All language subtitles for Icons.Unearthed.S14E02.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-Kitsune_track3_[eng]

After touching
down in Tinseltown,

Arnold Schwarzenegger
wanted what everyone wanted.

I really want to get big.

Schwarzenegger
sunk his teeth

into the big screen,

going from humble
bodybuilder to barbarian.

He started to be
taken seriously.

"Conan the Barbarian"
really launched his career.

Reaching the
top of the box office...

The film was like
massively successful.

...Arnold's next project

would surely set
Hollywood on fire.

And Universal's like,

"Man, we should make this
a family movie."

Arnold, I think,
was very disappointed.

I do not like this film.

He thought that it
was kind of a step down.

But Schwarzenegger
refused to step down,

instead becoming--

Sarah Connor?

No,
that's not right.

"I want to play
the Terminator."

Yes, that's it.

The ultimate robotic villain.

In a low-budget film noir.

You're trying to do a $20
million film for $6 million?

With an
untested director.

I said, "You're gonna
become Jim Cameron.

But right now, you're not."

"Terminator," the
story of a chaotic production...

We had a lot of fights.
We had a lot of, hmm.

...that
nearly blew up.

There was cocaine
around the set.

One of our set dressers
got blood poisoning.

Head-on with a semi
doing 60 miles an hour.

That was a
dangerous movie to do.

As co-stars
battled their demons.

Linda, she would hang on me
and just cry and cry and say,

"Jim likes the machines more
than he likes the actors."

Was
Arnold Schwarzenegger

making the biggest mistake
of his movie career?

Some robot story?

I think the word he said,

"This sounds shitty."

But yeah, I know it
doesn't make any sense.

Arthur looks at the
film and he says to me,

-"This is terrible."
- Wrong.

Arnold
Schwarzenegger's Conan character

made him a household name.

Schwarzenegger.

- Schwarzenegger.
- Schwarzenegger.

But the actor knew

constantly reinventing himself

would ensure career longevity.

Do you wanna live forever?

And one
role in an action picture

set on the gritty
streets of Los Angeles

co-starring Linda Hamilton.

Oh, not that picture.

This action picture set on the
gritty streets of Los Angeles

co-starring Linda Hamilton

was about to do just that.

But what would make a fate

of these two mid '80s Linda
Hamilton releases different?

A larger than life
Hollywood star on the rise,

and a filmmaker whose
legend had yet to unfold.

The director who would
make Arnold magic happen

was born in a remote
part of Ontario, Canada,

but long before he
met Schwarzenegger,

James Cameron would
move to California,

where he met another
significant figure in his life.

Friend and writing
collaborator Bill Wisher.

His girlfriend at the time,

she was just a friend of mine,

she said, "You should
meet my boyfriend."

I was 17, I think
he'd just turned 18.

We were writing a lot of stuff
that will never get made.

But you can see in some
of these early projects,

he's a very fine artist.

The
pair were inspired

by "2001: A Space
Odyssey" and "Star Wars."

Thank the maker.

They set about
making their own sci-fi

that was as weird as the
choice of financiers.

A conglomerate of
dentists of all people.

We got 40 grand out of them.

To make their
crowning achievement.

A short film
called "Xenogenesis,"

which you can find online.

Yeah, it's right
in front of me.

And there were
forced-perspective backgrounds.

I was cutting them
with box cutters.

I'm the idiot running around

that this thing
is trying to kill.

Soon enough,

a young Alec Gillis
would get pulled

into the Xenogenesis orbit.

The first time I met
Jim Cameron, he said,

"Hey, why don't you come
out to a movie theater?"

I watched "Xenogenesis"

and it was so spectacular
I left depressed.

Both excited and depressed.

Do I have to do all--
Like what?

I saw the models.

Jim's creativity
was setting a high bar,

but Alec would have
to get over it.

At the time, he was creating
special effects too.

I had been making monsters

in my mom's two-car
garage in Santa Ana.

My sister knew someone
who was working

on a movie called
"Battle Beyond the Stars"

for Roger Corman.

They saw my mom's
garage and they said,

"Why don't you come in
for an interview?"

And I was very insecure

'cause my portfolio was
not professional at all.

But Jim's was.

The pair had become friends,

and Alec was now
a friend in need.

And I thought, "Oh,

maybe if I bring Jim along,

it'll make me look good."

So what do you think of him?

It
did and it didn't.

Taking six months for
these two young rascals

to get in the door.

Why did it take so
long to get hired?

Well, to quote James
Cameron himself who said

to me a few years later,

"Hey, I just found out why it
took them so long to hire us.

They thought I was an asshole."

Jim and Alec's
new boss Roger Corman

was a prolific producer of low
budget '50s and '60s films,

some of which became
cult classics.

