The Terminator (1984) - 15 questions

Question: How did the Terminator manage to find a hotel room already equipped with surgical tools and bandages? Doesn't seem like he set it up with supplies earlier since the first we see is him breaking in via the fire escape.

Answer: He isn't breaking in via the fire escape, hes just using it as a means of coming and going without being seen by the hotel staff, so at any point during the movie, he could have equipped himself with those tools. It is not necessary for a movie to show every intervening action onscreen.

Question: I've always wondered, what's the significance of the kid pointing a wooden gun and making 'pew pew' noises at Reese when he enters the human hideout? Is it meant to be purely a bit of comical play between the two, or a subtle inference that mankind will never be able to abolish its inherent desire to destroy itself, even in the face of total extinction?

Answer: Its simply a child being a child and playing, but more than anything, showing the innocence of the children that inspite of the near death of the human race all around them, there's still time to play and be... human.

Question: If Skynet is so worried about its Terminators "doing too much thinking" then why not remove from them the 'read-and-write' learning capabilities and simply set them to 'read-only' at all times?

Answer: Because the gathering of new information is still a key part to what they do. There has to be a write setting, even a restricted one, in order for the Terminators to assimilate new information that can assist them in their missions - possible target locations, voiceprints, even new mission parameters could not be uploaded without the ability to write to their CPU. Skynet can (and does) set restrictions on the Terminators' learning abilities, but, without those abilities, their effectiveness would be compromised.

Question: Is it usual for gun store clerks to leave ammunition and bullets on the counter where anyone can pick them up and load them into a gun?

Answer: No, it's not, but not every gun shop owner is reputable or responsible.

Question: Exactly why did The Terminator raid the police station and kill all those cops? Wouldn't it have been more prudent to wait until Sarah was released, make sure she was unprotected and then kill her?

Answer: From his point of view, she was already unprotected. At least, unprotected enough for him to make an attempt on her life. The police can't stop him and concerns for his own safety do not enter his calculations. But he was programmed with one goal in mind: Kill Sarah Connor. When he sees an opportunity to do so, he takes it. He knew where she was. To wait would be to risk losing that information.

Question: At the beginning, why did the cops chase after Reese, what was their reason?

Answer: He'd just mugged somebody in the alley for their trousers.

Question: Towards the end of the film, why does Reese switch on all those machines? He says something about "cover, so it can't track us." What does he mean by this?

Answer: It creates more heat, more noise and more motion in the area. It makes it harder to pick out two people running around, either by sight (machines blocking view), heat sensors (from the heat of the machinery) or listening out (the machines are loud).

Question: Why did/does Skynet launch a nuclear attack against humanity? What were its reasons? I'm just a bit confused because in both movies they give conflicted answers.

Answer: It was a defensive move, basically. As Skynet developed and increased in complexity, it ultimately achieved sentience and became self-aware. The humans tried to pull the plug, effectively trying to kill the new intelligence and Skynet fought back, utilising the nuclear arsenal to attempt to eradicate those who would shut it down.

Question: When Kyle and Sarah change places in the pickup truck, if you play it in slow motion you can see Kyle's face transitioning to that of a stuntman. How did they manage to do that back in 1984? And more importantly, since they were driving straight ahead, why?

Answer: As for the transformation it appears to be an optical thing. It appears that Kyle was driving and doing the switch. the reason for the switch is so Kyle can toss out the pipe bombs. notice that Sara holds one up and Kyle and her then switch places.

Question: How did Reese know that Sarah was at the Tech-Noir bar. Is there a deleted scene with Reese where he finds out where she is or was it luck.

Answer: It's all in the film - Reese tails Sarah from the moment that she leaves her apartment. He's waiting outside the bar that she's in when she sees the news report and follows her down the road when she leaves - she sees him and gets scared, which is when she ducks into Tech-Noir. He sees her go in, then walks past, before turning back and entering himself.

Question: Why are they always naked when returning from the future?

Answer: Reese explains that only living things can come through the portal. This is why they can't bring any equipment, including clothing. The Terminator can come because it's covered in living skin.

Question: When Reese hot wires the car what's the name of the song that starts playing?

Answer: When they are in the car park? If that's the case, it's just called Tunnel Chase - written specifically for the film. It is located on the official soundtrack.

Question: When the Terminator is repairing himself his right eye is damaged yet when they show him in the mirror cutting it out it looks like it's his left eye that's damaged (judging from what the reflection we see would entail). Is this a legitimate mistake or am I mixing things up here?

Answer: No, his left eye is damaged the entire time. Watch carefully; it never switches to his right.

Question: After the T-800's infamous invasion of the police station, Reese and Sarah escape and the T-800 is unable to catch them. Reese and Sarah then hide in a tunnel overnight. The next time we see the T-800 is the following day, in his hideout scanning Sarah's address book. What has the T-800 been doing this whole time?

Answer: He lost track of Sarah, so he went to look for her mother in order to find out the location of Sarah.

Question: When Vukovic and Traxler are watching Silberman question Reese, Vukovic mentions a guy they brought in who apparently burned something and did something else I couldn't quite hear. What's he actually talking about?

Answer: The quote: "He had this guy in here last week who set his Afghan [a breed of dog] on fire. Screwed it first, then set it on..." [and here Traxler interrupts him].