Arnold Schwarzenegger’s changing hair in The Terminator (1984) is a result of both storyline decisions and production realities. Here’s a breakdown of the main factors behind the noticeable difference in his hair throughout the film:
1. The Storyline: The Terminator’s “Reconstruction”
In The Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator, a cyborg sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The Terminator's appearance, especially his hair, shifts due to the nature of his character.
Initial Look: Full, Well-Groomed Hair When the Terminator first arrives in 1984, he is seen walking into a bar to acquire clothing and weapons. At this point, his hair is styled in a typical 1980s fashion—short and combed. The Terminator appears fully "human" and his hair reflects the appearance of a normal person.
After the Fight: Bloodied and Damaged Later in the film, after the Terminator gets into a series of violent encounters, his appearance begins to degrade. During a critical scene where he is wounded and later repairs himself, the damage to his synthetic body becomes apparent. His hair, particularly in the scenes after his injuries, looks less neat, appearing messier and more bedraggled as the cyborg's "human" appearance starts to deteriorate.
2. Behind the Scenes: Production and Continuity
While the film's plot justifies the change in appearance, the continuity of Schwarzenegger’s hair during the film also reflects some behind-the-scenes reasons:
Multiple Stages of Filming The Terminator's hair change happens due to the fact that the film was shot over a period of time, with scenes being filmed out of order. Some of the scenes where Arnold Schwarzenegger's hair looks different were filmed weeks or months apart, which resulted in slight variations in his hairstyle.
Use of Wigs and Styling The film’s production design involved certain practical effects, especially for scenes where the Terminator's cyborg endoskeleton (metallic structure) was revealed. For these scenes, Schwarzenegger's hair was styled to look less pristine, and some of the hairpieces or wig choices were likely used to emphasize the Terminator’s mechanical nature. This contributed to a slight inconsistency in his hair's appearance during different parts of the film.
Character Evolution As the Terminator gets closer to his goal and suffers more damage (whether from his fight with Kyle Reese or his other encounters), his hair becomes increasingly disheveled. This gradual decline in his human disguise is part of the film's visual storytelling, showing the breakdown of his "human" disguise and increasing emphasis on his true nature as a machine.
3. Symbolism: The Terminator's Human Disguise
The evolution of the Terminator's hair can also be seen as symbolic of his mission and his true nature. The neatness of his hair at the beginning of the film helps establish him as a seemingly normal person, blending in with humanity. As the film progresses and he faces damage, the messier hair becomes a visual cue of his decaying human form, signaling his true identity as a machine that is slowly revealing its artificial nature.