Released in 1984, The Terminator not only came out of seemingly nowhere to a major box office hit that ultimately spawned a franchise, but it also kickstarted James Cameron’s career as a filmmaker. In the decades since, Cameron has gone on to make some major, iconic films like Aliens, Titanic, and even the absolutely massive films Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water. However, 40 years on, Cameron isn’t especially precious about the film that helped make him a legend. While Cameron admits that The Terminator is “near and dear” to him because it’s his first film, looking back he has some critiques and there’s one aspect that, to him is “cringeworthy.” Speaking with Empire, Cameron says that the production value on the film is something that he has some qualms about now.
“I was just a punk starting out when I directed The Terminator. I think I was 29 at the time and it was my first directing gig,” Cameron said before clarifying that while Piranha II was technically his first director credit, “Terminator was my first film and it’s near and dear for that reason.”
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“I don’t think of it as some Holy Grail, that’s for sure. I look at it now and there are parts of it that are pretty cringeworthy and parts of it that are like, ‘Yeah, we did pretty well for the resources we had available,” he said, adding, “Just the production value, you know? I don’t cringe on any of the dialogue, but I have a lower cringe factor than apparently a lot of people do around the dialogue that I write.”
Cameron also went on note that while others might find his dialogue to be the “cringe” in his movies, for him the box office receipts tell the real tale.
“You know what? Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness,” he said.
But while The Terminator was 40 years ago and something he remains proud of; Cameron also has said that he’s ready for the franchise to evolve — and his ideas may not be something that longtime fans are ready for. Cameron explained that it could be time to “jettison everything” specific to the last 40 years of the franchise.
“This is the moment when you jettison everything that is specific to the last 40 years of Terminator, but you live by those principles,” he said. “You get too inside it, and then you lose a new audience because the new audience cares much less about that stuff than you think they do… that’s the danger, obviously, with Avatar as well, but I think we’ve proven that we have something for new audiences.”
He continued, “You’ve got powerless main characters, essentially, fighting for their lives, who get no support from existing power structures, and have to circumvent them but somehow maintain a moral compass. And then you throw AI into the mix. Those principles are sound principles for storytelling today, right? So, I have no doubt that subsequent Terminator films will not only be possible, but they’ll kick ass. But this is the moment where you jettison all the specific iconography.”
“It’s more than a plan. That’s what we’re doing. That’s all I’ll say for right now.”
