# I watched The Terminator last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486 "2010-05-23T18:28:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/81 "2010-05-25T16:39:14Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I’m _still_ impressed, frankly, and I don’t understand your objection. The T-1000 does some pretty cool stuff (I still get a chuckle at the instant-turnaround scene after Arnold face-slams Patrick into a boiler). I have to admit, **I didn’t even notice the four-hands bit during the helicopter chase** , but once I found out about it, I thought it was hilarious and perfectly logical. > > Of course, I still think the Genesis demo from _Wrath of Khan_ is pretty cool. What four-hands bit? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/82 "2010-05-25T16:48:59Z")
During the helicopter chase scene over the freeway, he has one hand on the cyclic, one hand on the collective, one hand shooting an mp5, and… not sure what the fourth one is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/83 "2010-05-25T16:59:23Z")
> [@koufax](#): > > Correct me if I am wrong, but is this the one where they have the technology to send a human back from the future, but they couldn’t go thru public records beforehand (where I am sure their computers were far more advanced to what we even have today) and find the correct mother of the bad guy so Arnold looks in a phone book and goes to a house, rings the bell and shoots some poor innocent woman to death WHILE HER CHILD IS WATCHING because she might be the woman he is looking for? > > I have hated that egotistical untalented asshole Arnold ever since I saw that disgusting scene and now he has helped fuck up our state because he thought it would be fun to be governor. Aside from the fact that–love him or hate him–it’s clear that Schwarzenegger has taken his job as governor very seriously (i.e. he’s clearly not doing it for “fun”), are you seriously hating on him because he played a bad guy in a movie, and get this, did something evil with a child in the scene? Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/84 "2010-05-25T21:31:50Z")
> [@JCorre](#): > > This blew my mind. I’m usually good at spotting bit actors that I’ve seen in other films but I’ve seen T2 dozens of times and I never caught this and I don’t think I ever would. She was also great in the vampire flick **Near Dark** , which has a James Cameron alumn cast and feel to the movie, though not directed by him. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/85 "2010-05-25T22:05:28Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > She was also great in the vampire flick **Near Dark** , which has a James Cameron alumn cast and feel to the movie, though not directed by him. Probably felt that way since it was directed by Kathryn Bigelow! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/86 "2010-05-25T22:14:25Z")
It’s so old a movie I remember a person that had it on Betamax tape. It was his favorite movie. He watched it multiple times a week. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/87 "2010-05-25T22:47:28Z")
I liked all the Terminator movies, and I would recommend watching all of them. No, they’re not perfect, but they’re all entertaining. By the way, our local paper printed a timeline for the Terminator universe a while ago, and I cut it out and kept it. I basically need a diagram to understand it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/88 "2010-05-25T23:51:03Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > What four-hands bit? :eek: I didn’t notice it either after repeat viewing until a mate pointed it out to me 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/89 "2010-05-26T00:47:09Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > She was also great in the vampire flick **Near Dark** , which has a James Cameron alumn cast and feel to the movie, though not directed by him. Well it had **Lance Hendriksen** and \*\*Bill Paxton \*\*in it as well. Jenette Goldsteins’ character was named Diamondback in Near Dark, but she’ll always be Vasquez the Puerto Rican Space Marine to me, at least in my bunk. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/90 "2010-05-26T00:48:49Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Forget Arnold. You really need to concentrate on hating Ralph Fiennes. How’s this for a list of doing unspeakable deeds on film: > > Amon Goeth in charge of Auschwitz in _Schindler’s List_ > > Lord Voldemort in the _Harry Potter_ series > > Pharaoh Ramesses II in _Prince of Egypt_ > > Serial killer Francis Dolarhyde in _Red Dragon_ > > The god Hades in _Clash of the Titans_ > > Considering Arnold came back as a good guy in the second and third terminator movies, Fiennes’ record of evildoing completely blows his away. Have fun hating! You forgot his turn as a recently released dangerous schizophrenic in _Spider_. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/91 "2010-05-26T01:10:19Z")
Actually, I think I agree with **Chronos** , too. I saw T2 in the theater when it was released, and even then I remember thinking that the liquid metal effects of the T-1000 were just too gimmicky. In addition, the T-1000 just seemed too advanced when compared to the T-101. I didn’t particularly like T3 when I first saw it, but really liked it on rewatching. I did not care for T4 at all. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/92 "2010-05-26T01:14:21Z")
A still from Near Dark, just for fun [http://www.jenettegoldstein.com/images\_film/NearDark1.jpg](http://www.jenettegoldstein.com/images_film/NearDark1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/93 "2010-05-26T01:29:40Z")
