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The Terminator (Special Edition)

The Terminator (Special Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Killing machine will get you!
Review: Arnord's first really good movie and Cameron's firs classic.
Linda Hamilton is a perfect choice for Sarah Conner's shoes.
At the beginning of the film she is like anyone young woman,
who has a job and she likes to have fun with her frieds. Something changes when terminator finds her and try to kill.
She have to escape, if she wants to live. At the end of the film she fights agaings terminator and finally beat it. Kyle Reese has a vital part of this film because he protects Sarah Conner and will be her unborn child father. This enjoyable action movĂ­e! Arnord acts like a robot and kills like soldier.
He don't care about anybody expect his mission to kill Sarah Conner. This film provides something for anyone: kids like to see great action, woman loves to see Sarah and Kyle's romance, man likes car driving situations and elder peolle will enjoy a fine sript.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Movie
Review: Something about it being an older movie, perhapes the way the film looks, makes this movie truly scary. Not scary like all the spiders attacking people in today's current movies but something more.

Terminator II is a good movie for its effects, but Terminator I is the scariest movie, as well as the best one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: An Answer to Several Trivia Questions
Review: ...

While you normally watch a sequel with an appreciation of where it came from, in this case, you watch the original with an appreciation of what it led to: the film that many praise as one of the greatest sequels in cinematic history. What these people overlook, though, is the fact that the original wasn't that tough an act to follow in the first place.

Make no mistake about it, Terminator is not a bad movie at all. In fact, it's a lot of fun. A cold, efficient cyborg, played by a young Ah-nuld, is sent back in time to destroy the mother-to-be of the savior of the humans of the future. Said mother-to-be, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) doesn't know what the heck she did to deserve being targeted for termination. And Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is the soldier also sent back in time, to protect Sarah and explain everything to her. (Sarah: "There must be some mistake, I didn't do anything!" Reese: "No, but you will.") Good concept, well-structured script, over-all adequate performances, and most of all, terrific action sequences.

But when you really come down to it, Terminator, hampered as it was by its modest budget (the reason behind its mono soundtrack), a so-so performance from Ms Hamilton (she was still then learning to act), and the limits of the technology of the time (it uses stop-motion animation, a technique that had by this time lost its appeal), is not a great movie, just a pretty good one. More than anything else, it is a mere curiosity, an answer to several trivia questions. Such as:

What film launched Arnold Scharzenegger to superstardom?

What was James Cameron's first major effort after his less-than-auspicious start with Piranha II?

And of course, what was the movie that spawned one of the highest-grossing sequels of all time?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Greatest Movie Ever!!!!!
Review: Dear readers,
I belive the Terminator is an amazing film. I idolise Arnold Schwarzenegger, he is THE coolest. The film (or should I say the masterpiece) is about a cyborg who travels from the future to kill Sara Connor, who in the future has Jhon Connor(Jhon Connor saves humanity by leading a resistance against the machines). Sgt. Reace also goes back in time but he is sent BY Jhon Connor to save his mom.

This is a sweet movie so check it out!

Michael Howell

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "Come with me if you want to live..."
Review: Before Titanic...
Before True Lies....
Before Aliens....there was The Terminator.

James Cameron's first bona fide hit, this 1984 science fiction/action thriller revived the action movie genre and provided Arnold Schwarzenegger with not only an iconic movie role but a chance to prove that he had an actor's mind as well as a bodybuilder's physique. It not only showed that Ahhnold could handle a more challenging role than Conan the Barbarian, but that he was quite capable of taking career risks.

Now that he is running for the governorship of California (and starred in many other films, including two sequels to The Terminator), it seems odd to think that Schwarzenegger was gambling his credibility (and his box office appeal) to take the role of the villain. After all, who better than this physically imposing fellow to portray the relentless cyborg sent from the future to rid the world of the woman who is destined to be the mother of humanity's future deliverer?

1984's The Terminator paints a dark vision of a machine-dominated world where hunter-killer robots and Terminators are waging a war of extinction against humanity. By 2029 A.D., however, the machines are on the verge of defeat at the hands of John Connor and his valiant troops. In a last ditch attempt to win, the Skynet computers send a single Cyberdine T-101 unit (Schwarzenegger) back to 1984 Los Angeles to dispose of John Connor's mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton).

Before the time portal breaks down forever (or at least until T2), Connor manages to send Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) back to 1984 to protect his mother-to-be. Although he is weakened by the time jump and definitely more vulnerable than his cyborg nemesis, he has an advantage that the Terminator and its masters don't; he knows what Sarah Connor looks like. This proves to be fatal for at least two other Sarah Connors in the L.A. phone book, as well as for Sarah's roommate and her boyfriend. The Terminator, only knowing the name Sarah Connors, dispatches these unlucky victims while Reese manages to reach the true target in the nick of time.

