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Detective Hal Vukovich was a detective of the Los Angeles Police Department. He became involved in the Phone Book Killer case. Hal had a particular disdain for cases that got a lot of media attention, "especially the weird ones" and was on a first name basis with Ed Traxler.

History

The Terminator

Traxler 1

Hal Vukovich informs Traxler of the Sarah Connor killings

As of 1984, Hal Vukovich was a seasoned veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, and worked as a homicide detective alongside Ed Traxler. By this time, Hal had developed a particular disdain for cases that got a lot of media attention, particularly "the weird ones". At some point during his career, Hal had gotten into an altercation which resulted in a scar on his hand, a story that is later simply ignored by Traxler and Sarah. He also seemed highly amused by Peter Silberman's criminal psychological tricks.

Traxler 4

Hal attempts to call Sarah Connor.

After getting involved in the "Phone Book Killer" case, and discovering the alarming similarities of the victims names, Hal pieced together the information, and alerted Ed Traxler. He then put in several long, tiring hours to find the killer and potential next victim, Sarah Connor. This involved calling the apartment of Sarah Connor and Ginger Ventura, only to get an answering machine, because no one was willing to answer the phone.

Later, Hal managed to get through after Traxler gave a statement on television and gave the phone to Traxler who instructed Sarah to stay there until they got there.

Traxler and Hal found out that Sarah had been abducted by Reese and headed out in a car to find him. After arriving at the apartment, Traxler noticed Sarah in a car with Reese and told a nearby police car to follow him and prepared to follow themselves.[1]

Sarah was taken to the station after they rescued her from Reese and unbeknownst them, the Terminator. Hal was present at the station. Hal later witnessed Peter Silberman, whom he ridiculed, interrogate Reese. Like most, Hal simply assumed that Reese was crazy or on drugs. As he tried to tell Traxler a story about Dr. Silberman, showing a scorned attitude towards him, Traxler told him to shut up.

After seeing Silberman question Reese, Traxler and Hal stepped out for a break. Traxler contemplated the interrogation in his head. Hal suspected that Traxler believed Reese and tried to talk sense into him. Hal said that he was talking moon talk and said "The guy's a wacko". Traxler responded with "he better be". After that a flicker of insecurity also appeared in his face implying that even he could not completely rule out he was telling the truth.[1]

Hal rewatched the interrogation on TV with Silberman, Sarah and Traxler. Hal and Silberman were still unconvinced that the story was true. Sarah asked how the Terminator was able to avoid being killed. Traxler said that he was wearing a bulletproof vest and Hal said that he was on PCP and broke every bone in his hand and wouldn't feel it for weeks.

When the T-800 raided the police station, Hal was one of the officers to fight against it. He was heavily shot by the Terminator when he shouted at the T-800 and attempted to take out the machine with an M16.[2] The Terminator

Notes

  • Hal is only called by name once in the movie and he is misaddressed as Ed, Traxler's first name.

Behind the Scenes

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  • Hal Vukovich was portrayed by Lance Henriksen, who was reportedly James Cameron's original choice to play the Terminator.
  • There is no solid, explicit evidence that Vukovich was killed during the shootout at the West Highland Police Station, which would of course, make him one of the seventeen killed. However, after Hal shot at the Terminator with his rifle, the Terminator returned fire with its assault rifle and shotgun, with a barely audible scream of Hal being heard during the shots. It should be noted, however, that Hal had cover he could take, and that as the Terminator was looking for Sarah Connor, making sure Hal was dead would have been a low priority. On a final note, during a deleted scene in which Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor pass a dying Ed Traxler, Hal was not seen laying in the hallway, or the office where Ed was sitting. This is likely due to continuity errors by the filmmakers or the scene not being completed when filmed, thus its inclusion as a "deleted scene".
  • Before the production of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Hal was planned for a return, but was dropped due to Lance Henriksen's schedule conflict.[3]
  • In an early draft of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Hal was about to return, having survived his encounter with the Terminator and now in a wheelchair, but the idea was dropped.
  • It was rumored that J. K. Simmons would play this character in the film Terminator Genisys, but he played the totally different character of Detective O'Brien instead.[4]

Appearances

The guy who was in the terminator movie

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Deleted scenes featured in The Terminator DVD
  2. In military classification, non-military police officers are considered civilians, so the rifle may actually have been a semi-auto AR15
  3. Hope Of The Future - Terminator 2 Story ideas - Vukovich
  4. "Simmons in Terminator: Genesis | TheTerminatorFans.com"
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