In 1984, no one could have guessed that an independently made movie about an unstoppable cyborg assassin would become a hit, launch a still-growing franchise and, arguably, predict the future of artificial intelligence.
Producer Gale Anne Hurd and co-writer/director James Cameron realized they had a hit on their hands when it topped the box office the first weekend, because as Hurd recalled, “Orion told us it was a down-and-dirty exploitation film, that word of mouth would be so bad that we wouldn’t be in theaters after the second weekend.” How wrong they were.
Looking back 40 years later on “The Terminator,” Hurd marveled how the discussion around AI has moved from being considered “science fiction and fantasy,” to front page news and how the movie helped usher in the age of female action stars.
“The Terminator” is about the dangers of AI dominance at a time when it wasn’t very high-tech, and now, obviously we’re still talking about this.
Yes, Jim and I were influenced by other films, certainly “Mad Max” and “2001: A Space Odyssey,” films that made you think about the future for humanity and our perception was that tech was going to be a big issue in the future. And lo and behold, that’s exactly what’s happened. The discussions now are on the front pages. Back then, it was considered science fiction, fantasy.
How hard was it to get financing originally?
It’s really great to be so naive that you don’t realize what you’re trying to achieve is impossible. We must have had, and I am not being hyperbolic, 99 passes before we got financing together. And it was truly an independent film, because we cobbled together the financing. The first company in, surprisingly, was HBO, who pre-bought the cable rights, and then Hemdale, and then Orion.
You began your career working with Roger Corman. What did you learn from him that you brought to “The Terminator?
Essentially everything. Jim and I, of course, took the script to Roger to finance, and he said, “You need more money to make this a good movie than I’ll be able to give you.” That was actually our first rejection. But he was absolutely right. There was no way “The Terminator” could be made for $2 million or under.
Working for Roger in every possible capacity for the few years that I did, I learned the value of pre-production. I learned that filmmaking is a team sport, that everyone is valuable and contributes to the production regardless of what capacity they’re hired in. And I already knew a lot about post-production, and I had been head of marketing for New World Pictures, so I also knew a great deal about marketing the film.
How many hats did you wear as a producer?
There were days when I was moving equipment, there were days when I was a hand double. You name it, just about everything you could possibly do. And the other interesting thing is, there were so many women on the production. When you consider this is 1984 we had a woman assistant director, a woman accountant, a woman line producer, in addition to myself. Women were incredibly well represented.
Did that feel revolutionary at the time?
No, because for Roger Corman, there were women everywhere. It was only after “The Terminator,” when I started working in the studio system, that I realized how rare that was.
What was Roger’s reaction when he saw it?
He was so thrilled and so happy. The wonderful thing about Roger, which is why all of us who were mentored by him, from Jack Nicholson to Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, as well as Jim, is that he was thrilled when we took off and flew with our own wings. He was never jealous. He really understood when it was time for you to leave. In fact, he had to tell me I had learned everything I possibly could working for him, and that it was time for me to go out on my own. To this day, it’s incredibly rare. Especially when you consider that the film business is even more challenging now than it was then.
Have other women told them you inspired them to become a producer?
It certainly was true back when I was producing, but I had mentors, including Barbara Boyle at New World Pictures and the late Deborah Hill, and it was so important to me to be able to join Women in Film. That was an organization that really helped me when I left Roger Corman and came to realize that Hollywood was not a meritocracy for women.
Obviously this has a very strong female lead in Linda Hamilton. Was that controversial or unusual at the time?
It was quite unusual. Luckily Sigourney Weaver had already appeared in “Alien.” Even though it was an ensemble to begin with, of course she was the sole survivor, so she was the lead in that. But in most action films, it was not the case. We expected that it would be difficult to get the film made and it was, because a lot of the coverage that came back to us was that no one wants to see a woman in as the lead in an action film.
What’s your stance on AI in terms of creating movies?
I don’t want people to lose their jobs, that to me, is the most important thing, and I read statistics where by 2030 we could see 30% of jobs in the film industry evaporate.
I’m seeing that visual effects might be the first jobs to go.
Yes, and we’re already seeing storyboarding and production design. And ultimately, the idea of shooting everything with digital backgrounds will obviate location shoots. Entire teams of construction and the art department will no longer exist. It just boggles the mind.
One of the reasons I think that “The Terminator” holds up so well is the practical effects.
Yes, and huge tribute there to the late great Stan Winston and his team. That was actually one of the benefits of having so much time to prepare the film, is that Jim storyboarded everything, and was able to figure out with Stan how to achieve every effect in the film.
How many times do you think you’ve seen the film yourself?
At least 100 and I’ve seen it quite a few more times this year, because of the 40th anniversary.
Did anything strike you that you didn’t remember or that would particularly impressed you on a rewatch this time?
I just think how propulsive it is, how unrelenting, and yet, Jim was able to ensure that the audience is connected with the characters and deeply invested in Sarah’s journey. And also just how brilliant not only the cast was, but when you consider the icon that the Terminator has become because of Arnold’s performance, it really is stunning to go back and look at it.
I remember all the early creative discussions that we had with Arnold. He said, “I’m not going to blink. I am going to play this like a shark hunting its prey.” During that meeting, everything that he talked about when it came to the film and characters in it was the Terminator. The film’s called the Terminator and all of the posters and advertising featured the Terminator. And I think that subconsciously, Arnold identified with the character that we remember and identify the film with to this day.
The score is just so phenomenal. It’s like the “Jaws” theme. It’s so iconic.
Brad Fiedel, God bless him. We had no money because, as I’m sure you’re aware, post-production is what suffers most, if you’re trying to make a film. You keep stealing from post-production to fund production, but he did such a brilliant job.
There was a great meeting of the minds between Brad and Jim, and to a lesser degree myself, about the score and what it was meant to communicate, not only driving the film, but also it’s unrelenting, and it’s got that techno feeling. There’s a reason why we call the nightclub in the film Tech Noir. It’s about the dark side of technology.
Yeah, and it’s so ominous.
Yes, oh my goodness, yes, yes. This score helps keep your heart rate up. And the tension, even when nothing bad has happened, you know it’s just around the corner.
When it became a franchise, did that surprise you?
Yes, because even though the next film that Jim and I worked on together was “Aliens,” franchises were not common or popular. In fact, the expectation was that any sequel would do much more poorly than the original film.
That’s not the case anymore.
No, it’s not, but the fact that it became a franchise was unexpected but thrilling.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
“The Terminator” is available on 4K Blu-ray and now streaming on Prime Video. The most recent installment in the franchise, the animated series “Terminator: Zero,” is now streaming on Netflix.