I think _The Terminator_ is one of the best movies ever made. It IS the best action flick ever. I have seen it well over 600 times. _Terminator 2_, IMO was awesome. It expanded on the story started in the first one, without ever fucking up it’s internal logic despite the fact that it involved time travel and was written long after the first one, which wasn’t written with a sequel in mind. _Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines_ was awesome, but suffered from really shitty casting in the male lead, and too many coincidences involving how our leads know each other, etc. It was just a wee bit too much suspension of disbelief to not make anyone with more than 10 working brain cells go “yeah, right” too many times. But the basic story again expanded on the original without fucking things up, and is pretty solid, IMO. Also, the T-X was much better looking than the previous model, and I’m a sucker for a pleasant aesthetic in high tech machinery. _Terminator Salvation_ was directed by McG, so there was no reason to see it, at least not until some friend buys a copy and loans it to me, because no way no how is anyone getting money from me for that might somehow wind up in that fathead’s pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/94 "2010-05-26T01:37:04Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > …_Terminator Salvation_ was directed by McG, so there was no reason to see it, at least not until some friend buys a copy and loans it to me, because no way no how is anyone getting money from me for that might somehow wind up in that fathead’s pocket. You made the right choice. Decent special effects, total crap plot and script. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/95 "2010-05-26T02:57:29Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Exactly - in the first movie, you have a scary unstoppable (almost) killing machine. So in the second movie, you have to have something that’s really scarier - not just have the movie _tell_ you it’s scarier, but have you the viewer understand how terrifying and unstoppable this thing really is. So let’s have it not be limited in structure at all? Let’s have it be uncrushable, un-blow-uppable, un-blockadeable? Okay, but how do you _convince_ me that it is? The effects are essential, but that doesn’t mean it’s a “look at the effects” movie. It’s a movie with a big idea that’s portrayed well through the effects, but not one where the effects eat the movie. The perfect melding of story and movie magic, IMHO. (Except that annoying teenager. He can go. The rest of the movie is classic.) In addition, despite being unstoppable, he was temporarily slowable which looked awesome and created more suspense. If you blast his head at close enough range, it takes him a second to get back into shape, just enough time for the good guys to get a step or two ahead of him. T2 and Aliens are both in my top 2 movies of all time. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/96 "2010-05-26T03:00:06Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You made the right choice. Decent special effects, total crap plot and script. I watched about 1/2 of it and turned it off. I just didn’t really care what happened to the characters at all. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/97 "2010-05-26T03:08:04Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > I watched about 1/2 of it and turned it off. I just didn’t really care what happened to the characters at all. From what I’ve read, you know what’s going to happen within the first few minutes of the movie. Then you have to spend a couple of hours watching it come about. And many people wrote that the bad guy was a stronger character than John Connor. All-in-all, from what I’ve read, a seriously flawed film. ETA: And apparently not really that huge a success: [Terminator Salvation - Box Office Mojo](http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=terminatorsalvation.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/98 "2010-05-26T03:08:27Z")
We (re)watched _The Terminator_ on cable in our hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City late one night last month. (Don’t have cable at home.) What really stood out for me was the goofy hairstyles. Even (especially?) Sarah Connors’! When it first came out, everyone looked so … normal. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/99 "2010-05-26T03:54:18Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > my personal opinion is that Teminator 1 is far and away the best. Yes. The best by far. I’m not a fan of Jim Cameron, but the ingenuity and moviemaking skill he displayed in T1 (because of the shoestring budget) is considerable. I think it’s his best movie. . ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486/100 "2010-05-26T04:02:43Z")
Just for laughs, [a 2003 thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-195633.html) on the T-1000 multi-hands bit. Given the bot’s displayed abilities in other scenes, there’s nothing remotely implausible about it. The extended version make it clearer that the freezing/thawing sequence “glitched” the T-1000, which might explain how it becomes a lot slower, i.e. you’d think that once it imitated Sarah and drew John in, it would have jumped him instantly. Instead, it takes its time long enough for Sarah (and eventually Arnie) to show up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-watched-the-terminator-last-night/540486.md?page=6)