The Terminator

Rating:
Summary: He's Back Like He Said He Would Be!
Review: This movie mad Arnold the action star he is. This movie made him synonomise with the "I'll be back.", when you hear that you think Terminator.

The story is top notch to action and sci-fi lovers. In the future machines rise up to control the world after a nucular holocost. The advanced cyborgs aka terminators are tank like cyborgs with living organic tissue over ther metal skeltens. One of these are sent back, Schwarzenegger, to kill the would be mother of the general that leads the humans in revolution. Biehn is part of the human revolution sent back to protect the target, Linda Hamilton.

All the acting is dead on and the story never drags.

This is the best version will be able to get, great sound, good picture and a slew of extras to keep everyone happy and busy.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best action films ever.
Review: Nearly 20 years since its release, "The Terminator" still has the juice to stand up to the Hollywood dreck that's being released today. In a nutshell, a cyborg (Schwarzenegger) has been sent from the future to kill a woman (Hamilton) and prevent her from giving birth to her son. Meanwhile, an agent (Beihn) is also sent from the future to protect her. I won't go into further plot details, but this film grabs your attention from the opening credits to the last frame. Even the special effects hold up well after all these years. If you have a taste for sci-fi inspired action, you cannot go wrong with "The Terminator!"

Rating:
Summary: Terminate the original and get this special editon
Review: James Carmeron's Terminator has been given a state-of-the-art 5.1 stereo remix and also a fantastic hi-definition video transfer following the release of Terminator 2 (Ultimate Edition). This DVD contains over 2.5 hours of bonus material, i.e. documentaries, "terminated" scenes complete with commentary, photo galleries, the script and much more. The first thing you will notice when playing the movie is the superb video and sound quality...All of the sounds have been remixed, some deleted even. Gun shots and explosions now have more atmosphere and depth, and no longer sound like those cheap sound effects from the 1980's. Everything, including the music sounds state-of-the-art. You will not be disappointed unless you like movies to stay true to their original mixing. But I just have to say that this was a job well done....and maybe even one of the best quality DVD movies in my whole collection. If you pick this movie up make sure to pick up its sequel Terminator 2 (Ultimate Edition).

Rating:
Summary: the best sci fi action movie ever
Review: the year is 1984 and a terminator comes forth to do a mission. that mission is to kill 3 women named sarah connor. the terminator feels no pity, no pain, and no remorse. this is an outstanding action movie with great scenes in it like the police station shoot out, when arnold starts shooting in the bar, and when arnold goes into the gun shop and kills the manager. this is an action classic, and so is the sequal. rated r for strong violence, language, nudity, and a sex scene. wow this movie has it all.

Rating:
Summary: And he absolutely will not stop..EVER!!...Until you are dead
Review: The Terminator has made it's mark in the realm of science fiction, and it shows. It's not enough that Arnold Schwarzenegger was perfectly cast in the title role, but his unrelenting coldness is even more explained to us through the stories and flashbacks of Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese ("You still don't get it, do you? He'll find her. That's what he does! That's all he does!!") Biehn's performance grabs me every time I see it, just as Arnold's agressive coldblooded behavior also draws my attention. And in the middle is Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who sees her normal life slip away in a matter of hours, ("Come on, do I look like the Mother of the future? I mean am I tough? Organized? I can't even balance my checkbook")yet is still able to draw strength from her pain and loss and fight to stay alive. It doesn't get much better than this, folks.

I wish people would stop being so hard on the special effects of this film. You can't compare it to T2. The Terminator had a shoestring budget of $6 million, while T2's budget was something like $80 million. Of course the special effects are better in the sequel...especialy when you've got an extra $74 million to spend this time around. Instead, people should be commending the hard work Stan Winston and company gave on The Terminator effects. Sure, that's not Arnold's face when he takes his eye out, but hey,...not bad. In fact it doesn't even look half bad when he puts his glasses back on just before the real Arnold is put back on camera wearing his glasses. The arm surgery is very impressive. I remember as a kid I couldn't watch that scene because you can see a vein wrapped around the metel skeleton while he's working on fixing his fingers. Looks pretty realistic to me. Take these things into consideration the next time you want to take pot shots at the visual effects of the film.

With the new 5.1 Surround Sound Mix newly created on this DVD, there's a lot to talk about. First off, the remixed sounds of most of the guns and explosions have been changed. The 44 Longslide with laser sighting sounds completely different when Arnold fires it. Same goes for the Oozie 9MM, Reese's shotgun, the whole ball of wax. At first you might be destracted by the changes since we're so use to the mono version. And since this DVD also includes the mono version, you can go back and forth and listen to the differences. The explosions, such as the giant armored machines of the future being destroyed, sound terrific. They really put a lot of work into making these explosions even more memorable. It almost reminds me of how George Lucas redid the explosion of the first Death Star for the special edition of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, except we don't get any additional visual effects to go along with it, just better sound.