The Terminator is well-written and, although its plot is not as mind bending as Schwarzenegger's later hit Total Recall, never insults the audience's intelligence. The pace of the movie is, like the villain, full of purpose and relentless. Critics and Ahhnold bashers might scoff at Schwarzenegger's android-like mannerisms, but his very expressionless glare and the way his head swivels to follow his eyes bring the cold efficiency of a shark to mind. (And if you were wondering, this was the first movie where Ahhnold utters his now famous phrase "I'll be back.")

Brad Fiedel's effective musical score, Stan Winston's amazing make-up effects, and Cameron's directing helped make The Terminator a classic of the action/science fiction genre.

The MGM Special Edition DVD presents the movie in a digitally mastered, hi-definition transfer widescreen version with both its original mono sound track and a new 5.1 Stereo Remix. It also includes audio tracks in French and Spanish, subtitles in English, French and Spanish, and for viewers with DVD-ROM drives on their home computers, script-to-screen features. The extra features (such as deleted scenes, making-of documentaries, and trailers and TV spots) are on the other side of this double-sided disc.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the finest movies from 1984!
Review: There are countless ways to describe how I think of this film; one of them is Spectacular! The first in the classic Terminator movie series is a ground-breaking cinematic work of art of absolutely stunning proportions and put Arnold Schwarzenegger on the map and made him one of the biggest movie stars of the 1980s and early 1990s before several commercial duds would temporarily dampen his success later on (Batman & Robin anyone?) until "Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines" came along. The groundbreaking movie is the story of an extremely bleak future where Los Angeles and much of the world's civilization is wiped out by nuclear Armageddon when a computer program/internet named Skynet, goes out of control, and the machines, under control of it, unleash a reign of nuclear terror and destruction, decimating much of the human (non-machine) population, and taking over much of the world, except for a few surviving humans who have gathered forces to fight against the machines thanks to a rebel leader named John Connor who leads what remains of the human race into ultimately smashing the machines into junk, ensuring victory against them. However, the machines send back a human cyborg 45 years back in time to the year 1984, to kill John Connor, by means of "terminating" a waitress woman named Sarah Connor, who is the future mother of the human rebel leader, which would result in John never even being born in the first place. In the year 1984, Sarah Connor's life seems like any ordinary life: living as a waitress at a slighltly seedy L.A. Restaurant, and barely balancing a checkbook. She has no idea that it will take a massive turn. A rebel soldier named Kyle Reeves is also sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor, and her 'unborn' son from the emotionless Terminator and thus fighting for the future of humanity. At that point, it is evident that Reeves would not only protect John Connor but in fact, turn out being his father later on. What makes The Terminator even more dangerous is that he is able to copy other peoples voices, and yes, even copy women's voices, making him even more likely to find where his target is. The human cyborg does not feel emotion; it does not feel pain; it cannot be reckoned with. He can blend in with the rest of society as he is part human, part machine, with flesh on the outside, but machine and robot on the inside and all these things make him so much more dangerous to be reckoned with.

Parents, be warned! There are truckloads of disturbing violence in this film and also some extremely bloody scenes that will scare young children and I can't blame them, even I have become unsettled when watching this when I was younger but sadly worse stuff has happened in real life. There is one scene which I'm not going to mention for fear of spoilers, that even I had a relatively tough time handling. Occasional profanity also makes this movie one for the more grown-up audiences. However, it also brings to mind, the possibility of what might happen if man and machine do in fact, start fighting each other especially with all of the computer viruses that plague the internet today. It also brings to mind that it is possible to actually build a machine that could do the same things that Terminator actually does in this movie. In top of it all, it is very chilling as the movie's story does brush very closely with reality at the possibility of all of the things happening in this movie actually occurring in real life especially with all of these computer virus attacks that have crippled businesses these past few years although time travel may not be possible because it would likely have messed up the timeline already.

