The deleted scenes of The Terminator are somewhat legendary amongst Terminator Fans for the sheer fact that they contained a plot arc that would go on to become the hit blockbuster; Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s story.
Through deleted scenes the sub plot of The Terminator (1984) contained a Sarah Connor who wanted to alter the future by blowing up Cyberdyne Systems with the help of Kyle Reese. Even though Kyle’s primary mission was simply just to stick to his brief – to protect Sarah Connor, he agreed to help her, this was the start of the ‘No Fate’ concept that was heavily entwined with Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor character in T2.
The final payoff to this story arc was a deleted scene called ‘The Factory’ towards the end of the movie; a rising camera shot revealed that Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese were indeed inside Cyberdyne Systems (the computer factory) which they had failed to blow up (as planned in the earlier deleted scene) but they also left SkyNet artefacts/relics (most notably an Endoskeleton arm and a damaged CPU) that would go on to provide SkyNet research projects at Cyberdyne Systems for the second outing of the franchise.
James Cameron Explains ‘The Factory’ Deleted Scene Termination
Writer/Director James Cameron revealed his reasons for deleting the scene to Yahoo Entertainment (transcribed by TheTerminatorFans.com)
“I thought I really stuck the landing on that film, I don’t know about you. I’m really glad I didn’t put it in, and the reason I didn’t put it in was because the Executive Producer on the film, John Daly, had forced me to cast two actors that were pals of his, and so I thought: ‘alright, I’ll put them in the same scene, that way worst comes to worst comes to worse – I can always take the scene out,’ which of course these guys were terrible. John Daly, bless your soul buddy but they sucked.
James Cameron
So, the scene came out for reasons that were very specific to that first film but I’m so glad it did, because we got take that idea and blow it up to a much larger scale and take that whole Cyberdyne plot and open it up.”
Overall we agree with most deleted scene removals; though they explore more avenues of plot, and in some cases decent ideas, we are thankful for the removal of this story arc as it became the plot of T2: Judgment Day.
Rest in Peace John Daly
1 Comment
I definitely agree with deleting that whole thread, though not for the reasons Cameron mentioned. The obvious point is that it would’ve weakened Sarah’s arc in T2, and made the story less original.
The other problem has to do with the scene where Kyle has a breakdown. It makes perfect sense that, having lived a desperate life filled with nothing but pain, loss, fear, and trauma, seeing the “normal” world by contrast would trigger a whole new kind of trauma that Kyle wasn’t prepared to deal with, and I think Michael Biehn played the scene well. However, in it he pulled a gun and pointed it at Sarah’s face. To me that breaks the character and goes completely against everything about him. Sarah was his anchor, both in the present and in the future. She was also his mission, and if there’s one unshakable truth about Kyle Reese it’s that he’s a dedicated soldier to the core of his being. PTSD panic attack or not, he would never, under any circumstances, threaten Sarah like that. I’m very glad that the deleted scenes are available in the VHS/DVD/Blu-ray extras, but that but would’ve ruined the movie for me if it had been included.