He had the
reputation to giving

all these young
artists a chance.

But this
crafty movie legend

had an ulterior motive.

I'll see you in hell first.

We couldn't afford
the big-time directors

and the veteran directors
who were pretty good,

I thought there are younger
guys who are better.

When Corman's film,

"Battle Beyond the Stars"
went into production,

he and the visual effects
director gave Cameron

his first real
production design break.

Chuck Comisky kind of
offered up a little like,

"Hey, anybody got any
ideas for the ship?"

I did something,

you know, this is kinda cool.

Organic little, you know...

And then Cameron plunked
his down on top of mine

and we all were like,

"Oh, well, that's it
right there."

Not even a pale imitation.

You know, I thought I
did pretty well back there.

I mean, it was a spaceship
that actually had boobs.

Who can say no to that?

Before Jim knew it,

Roger's bright young
assistant, Gale Anne Hurd,

was recommending him for
something even bigger.

Directing second unit.

On 1981's--

"Galaxy of Terror."

What are the odds of
us getting outta here?

And
while Jim and Alec

were carpooling to
work on the production...

A lot of late nights,

a lot of very tired driving.

...Jim pulled
over and told Alec

about a recurring nightmare
that would change everything.

He said, "I saw a car on fire

and a metal skeleton
got up out of the car,"

and that was the dream.

Just that image,

which was a central kind
of thought in his mind.

And then I think he
started thinking,

"Well, how do I build
a story around that?"

But
apocalyptic robots

would have to take a back seat

when Roger Corman asked Jim
to work on special effects

for a movie about
apocalyptic fish.

Keep your hand
out of the water.

What's wrong with the water?

Nasty films
about nasty fish were in vogue,

and New World Pictures
landed a whopper.

"Piranha 1" was
amazingly successful.

So of course, you're
gonna make another.

Entitled "Piranha 2,"

but when the director was fired,

an eager Cameron
got his big break

to flex those big brain muscles.

Special effects,

the physical stuff
and the art direction

'cause he'd been
an art director.

So he sort of covered all bases.

Except
for one minor detail.

Jim didn't know how to direct.

The idea of framing
something perfectly,

shooting it gorgeously is
not the way "Piranha" worked.

It's like fast cut, fast action,

very dark, hardly see anything.

And you know, he
was given nothing.

He did it in Italy

because there was
an Italian producer

that gave Roger a lot of money.

And Roger just
turned it over to Jim

and sent him far away.

While Jim really
sunk his teeth into it--

He got fired from "Piranha 2."

He only worked 12 days on it.

I saw a
poster. "Piranha 2"?

And I'm like, "Wow,
he's directed a movie.

This is fantastic."

Well, for 12 days,

but then Cameron really
began raising eyebrows.

I remember
somebody saying like,

"Where's Jim?

We need him to
answer questions."

And then somebody
else was going,

"And where's Gale?

I've got some questions for..."

And people went, "Oh."

Gale Anne
Hurd, very strong.

She's very smart.

She came up through
Corman. And of course,

her and Jim, producer team,

they made a very
formidable couple.

He and Gale started
collaborating on movie ideas.

And one idea,

or rather nightmare,

"The Terminator" would need
Jim's old writing partner

Bill's special touch before
he could take it to Gale.

Jim was joking with me.

He says, "Well, you've
got a young girlfriend.

You probably know how
these people talk.

You write all the early
scenes with Sarah."

He gave me sections
of the treatment

to turn into a script.

Better than
mortal man deserves.

And that was my job.

And that's my story
and I'm sticking to it.

Gale Anne Hurd
would produce,

and Jim Cameron would direct
with one tantalizing sweetener.

He was in love with her

and sold her half the
rights for a dollar.

And I remember just thinking,

"Is that entirely wise,

do you think?"

A script
for "Terminator" had been

developed by Jim Cameron,

Bill Wisher and Gale Anne Hurd.

They were a power couple
and it was really cool to see.

Jim and
Gale were also romancing.

I came across
time for you, Sarah.

- What they needed now...
- I love you.

- ...was financing.
- Is this enough?

Jim didn't have any of his
own money to put into it.

The
movie that could make

or break everyone's
career needed ignition.

And the key was Barbara Boyle
from Orion Pictures.

Gale calls me up and says,

"Jim and I have a project.

Can't be with Corman.

It's much too expensive."

And they come in and
tell me this story.

And Jim, as you probably know,

is a brilliant writer.

I said, "I love it,
I love it, I love it."

This needed to
go upstairs to the office

and pocketbook of Mike Medavoy.

He said, "Well,
let me meet them.

You know, I don't know them,
but of course,

I respect you."

