To say that the rest of this sci-action classic is just a long chase sequence would be to insult the thought that went into its creation. Themes like artificial intelligence or robots taking their jobs to disastrous conclusions is as old as E.T.A. Hoffman (but probably older). More recently, every episodic sci-fi fiction featured the thought in at least one episode. In this instance, though, the sentient machines have cast judgement that the reverse was true and humans whose entire existence was a run up to self annihilation were no longer worthy of the planet they had laid waste. It's a proto version of Roko's Basilisk with a kind of godlike morality added.
It's also a technological marvel of its day. Some things in high definition will look a little creaky to anyone watching freshly today. I imagine these moments will be greased over in any 4K version as James Cameron, like Spielberg or Lucas, tends to update his older titles. The problem with this is that it diminishes the original achievement. The skin tearing and moving around the exposed metal skeleton as The Terminator attempts self repair looks far more like latex than human skin but, however unintended this was, it adds to the alienness of the character. His skin looks functionally designed rather than the end result of eons of evolution. See also, any of the damage sustained by the cyborg who looks near human but might as well be a mechanical shark on legs.
If The Terminator is plagued by anything that might harm it, it lies in the performances. The cast's turns feel as though they had to fend for themselves. It's not just Arnie, Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton are acceptable as the leads because of the plot. You can see they are trying but they don't have the big picture eye of an actor's director behind the camera. This is true of later Cameron films like Aliens and The Abyss. It's worth noting this shortcoming is not limited to Cameron but shared by the likes of Cronenberg and Lucas in their earlier careers.
As for Arnie, he gets a pass as he is learning 1980s Californian on the fly and his character's capacity for smiling or archness were not about to be called upon. Interestingly, the original casting for the title role was Lance Henriksen (who plays a detective) with the idea being that his grey ordinariness might make him even scarier. Then, Arnold Schwarzenegger's career as a unique looking muscle was very much on the rise, and the similarly buff Rutger Hauer had owned the screen in the then recent Blade Runner. It was the time for icon manufacture. Subtle sci-fi was for Canadians (well, one of them). Putting the one-person spectacle of Arnold was of its time and still works a treat. Also, T2 tries out the everyday guy theory and gets away with it (with Arnie in a different role for balance, it must be said). Also, it is still as funny as intended to hear Arnie bellow things like, "Fuck you, asshole!"
You might be aware of the accusation of plagiarism aimed at The Terminator from team Harlan Ellison and it's worth a mention. Ellison wrote two of the best Outer Limits episodes in Demon with a Glass Hand and Soldier. Both involve time travel missions with high stakes for humanity. Cameron and Co. settled, having only the dodgiest of legs to stand on. But it's a telling point. The charge of plagiarism excites the wrong people who will spring to lazily won judgement once the word is uttered. But influence is not copying. The Terminator does not deeply resemble either of Ellison's Outer Limits stories. It uses some ideas in them as a departure point but it is no more a rip off than Ridley Scott's Alien is of Planet of the Vampires (an even slighter case). That's all the space I'll give this, here.
But the humans that are meant to engage us leave us cold. They become far more like plot sleepers than Arnie does, even though they convey their emotions and communication clearly. It's only when the action calls for them to be quippy or histrionic that we notice they are doing more than deliver exposition. Then again, just as the failed effects can suggest artificiality that benefits the film, this sense of humankind being so frail and might well convey an unintended source of empathy, that they really will need to be fought for when the computer networks rule. Am I really suggesting we celebrate this movie for its unintentional features? Isn't that more the realm for the ones we like to ridicule? Not in this case: the failure of a technical maestro to martial convention the way his better rounded colleagues could and did might itself be a poignant commentary on a film about the contest of humans and machines, however accidental. In the highly loaded popular cinema of the '80s, The Terminator stands as tall as it did when it was the massive hit it was on release. Thing is, whether you see it as a critique by distillation of toxic masculinity, a warning to the present about the future, you can always just turn all that off and get into some great action scenes ... and then start thinking about it again. So, yep, still works.
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