The Terminator (1984)

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: The thing that won't die, in the nightmare that won't end.

Plot: A cyborg is sent from the future on a deadly mission. He has to kill Sarah Connor, a young woman whose life will have a great significance in years to come. Sarah has only one protector - Kyle Reese - also sent from the future. The Terminator uses his exceptional intelligence and strength to find Sarah, but is there any way to stop the seemingly indestructible cyborg?






My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? Yup

I've probably seen this a half dozen times since catching it in the 80s on video. It's a great story masterfully executed by Cameron. There's not much for me to say about it, really. The acting, for the most part, is great. Linda Hamilton wasn't that great until the action scenes kicked in and that's where she shined best. Some of the dialogue was hokey like at the end when the Mexican gas station attendant says, "There's a storm comin'" and she says, "I know." Plus it's the way she says it. It's a minor gripe, sure, but still pretty goofy.

To this day I can't help watching it and thinking about the time it was made. I was a kid then and Arnold was king. At least he became King with this picture. Conan had pretty much made him famous and this one solidified his box office capital. Considering Cameron had a budget of about 6.4 million he did a hell of a lot with it. We got to see a future we hadn't seen before and robots that seemed more real than ever before. One of the coolest parts was the opening with the terminators killing everything in sight and the end with the skeletal terminator trying to kill Sarah Connor in the big final battle. Which brings me to something else. I TOTALLY DIG STOP MOTION ANIMATION!!! That's just one of the techniques used to bring the terminator to life at the end. It's just badass cool. I know what it is and you know what it is. It's just so neat.

"We're Fritos, man!"

There aren't very many electronic/synth scores that I like but this is one of those few. For the most part it's great. There are a couple of cues here and there that don't work for me but I can overlook that because it's rare. Great main theme and some good action cues.

I'm in the minority on this but I've always liked this one a lot more than the sequel. I've always felt T2 was just more money but less originality despite the fantastic twist. I'll watch that one for next weeks movie night. It's been a lot of years since I've seen that one. I don't feel the need to revisit the third picture. I liked it OK but there's just something about the original that no one is going to be able to top. That doesn't mean they can't make great sequels with something original to say it's just that they haven't. I keep hoping that someday someone will send a terminator back in time to stop George Lucas from making the Star Wars prequels as bad has he did or at least kill the Ewoks before it's too late.