Lost in Translation 474 – Terminator Zero (2024)

Fall is the time of year when Hollywood studios bring out horror movies. All sorts of horror films compete in the run up to Hallowe’en. Horror fans can enjoy an entire month of horror treats. Most such films won’t be noticed by a more general audience, but sometimes there are breakthrough hits.

One such hit came in October 1984. James Cameron, directing his second, was inspired by a nightmare he had and worked with Gale Anne Hurd to create the story that would become The Terminator. The film was made for a low budget, US$6.4 million (about US$19.5 million today) and grossed US$78.3 million (about US$237 million today), launching Cameron’s directorial career. Both Cameron and Hurd worked for Roger Corman, the king of low budget movies, on Battle Beyond the Stars, so they both know how to make a movie on the budget they have.

The Terminator starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular killer robot, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese. The future depicted in the movie is bleak, with the artificial intelligence Skynet having turned on humanity and triggered a nuclear armageddon. The survivors are hunted down by robots known as Terminators, capable of blending in as a human. Dogs, however, can smell the difference, and are used by the Resistance to detect Terminators before they can kill too many survivors. To stop the Resistance, Skynet sends a Terminator back to 1984 to find and kill Sarah Connor. The Resistance finds out about Skynet’s plans and send Kyle Reese back to prevent Sarah from being killed.

The reason why Sarah is targeted by Skynet is because she will give birth to the leader of the Resistance, John Connor. John sent Reese back specificially; in a brief tryst, Kyle gets Sarah pregnant. The Terminator is incessant in its pursuit of Sarah, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake. Kyle is killed, but the Terminator is stopped before it can get to Sarah.

The movie exceeded studio expectations in terms of box office, so, naturally, a sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was made. Skynet still tried to prevent John Connor from leading the Resistance, this time targeting John directly. However, the twist is that the original model Terminator as played by Schwarzenegger was sent back to protect John, with Robert Patrick playing the killer T-1000, a liquid metal Terminator capable of changing form.

The Terminator franchise turns from a war between humanity and machines into a temporal war as both sides try to prevent the other from existing. By sending agents to the past, they change the past, not neessarily in ways that benefit either side. Time loops get created; if Skynet had not sent a Terminator back to kill Sarah Connor, John Connor would not exist.

In 2024, Netflix released Terminator Zero, an animated mini-series produced by Production I.G. and Sundance. The eight episodes show the lead up to Judgment Day from Japan’s point of view, with Malcolm Lee working on a competing AI for Skynet. His AI, Kokoro, questions whether humanity is worth saving. His three children, Kenta, Reiko, and Hiro, are under the care of Misaki, the Lees’ nanny and housekeeper.

In the future of 2022, a cell of the Resistance discovers that Skynet is going to send a Terminator back in time, the target being Malcolm Lee. Eiko is chosen to go back to 1997 to stop the Terminator. As an added twist, there is a brand of utility robot called 1NNO, used for light manual labour such as light cleaning. Reika wants a robotic cat as a toy, but Malcolm has forbidden it.

As the series progresses, several conflicts come out. Reika’s desire to go to the amusement park, Cat Town, where she spent time with her late mother. Eiko trying to stop the Terminator. The Terminator trying to get to Malcolm. Malcolm and Kokoro arguing the worth of humanity. There are scenes of violence and scenes of philosophy. Given that humantiy has far more years of conflict than of peace, is the species worth saving? Yet, the robots aren’t much better, with the Terminator leaving a trail of destruction and the 1NNOs, usurped by Kokoro, not much better.

Terminator Zero takes advantage of the format to tell its tale. Terminator was a science fiction horror, so its beats reflected that genre. Terminator 2 was a science fiction action movie, and followed the beats of that genre. Neither had the time available to explore the ramifications of the setting’s assumptions. Terminator Zero has a total runtime almost as long as the first two Terminator films combined. This gives the series time to explore themes that have appeared in the franchise but never had time to simmer.

Could the mini-series stand alone, without being associated with the Terminator franchise. Not really. Terminator Zero delves into the assumption of the franchise’s setting. The design of the Terminators is used to set the tone of the series. There is no mistaking that the the Terminators are the villain. Contrast with the 1NNOs, which have a pleasant appearance with hint of a smiling face. Yet, when the 1NNOs are damaged, they, too, start looking they came from a nightmare, the pleasant exterior removed to reveal the hard edge underneath. The war in the future between Skynet and the Resistance isn’t settled in the series, but Skynet does not score a win, even with an immediate goal successful.

Terminator Zero is a worthwhile entry in the Terminator franchise. The designs and background aren’t just a surface to work on, but a reason to delve into concepts that have been ignored in previous entries in the franchise. There’s a balance of action, horror, and philosophy that elevates the series, making it worth the time to watch.