Marathon Update - I Love the 80s Double ShotThe TerminatorIt 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. How Exciting!
I mean that with all sincerity. Here is the start of James Cameron, a superb director who would go on to all sorts of record-breaking blockbusters. Yet with a very modest budget, The Terminator remains one of the most exciting and creative action films ever made. On this rewatch I loved the non-stop bone-crushing chase, unrelenting suspense, black humor and first look at Cameron's post-apocalyptic future. On top of that, this one looks so simple in its execution. The excitement comes from ideas that for the most part you could do at home with a few stunt guys and some pyro. For all the resources Cameron had for the sequel, this is a better film cause it's free of the bloat and self-importance. This is a story of the uneasy relationship between man and machine, executed by a filmmaker who has already mastered the tools of his trade.
The tension remains high through a healthy sound mix of industrial noise. Even while Michael Biehn has to deliver
a ton of exposition, it's done while in flight, so there's tire screeching, guns blasting, cars crashing and glass smashing. This must be the record for the greatest amount of momentum-killing dialogue that never actually kills the momentum.
Here is the Terminator as it was first designed. Without fear or feelings, it kills in broad daylight. It doesn't get frustrated when Sarah Connor escapes, it just gets up and resumes the chase. With his impressive size and unsympathetic attitude, Schwarzenegger makes the Terminator into one of the greatest villains of all time. Cameron manages to make him funny as well. The limited dialogue brings some memorable lines including "I'll be back", which is great when seen in its proper context. (I also love the roommate's answering machine message which ironically says "Ha, ha. You're talking to a machine."
The Terminator can't hide its low budget in spots, but that never detracts from the excitement. It's a real shame Cameron never completed the trilogy himself, cause this is two-thirds the greatest trilogy of all time. This one's in the Top 50.
The Breakfast ClubScrews fall out all the time, the world's an imperfect place. I was 14 when The Breakfast Club came out. Back then I remember thinking the film should be placed in a time capsule so twenty years later I could show kids what school was like in my day. Here we are, 25 years later and while I have no kids The Breakfast Club isn't as perfect a time piece as i thought. It's my generation filtered through a decade when movies were kind of weak. By that I mean a lot of the film now doesn't feel honest. This isn't quite how I remember it.
The film is a stereotyped, potty-mouthed therapy session and I know I'm getting old when I'm starting to sympathize with the unfair way it looks at parents. Everybody comes from a broken home where there's either too much pressure put on them to win and succeed or they're left completely alone. Nobody's family exists in a middle ground. None of them are interested in listening to their kids. I always knew Vernon was a cartoonish figure, and I still find a lot of his interactions to be funny, but I much more enjoyed Carl the janitor. ("I am the eyes and ears of this institution.")
John Hughes' direction is very stagy, but you know how I'm drawn to good dialogue and I still find his script to be witty, perceptive and mostly realistic when dealing with the five kids. There's an affection for the kids, and the writing respects them in the way their parents do not. I had trouble finding a quote, but I chose the one above because it's not only hilarious in the context of the film, it also says a lot about being a teenager.
The cast is still great. Just all around fantastic. I'd put this group up against the Pacino, Lemmon and the rest of the Glengarry salesmen. (I know I'm inviting an attack I don't want. Let's agree this is the sole opinion of 1SO.) There's an electricity between them, like an all-star cast. They keep the film from ever feeling slow, even more than Hughes' musical interludes.
I would love to know what happened to The Breakfast Club come Monday. I'm guessing they would quickly fall back into their cliques. This has become a deeply nostalgic pick for me. I'm keeping it in the Top 100, but it's going to be on the bottom half.
For my current rankings
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Next Up:12 Angry Men
Bonnie and Clyde
Charade
Seven