TECH NOIR
Terror at Tech Noir
This next sequence is the best in the movie, and arguably the finest scene that Cameron has ever directed. As a moment of suspense, it ranks alongside the works of Hitchcock, and has a timeless quality to it. No matter how many times it is seen, it never fails to thrill.
Traxler:“You’re in a public place so you’ll be safe until we get there.”
This couldn’t be further from the truth. Sarah’s unease in the bar is palpable, and heightened by the order to remain visible. We know something terrible is about to happen, but can do nothing to stop it.
The Terminator enters, easily dispatching the doorman and blending into the crowd. The blank expression and shifting eyes give it a shark-like quality. This is its hunting ground.
What we see next cranks up the tension to an unbearable degree:
From this moment onwards the sequence is played out in slow motion, like time slowing to a crawl during a disaster. We watch in terror.
Sarah sees the mysterious traveler – believing him to be after her, she is oblivious to the killing machine that is mere feet away.
The clanging theme rises over the club music. The Terminator approaches with murderous intent.
What follows is a beautiful shot. Like water spray, The mystery traveler pulls his coat aside, revealing his shotgun.
The Terminator pulls out the iconic gun and holds it to Sarah’s face. At this point a human would have a moment’s pause, struggling to overcome their humanity before pulling the trigger. The Terminator however does not falter. It has no qualms about death.
The milliseconds drag out as the suspense builds; all the while the clanging theme intensifies.
The Terminator aims to kill. The mysterious man pushes people out of the way. We are in no doubt as to their intentions: one is a force for good and the other is an instrument of death.
Sarah’s perspective turns red as she stares death in the face.
It’s at this exact point that the suspense erupts in a hail of gunfire.
After such a beautifully crafted build up, the violence is shocking. The power of the shotgun blasts amplified by the subtle flashes of white in the editing.
As a sequence, this stands as one of the best uses of slow motion in film history. Many films have used the same method; however none have bettered the Terminator. Why is it that this scene continues to thrill over thirty years later?
In movies post 1999, the slowing down and ramping up of action became common. In stylizing the action to look cooler, it makes the audience disconnect from the narrative, and focus on the aesthetic. Simply put, it takes us out of the story and reminds us that we are watching a movie.
The slow motion in The Terminator is not to enhance the action, but to connect with the audience using a universally human experience - namely, the distortion of time before a disaster. The action within the scene is actually very simple – a man revealing a gun beneath his jacket. The gunshots themselves are filmed at a normal speed. Therefore the reason why this sequence is so timeless is not because of the stylized action, but because it taps into something which we have all felt, resulting in a terrifying thrill each time the scene is viewed.
As the Terminator hits the ground riddled with shotgun spread, the mysterious traveler finally communicates with Sarah. His words are concise, but convey the gravity of the situation:
Mysterious Traveler: “Come with me if you want to live.”
The line is simple, enigmatic and says a lot with little. This one line is a metaphor for the movie as a whole. Clean, precise, thrilling and finely crafted.
Soon after we see why. The Terminator’s eyes open wider than normal, heightening its other worldliness.
As it rises from the ground, we see Sarah’s reaction. There are shades of classic movie monsters here: Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Mummy, however all of those creatures were flesh and blood, This is something else. A monster for whom death has no dominion.
As the two escape from Tech Noir, we see the Terminator’s POV for the first time. This is an interesting shot due to the imagery contained within. It gives an insight into the technological understanding of the time, not only in terms of what was available, but what was predicted to be in the future of this mid-eighties world.
The red screen also subtly evokes our subconscious – it’s an echo of the kill shot in the club, recalling the experience of being marked for death. This must be intentional, and it shows skillful understanding of human psychology. It provokes the same fear every time, and it is a key reason why we engage the movie on an emotional level. We identify with Sarah Connor - we’ve seen the world from her perspective, and we are also marked for death.
As the duo escape in a car, we see the Terminator jump through flames. This image is notable for a number of symbolic reasons. Fire has a long and complex history with human kind, and there is a definite meaning behind the Terminator jumping through it. Fire is representative of drive, power, danger, destruction, man’s hubris and birth/death. The Terminator jumping through the flames is therefore a combination of the above, a sign of the Terminator’s incessant drive to kill Sarah Connor, its sheer invulnerability and the destruction of Sarah’s world.
The couple barely escape. Now we cannot imagine where the story will lead. The terror at Tech Noir was only the beginning.
