That movie is a genre hybrid of Eighties military action movie and sci fi slasher, with (amusingly enough) Arnie taking on the role of the 'final girl', so to speak.
i always call it a horror thriller with a sci-fi premise. every other Terminator movie is straight up sci-fi/action
The Terminator is an action/sci-fi franchise. From technoir to the robotics factory, it's non-stop chases and gunfights.
It's a total 80s slasher
@dougmasters4579 I think it is fair to at least say that the first Terminator movie has some horror elements, if nothing else due to the core conceit of the protagonist being chased by a totally relentless, wholly inhuman, nearly unstoppable force of destruction whose literal sole reason for existing is to kill her at any cost. To paraphrase Kyle Reese - it doesn't eat, it doesn't sleep, and it will not stop, ever, until she is dead. That seems like horror territory to me.
That scene is a masterclass in tension.
I love Terminator 2, but the original is my favorite combination of action and horror
One of the greatest failures of the Terminator franchise was not going back to its Horror/Thriller origins after T2.
T2 didn't really have it either and started all the silliness. T3 came the closest out of all the sequels in capturing the atmosphere of the first film. Although none of the sequels really captured the horror element that was seen in the original. As for the thriller aspect, T2 and T3 did have that imo.
@ You say that about T2 but anyone who crossed paths with the T-1000 might say differently 😂
@chr1998is idk with the terminator as the protector it felt like john never seemed to be in the same amount of danger that sarah was in. Even though the T-1000 was the superior model. The gap between reese and the T-800 was unparalleled. Then you have the other stuff in T2, like the terminator being humanized, the one-liners, the hopeful theme of no fate but what we make, and the jokes that make the film substantially more light-hearted than its predecessor. Which is dark, gritty, and intense in every way with no fat.
Agree. I don't even watch past 2.
@@calisthenicsmachine9725Preach. T1 sets the scene for a more tense atmosphere filled with dread. T2 has a more hopeful atmosphere. Although, that nuclear winter dream, gotta admit, that made for good ventrilo haraassment material. 😂
The first person shooter Terminator Resistance brings back some of the horror elements missing in the later films. This film has been described as a sci-fi action slasher, considering the titular character is similar to Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees
The game was pretty legit my heart sank when I put a 12 gauge to a T800 only knocked it down makes sense why the laser weapon comes into action
@MynameisDUmass, I learned real quick that hacked turrets can come in handy
The Tech Noir scene. Nothing more 80s has ever been put to film.
Absolutely agree!
This is still my favorite movie of all time. I saw it for the 1st time at 9 yrs old & it effected me for the rest of my life. So much so i have a life size endoskeleton of the Terminator in my living room. I love this movie!
Definitely one of the best scenes in cinema history.
The shot of Arnold walking by Sarah when she is ducking down at the nightclub is immortal…
I understand why he didn't but I wish Arnold had played a few more villain roles. He made the Terminator feel so imposing and indestructible.
Before you get to the scene it's definitely the nightclub. The place where all three meet. Awesome 👍
I love this movie so much. More than T2. It's perfect.
I love this one way more than the sequel and as we all know, the sequel is great. However lacks the horror element that this one had. It executed on everything else.
So well done, Lance.
I never really thought about it, but that landscape of the future war painted in the first and 2nd film was totally what I wanted to see. What a landmark moment that we all never got.
Appreciate it!
I loved that it wasn't just The Terminator chasing them, but also a love story. The thing that bothers me about the 2nd one is the psychiatrist knows the truth, but still acts like she is a psycho.
He doesn't see the Terminator in Terminator 1. :)
@ikmor I thought he was there. .sorry. He definitely saw some things in the 2nd one.
Yeah but he was still in denial about it in T3@@StrangeFacinations
He wasn't there for the massacre at the police station. He walks out of the police station right by Arnie when he walked in right before the I'LL BE BACK line
@@glennross85
It makes you see things. Crazy things.
With all due respect to Arnold and Linda Hamilton, who were incredible, the heart of the movie was Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese. Kyle was a damaged human being who was brought up in war, and saw the picture of Sarah as his light, and then ended up falling in love with her. When Kyle volunteered to go back and defend Sarah, he saw it as a chance to save the future, meet the woman he had admired from a far, and a chance to make the future better for those like him.
The original is one of my all time favorite films, ever.
The brutal dark synth music is amazing. I also love the scene at the start of the movie, where its just a small section of stationary text, informing the viewer of what Skynet is, with a weird greyscale clip of a hunter-killer flying. Its so emotionless, and timeless? I dunno, its just a statement, like writing on a tombstone.
