No one can deny that The Terminator is a bonafide classic. In truth, The Terminator does very little wrong and the version we saw in theaters is arguably perfect. However, one small but rather consequential scene was cut from the James Cameron movie, and Gale Anne Hurd, the producer, has explained why.
Regarded as one of the very best ’80s movies, The Terminator sparked a franchise which, for better or worse, has changed the face of moviemaking forever. While the first film in the series is a thrilling science fiction movie, its successor, T2, is one of the best action movies of all time. The less said about the movies that follow, the better. Trust us, watching the Terminator movies in order is a challenge, in more ways than one.
When it comes to the production of the original Terminator film, it seems there were some complications behind-the-scenes and studio interference led to a scene being deleted.
Gale Anne Hurd, who was one of the producers on the project, has been sharing some secrets from the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie on Twitter. Apparently, a deleted scene included financier friends of the studio, and it didn’t quite work out.
Hurd said: “The Terminator financier John Daly’s Hemdale Films had an output deal with Orion Pictures but hadn’t yet made a hit (that changed with our film and Platoon). They insisted we use financier friends not actors in this scene, which ruined it for us.”
On why that happened, Hurd added: “I think [Daly] insisted they be in the film because the financiers were promised a return on their investment and had yet to receive one. Daly never believed the film would be a success.” Thankfully, Daly was very wrong about the robot movie‘s chances.
The scene in question is an Easter egg which feeds into the T2 storyline of Cyberdyne Systems developing Skynet by showing how the company acquired the CPU chip that would ultimately lead to the demise of mankind. Thanks for that, Cyberdyne!
If androids going back in time is the kind of niche sub-genre you like, you’ll love our list of the best time travel movies. Alternatively, find out why Arnold Schwarzenegger was branded as “sick” for a gruesome T2 pitch.