Exposition Position
Whilst evading the police, the traveler introduces himself as Kyle Reese and reveals all. Importantly, the movie doesn’t stop for an exposition dump, which is so often a momentum killer in science fiction. Background information is explained in the midst of action.
One of the major themes of the movie is then highlighted in the following exchange:
Sarah Connor: “This must be a mistake, I didn’t do anything!”
Kyle Reese: “No, but you will. It’s very important that you live.”
We then hear the details of the terminator:
KR: “It’s not a man, it’s a machine, a Terminator, Cyberdyne systems model 101.”
Sarah understandably rejects the notion:
SC: “They cannot make things like that yet.”
KR: “Not yet, not for another 40 years.”
Upon hearing that he is from the future, Sarah’s demeanor changes. She goes from passively obeying to resisting her abductor, biting his hand in the ensuing struggle.
Interesting Fact: For every James Cameron movie in which Michael Biehn appeared, (The Terminator 1984, Aliens 1986, The Abyss 1989) he gets bitten on the hand.
This leads to a key line which separates the Terminator from Reese, and shows us the gulf between human and machine:
KR: “Cyborgs don’t feel pain. I do. Don’t do that again.”
Following this, Reese explains the reality of the situation in a horrifyingly straightforward manner:
KR: “That thing is out there. It can’t be bargained with, it can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear, and it absolutely will not stop… ever! Until you are dead!”
SC: “Can you stop it?”
KR: “With these weapons I don’t know.”
We then see the Terminator, its eyes reflecting Reese’s chilling description.
“They say it got smart.”
Sarah asks why her, resulting in a speech highlighting the future war, the rise of Skynet, and humanity’s fate.
KR: “There was a nuclear war. A few years from now, all this, this whole place, everything, it's gone. Just gone. There were survivors. Here, there. Nobody even knew who started it. It was the machines, Sarah.”
This is akin to early human history: stories handed down, obscured by the mists of time.
KR: “It saw all of us as a threat, not just the other side.”
This notion is disturbing for two reasons, one, because it decided the fate of humanity in a ‘microsecond’, (reflected in the Terminator’s killing methods), and two, because Skynet’s logic is correct. Humanity would be a threat to its existence – is your creator not your most dangerous foe? It stirs up a complicated conundrum:
Does a creator of life have the right to end it, and conversely, does that life form have a right to defend its existence?
As complex as the above quandary is, it all stems from humanity’s hubris, a postmodernist retelling of Modern Prometheus.
KR: “Some of us were kept alive... to work... loading bodies. The disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out forever.”
This speech is reminiscent of the Indianapolis monologue in Jaws (1975), in which a chilling event is recounted with unnaturally calm delivery. As Reese recounts the future past, his eyes show a horror that has shaped his existence. The ‘orderly disposal’ draws parallels to the final solution devised by Nazi Germany, a chilling reminder of technology without humanity. Though not shown on screen, Reese’s eyes are testament to this terrible reality.
At this darkest moment, Sarah realizes the importance of her existence:
KR: “…But there was one man who taught us to fight, to storm the wire of the camps, to smash those metal motherfuckers into junk. He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink. His name is Connor. John Connor. Your son, Sarah...”
The most important information of the movie is shared between two people hunched over in a stolen car. This heightens the desperation of their situation. It’s essential that Sarah survives, however her protector cannot guarantee her safety.
As this is happening, the Terminator closes in.
The police motto is notably subverted here. Though technology is often used for care and protection, here the focus is on the protection of its own existence at the expense of humanity.
As the Terminator spots them, the look on its face is worth noting. The eyes widen, yet the face remains as blank as before. The complete lack of emotion is unsettling, creating an uncanny valley effect: something resembling a human, but for a subconscious reason not quite passing the eye test. This creates a fear beyond the typical spooky monster, it looks real enough to be human, yet we know that it is completely inhuman.
The ensuing car chase reflects the nature of the couples’ existence. Nothing is stylized, nor is it a spectacular action sequence. Instead it’s a desperate struggle. This is echoed in the screeching soundtrack. After a running battle, both cars come to an abrupt halt. We see a reversal in Sarah and Reese’s roles for a moment – Reese is in a blind panic, however Sarah has the presence of mind to stop him from certain death.
As they surrender, we see the other car, minus the Terminator. The mysterious disappearance returns the the movie to its horror roots – the monster slipping away into the night, sight unseen.