Freaked our crew out badly upon initial viewing. Wicked movie then and now !!!
That was a beautiful love letter to one of the best movies ever
Appreciate that!
That scene is amazing, the music really kills it and likely my favorite part of the movie.
Ayyye, a JoBlo video while I wait on the Miss to get out of her appointment! Perfect timing 👌
You take the first two and...that's it. 😊
Michael Biehn is a badass actor that never reached that acclaim he deserved despite being in some huge movies and giving amazing performances in each. Like Johnny Ringo...
The stop motion endo gave me serious nightmares
Aye it's THAT bad 👀
representative from the "Lava Factory" here again.
Good work.
Cameron commented once about this film being 'tech noir' a term he coined to describe the dark futuristic style and also the name of the club Sarah hides in. The style worked perfectly for this film and T2 but it's something crucial to the franchise that has been lost since T2, that and solid scripts and you know...logic.
The frustrating part of post T2 sequels is the fact they got the right idea by downplaying John Connor's role in the fight against the machines, but never really committed to it. The real John Connor was never seen in the movies. Different father and was never raised as the savior of mankind. He's the real hero of the franchise and we know very little about him.
Salvation was in the early stages of the war - no lazers, not much creeping around at night. These things would have come to be had we had sequels. Why do reviewers pretend not to understand this?
T1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>T everything else
Hot take - my wife has always said that the love making scene is one of the best on film ever. Hard to argue that.
They should have continued with Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The Series was great for it's time and had a decent cast and story. Sad that they never continued after the Writers Strike in 2008 and weak viewing Numbers. The Show surely had Potential and was way better than everything that came after T2.
My favorite scene is a quieter moment. It's when Kyle tells Sarah that he came back in time because he was in love with her. And then they made John. 😊
The eye scene may look dated to some, but it's more believeable due to it being a machine. Not to mention the fact that to this day, it's a masterful use of practical effects.
The original was always the best.
Yessir.
Agreed
Love the second as much. The 91 Fatboy HD is my favorite bike.
Agreed
Loved this
“You got me burning in the third degree”
What a fantastic question. Would love to see it applied to different franchises.
The defining scene was when the Terminator walks out of the fire, at least for me. Another close to that was the police massacre.
It was guerilla film making. They hadn’t the money, they hadn’t the legal licenses and they were on the run for a lot of the time. That this movie even exists is a miracle when you look into its story. It was a form of film making that was abandoned and deemed illegal after the 70s came to a close.
Phantasm is another series that did this style of film making until its 5th part, the second is an exception.
The Terminator was kinda like a horror film both
It was
0:43 Terminator should take a lesson from Alien Romulus and how it went back to its horror roots and became the most praised since Aliens. I’d be on board for a horror forward Terminator flick
One of the greatest films of all time, just gets better with age, 40+ years and going strong 😎
OMG!!! Are you going to really bombard us with more Terminator episodes, especially in 2029?! I guess I'll be watching while groaning with my fireplace/t.v going. Also, how can you be the father of a guy who you fought in a war with? 🤔
I never expected the Terminator itself to rise up out of the blown up truck after the flesh has been burnt off.
I echo the sentiments that T2 is an all time action classic, but T1 will always be my favorite.
2nd Favorite movie of all-time.
The terminator is a horror sci-fi film. It still holds up today
This movie is the biggest point of contention in my marriage. I will die on the hill saying that T1 is the superior terminator movie, and my wife vehemently disagrees
I like the last scene, where the kid takes her picture, and she's thinking of Kyle. The same photo is given to Kyle causing him to fall in love with her.
I'm almost never his early
The scene in the police station is the best scene imho
The crazy thing about the terminator is they do the same thing every movie there's beginning dialog terminator and protector comes back there's a big chase scene middle dialog some action climax big chase scene some action terminator dies look and think ever terminator does this challenge me on it it worked for the 1 and 2 cause it was fresh and exciting but every movie after copied it
Still one of the best, and made on a low budget.
I would argue that The Terminator is, indeed, a horror movie. It's just heavy on action. Kinda like Aliens.
If you haven't tried it yet, play Terminator Resistance... there is no fate!
Lance, get his pants!
This is also a movie quote btw, a virtual cookie if you know form what movie.
You can't do that, wrong!
Boom!😂
But most importantly:
Hey!
That guy didn't pay!
Yes, it does. Perfectly.