I said, "I'm not even
gonna tell you the credits

and even if I tell
you the credits,

I don't want you
to see Jim's film."

That
would be the one

Jim was fired from
after 12 days.

How could Barbara
get Medavoy to bite?

Gale did all the talking.

She told him the story.

And what Jim did was
storyboard everything.

His production design,

camera angles and movement

and Medavoy said, "Okay,

I'll read the script.
Thank you so much."

And they left.

Everybody
expected Mike to think--

This is insane,
this is so cool.

It was the crisp writing.

- But--
- Mike comes back to me

and says, "Absolutely no."

No, no, no.

But David Hemmings

and John Daly,
AKA Hemdale Films,

might be interested.

Come with me if
you wanna live.

Gale Anne Hurd
got in their door

by pretending to be interested

in buying Hemdale's head
of production's desk.

Actor Lance Henricksen turned up

for the resulting pitch meeting
in full Terminator costume.

There is artwork to show it.

There is Lance as
the Terminator.

I think they were using it
for pitch opportunities.

Hemmings
and Daly were sold

for the bargain price of--

$6.4 million.

It was just in the
range of the money

that they had that
they wanted to spend.

They were scared of Jim,

I will say that right
from the beginning,

'cause they were.

This was his debut
and I love him dearly,

but he is tough to work with

'cause he's so organized
in his own mind.

That he was very
self-confident.

He was like 25 years old

and ready to take on the world.

He gave them pause,

but it all worked
out in the end.

Then I went back to
Medavoy and I said,

"They've got the
whole thing financed

and I wanna distribute it."

He said, "You better
talk to Arthur."

That
would be Arthur Krim,

chair of Orion Pictures

who didn't like
the script at all.

I said, "Okay, okay,

but there's absolutely no
commitment to even spend a dime,

but I'm telling you I
wanna do this movie."

He said, "Okay,

if it's nothing but
distribution rights,

we'll release it in
a very limited way."

So who would
play the Terminator?

Lance Henricksen really
wanted to be the Terminator.

He came from "Piranha 2."

Jim really felt like Lance
saved his bacon on that movie

and wanted Lance to
play the Terminator.

But Hemdale
shut down that idea.

The studio didn't
think Lance had a name.

So they started
searching around.

One name was
suggested but terminated.

This was before
OJ got into trouble,

but he was another
one that was flirting

with the film industry

after his very
brilliant sports career.

And Arnold was like this.

Various actors were
in the mix and Hemdale,

they wanted Arnold
to play the part

that Michael Biehn ended
up with, Kyle Reese,

and Jim hated that idea.

I was around when Arnold
first heard of "The Terminator"

before he read the
script or he met Cameron,

which he was reluctant to do

'cause it was a low budget film.

"Why do I want to go
down when I could go up?

And this is what?

Some robot story, it
just sounds like--"

I think the word he said,

"It just sounds shitty."

Jim's like,
"I have to go have lunch

with Arnold Schwarzenegger today

and pick a fight with him.

'Cause I can't say no.

So I have to make him hate me.

So he'll say no."

And that was the politics of it.

And I said, "Good luck."

Over the wine list,

Arnold looked Jim
square in the eye

and in a heavy
Austrian accent said--

"I don't wanna
play Kyle Reese.

I wanna play the Terminator."

And Jim starts thinking
real quick and he's like,

"Well, that doesn't
make any sense at all."

The idea was a
slight-build guy,

nondescript, who
could infiltrate.

He's supposed to be
an infiltration unit

and here's this 6'2" Austrian

with a thick accent.

He goes, "Well yeah,

I know it doesn't
make any sense,

but he's such a strong presence.

That's gonna work."

So Jim said, "Done."

They came away from that
lunch loving each other.

I love you too sweetheart.

And if you read the script,

there's very little dialogue
that the Terminator says.

The script may
have been simple to implement,

but the special effects were
going to stretch the budget

to the breaking point.

This is a low budget film.

I mean $6 million.
2 million for cast,

2 million for shooting,

2 million for post.

So really, really tight.

That
2 million for post

had to do a lot of work.

So when it came to
special effects,

Cameron would turn to
make up guru Dick Smith.

I don't know if
Dick really understood

what "The Terminator"
was all about.

Thus, he recommended
Stan Winston

because of "Heartbeeps."

We would be
mechanically compatible

for many similar functions.

Different
kinds of robots.

Of course, whimsical
robot makeups.

But that was the
cool thing about Stan

is that he had done
his own animatronics

for facial expressions.

Gorilla.

But like a chrome
full-body rod puppet

and servo-driven skeleton dude

Dude, you know,

nobody had done that.

