Further Reading
Collins, Bud.Total Tennis, Revised: The Ultimate Tennis
Encyclopedia. Toronto: Sport Classic Books, 2003.
Provides year-by-year (1919-2002) comprehensive
statistics of the top professional players and the
grand slam tournaments. Includes a biographical
section of the best players.
McEnroe, John, and James Kaplan.You Cannot Be Se-
rious.New York: Penguin Books, 2003. The tennis
great reflects on his colorful professional career
and personal life.
Parsons, John.The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Tennis: The
Definitive Illustrated Guide to World Tennis.London:
Carlton Books, 2007. Provides a history of the
sport, its players, tournaments, and controver-
sies.
Alan Prescott Peterson
See also McEnroe, John; Navratilova, Martina;
Sports.
Terminator, The
Identification American science-fiction film
Director James Cameron (1954- )
Date Released October 26, 1984
Representing a pessimistic view of technology,The Termi-
natorcontrasted with the positive view of technology in the
films of the originalStar Warstrilogy and theStar Trek:
The Next Generationtelevision series. Coupling nuclear
war and computerized defense systems with the emergence of
intelligent computers, the film reflected the technological
and political situation of the mid-1980’s—the increasing
presence of computers and President Ronald Reagan’s Stra-
tegic Defense Initiative at the height of the Cold War.
The story line ofThe Terminator(1984) focuses on a
cyborg assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) created
by Skynet, an artificially intelligent computer de-
fense network that developed self-awareness and at-
tempted to annihilate humanity by starting World
War III. Skynet built cyborgs to infiltrate the few sur-
viving camps of humans. The film’s title character is
sent back in time from the postapocalyptic world of
2029 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), who is
to become the mother of the leader of the human
rebellion. From the future, her son John sends Kyle
Reese (Michael Biehn) to protect her from the
human-like assassin.
Machine imagery pervades the film. Appearing
frequently are machines such as household devices,
including an answering machine that exhorts callers
to be nice to it, motorcycles and trailer trucks, and
an automated factory where Sarah manages to crush
the terminator in a press. In a larger sense, this story
reflects contemporary concerns about the progres-
sion from human dependence on machines to being
dominated by them. The extreme masculine phy-
sique of the terminator represents military technol-
ogy gone awry.
The film uses common science-fiction themes,
notably artificial intelligence. The terminator acts in
a conscious, purposive manner, yet its alien nature is
reflected by the images of internal, decision-making
screens. Furthermore, the terminator has no emo-
tions and cannot be reasoned with. Another theme
is time travel, including a variation of the grandfa-
ther paradox, as John Connor sends Reese back in
time to impregnate Sarah and thus to become John’s
father.The Terminatorgarnered generally favorable
reviews and became an unexpected sleeper hit. Shot
on the relatively small budget of $6.5 million, it had
collected $38.4 million by the end of its first run.
During 1985, it was one of the most popular rental
videos.
Impact The Terminatorwas the first major directing
effort by James Cameron, who went on to direct
other highly successful films (notably, 1997’s Ti-
tanic). The film solidified the acting career of
Schwarzenegger and also led to major roles for
Hamilton and Biehn. Furthermore, it inspired a
number of other science-fiction films, includingRobo-
Cop(1987).
Further Reading
Hollinger, Veronica, and Joan Gordon, eds.Edging
into the Future: Science Fiction and Contemporar y Cul-
tural Transformation. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 2002.
Kozlovic, Anton Karl. “Technophobic Themes in
Pre-1990 Computer Films.”Science as Culture12,
no. 3 (2003): 3341-3372.
Telotte, J. P.Replications: A Robotic Histor y of the Science
Fiction Film. Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1995.
Kristen L. ZachariasSee also Blade Runner; Computers; Cyberpunk lit-
erature;Empire Strikes Back, The; Film in the UnitedThe Eighties in America Terminator, The 957