Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

In T3, we see a prime example of a franchise become self-reflexive, constantly referencing its own tropes and conventions, often for the purpose of parody. The Terminator franchise could almost be seen to follow Schatz's model of generic evolution, from primitive to established to parody - an overly simple account, but strangely fitting.

In some ways, the franchise is constructed according to the same principles as the destiny-based narrative of the films: Judgement Day will inevitably happen and John Connor will lead the resistance with Kate Brewster at his side, just as a Terminator film will inevitably feature a character hunted by an advanced killing machine and protected by a friend from the future. The specifics of when, where, who and how vary from film to film, but those basic principles invariably remain.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

I forgot how much I actually like this movie. Just a generally very well constructed action movie, even in spite of the sappy relationship between John and the Terminator - but that's not why we're here.

Already, the Terminator/Schwarzenegger character is becoming self-reflexive, with tongue-in-cheek references to the previous film abound. What is interesting however, is how these recontextualized repetitions serve to signify the changed roles: The Terminator takes Reese's line, "Come with me if you want to live," and becomes the protector, while Sarah is the one presented in a video freeze frame of her seemingly insane rants about the future by the dopey Dr. Silberman, now filling the role of crazy person who knows the truth.

The cyclical nature of the franchise is really a defining feature - everything that happens, happens because of actions in the future, which happen because of actions in the past, which happen ... etc. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the new trilogy - if the theme of the original trilogy (or at least the first two films) is that there is no fate, surely the new trilogy must rely on predestination in order to not render the original trilogy logically nonextant. John Connor of the future must send back Kyle Reese in order to be born; must send back the second Terminator to protect his childhood self; Kate Brewster-Connor must send back the third Terminator to protect both herself and the young adult John Connor, who is to be her husband. If the new trilogy strays from this, it will have to create a pretty complex system of rationalization in order to preseve the continuity of the franchise.

A shot of the T-1000 crushing the Terminator's sunglasses with its foot made me think - what is the relationship between film-maker trademarks (in this case, James Cameron and things being crushed by feet) and franchise conventions? Particularly interesting to consider in franchises such as this, or the Indiana Jones films, where the same directors or screenwriters are involved with multiple entries into the canon. I suppose in many cases, elements of the franchise are simply both, or begin as one but eventually become the other. Curious.

The Terminator (1984)

This is one of those films that upon viewing, I realized I had never actually seen before. Weird.

I was going to start this post by comparing it to First Blood, in that it is fairly distinct in style and structure compared to subsequent films in the franchise, but this is really not the case here. Essentially, what the Terminator franchise does is shuffles the roles of the characters, with slight variations, but maintains a fairly similar structure. Observe:

T1:

Villain: The Terminator
Fugitive/Character unaware of the future: Sarah Connor
Protector of fugitive/Hero/Love interest of fugitive/Crazy person who knows the truth: Kyle Reese

T2:

Villain: T-1000
Fugitive/Character unaware of the future: John Connor
Protectors of fugitive/Heroes/Friends: The Terminator and Sarah Connor
Crazy person who knows the truth: Sarah Connor

T3:

Villain: Terminatrix
Fugitive/Crazy person who knows the truth: John Connor
Protector of fugitive/Hero: The Terminator
Friend/love interest of fugitive/Character unaware of the future: Kate Brewster

Sarah Connor Chronicles:

Villain: Cromartie Terminator, the FBI
Fugitive: John Connor
Protectors of fugitive/Friends/Heroes: Sarah Connor, Cameron Phillips, Derek Reese
Character unaware of the future: James Ellison
Crazy person who knows the truth: Sarah and John Connor?

Although the recently announced fourth Terminator film appears at first to alter the formula, it could still easily operate along the same lines:

Villain: Skynet (and doubtlessly some new form of Terminator)
Hero/Protector of fugitive/Crazy person who knows the truth (now about the past): John Connor and Kate Brewster-Connor
Fugitive/Friend/Character unaware of the past (which is his future): Kyle Reese (who now needs to be protected in order to ensure John Connor's existence)


All by way of saying, the franchise has been adept at creating (often complex) variations on the basic villain-fugitive-protector formula.