Joining
an ever-growing list
of true believers,

Stan began assembling his team.

Stan never said that it was

for a film called
"The Terminator."

He just said that it was
a little robot movie.

Jim came in,

I recognized him from
Roger Corman's studios.

He did come in with
concept drawings

of the Terminator endoskeleton

and they were magnificent.

A lot of people
were now hitching their wagons

to Jim and Gale's big idea.

You're trying to do
a $20 million film,

which was a big budget film
back then for $6 million.

You have all of this action,

which takes time.

Things can go wrong.

You have stunts,
people can get hurt.

And you're trying to squeeze
10 pounds of you know what

in a five pound bucket.

And all of this
with the specter of unions

hanging over them
like a guillotine.

Suddenly you're gonna
add another million dollars

or so to the budget.

I did not wanna be union.

Hemdale's
David Hemmings and John Daly

coughed up 6.4 million for
Schwarzenegger's "Terminator."

But the movie's budget really
needed an arm and a leg.

Yeah, Hemdale,

they weren't the most
fun people to deal with.

Up-and-comer
Donna Smith

is expected to oversee
production with an iron fist

to make it work no matter what.

They needed to control,

they had that word a lot,

that we need to control
this movie."

Don't move unless I say,

don't make a sound
unless I say.

Donna's
job was simple.

Make sure Hemdale's
$6 million investment

and her relationship with
the director didn't blow up.

Jim always calls me Smith.

He never calls me Donna.

"Smith, you gotta do
this movie with me."

Gale was the producer.

So we started at her house
up on Mulholland Drive.

That's where just the three
of us started chatting

about everything we have to do

'cause we had a
lot of work to do.

Such as how
to stretch the budget.

Could Jim's home country
come to the rescue?

It was 76 cents on the
dollar in Canada at the time.

But
the exchange rate

and the opportunity to run
the shoot without unions

could not make up for
Canada's harsh winter weather.

Canada just kind of
piddled away very early on.

We decided to do it in LA.

Where
the intimidating
presence of the unions

could completely shut down
this low budget movie.

Suddenly you're gonna
add another million dollars

or so to the budget.

We couldn't do this
movie with the unions.

And budget
was an early flashpoint

between Jim and Donna.

We were never gonna
get any more money.

I told Jim and we
had a lot of fights.

We had a lot of, hmm.

Cameron
solved the non-union idea

by channeling Roger Corman,

who knew the value
of hiring a crew

wanting to earn their stripes,
not just money.

I kinda live for that.
When things are going
really crazy,

I look around and go,
Alright now we're having fun.

Let's see what these
people are made of."

Everybody was in
it for the long haul.

The search
for a reasonably priced

leading lady was on.

Sarah Connor?

And
co-writer Bill Wisher

got back in the frame to help.

Jim had me read for different
women who would be Sarah.

Among potentials
were Jody Foster,

Gina Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer,

and even Madonna.

Well, maybe I could help you.

Jennifer Jason Leigh was one.

That'd be great.

But
one relative unknown

certainly left her calling card.

There was
something about Linda.

She just, I don't know, fit it.

Some legend, huh?

Shortly after,

the legend of Michael Biehn
would begin.

And Michael Biehn showed up.

He had a
walk-on in "Grease,"

stalked Lauren
Bacall in "The Fan,"

and a supporting role in
"Lords of Discipline."

You gotta be careful.

- But on the day of his read...
- For Kyle Reese.

...Biehn saw Bill
with Sarah Connor hopefuls

and saw red.

He says, "I took one
look at you and I thought,

that guy looks like Kyle Reese.

I don't think I'm
happy about that."

Jim explained, "No, no, no.

Just helping me read the women."

And Michael was like,
"Okay, good."

Michael Biehn
landed the role of Kyle Reese

and while Lance
Henrickson would miss out

on the Terminator,

he'd be happy to play
Detective Vukovich.

This is fucking great.

And of course,

Lance and James
Cameron ended up having

a long history working together.

- You did okay.
- I did.

Principal roles cast,

pre-production tasks like
makeup trials could begin.

Jeff Dawn was the
makeup artist on set

to apply the makeups on Arnold.

So I go in and I
interviewed with Stan Winston.

Stan Winston was
our makeup designer.

He said, "We're doing a test
on Arnold here at my studio."

He comes in, "Everybody,
you look fantastic."

It was incredible to
meet him at that time

because he was in
Conan physique.

We were gonna put a
little foam latex cover

that makes it look like
you don't have eyebrows.

Wait, what?

Why did the Terminator
lose his eyebrows?

Out in the alley,

he jumps on the car and
the fire singes his hair

and burns his eyebrows off.

Now we're getting
into some makeup look.

