Terminator Could Have Been Even Better Without This Key Scene Being Cut for Bizarre Reasons

Terminator producer Gale Ann Hurd explains why a certain scene was cut from the movie, which could only add value to James Cameron's work.

science fiction
Mateusz Libera31 August 2023
Source: The Terminator, James Cameron, Hemdale, Pacific Western Productions, 1984
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Gale Ann Hurd, a producer who worked on the first The Terminator, explained why a certain important scene was cut from the movie. It is about the part showing the recovery of T-800's chip, which was consequently supposed to set in motion the chain of events leading to the war between humans and machines.

Almost forty years after the release of the first movie, the producer revealed why the decision was made to remove the scene that would have perfectly closed an already almost perfect movie. As Hurd revealed on Twitter, the excerpt was cut because of questionable acting. The cast members appearing in the scene were in fact not professional actors, but investors that she and Cameron had to include in the movie.

"They insisted that the movie's investors appear in the scene, not real actors, which totally ruined the scene. [...] The financiers were promised a return on their invested capital and still didn't get it at the time. [...] The movie cost $6.4 million, which at the time seemed like a huge amount to us!,"Hurd wrote.

Below is the deleted scene in question:

Recall that the plot of The Terminator centers around the character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Terminator T-800, who is sent into the past to assassinate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother of the man who will be humanity's savior in the coming war against the machines. The plan fails, however, as the woman ultimately defeats the cyborg.

Finding the chip shown in the above scene leads to the discovery of the same technology that will allow for cyborgs to be created in the first place. Of course, the cutting of this scene does not harm the movie. The standard ending is still satisfying, but when we look at it more broadly, we may feel some disappointment due to the fact that the show did not contain the twist foreshadowing the upcoming events.

RELATED TOPICS: science fiction trivia James Cameron The Terminator

Mateusz Libera

Mateusz Libera

He began his writing adventure by creating stories, later he followed the humanities path, choosing studies in journalism and social communication. He published his first texts on his personal blog and for contests. At the beginning of 2023, he joined the film department of GRYOnline.pl, where he started working as an author of articles about movies. He is interested in fantasy, history, RPG games, and strategies. He is also a long-time player of League of Legends - he has been playing since the second season. Additionally, he writes adventure and fantasy books, but in this field he is still a novice. Currently, he has published one collection of stories.

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