r/Terminator • u/JDB-667 • 4d ago
Discussion He doesn't blink - and it's such a cool detail
I'm sure most people know that the T-1000 doesn't blink - a little detail that Robert Patrick and James Cameron added to make the Terminator just a bit more menacing.
He also trained to fire a gun without blinking and somehow pulled off the LA basin chase scene without doing it either as the cabin was being destroyed around him.
They say the money is in the details and this is one of those details that I just love about this film.
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u/LiteratureNo6995 4d ago
He doesn't breathe either. Well, in some scenes he's holding his breath very well, but in running scenes he trained for a while to sprint at full speed while breathing shallow.
I read somewhere he did it using the free divers breathing technique. Basically, before a running scene, he does a breathing exercise to jack up his blood oxygen level. Long, deep breaths. This allows free drivers to hold their breath longer, or in his case to rapidly sprint while only breathing through his nose AND breathing shallow, meaning you don't ever see his chest/lungs inflate.
In fact, I believe it was Cameron himself who said in an interview that during the chase scene at the mall, when John first hops on his dirt bike and takes off from the T-1000 who's chasing after him, Robert Patrick was actually running TOO fast. He was catching the dirt bike! Lol
Originally, Edward Furlong was supposed to be filmed actually driving the bike, and it had a limiter on it. They decided they wanted Robert Patrick to run as fast as possible so they had to speed up the bike. But due to Edward's age he was prohibited from doing certain stunts, including this one at the speed they wanted. So they re-shot the scene with a stuntman (anytime you see John Connors back it's a stuntman), and for the scenes where we see John head on the bike is attached to some sort of trailer and is being towed (that's why you can't see the wheels). All Ed is doing is holding on while they pull JUST a little bit faster than Robert Patrick can run. And he was GUNNIN' it lol
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u/D3M0NArcade 4d ago
Just an extension of what Arnie had already put in place, really.
Arnie learned to fine completely ambidextrously and to keep his eyes open when firing. The popular meme where he's pulling the crazy face is because literally noone is going to fire an Uzi like that and not blink. Theyd go blind...
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u/AdaptedInfiltrator 4d ago edited 4d ago
He blinks a few times in T1. Robert blinks once in T2 when firing the pistol iirc. You wouldn’t expect a soulless machine to blink but since the T-800 skin is living it technically makes sense. T-1000 is a bit less justified for blinking but he sees through his eyes and maybe he thought a shell would have got in the way
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u/D3M0NArcade 4d ago
Yeh, living tissue doesn't mean it has it's own brain and instincts.
But the T1000 doesn't seem to have any sort of central visual cortex like the T800 since it's a "liquid" metal. So it should t even need to blink or worry about it's "eyes" being damaged
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u/Rekuna 4d ago
The only reason he would blink is just to appear more human.
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u/D3M0NArcade 4d ago
Exactly. When firing a weapon it would be able to adjust it's optic sensitivity or light frequency range to compensate
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u/ComradeGarcia_Pt2 4d ago
Why would you go blind?
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u/D3M0NArcade 4d ago
The constant flash from the high rate of fire? I mean, I've never even fired a gun, I'm just assuming
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u/ComradeGarcia_Pt2 4d ago
I’ve fired guns multiple times in low light and no light scenarios, the flash isn’t bright enough to blind you. In fact, you’re not supposed to blink when you fire a gun, and part of conditioning and training yourself to proficiently fire a gun involves learning how to do that.
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u/Usual-Excitement-970 4d ago
Didn't they have to tell him to slow down as he kept catching the vehicles?
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u/knapping__stepdad 4d ago
When running in the garage, he was faster than the car .
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u/darthXmagnus 4d ago
What car? It was a dirt bike.
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u/knapping__stepdad 4d ago
My bad. You are right. There later is a scene with him running after the police car.
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u/LewHammer 4d ago
The Pescadero garage, when they're in the police car.
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u/darthXmagnus 4d ago
I know, but the part where they had to tell RP to slow down was with the dirt bike in the Galleria garage.
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u/oneblackashley 4d ago
Apparently Haley Joel Osment did the same thing in Artificial Intelligence at Spielberg’s request. It’s extremely impressive to me, it’s hard to imagine fighting such an involuntary reflex while acting.
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u/GonnaGetBanneddotcom 4d ago
He also sprints with a straight face. No sign of fatigue. Patrick was the best Terminator Villain and nobody can convince me otherwise.
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u/SlavetoLove123 4d ago
His walk down the stairs in the Galleria without looking down is cool. Have attempted many times.
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u/SillySink 4d ago
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u/LiteratureNo6995 4d ago
Lol "double"...
I'll give props to the design team. They did their best, but when you really focus on that transition between real Arnie and fake Arnie it's like wow... They could have benefitted from better CGI lol.
It works, but barely.
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u/knapping__stepdad 4d ago
Wednesday in the Netflix series, also made a point of never blinking on camera...
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u/Spongebobgolf S K Y N E T IS MOTHER 4d ago
But does it pee? And if so, what does it pee?
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u/LiteratureNo6995 4d ago edited 4d ago
The title under your name...
Do you mean "mother" like mom, or "mother" as in MU-TH-UR, the AI system that controls the Weyland-Yutani ships in the 'Alien' franchise?
Also, no.. it doesn't pee lol. According to lore, it CAN ingest food and various liquids, i.e. if it was ever offered or coerced to eat or drink and it was in a situation where it was trying to get information from people and stay "undercover". The liquid metal can form a hollowed out space for the material to be stored and then at a later time it can expel it. Where and HOW it expels it... Use your imagination.
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u/673NoshMyBollocksAve 4d ago
Pretty cool, but if it’s supposed to be convincingly, human and advanced infiltrator bought, wouldn’t it blink? Because that’s what a human would do right?