He sits in the chair,
all the stuff is laid out.

I didn't bring anything
I was gonna watch.

Nobody's touching him.

Well, who would?

Brave Jeff made his move.

I'm gonna jump in and do it.

Now yell if it hurts.

I think it
was a test with Stan

'cause I did it and he said,

"Hey, I kinda watched you
do that?

And that turned out
really good."

The pressure
immediately went up

when Linda decided she'd
take a break before filming.

Not that kind of break.

Linda had twisted her ankle
before we started the film

and one of the
first scenes we did

was riding the motorcycle.

'Cause she could do that easily.

And a few weeks later
she was strong enough

- to start running.
- Run.

After only a week,

production shifted
to long night shoots

and even longer weeks.

We started big, baby.

We started big.

It was a really big night.

We had the observatory for,

you know, just so long.

Where Jim
Cameron's colleague

from the Roger Corman days,

Bill Paxton, would
steal the scene.

Jim was like, "Yeah,
just punk him out."

I was like, "Okay."

So we spiked his hair and--

Hey, I think this guy's a
couple cans short of a six-pack.

So I just painted a
tire track across his face.

Jim loved it.

It wouldn't
be just the makeup

that made Paxton stand out.

Jim recognized his obvious
talent casting him later

in another
Schwarzenegger-Cameron project,

"True Lies."

Oh God, oh, please don't.

Don't, don't,
don't kill me.

Bill was punked up.

- Fuck you, asshole.
- But then Jeff looked down.

And Arnold arrives naked,
of course, he's the Terminator.

Well, Arnold Schwarzenegger
has a tan line.

Terminators don't
have tan lines.

So here I am in
the makeup trailer,

just Arnold and myself.
He's buck naked.

I'm on my knees painting
his ass and his hips

to match the rest of him.

"Hey Arnold, how's your family?"

You know?

Nice night for a walk, eh?

Arnold has no problems
walking around naked.

He's a very confident guy.

Like Jeff,
stunt coordinator Ken Fritz

would look the other way

when Arnold was in
his birthday suit.

All those unnecessary people
were cleared from the set.

There's a wall there,
and all the females...

Sit down, you're
going to love this.

They started giggling
when Arnold took his,

you know, robe off.

And it was a cool night.

Not a night to be naked.

Why
were the girls giggling?

Can we take the Fifth on that?

Whatever the weather,

Arnold certainly loved hanging
out with the crew that is.

Well, Arnold is playful.

Because we were
working nights, it was cold.

Freezing.

Girls are always
standing around,

when we're cold, we kind of--

We just do that.

And Arnold would come

and put his arms around
the back of you and say,

"Oh, here,
I will help warm you up."

This is why it's nice
to make films like this.

Arnold was very accessible.

He had a confidence

because he had
already accomplished
so much in his life.

Jim
on the other hand,

was just starting his
career as a director.

I always told him, I said,

"You're gonna
become Jim Cameron.

But right now you're not.

And we've got this much
money and this schedule

and we're sticking to it."

Donna was
talking like a boss

because she was Jim's boss.

As a studio representative
on location,

she began challenging Jim's

get the shot at
all cost approach.

And action.

We did a shot and he said,

"That was perfect,

let's do it again."

Do it a little faster too.

And so the crew is kind
of scrambling to just do it.

And I said, "Nah, Jim,

we have to have a talk.

We can go behind
the trucks and talk,

whichever way you want it.

And I said, "When you call
a shot that was perfect.

You cannot call,
'Let's do it again.'"

And I just said,
"Ladies and gentlemen,

that was perfect.
Move on."

Conversation terminated

and everything was roses.

- Or was it?
- He hated me.

I mean, that was not easy.

It was a very tough
time between us

'cause it happened
in front of the crew.

Donna decided on
a peace offering of clothes?

So the next day I
had a T-shirt made up

and on the front it said,
"That was perfect.

Let's do it again."

So I gave it to Jim
in front of the crew.

He held it up, he looked
at it and I thought,

"Oh, he's gonna
come give me a hug."

Your clothes.

He wadded it,

he threw it down.

I thought, "Oh, that didn't
go so well.

So, that kind of thing
happened with us a lot.

Despite tensions

between production
manager Donna Smith

and Director Jim Cameron,

"Terminator" would have to
be shot in just 10 weeks.

That was a big,
big thing with me

to bring it in
on budget and on time.

Novice
director Cameron decided

now was the time to
invent a whole new genre

of movie making.

And I said, "This is gonna be

a terrific science
fiction film."

And he said, "Barbara,

this is not science fiction.

I am creating my own genre.
It's a tech noir."

I'm at this place
called "Tech Noir."

