There is something about 80s movies and there is something about European movies that makes me enjoy them. Luckily this film has both, as a French-German coproduction featuring (mostly) actors from all over the world. I mean, you have Karen Allen, which we know from Raiders of the Lost Ark, is dubbed in French and appears to be the main character. Until she doesn't. Then we have Johnny Hallyday, the man who brought rock and roll to France, who's character arc is fascinating because he is a tragic hero for no reason whatsoever. There is Julie Glenn, playing Princess, because why not? Her father wrote the movie. And Gabriel Gabon, who one would recognize from the STNG episode The Bonding more than from anything recent he's done. Finally, Jürgen Prochnow. He's a big, known actor, so we'll give him three roles! And every one of these people are acting, only in different films. There is absolutely no consistency. I half thought that they tried to do three movies, all having Jürgen Prochnow in them, failed, then stitched this together and dubbed it in French for continuity.
Now, the story. There is none. There is a truck that must reach a mysterious destination as part of a sport that no one seems to be aware of. There are high stakes (5 million francs! - pinkie finger to mouth) but also hidden high stakes. They are so large and so hidden, that we never find out what they are. The sport apparently consists of a red truck that has to be stopped by grey trucks from reaching a destination (one that was never designed with a truck parking). Only the grey trucks are so small that I can't understand how they were supposed to stop the big red one without self destructing. There is a whole quarter of the story dedicated to a backward militaristic region that has no relevance to the major plot of the film (or maybe has the only relevance). Everything from cars, trucks to wooden shacks seems to smash into something and explode. Then there are doctors, clones, laboratories and mysterious "press and authorities" that are so mysterious (yeah, you guessed it) that we never see them. Nor any world order that would permit such things.
Bottom line: I miss the craziness of the films back then, the risk taking, the possibility for something like this to exist. It's a bad film, but it feels wild, inspiring, almost magical, because in this day and age you cannot find stuff like that anymore even in the lowest budget tiers. Everything is curated, standardized and put in little boxes that all look the same. Terminus is a wild ride in the head of a random guy who thought of a vague story, got together a bunch of people and acted on it.
Plot summary
In a sort of "Mad Max" futuristic adventure, an international sport has been established where a driver of a computerized truck must drive across country to an established terminus and not be stopped by other vehicles. The lead truck, called "Monster" has been created by a boy genius and is to be driven by a woman through the course. The only problem is the computer guidance system fails and she ends up in uncharted territories. There she encounters leather-clad hoods who torture her and eventually kill her. Before dying she tells a fellow prisoner about the truck and he uses it to escape. Most of the rest of the film is his relationship ("2001" - Hal-like) with the truck's computer and his avoidance of attacking vehicles. Meanwhile back at the Terminus, the boy genius is ruled by a mysterious doctor, who may have another plan in mind.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Top cast
Movie Reviews
A lovely collection of scenes that were never put right
missed opportunity
For the time the FX of this movie where very good, also the stunts, explosion and car trucks etc.
But sadly this movie tells no story... we get a bunch of clones played by Jürgen Prochnow, one who seem to be more of a women with a red wig red nails and some some odd reason stays hidden. The other is Jürgen Prochnow again a clone in a truck that becomes invisible. And the other Jürgen Prochnow is a more distinct high class man that seem to control de child matis.
The driver of the truck Karen Allen is a sort of a wiz, but gets captured by who knows who they are, in prison she meets Johnny Hallyday, they fall in love? And then she is murdered by the gang.
Hallyday for some odd reason is outside the jail and steels her truck to escape...
The computer is monster very well designed but the truck is a regular truck nothing special....
We are never told why the driver must get to terminal, the game they play and why the main character played by Jürgen Prochnow want them dead......
This movie is a huge missed opportunity and could have been so much better with a great story.
Parents Caution
Do not be fooled be the PG rating. Within the first 8 minutes F-bombs were dropped twice plus other expletives. There were harsh comments about war and ethnicity. I stopped watching.