Terminator: Why The T-800 Is A Better Villain Than Hero
Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 has mostly been a hero since his role reversal in Terminator 2, but the character was actually better as a villain. Whichever side of the moral fence the T-800 finds itself on, provided a machine can ever fully understand a decidedly human concept like morality, there's no doubt it's a truly iconic character in movie history. If there were an official movie character hall of fame, the T-800 is so beloved that it would probably make it in unanimously.
The T-800 is probably Schwarzenegger's best role ever, and that's not an easy feat, with the Austrian Oak playing very memorable characters in Predator, Twins, Total Recall, and lots of other hits. Still, the T-800 seems like the role Schwarzenegger was born to play, with him partially being cast due to his thoughts on how to properly play a machine, which highly impressed director James Cameron. Schwarzenegger felt the T-800's actor shouldn't just be pretending to be a machine, but instead almost become one, fully absorbing themselves into the character.
At this point, the T-800 has been used far more times as a hero than a villain. Schwarzenegger played that side of the machine very well, managing to make audiences feel real sympathy for a cyborg, and forging a believable father-son relationship with John Connor. However, the T-800's best outing is and will probably always be its first.
As entertaining as Arnold Schwarzenegger is as the reprogrammed, heroic T-800 found in several Terminator sequels, he's never been more effective than when playing the original evil version in 1984's The Terminator. At its heart, The Terminator is a slasher film with sci-fi elements, and the T-800 is just about the most intimidating slasher imaginable. As Kyle Reese puts it, it can't be bargained with, can't be reasoned with, and absolutely will not stop until it's killed its target. Before the T-800 was attempting to smile, Schwarzenegger was shooting terrifyingly emotionless looks at any Sarah Connor in its sights. The cold, calm nature of the T-800 makes it extremely creepy when put in the role of predator, no pun intended.
Due to it being arguably the better overall film - and even that's debatable, as The Terminator has its own legion of devotees - Schwarzenegger's friendly T-800 in Terminator 2 seems to have become the rendition that's most well-remembered. Unfortunately, it also led to the character being further watered down via lame humor in Terminator 3 and Terminator Genisys. It wasn't until Terminator Dark Fate that "Carl," even though he ends up heroic too, showed some flashes of the 1984 villain in the film's opening scenes. As a bad guy, the T-800 may be the ultimate threat, and it's sad it never got another full film as the antagonist.