The Terminal Man

Director: Mike Hodges
Script: Mike Hodges
Cast: George Segal, John Hackett, Richard A. Dysart, Jill Clayburgh, Donald Moffat, Matt Clark
Running time: 140/ 144 minutes (Theatrical / Director’s Cut)
Year: 1974
Certificate: 15

Arrow Video continues to prove that they are still more than capable of providing film collectors with excellent products and this new release is a case in point. Warner Brothers released the film, on DVD, back in 2010, but that was a ‘vanilla’ disc with zero extras. This new release, by Arrow, blows that earlier version ‘out of the water’, with a serious make-over and a plethora of special features to boot. It’s just a shame the movie itself is somewhat disappointing.

Based on the 1972 novel by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), and directed by Mike Hodges (Get Carter (1971)), The Terminal Man stars George Segal, as Harry Benson, a highly intelligent computer whizz who suffers from seizures that he doesn’t remember and which often turn violent. Just before his blackouts he smells “pig shit and turpentine”, so he knows he’s about to have an unfortunate episode.

The film plays out over a number of days, which serve as chapters to the story as it unfolds. The first ‘chapter’ sees Harry being transported from the prison he’s incarcerated in, (after killing a few people during previous ‘episodes’), to a specialist hospital. Once there, he’s encouraged to take part in a completely new kind of treatment, which might – in time – allow him to be released into society once again, after he’s been ‘made safe’, so to speak. He, therefore, consents to be the first human to have a mini-computer, the size of postage stamp, implanted in his neck. Powered by an atomic pack in his shoulder, it is wired into his brain. The medics are hoping this will enable them to control the ‘fits’. It’s kind of like a more feasible and humane version of the brainwashing done in A Clockwork Orange.

What follows is an overly protracted sequence showing the operation, almost in full, which might have satisfied a few wannabe medics back in the day, but really slows down the pacing of the film, creating a soporific second act. It kind of needed some sort of space rock soundtrack to perk things up a bit, rather than the colour bleached photography and classical muzak score we have instead. Not that the score is bad, in fact there’s some nice usage of a number of classical pieces, but overall the score enhances the sleep-inducing effect that most of the film has on a viewer.

Fortunately the film picks up considerably during its final act, when Harry escapes custody and goes on the run, notching up a few fresh kills as he goes. There’s also a kind of slasher film sequence that sees him stalking one of the female doctors in her home, which doesn’t end well.

It is not hard to see why this was a flop at the box office during it’s initial release, as it’s all rather bleak, incredibly slow moving and all a bit po-faced. In fact, the film was saved from too many savage reviews due to George Segal’s excellent performance as Harry, bestowing him with plenty of decent character traits that help encourage the audience to root for his sad, ‘fish out of water’ situation. Plus, the production design and very capable cinephotography elevate the film too.

It’s certainly worth one watch, if only for Segal’s performance and some of the interesting ideas it proffers, which are, perhaps, more relevant today than they were back in the mid-seventies when the film was made.

And, for movie trivia buffs, look out for scenes from the sci-fi film THEM (1954), which make an appearance on a TV set that Harry’s girlfriend is watching.

As mentioned before Arrow Video has put together some decent special features including:

Two versions of the film – both the theatrical cut and the lengthier director’s cut. I watched the latter, which was four minutes longer.

Audio commentary by film historians Howard S. Berger and Steven Mitchell – A very personal and interesting look at the film and its history. Apparently  Michael Crichton had wanted to write and direct the movie but Warners dropped him and brought in Hodges to draft a screenplay instead. Hodges suffered from depression while he was working, for the first time, in the US, a mental state probably not helped by the rather grim theme of the book!

A (Misunderstood) Modernist Masterpiece, a new visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson (18.5 mins) – While I agree with many of Josh’s points, such as that the film is about alienation and tech gone awry, I don’t agree that The Terminal Man is a masterpiece. It’s certainly a well-made film with good acting, but a masterpiece, no… Nelson also equates the look of the film to the famous artist, Hopper, who mostly painted city scenes highlighting the isolation and loneliness of its’ sparse population. We also learn that directors Stanley Kubrick and Terence Malick are fans of the film; which explains a lot!

Who Am I If Not Myself, a new visual essay by Howard S. Berger (22 mins) – Berger became a friend of Hodges in his later years – up until his death in 2022 – and recalls that Hodges liked talking about his work. Berger provides a good case for Hodges being a vastly underrated director, and I have to agree. For example, Hodges not only gave us Get Carter, but also the similar Pulp and underrated flicks such as Croupier, The Black Rainbow and Flash Gordon.

The Skin We Live In, a visual essay by film critic and historian Howard S. Berger on the conjunction of author Michael Crichton, Mike Hodges and cinematographer Richard H. Kline (25.5 mins) – Here our movie historians compare and contrast two book adaptations, namely The Terminal Man and The Andromeda Strain, which was directed by Robert Wise. Looking at the directors’ oeuvres it becomes clear that Wise was generally optimistic, while Hodges had a bleaker, more complex outlook on life. There are also some interesting observations on the use of dioptic lenses in the film, allowing the cameraman to focus clearly on both the foreground and background, simultaneously.

Mike Hodges on ‘The Terminal Man’, an archive interview (9.5 mins) – Probably my favourite extra on the disc, Hodges comes across as being a very amiable man with a lot of knowledge about the film industry and filmmaking. When recalling his experiences of shooting the film he remembers renting out a place not far from where Charles Manson had been operating and him feeling very isolated as an outsider in Hollywood land. When the studio wouldn’t let him shoot in black and white he deliberately drained the colour out of the film to give it a more monochrome look anyway!

Theatrical trailer (3 mins) – Sets up the film as being a bit like A Clockwork Orange, emphasising that “for three minutes a day Harry turns violent.”

Image Gallery – 36 behind-the-scenes shots, including some nice ones of George Segal and his family lounging about on set, plus some cool, vintage posters.