Schwarzenegger spoke to James Cameron about the Terminator in the new Arnold series.
In the new three-part Netflix documentary series “Arnold”, in which Arnold Schwarzenegger reports on the different stages of his life, the 75-year-old gives an insight into the work on “Terminator” (1984). Speaking to director James Cameron, the two discussed an argument on set over what would become one of the most quoted lines in film history: “I’ll be back.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger thought “I’ll be back” was silly
Cameron said in the documentary that the original line was “I’ll come back.” “It wasn’t meant to be such a big moment at all,” said the 68-year-old. “For some reason Arnold didn’t say ‘I’ll come back.’ So I told him to just say, “I’ll be back.” The Terminator actor, on the other hand, admits in the documentary that he found “I’ll be back” odd. A cyborg would have said something that sounded more like a machine, like “I will be back,” he thought. Apparently, the director didn’t like being talked into: “Are you the author?” He is said to have asked his star. When Schwarzenegger said no, Cameron reportedly said, “Well, then don’t tell me how the fuck to write!”
Neither Cameron nor Schwarzenegger expected the great success of “Terminator”. “What is successful at the box office does not automatically please the critics,” says the “Governator”. It was unimaginable that the critics of “Time Magazine” included the film in their top ten. “Even James Cameron freaked out about this,” Schwarzenegger added. The scene in the police station in which the Terminator announces his return may also have played a role in the film’s success. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally saw that, although he initially found the text silly. “I think it’s the most quoted sentence in the history of cinema. So that shows who was right and who was wrong.”
The three-part documentary series “Arnold” has been available on Netflix since June 7th. In addition to James Cameron, many other companions of the Styrian bodybuilder, actor and politician can be seen there, such as Danny DeVito, Sylvester Stallone and Ivan Reitman.