This film, while it was a highly ground-breaking film back in 1984, has really begun to show it's age, especially the futuristic battle scenes where the floating spacecraft vehicle looks more like a toy suspended on a string than a realistic looking battle vehicle but this movie was made during a time before the special effects technology would skyrocket not too long afterwards, often to an excessive degree. Also it was filmed and The special effects also kind of look cheesy now due to the time of their creation, but only to a mild degree. The two latter Terminator movies benefited from superior production but while parts of the first Terminator movie have really dated badly, there is no denying that this is still a five star plus movie and I highly recommend buying this for those who want a highly brilliant movie, with violence and action that meshes along with the storyline, as opposed to the brainless, thug war violence of a lot of today's movies ("2 Fast 2 Furious" anyone?). While parts of this movie really show signs of being extremely dated, particularly the futuristic battle scenes in 2029, the low budget spent on making this incredible movie really went into good use thanks in part to a strong story and stunning directing thanks in part to the blossoming talent of James Cameron. "Terminator" is arguably one of the best movies from the 1980s and also one of the most fascinating and most innovative sci-fi action movies of all time.

"The Terminator" is a highly essential film for the ages. From here through the next two movies, we hear that unforgettable line "I'll Be Back!". Whether to see cinematic innovation or just simply have fun, or just have some 1980s nostalgia, this movie delivers all of the above and is an essential film and the success of it resulted in two dynamite sequels. It's so unbelievable how James Cameron took the low budget spent on the movie's making and turned what could've been a long forgotten throwaway sci-fi flick into a timeless modern masterpiece. All three of the Terminator movies are masterpieces. Go and buy this today and get the Ultimate Edition of Terminator 2: "Judgement Day" as well!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Die-Know-Might!
Review: This is a truly spectacular movie for the ages.

For a movie made way back in 1984, this was well ahead of it's time and is a classic today. This is my favorite of the three Terminator movies, even though the two sequels are excellent as well.

Kyle Reese, is sent back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor from the murderous machine Terminator (Schwarzenegger) whose goal is to kill Sarah and her 'unborn' son John, thus preventing John from even being born.

From there, it's a terrifying ride as they flee and fight against the cyborg.

This is such an awesome movie and I highly recommend buying it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Action rules
Review: I love this movie. It just gets right into the action at the beginning and I love that. Not the best of the trilogy series, but still great.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An inspiration for young film makers.
Review: I didn't get around to watching this film until after I had already seen Terminators 2 and 3, however it did manage to impress me none-the-less, and I was amazed at how much James Cameron and company managed to do with a bare-bones budget. This film should definately inspire young film makers as to just how much can be done with such a small budget, and for those who were like me and saw all the Terminator films but this one, there's no time better than the present. There are some complaints I have with it, most of wich have to do with the fact that this is an 80's movie. The score, while having some decent themes, sounds very much like the cheap synthesizers you can buy in a department store. There's also the very dated 80's fashion and hairstyles wich will certainly make you chuckle more than once, but hey, the movie's supposed to take place in the 80's, so just think of it as being "Historically accurate". There's also some adult oriented material in the movie, but there's nothing that can't be skipped over by a mute button and the fast forward and chapter skip buttons on your DVD remote, if you're offended by that kind of thing. The film is definately something that should be seen by sci-fi fans, casual T2 fans, and young film makers alike. The special features side of thes DVD 18 flipper are definately worth checking out, and there are two deleted scenes that I don't know why they didn't reincorperate into the actual film, because they add so much to the story and really set the stage for Terminator 2. There's also an excellent doccumentary and some other stuff, so yeah, this is a pretty packed set. It definately deserves a spot next to those T2: Ultimate and Extreme edition DVDs you have on your shelf.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Before Judgment Day, before the Rise, there was the Original
Review: Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, and Paul Winfield.

In the year of 2027 A.D., a cyborg from the future named a 'Terminator'(Schwazenegger) is sent back about 40 years to eliminate Sarah COnnor(Linda Hamilton), mother of the yet unborn John Connor, the leader of the human resistance in the future against machines. At that same time, a soldier and friend of John Connor, Kyle Reese(Michael Biehn), is sent back through time to protect Sarah from the Terminator.

This was a very well created movie. It has the best story in the series, but it is personally the second best in the series in my opinion. With that, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" being the best and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" being the worst, but "T3" wasn't bad, but if they had stopped at "T2", it wouldn't have been a bad idea.

I liked the acting. Michael Biehn does it the best. He is better than Schwarzenegger. The Terminator didn't have nearly as many lines as he did in "T2" or "T3".

The direction is great. James Cameron did a really good job with this one. This was one of his first movies, too.

I have to admit, the soundtrack was kind of cheesy. They had a better soundtrack in T2. Brad Fiedel's musical score in that movie was classic. The special effects are average. In some scenes they are quite good and in some scenes they are quite poor. The effects probably show the movie's age.

Overall, "The Terminator" is a very creative and entertaining movie. With a suberb story and a good cast and director, "The Terminator" doesn't fail to thrill.

Genre: Sci-Fi/Thriller/Action/Adventure
Released by MGM/Orion
Rating: R


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