Terminator is still the best in the series. The scene in which the T-800 removes his eye could easily be fixed by simply removing the parts in which the animatronic appears.
7:11 Sarah’s friend Ginger was a babe!
The stop motion terminator doesn't get much love. It's jerky moves make it chilling.
I love those scenes, they're my favourite part of the movie!
I’ve been saying this for years. Return to the stalker slasher vibe of the original terminator. It was still pretty epic in its own right, but it was low scale compared to the rest of the terminator movies. Either do that or explore the future war in more depth, and not make it all about John Connor. There are plenty of other conflicts Going on within the war and plenty of other generals and other characters to follow. Just bring it back to the aesthetic of the first film. The drowning music. The search lights. The skulls littering the ground. The army of terminators. It can all be done and done well. But I’ve always wanted things to return to how they were in the original. The series has gotten way too epic and reliant on over the top action sequences. Terminator two was lightning in a bottle. They need to give it up at this point
1984 release and cyberpunk fiction was making its debut in movie form. They forget the punk and gritty elements of cyberpunk
Finally, someone who recognizes that this is the definitive Terminator. 2 was good, don't get me wrong. But it also set the pace for the rest of the franchise. It needs to go back to basics. Go back to horror. Look at Alien Romulus. Lower budget, but more tense than anything else the Alien franchise has put out lately.
To me, the Tech-Noir shootout is the scene that makes this movie. Nearly unbearable build up and tension, then an amazing payoff. Both the hero and villian had acquired Sarah Connor, then all hell broke loose.
Do what makes "The Terminator" such a badass movie ,it's cause dark and moody movie .Giving a point about a serious topic at time ,with some Robot's that want get rid of the human race , with some Entertainment thrown on the side . Plus it's not a warm and fuzzy movie at the end ,which it leaves open that story is not over at all .
There are too many to list, but the police station massacre, followed by the hydraulic press and lastly, Sarah Connors's mother's voice being impersonated.
Surprised this movie isn't rated a horror sci fi movie instead of action, genysis did scare crap out of me tho. I was clenching my cheeks from Kyle trying to get away from the T600 or T800
The Tech-Noir scene for me.
Both of us!
I still feel salvation so much better thsn everything thar followed ....
For me this one is better then T2, it is just the original!
🎯🙌🏾
Another Terminator video? Do y'all know other movies exist? I swear there are 10+ videos about this on the JoBlo channels....
The original is the best, but T2 is my favorite.
The Terminator IS a horror movie. Cameron said it. Plus, it's pretty obvious.
If skynet only knew the city Sarah lived on wouldn't it be logical just to leave the state. Go to Canada or something. It would never find you because it would not know where to look. It would wander around until the power cells ran out.
The Toenator
Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day Both Films Still Stands The Test of Time Bar None.
The police station shootout
The original terminator is the best one . T2 was a step backwards. Terminator shouldn’t have never been a franchise. Should have stopped at 2.
T2 should of had horror elements
I think they should do a TERMINATORS
Instead of androids they use a swarm of Micro drones that could off you in an instant.
Like that video of the Ukrainians taking out those North Korean troops with explosive drones.
But these drones will be Skynet
That Ukraine video was so effed up.
Poor North Koreans didn't even know they were in the Ukraine. Thought they were on a training mission. Out there in green camo in the snow.
Those drones are scary.
Sooooo tiny HKs?
First 1
Terminator salvation is a good terminator sequel easily the best terminator sequel since T2
Or T1 prequel
@ it’s kind of a prequel and sequel at the same time so it presenquel
The Terminator was an android, not a cyborg. They even said cyborg in the movie but that was not correct.
That is one of those arguable points, because a T-800 is both an android and a cyborg. An android is an anthropomorphic robot, which the Terminator certainly qualifies as with its humanoid machine body plan, but a cyborg is a creature with both living organic and artificial inorganic components, and the T-800 model Terminator is a metal combat endo-skeleton encased in living, genetically engineered flesh, so the Terminator also satisfies the definition of a cyborg.
It’s a Cy-droid or a An-Borg 😂
We deserve a reboot focused on the war, from start to finish... 'nough said!🤘🏼
Damn right
My favorite movie of all time!! Terminator is just perfect
Salvation was meant to be a trilogy and you would have seen your laser guns in the sequels.
The Terminator is in FACT A HORROR FILM, DUMBA**. 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻
The film is a Sci-Fi, Horror Thrasher Flick.
Calm down psycho
Dig it brah