And this
pivotal scene where Connor,

Reese and the
Terminator would engage

was the perfect opportunity

to put this exciting
new genre up in lights.

We had the Tech Noir
sign made.

I'd never had a neon sign
made for any movie before.

You know, it was going
to cost this much

and I thought it
would cost that much.

That's the kind of thing
that would hurt the budget.

To make
up any shortfall,

the production would rent
the worst space in town.

It was a rat infested old
restaurant that had closed down.

Props people did a
very impressive job

making it look like real.

It looked like a happening
place you'd like to go into.

A couple of 'em snuck in

and we got free
extras out of it.

If the
unions heard about that--

This scene would actually
go on to set the standard

for action editing and action
writing for years to come.

And it became the touchstone
for many filmmakers.

In that sequence,

we had a number of stunt
people around the actors.

And so when they're running out,

you know, to get away,

you have Sarah running and you
had just the regular extras

in and around the stunt
people and it was seamless.

You couldn't tell
the difference.

Because
even running was a stunt

on a set like this.

I had to worry
about metal tables

and they were sharp as razors.

Getting
into Tech Noir

was a lot easier than
getting out for Ken.

I remember going through
that window quite well.

What they did is they
squibbed the window

and then when you go to
the window as a stuntman,

it actually crushes
before you go out of it.

So the only thing you
have to worry about

is your hands getting
cut up and stuff.

I loved working at Tech Noir.

I've done dozens and
dozens of nightclub scenes

since then, including shoot-ups,

that was the one that
put it on the map for me.

I remember at the
end of the film,

James Cameron took
the Tech Noir sign

and gave it to Gale
Anne Hurd as a gift.

I hope she has that in her
office someplace still.

Before long
Arnold Schwarzenegger

would come face-to-face
with the actor

whose screen debut gave rise to

the very character
he was playing now.

Jim says, "Why
don't you play the cop

that Arnold steals
the police car from?"

So I said, "Sure."

Just like "Xenogenesis,"

Bill was walking into yet

another risky confrontation
with a killer robot.

He was supposed to
smash my head into the car

and then fling me sort
of over his shoulder.

And you go
like this here.

- I like that.
- And I landed

and just skidded
across the asphalt.

Oh god.

I got a round of applause
from the stunt team.

And I thought, "God, I hope
they got that on camera."

No.

Smash, out of frame.

Shooting would
also continue at breakneck pace,

but not always with cameras.

You could hear
other gunshots going

and people getting shot

and all this stuff
going on all around.

'Cause in those days,

downtown wasn't gentrified.

It wasn't
just the shooting guns,

it was the shooting up.

Needles, all of that.

Nasty, smelly,

urine, feces.

Rats and garbage
and condoms and--

It was actually where all
the homeless people lived.

They loved that we
had this table of food.

Well, they didn't
know what it was,

but they would come and
just take everything.

But Tech Noir
guerrilla filmmaking

isn't possible on
an empty stomach.

So Donna marched up
to the de facto leader

of the unhoused, Fats.

And I said, "Can I hire you?

I wanna hire you

to take care of this
table from now on?

I want these other people
to have some food also.

But you get to regulate it
and you'll get a salary."

And he went, "Yeah,
I'll do that."

So Jim, once he met Fats,
he just loved Fats.

So now he says,

"You're gonna be
the truck driver."

So here Fats is now in the truck

opening the whole bloody movie.

What the hell?

And that's where he came from.

Just one of the street people

hired to watch the
craft service table.

He was a real character.

What the hell?

Chino 'Fats' Williams wouldn't
be the only walk-on actor.

Hemdale's completion bond rep.

would be roped into
play a desk sergeant.

Unfortunately
he had a different
personality of, you know,

kind of militant and "I'm
here to straighten things out

and smack you all around."

And
then Arnold said--

I'll be back.

And then the
rep was dispatched

with the same cold efficiency.

That's part of our culture.

Everybody knows that line.

Everybody does.

But it was almost not that line.

Arnold wanted to say,

"I will be back."

And James Cameron said,
"No, it's, 'I'll be back.'"

And James Cameron had to say,

"Writer, actor,

read line."

James
was in control,

but pushing the crew and
the actors to the limit

to achieve his vision.

What he put Linda through,

there was a love-hate
relationship.

She would hang on me

and just cry and
cry and cry and say,

"He likes the machines more
than he likes the actors."

That's just the truth.

I mean she was
very, very exhausted

and Jim would be,

"We gotta do it some more.

You know, Linda, give me this,

give me that."

And she was all blood,
sweat and tears.

I mean, 18 hour days
for us was normal on that.

I'd probably get home
around 8:00 or 9:00,

sleep for three hours
and get up and go.