Yes, it's true that you don't get as many extra features like you do on T2, (here in the USA, both T1 & T2 are on one disc with one side used for the film and the other side used for the extras) but still, it's nice to have them. I think most would say that the deleted scenes are the best asset. The only shot of Arnold that was deleted was after he killed the other Sarah Connor, you see him go back to his car very slowly..not in a hurry..and drive away. Very very creepy. The other scenes range from Lt. Traxler (Paul Winfield) beginning to believe Kyle's story is true, to scenes with Kyle & Sarah fighting over doing something to the Cyberdyne Company as we witness Kyle breaking down because it's so hard for him to look at the green grass and the trees, because in his world it's all gone. Director James Cameron explains that it is a good scene but decided that he didn't want Reese breaking down more than once and he already does that right before the love scene, which could not be cut. And of course, there is the deleted scene of discovering that the factory that the Terminator was destroyed in was actually Cyperdyne Systems. We see one man find the CPU chip and put it in his pocket, but it was better to cut all this out and use it to better advantage for the sequel. Throw in a few trailers & TV spots(the teaser trailer reveals that the original title was just "Terminator", not "The Terminator"), some short retrospective documentaries (although the original "making of" that's been out on video is not present), storyboards, script ect...and you've got a pretty well rounded special edition. But wait! There's more!

There are also some hidden features on the disc, located on Side 1. Just go to the Special Features section and then choose DVD-ROM Features. Once there, take your remote control and type in the following numbers (very slowly): 5, 1, 2, 8, 4, & 1. (These numbers stand for the date of the Terminator and Kyle Reese's arrival (May 12, 1984) You'll be taken to a special hidden 2 page section, with about 29 different topic interviews done by James Cameron, Michael Biehn and others. The interviews are done with slide pictures and not real video. The topics range from how two kids actually played the part of the little boy who takes Sarah's picture for $4, Hemdales lack of faith in the picture, technical aspects, deleted scenes, to comaparisons to T2 ect. Very interesting stuff. Plus, on page 2 there is some reading material on a topic called "Chrono-Surfing: A Brief History of Time Travel", written by Randall Frakes (co-author of The Terminator novelization). So those of you scoffing about the lack of extras should check this material out. It's a very nice "Easter Egg" find. Plus, get the DVD soon and receive a fancy lithograph cover case of Arnold.

The Terminator...A Sci-Fi Classic!

"I'll be back" - Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for the movie, 3 for the DVD
Review: First off, the stupid thing is confusing. It took me a good ten or twenty minutes to figure out that there was no "play the movie" option because it was on the other side of the disc. (Which, conveneiently enough, is not labeled very clearly)
The picture and sound quality was well transfered to DVD.
The "extra features" really didn't seem worth the money. The extra footage they managed to dig up is not very interesting. I can see why the whole mis-matched collection of 30 second clips was removed from the final movie. In other words, if you already own this movie in one format or another and are thinking about getting the DVD for the "Terminated Scenes", don't bother.
The documentary was alright. I would have prefered to see it emulate the style of the TV show "Movie Magic" (or some name like that. It was on the Discovery Channel a few years ago)
The Terminator is a wonderful movie. If you like this genre and have the cash to spend, pick up the DVD.
If not, get the VHS.

Rating:
Summary: Terminator S.E.
Review: The movie that has become a classic, the classic that has become a legend, the legend that has shaken the very foundation of special edition DVD. This is a movie for almost everyone. If you liked T2 then you must own the original Terminator.

Rating:
Summary: This Special Edition Rocks
Review: To be honest, before viewing this Special Edition DVD, I had grown tired of the Terminator. The film just seemed too old and out of date to me. However, I was completely floored with this new edition of Terminator. The new stereo mix is nothing short of fantastic. The film quality looks great. And I am a Terminator fan once again. Along with the improved sound the viewer can enjoy interesting deleted scenes with director commentary and also some interesting interviews. In short, this is a great buy. Buy it now and enjoy the Terminator again for the first time.

Rating:
Summary: I'll be back he is back in the special edition
Review: The Terminator is one of the few action science fiction movies with an interesting, well a storyline at all.The terminator is a cyborg with human tissue around a mechanical skeleton inside it could pass as a human in a crowd, it is so powerful almost indestructable.It's purpose to go back in time and murder the mother of it's enemy so that he would have never existed. The only thing stopping him is Kyle Reese a soldier from the future that came to protect the mother sarah connor. Can reese kill the terminatoror will the terminator terminate sarah connor find out when you watch The Terminator

Rating:
Summary: 5 for the movie 2 for the dvd its a flipper
Review: Anyone reading this already knows this is a sci fi classic and much better then the overhyped watered down t2 that got a great dvd treatment last year in a cool tin metal case, Why did they have to make this dvd as lousy as it is. First off the transfer is ok, although not much better then what you would get on the old out of print dvd of the movie. The sound though is great especially if you have a good sound systam, I don't so it did not matter as much to me as it will to a lot of the people who will buy this movie.The features are medicore a few deleted scenes with very breif commentery from cameron[.] There are many storyboard and stills that aspiring artists will enjoy and they will take a good hour to go thourgh all of them, as well as the orginal story treatment of the movie which was a lot more dark and violent then the cut is now the terminator skins people and it's pretty gross, I prefer this version, but it's intreasting to see the way it was in the begining. There are a few documentries including a new one that I haven't watched yet and the orginal featurette that was on the live video release which is pretty entrtaining. My main problem though is this disc is a flipper and I hate that, I refuse to buy goodfellas not only because it's barebones, but it is the only other movie I know of other then T2 that is a flipper. This makes me angry because I have poor cordanation and you have to be very careful holding the disc to not smudge it up, I have already done that, Although it has yet to effect play, But it will wear out much quicker then all my other disc's. Last week warner released a two disc citzen kane they did not have to put it all on one disc, I would have gladly paid a extra to have it on two discs, Instead of having to eventaully buy another one of these ....