The Terminator Page #19

Synopsis: The Terminator is a 1984 American science-fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose son will one day become a savior against machines in a post-apocalyptic future. Michael Biehn plays Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect Connor.
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Production: Orion Pictures Corporation
  6 wins & 6 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Metacritic:
83
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
R
Year:
1984
107 min
Website
2,583 Views


He's a surfer.

DRIVER:

You from back East of

something?

SARAH:

No, he's from the future.

DRIVER:

Whoah. I hear that.

(pause)

Listen, I had a rough

night. I gotta stop and

bag some Z's.

They pull off the highway toward a gas station/rest area.

CUT TO:

190 EXT. SERVICE STATION - DAY 190

The gas station is like an oasis of clutter in a rolling

stretch of meadows and woods. It consists of a bunker-

like building with restrooms and a flanking PICNIC AREA,

beyond which are WOODS.

People sit under the trees, enjoying the beautiful day

while children tear around after the forced inactivity of

a long trip.

The three of them get out on unsteady legs.

DRIVER:

You can still ride if

you wanna hang out for a

couple hours.

SARAH:

Thanks.

REESE:

Bag some Z's?

SARAH:

Let's get cleaned up, Kyle.

She heads for the WOMEN'S RESTROOM and Kyle follows her

inside.

REESE:

(pushing him out)

Yours is over there.

Instead of following her directions to the Men's Room,

Kyle wanders toward the drinking fountain. A bunch of

kids are running around and throwing water at each other

with paper cups.

Reese shambles through them like a zombie.

He stands among the children, an alien in this land without

fear. He watches people at picnic tables laughing and

listening to portable music. Kids squeal. Dogs bark.

LITTLE GIRL (V.O.)

Can you get my balloon?

DOWN ANGLE on an achingly beautiful LITTLE GIRL of about

four. She points above his head.

Reese looks up to see a helium-filled mylar balloon stuck in

the foliage of a tree just above him. He pulls it down by

the string and holds it, turning it over dully.

He crouches down to her eye-level. She smiles.

REESE:

Aren't you afraid to be out in

the open like this?

LITTLE GIRL:

Huh?

Reese whirls reflexively at a SCREAM behind him. The

mylar balloon bursts in his tense hands. A teenage girl

is being doused with water by the boys with plastic jugs.

The little girl looks at the broken balloon, then glares

at Reese. She punches him soundly on the shoulder and

storms off.

At this moment she is bowled over by an IRISH SETTER that

licks her face while she shrieks with laughter.

Reese seems about to smile but doesn't quite know how to

go about it.

CUT TO:

191 EXT. SERVICE STATION/PAY PHONE - DAY 191

Sarah is talking on an open pay phone.

SARAH:

...I know, Mom. This is the

soonest I could...I know.

Mom...Mom, I can't talk long.

No, I'm okay.

(pause)

I was on TV? Really?

(pause)

Oh no, I hate that picture...

why didn't you give them my

graduation picture?

(pause)

I'm okay, really. Listen, I

want you to pack some stuff

and go up to the cabin for a

few days. Just don't...no,

don't ask any questions.

Just do it. I gotta get

going...gotta go. Bye, bye.

Sarah has been idly leafing through the DIRECTORY. On

a whim she looks up something.

She freezes for a moment when she finds the listing.

Then with a triumphant expression she rips the page out

of the book.

CUT TO:

192 EXT. SERVICE STATION/PICNIC TABLE - DAY 192

Sarah is sitting at a table under a tree, lettering

something with a lipstick on a cardboard box-flap.

E.C.U. - SIGN, as the last letters are finished.

It reads:

SILICON VALLEY:

FULL ON SARAH as she retracts the lipstick and leans

across to hand it to a girl at the next table.

SARAH:

Thanks a lot.

REESE (V.O.)

What's that?

Sarah looks up, startled to see him standing beside her.

SARAH:

That's where we're going.

REESE:

Why?

Sarah point to the directory page lying on the table.

MACRO - PAGE

Sarah's finger points to a listing which reads:

CYBER DYNAMICS CORPORATION

18144 El Camino Real, S'Vale

ANGLE ON SARAH AND REESE

She looks smug.

SARAH:

Look. I found it. Isn't

that it? Cyber Dynamics

Corporation?

REESE:

What about it?

SARAH:

Didn't you say that they're

going to develop this

revolutionary new thing...

REESE:

Molecular-memory.

SARAH:

Whatever...they become the

hotshot computer guys so they

get the job to build El Computer

Grande...Skynet...for the

government. Right?

REESE:

(uneasy)

That's the way it was told

to me.

Sarah's fear has been replaced by excitement.

SARAH:

Well, we're gonna uninvent the

bastard. Eighty-six it. We'll

blow up the place...burn it

down. Something.

REESE:

(very cold)

Tactically dangerous. We

lay low.

SARAH:

Reese. Think it through.

We can prevent the war.

Nobody else is gonna do it.

If we go to anybody official

we wind up back in jail and

then that walking cuisinart

has got us again. We have to

so it ourselves.

REESE:

That's not my mission.

SARAH:

(upset, mocking

his manner)

Listen. Understand. I'm

not a military objective,

Reese. I'm a person...

You don't own me.

Reese takes her arm and pulls her to her feet.

REESE:

Let's go. Time to move out.

SARAH:

F*** you! Let go of me!

She jerks her arm free. He reaches for her again but

she outdistances him, running.

REESE:

(warning tone)

Sarah!

She dashes down a footpath among the trees, clutching her

sign. Reese follows her into the woods.

CUT TO:

193 EXT. WOODS/CLEARING - DAY 193

Only a few yards from the picnic area, the woods take over

completely.

PANNING WITH SARAH

as she runs down the path.

Reese tackles her from behind and they fall together in

the long spring grass.

She struggles violently to get away.

SARAH:

Let...go...bastard...

She gets one arm free and whacks him hard in the face.

Reese reacts instinctively, leaping back in a defensive

crouch. Sarah freezes when she sees the .357 in his

hand.

SARAH:

(continuing,

scared, but

angry)

Oh, that's real smart.

Go on, shoot me. That's

brilliant.

Reese is trembling as he lowers the gun.

Sarah too is shaking with emotion. Tears roll down her

cheeks and her voice cracks.

SARAH:

(continuing)

Jesus Christ, Reese. Can't

you see I'm scared?

He straightens up and his arms go limp at his sides.

He turns away.

SARAH:

(continuing)

I can't spend my life waiting

for that thing to catch up

with me...always looking over

my shoulder, wondering if I

left some tiny clue behind...

Reese doesn't respond.

The gun slips from his fingers.

His will seems to drain from him and he sags to his knees.

The moment stretches.

There is only the sunlight moving in shafts through the

leaves, the sound of a small stream nearby, birds chirping.

SARAH:

Reese?

She crawls over to him.

C.U. - REESE

in profile, with Sarah in B.G.

His eyes are closed.

A tear meanders down his cheek.

SARAH:

(continuing,

quietly)

Kyle?

REESE:

(a whisper)

I'm wrong here. I wasn't

meant to see this...

He gestures at their surroundings.

REESE:

(continuing)

It's...like some dream.

This...this...

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James Cameron

James Francis Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, inventor, engineer, philanthropist, and deep-sea explorer. He first found major success with the science fiction action film The Terminator. more…

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Submitted by aviv on February 06, 2017

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