That was it.
Like three hours.

The crew were
clearly at breaking point,

the perfect time for
the union to step in.

As in all films in LA,

the union is there watching you.

It's pretty hard to hide
an independent production

for eight weeks shooting in LA.

We were all non-union.

They came to the set,

said we're here
to shut this down.

And it was very gnarly.

And I said, "You
can talk to the crew

and try to unionize them.
You've got five minutes."

And they said, "No, we'll take
as long as we need, sis."

In early
1984, filming "Terminator"

on the mean streets
of LA was dirty...

One of our set dressers
got blood poisoning.

...drug fueled...

It was actually where all
the homeless people lived.

- ...and dangerous.
- Arnold shot me.

Plenty of
ammunition for unions

to convince the production
it was time to sign up.

So the crew had gathered

and the union guys gave
their speech about,

"You really should be union

and this is why,"
and everything.

Unionizing
the crew meant

there wouldn't be enough
money to finish the film.

James stood up and said,
"Look it, guys,

this has been my baby.

This has been something I've
worked hard for for years.

If we go union,

we will have to shut down

because we don't
have the budget."

James said, "I'm
asking everybody,

let's just get through this.

Let's do this non-union
like we're doing.

Finish it with
this wonderful crew

and be proud of this movie."

So the
crew needed to decide

between the union or the movie.

They couldn't have both.

We all got in
the union later on.

But I'm glad to this day
that I followed my heart

and we all did in that
room and stayed non-union.

Dwindling
amounts of time and money

would be harnessed
to drive innovation.

One of the many
obstacles to overcome

had to take place in
just a few frames.

Well, I tried to put my fist,

I almost broke my hand.

It didn't work.

Jim Cameron came
up with a device.

We put an air ram
up Arnold's sleeve.

So when Arnold, he just
had to go like this

and this air ram would put the
hole through the windshield.

The background had to be moving.

So we put a block
wall inside of a semi

and had the semi go really
slow in the background.

From that point on,

I started making him
look more and more pale

because terminators lose
their source of blood.

I had K-Y jelly on him

and I would keep him shiny

'cause it needed
to look like plastic.

Necessity continued

to be the lube of invention

as good looking Arnold...

Beautiful Austrian,
Conan, God.

I hope you're watching, Arnold.

...would
need to become

hideously disfigured Arnold.

There's a
transformation. Stage one,

we were in an era
of pre-digital--

You know, makeups can
only really be built up,

I don't know if-- built out.

But you can't dig
negative space in.

You can't see past the
flesh into the bones.

See the teeth, see the tongue.

The idea Stan and
Jim came up with

was to make replicas of Arnold

that did have negative space.

Matching makeups to semi-
animatronic simple heads.

Makeup
and prosthetics

would take hours to put on.

So when the caterers
had gone home,

how would Arnold refuel
his negative space?

Nine o'clock at night,

Arnold's in his full
torn apart makeup.

Let's get outta here.

So we took Arnold into
a Hungry Tiger to say hi.

And we walk in and
people start looking

and there's a payphone
and a woman is on it

as we walk by and
the woman says--

There's somebody after me.

Well, what
she actually said was--

"You'll never believe
what just walked in.

A punk band just came in here."

"Hello, everybody.

I hope you're having
a fantastic time."

You know, everybody's like...

with their spaghetti
halfway up to here.

He's walking along and
the woman's right here

on the phone still and he
stops and he turns to her

and he takes the
phone from her hand,

leans over and kisses
her on the cheek

and then hands her
back the phone,

turns back and walks out.

She'll never
forget that.

Back on the set
nobody would forget this.

One of the
screw-ups in "Terminator,"

nobody notices it.

Actually,
I was referring

to the truck explosion
that almost incinerated

the whole crew.

We needed the scene
where Kyle Reese

jumps into the garbage can.

We shot that at Piper Tech,

which was where the police land

and take off their helicopters.

We had to do this giant
explosion off camera

that then rains down
on this garbage can.

There was a request
from the police, "Please,

please, keep your
explosives two stories tall.

No more."

Of course, it was like a four
or five story ball of flame.

They have these
giant pots, like this--

that you fill with peat moss,

you fill with cork,
you fill with balsa wood

and you use rubber cement.

It's like napalm, rubber cement.

You can imagine as it's burning,

it's sticky stuff.

So this whole glob of goo
goes flying into the air.

Rob Roda standing
right in front of me.

And I caught fire,

just lost some hair.

Oh, that's something
to be proud of.

That was a
dangerous movie to do.

Now these are people that
are experts at doing things

that can kill you,

but learning how not
to die doing them.

Drive faster.

Such as not
getting hit in the face

with a speeding truck.

