The Terminator at 40: did James Cameron see into the future?
The 1984 sci-fi thriller offers a grim view of the dangers that ‘the machines’ might pose for humanity as well as one of the most thrilling experiences of the decade
For many of the great speculative science fiction classics, the future has not come to pass. The island of Manhattan was not converted into a maximum security prison by 1997. No manned space odysseys before or after 2001 have reached Jupiter. 2010 was not the year we made contact. The flying cars and bioengineered replicants of the dystopian Los Angeles of Blade Runner were not in place by 2019, and the hoverboards of 2024 do not actually hover, unlike the wheel-free skateboards of 2015 in Back to the Future Part II.
But what about the future of James Cameron’s The Terminator? No need to worry about “the machines” rising from the ashes of a nuclear fire or a decades-long war to exterminate mankind. We still have five years until Los Angeles 2029 AD is a post-apocalypse lorded over by AI and there’s certainly not a zero per cent chance that robot tanks will crush a grim landscape of human skulls while a pocket of survivors scurry from the laser fire of drones from above. The technology that helps plagiarize grad-school dissertations today could be the same technology that annihilates mankind tomorrow.
Continue reading...Date: |
-
Sports - Yahoo Sports
'DNP - Old': Lakers keeping it real with LeBron James as he nears 40
October 18 - NBA -
World - The Guardian
Taiwan and trade: how China sees its future with the US after the election
October 16 - China -
Sports - Yahoo Sports
Referee Tra Blake on facemask: We did not see it, so we couldn't call it
Yesterday -
Tech - Wired
40% Off Nectar Coupon Code for October 2024
4 days ago -
Top stories - BBC News
How did the Turkey aviation company attack unfold?
Yesterday - Turkey -
World - The New York Times
Why Did Israel Attack Iran?
7 hours ago - Israel -
Sports - CBS Sports
Cameron Rising injury: Utah QB to miss rest of 2024 season with additional eligibility to be determined
October 15 - NFL
More from The Guardian
-
World - The Guardian
Iranian soldiers killed in Israeli attack as Middle East edges closer to regional war – live
13 minutes ago - Israel -
World - The Guardian
Israel strikes military targets in Iran in reprisal attack
1 hour ago - Iran -
World - The Guardian
IDF strikes military sites in Iran: what we know so far
3 hours ago -
World - The Guardian
Iran should not respond to Israeli strikes, Starmer says
1 hour ago - Iran -
World - The Guardian
Democrats panicking for no reason, pollsters say – US race nail-bitingly close
15 minutes ago
Latest in World
-
World - The Guardian
Iranian soldiers killed in Israeli attack as Middle East edges closer to regional war – live
13 minutes ago - Israel -
World - The Guardian
Democrats panicking for no reason, pollsters say – US race nail-bitingly close
15 minutes ago -
World - The New York Times
Is Canada’s New Immigration Policy Really the End of an Era?
16 minutes ago -
World - The New York Times
Live Updates: Israel’s Retaliatory Attack on Iran Hits Military Bases
17 minutes ago - Iran -
World - ABC News
Middle East latest: Israeli airstrikes hit military sites in Iran
18 minutes ago - Israel