One of my two worst movie fears is coming true with the news that Terminator is getting a reboot that will (inevitably) be the beginning of a new trilogy. My other worst fear is that next in Hollywood's sights will be the Back to the Future trilogy. Robocop and Total Recall remakes I can handle but Terminator 1 and 2 and the BTTF trilogy are my untouchable sacred cows.
I can deal with endless inferior sequels to classics like Die Hard and I can handle remakes of some of Hollywood's output but I can't stomach a Terminator reboot. Every year I show students in my Film Studies class both Terminator 1 and 2 when we are studying how to analyse films from a genre and feminist approach. Each year some students grumble about Terminator 1 which occasionally looks very dated in places but then we get to Terminator 2 and I think pretty much every student loves it.
Some would argue the first Terminator is in need of a remake then if it fails to grab the youth and looks dated in terms of 80s hair cuts and some dodgy stop-motion scenes. I would argue otherwise. With Terminator 2 still looking relatively fresh and still dazzling in terms of its brilliant use of CGI, the pair of films perfectly complement each other and while the original might be a bit harder to stomach for modern young audiences, it is an inspiring example of what can be achieved on a modest budget.
I hear Arnie might be back for the reboot, no doubt shoe horned in by some dodgy bit of screen writing that introduces him as the creator of the Terminator programme or something. I also hear rumours of Paul Walker appearing which is worrying. No real offence to Paul Walker but I can't bear to see him as a new Kyle Reese. Admittedly though, he looks ok below. I guess as long as he's not John Connor.
I just don't see how a reboot can improve on the original stories or action scenes. Then again, I'm not sure reboots often even have the intention of improving on anything. I want to say boycott this reboot at all costs but on the other hand, I know as the stills, posters, and trailers start to roll in, I'll probably start getting excited about it. However if we can convince enough people to stay out of the cinemas for this one, perhaps we can stop the inevitable Back to the Future prequel which I can predict won't be far behind. (They're bound to try and get Fox and Lloyd in for cameos).
There are so many things I don't want to see ruined about these movies, I can't even begin to count them. I wish instead of rebooting, Hollywood could just take a chance on something original that could potentially be of the same quality as James Cameron's films. Before buying a ticket for the Terminator reboot, I urge you to please remember there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.