The special tech guys were
throwing pipe bombs at me.

One of 'em went off right next
to my front motorcycle tire

and the whole bike
went like that.

And I, whoop,

got outta his way.

I think I missed
him by five feet.

Otherwise I would've done
a head-on with a semi

doing 60 miles an hour.

And you see the motorcycle
in the movie go like this--

That's all true.

That's not fake.

Luckily,
Ken wasn't terminated.

But Schwarzenegger's
flesh and blood roll was,

meaning life for Stan
Winston's effects team

was about to experience
a birth of fire.

- No!
- The endoskeleton was going

to have a lot more
stop motion animation

and it was Stan who convinced
Jim that he could do

as much full size live
action endo as possible.

What Stan and his
group came up with

is these large portions
of the endoskeleton

that were extremely realistic.

And Stan had a full
6'2" endoskeleton

and various bits and pieces,

arms and legs and
hands that would work.

There's a half
body that I wore,

so it looks like it's walking

when you see it
from the waist up.

It was about 75 pounds.

It had a radio-controlled head

so that the guys could
follow around with the head

and the jaw and the
eyes as I was walking.

But the hard part was
hiding all of the rigging.

The only question
now for Cameron, Hurd,

Schwarzenegger, Hemdale,

and all the hopeful
cast and crew was,

would all their hard work

and invention pay off
at the box office?

In May of 1984,
principal photography

for "Terminator" had wrapped
on time and on budget.

Thanks largely to Gale Anne
Hurd's production chops.

They're very clever.
Coming from Corman--

Live fast, fight well.

And working
with 15, 18, 21 days.

It was amazing to have 42.

I mean, I had the right people

for this ambitious of a project.

Gale and Jim were
becoming a formidable team

due to both of them
being extremely hands-on.

She was very
present on the set.

She wasn't the type of producer

that sat back in
the main office,

off-site someplace.

She was there all night.

She was there during the day.

You know, she was
a problem solver.

It was time

for Arnold Schwarzenegger's
"Terminator"

to face the music and the
critics and the public.

The film is now finished.

New York wants to see it.

Arthur looks at the film

and I go back to look at
it with him.

After the film, he says to me,
"This is terrible."

"You're making my company into

a Roger Corman company

with trashy movies."

Good.

And I said,

"This is not a trashy movie.

This is going to
be reviewed well."

And the critics
and the public would agree.

The reviews
were out of this world.

Like wildfire.

It's the hit we were hoping for.

We did it, Kyle.

- We got it.
- It was the talk of the town.

This little action film
that everybody going,

"Did you see Terminator?"

I liked the whole movie

way better than "Piranha 2."

It was lightning in a bottle.

Barbara had
said as much way back

with her meeting with
Arthur Krim when she said--

We need this project and
it's gonna make some money.

He said, "Okay,

we'll release it
in a very limited way."

Released
in October of 1984,

Cameron and Schwarzenegger's
"The Terminator"

was a hit bringing in
$38 million domestically

in its first run.

It would go on to
gross over $78 million

at the global box office

on a budget of just 6.5 million.

A huge hit.

Number one box office

for one, two, three weeks.

Something like that.

I just believed
in Jim and Gale.

I just did.

And it was great for both
of them, that picture.

While the
story stands on its own

as a closed loop,

Terminator would become
a $1.4 billion franchise

paying forward huge
dividends for all the blood,

sweat and tears.

"Terminator 1"
launched so many careers.

Mine, James Cameron's,
Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I've
worked ever since.

I never stopped working.

Jim became Jim.

Gale became Gale.

Who
would team up again

on their very next project,

with a slightly less intense
Michael Biehn on board.

Yeah, I noticed.

Cameron's
pen would go on

to write "Rambo 2,"

which would make $200
million at the box office,

giving Stallone the edge
over his archrival Arnold.

But "Terminator" was
just the beginning.

A low-budget movie with
significant risk attached

had made Schwarzenegger

the superstar he'd
hope to become.

I think "Terminator" got
him beyond the strongman.

When Arnold dies,

they'll probably
put "The Terminator"

on the bottom of his headstone.

Because of all the
things he's ever done,

that's what he'll be
remembered for forever.

Having traded
swords for sawed-off shotguns,

could Schwarzenegger's
next film give him

the everyman role
he always wanted?

I'll be back, Bennett.

He said, "I like this picture,

I'm not a robot from the future,

a caveman from the past.

I'm wearing clothes
like a regular person.

I do this picture."

He was trying
to humanize Arnold.

Don't disturb my friend.
He's dead tired.

Remember, Sully,
when I promised

to kill you last?

The whole audience
said the line.

I lied.

- What'd you do with Sully?
- I let him go.