The Terminator Tapped for the Vaults
Wednesday December 31, 2008
Unless Skynet intervenes, the low-budget, high-adrenaline originator of the Terminator franchise, The Terminator (1984), is being added to the vaults of the Library of Congress as a permanent representative of the filmmaking art.
Two other sci-fi classics, The Invisible Man (1933) and the Ray Harryhausen masterpiece The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), were also selected alongside movies ranging from the famous to the obscure.
A quarter-century later, the Terminator brand is still thriving: a fifth Terminator film is already in the works, even as the fourth film, Terminator Salvation, races to complete postproduction in time for its May 22, 2009 release, hoping to capture the success of the amazing Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and the somewhat less amazing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).
Meanwhile the Fox TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles continues to garner attention in its second season (it will be paired with the high-buzz new series Dollhouse on Friday nights this spring).
Every year the LOC adds 25 films to its collection; last year two sci-fi classics were added, Back to the Future (1985) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). A total of 500 films have now been included in the Library's film registry.
The purpose is not only to recognize landmark films, said Librarian of Congress James Billington said in announcing his 2008 selections. As time passes, older nitrate- and acetate-based films begin to deteriorate. The Library of Congress is preserving endangered film and audio files and working on digitization as well; they've even built a new facility for the film registry project in a bunker near Culpeper, Virginia.
Billington's comments on The Terminator: "In 1984, few expected much from the upcoming film The Terminator. Director James Cameron, a protégé of legendary independent filmmaker Roger Corman, had made only two films previously: the modest sci-fi short Xenogenesis in 1978 and Piranha Part Two: The Spawning in 1981. However, The Terminator became one of the sleeper hits of 1984, blending an ingenious, thoughtful script -- clearly influenced by the works of sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison -- and relentless, non-stop action moved along by an outstanding synthesizer and early techno soundtrack. Most notable was Arnold Schwarzenegger's star-making performance as the mass-killing cyborg with a laconic sense of humor ("I'll be back"). Low-budget, but made with heart, verve, imagination, and superb Stan Winston special effects, The Terminator remains among the finest science-fiction films in many decades."
No arguments here: The Terminator is, simply put, one of the key sci-fi films of the 20th century.
Two other sci-fi classics, The Invisible Man (1933) and the Ray Harryhausen masterpiece The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), were also selected alongside movies ranging from the famous to the obscure.
A quarter-century later, the Terminator brand is still thriving: a fifth Terminator film is already in the works, even as the fourth film, Terminator Salvation, races to complete postproduction in time for its May 22, 2009 release, hoping to capture the success of the amazing Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and the somewhat less amazing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).
Meanwhile the Fox TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles continues to garner attention in its second season (it will be paired with the high-buzz new series Dollhouse on Friday nights this spring).
Every year the LOC adds 25 films to its collection; last year two sci-fi classics were added, Back to the Future (1985) and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). A total of 500 films have now been included in the Library's film registry.
The purpose is not only to recognize landmark films, said Librarian of Congress James Billington said in announcing his 2008 selections. As time passes, older nitrate- and acetate-based films begin to deteriorate. The Library of Congress is preserving endangered film and audio files and working on digitization as well; they've even built a new facility for the film registry project in a bunker near Culpeper, Virginia.
Billington's comments on The Terminator: "In 1984, few expected much from the upcoming film The Terminator. Director James Cameron, a protégé of legendary independent filmmaker Roger Corman, had made only two films previously: the modest sci-fi short Xenogenesis in 1978 and Piranha Part Two: The Spawning in 1981. However, The Terminator became one of the sleeper hits of 1984, blending an ingenious, thoughtful script -- clearly influenced by the works of sci-fi legend Harlan Ellison -- and relentless, non-stop action moved along by an outstanding synthesizer and early techno soundtrack. Most notable was Arnold Schwarzenegger's star-making performance as the mass-killing cyborg with a laconic sense of humor ("I'll be back"). Low-budget, but made with heart, verve, imagination, and superb Stan Winston special effects, The Terminator remains among the finest science-fiction films in many decades."
No arguments here: The Terminator is, simply put, one of the key sci-fi films of the 20th century.
- Go to the full Library of Congress 2008 list
- Video links for The Terminator
- Video links for Terminator 2
- Video links for Terminator 3
- Video links for Terminator Salvation
- Video links for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
- Watch Trailer for The Terminator
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