Adam Greenberg, cinematographer whose camera rewired the visual language of sci-fi action cinema, has died at 88.
If you love “The Terminator” — the grimy neon, the fever-dream night streets of James Cameron’s low-budget dystopia — you know Greenberg. And if you worship “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” the sci-fi chrome nightmare that changed blockbusters forever, you owe him even more. His work on the 1991 sequel earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography.
‘T2’ remains his crown jewel — a benchmark of analog-meets-early-CGI, a film whose images are still referenced every single time Hollywood tries (and usually fails) to reinvent the blockbuster wheel.
His other credits — Sam Fuller’s “The Big Red One,” Jerry Zucker’s “Ghost” — prove some type of range, but who are we kidding? Greenberg will be remembered first for the cold blue steel of Cameron’s sci-fi classics, for the way he lit Arnold Schwarzenegger like a myth and Los Angeles like a nightmare.
UPDATE: Here’s a wonderful tribute from James Cameron, shared with Deadline, where the director hails Greenberg has “a guiding light” to him ever since they worked together on “The Terminator” and Greenberg “graciously” returned for ‘T2.’
“I learned so much from Adam, not just about cinematography, but about the spirit of independent production,” he said. “He refused to let budget limitations inhibit his artistic expression. Adam had done scores of films when I worked with him on my first, and his scrappy, can-do spirit has been a guiding light for me ever since, even on the biggest of productions.”
Cameron continued, “I saw him last a few years ago, when he graciously came in to help color time Terminator 2: Judgment Day for its stereo 3D re-release. I had just been in the middle of arguing with the colorist that the blues in a night scene were too purple, and needed a little cyan. Adam took one look at the scene, took me aside and said ‘Jim, don’t you think it needs a point of cyan?’ He remembered a point of color over two decades later. That’s precision. I now see color with his eyes.
“I could not have done my Terminator films without Adam. He taught me the narrative power of color and lighting. Nobody did night photography like Adam. I pride myself on my hand-held camera operating, but I learned that at Adam’s knee. He was the master. I know there is a whole generation of filmmakers that he influenced, and there were a handful of us that were privileged to have him shoot for us. We got to learn the lessons directly at his side. His talent and spirit will be missed.”