How influential was the now-forgotten CYBORG 2087 that came out in '66? Well, when you consider that its plot dealt with a half man-half machine from the future who comes back in time in order to prevent the creation of his own future world of tyranny, only to be followed back to prevent that preventing...in other words, the plot of the TERMINATOR films. Those films made Arnold into a film superstar, without which his chances of ever becoming Governor of California would have surely been less than nil. Thus, arguably the whole debacle of the Govanator can be placed at the feet of Michael Rennie. Right?
Monday, October 3, 2011
How influential was the now-forgotten CYBORG 2087 that came out in '66? Well, when you consider that its plot dealt with a half man-half machine from the future who comes back in time in order to prevent the creation of his own future world of tyranny, only to be followed back to prevent that preventing...in other words, the plot of the TERMINATOR films. Those films made Arnold into a film superstar, without which his chances of ever becoming Governor of California would have surely been less than nil. Thus, arguably the whole debacle of the Govanator can be placed at the feet of Michael Rennie. Right?
When "The Terminator" premiered, I noticed the similarity. But nobody I know seems to have heard of Cyborg 2087. It's yet another movie that used to turn up sometimes when our local station ran its "Science Fiction Theater" on Friday nights.
ReplyDeleteIIRC, Harlan Ellison claimed that "Terminator" was suspiciously similar to two Outer Limits episodes that he wrote, so his name appears in the end credits. AFAIK, he didn't threaten to sue anyone over "2087," but maybe he never even heard of it. "Where there's a hit, there's a writ."