Not an action movie. A horror movie copied off Halloween - The Terminator (1984) Discussion

[–] VinceD (9805) a year ago

I agree that Terminator is basically Michael Myers, but hard disagree that it's not as good, it's far better than Halloween.

Cameron took Carpenters formula and perfected it in a sci-fi setting.

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[–] Ticketsplease (4024) a year ago

To each their own.

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[–] VinceD (9805) a year ago

Indeed. I do like both films and glad they both exist.

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[–] RedWolf (133) 6 months ago

Spot on mate, spot on indeed!

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[–] CodyXBrenda (332) 4 months ago

At least its better than almost all of the Halloween sequels after 4.

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[–] MyPhoneAccount (238) a month ago

I like The Terminator more than Halloween but Carpenter was a way better director than Cameron.

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[–] HolyWars (61) a year ago

Have you seen “Westworld” (1973)? It pre-pre-dates “Halloween” and it’s about a robot who’s programming goes wrong and he starts hunting down humans in the park. Written by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), it was way ahead of its time. It was the first time the word “virus” was used to describe a bug in the programming that spreads to the whole network. It has shots from the robot’s POV - pixelated digital-looking shots, and heat-vision. At one point, the robot is damaged, which exposes the metal endoskeleton underneath. Check it out, if you haven’t - it’s a great performance by the late, great Yul Brynner.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070909/

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[–] Batfleck (1538) a year ago

IMO westworlds boring as fuck. None of the tension of Halloween or Terminator. the end is just bascially one long hide and chase scene from set to set to set to set to set to set. no tension.

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[–] DoctorThirteen (13995) 7 months ago

Yul Brynner's gunfighter is definitely the highlight of Westworld.

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[–] DoctorThirteen (13995) 7 months ago

It definitely has some elements commonly found in slasher films. The same's been said of Jaws, Jaws II (even more so), and Alien.

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[–] Tam87 (1189) 7 months ago

The Terminator is a Sci-Fi/Action film. Those two genre's is what James Cameron has specialized in for his entire career.

Any movie from the 1980s starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be an action film. He never did anything else but shoot/blow up/kill things in this era, and Terminator is 1 hour 40 mins of almost non-stop action. The movie is a roller coaster from Tech Noir to the robotics factory.

I think people mistake the early scenes of the Sarah Connors being stalked/killed for slasher movies. These scenes only take up for the first 20 or so minutes. The movie explodes to life once Reese intercepts the Terminator in Tech Noir.

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[–] MaximRecoil (4617) 7 months ago

"Any movie from the 1980s starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be an action film. He never did anything else but shoot/blow up/kill things in this era"

I guess you've never seen Twins (1988).

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[–] Tam87 (1189) 7 months ago

Honestly I thought that movie came out in 1990. Guess I got it mixed up with Kindergarten Cop. My cable movie channel showed both films on constant rotation in the early 90s when I was having my first memories of films, guess that time is what I always associate those two movies with.

Well I guess any movie in the 80s that involved Arnold... and a gun or two... would be action haha. I have a vivid memory of seeing the Terminator VHS cover in my local rental store and he just looked so cool with his shades, 45. pistol & leather jacket. It just looked like a fun action movie all round (which is what I think terminator is, i don't find it horrifying). I never saw it as anything other than a shoot em up.

I have no beef with people who want to see it as horror. To each his own. I find the movie Titanic (1997) to be a horror movie, while others find it romantic.

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[–] MaximRecoil (4617) 7 months ago

"It just looked like a fun action movie all round (which is what I think terminator is, i don't find it horrifying). I never saw it as anything other than a shoot em up."

I've never thought of it as a horror movie either. People who think it's a horror movie must also think that Predator (1987) is a horror movie.

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[–] Tam87 (1189) 7 months ago

This music video to me sums up the action of The Terminator: https://youtu.be/drM57_NquvA?feature=shared&t=43

^^ I don't think horror films are paced or filmed like that. I think Cameron conceived Terminator to be a roller coaster ride. The Terminator as well as the first Rambo were the OG action movies. Everything else after owes a lot to them.

Predator is a Sci-Fi/Action/Monster movie, with arguably stronger horror elements than Terminator. There's only one real action scene in Predator - the massive assault on the enemy compound. The rest of the movie reminds me of Jaws and Alien combined.

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[–] DoctorThirteen (13995) 7 months ago

'Predator is a Sci-Fi/Action/Monster movie, with arguably stronger horror elements than Terminator.'

I'd agree with that.

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[–] MaximRecoil (4617) 7 months ago

"Not an action movie."

Yes, it very obviously is an action movie. It's also sci-fi and could be considered a thriller. It may come as a surprise to you, but movies can be in more than one genre.

"A horror movie copied off Halloween"

It's not a horror movie. It's a thriller at the most. Also, it didn't copy Halloween, which doesn't have a clever time travel story, nor even a time travel story at all.

"Oh, and it's not as good as Halloween."

It's far better than Halloween, which is a boring, and drastically overrated movie. The only good thing about it is John Carpenter's score.

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[–] moviechatterer (15643) 7 months ago

" copied off Halloween"

Thats funny , given that the whole slasher genre is just one movie copied a thousand times to make identical clones.

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[–] OuterSpace (128) 7 months ago

Michael Myers was a stalker who spends almost the entire movie watching his prey before he finally kills everyone. Other than Loomis, none of the characters are truly even aware of him until the end. It's just people going about their day as he stalks them.

The Terminator goes straight for elimination every chance it gets, our leads are aware of it and pursued throughout nearly the entire movie, engaging it multiple times. Large amounts of the movie are bombastic action scenes.

They're really not very similar viewing experiences at all...

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[–] imatosser182 (339) 7 months ago

Yep, if I had a penny for every Terminator/Halloween comparison I'd seen, I'd have one penny

if I had a penny for every Terminator/Halloween comparison I'd seen before I accessed this website today, I wouldn't have any

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[–] DoctorThirteen (13995) 7 months ago

'Michael Myers was a stalker who spends almost the entire movie watching his prey before he finally kills everyone. Other than Loomis, none of the characters are truly even aware of him until the end. It's just people going about their day as he stalks them.

The Terminator goes straight for elimination every chance it gets, our leads are aware of it and pursued throughout nearly the entire movie, engaging it multiple times.'

I've seen a lot of people draw a comparison between The Terminator and Halloween (and slashers in general), but that's a nice highlighting of a major contrast.