Rating: 
Summary: Great SF movie, destroyed by its sequel
Review: I saw this movie in 1984 on Long Island, when I was in graduate school. One Saturday night my housemate and I decided to go see -- I don't even remember what. We arrived at the theater too late, and the only movie that hadn't started yet was this one. I agreed to see it, but with some misgivings; I expected a mindless action flick, short on plot and long on gore.I was mistaken, of course. But I see from the reviews of the sequel that some people think I was right. At least a few fans of T2 seem to think the original _Terminator_ was just a shoot-'em-up vehicle for Arnold, whereas the _second_ flick was some sort of great SF. Horse puckey. This 1984 film is a carefully plotted SF gem that deals with time travel in the manner of Robert Heinlein's classic "By His Bootstraps." In a nutshell (and I assume anybody reading this review already knows the plot; if not, consider this a spoiler warning), the idea is this: in the future, a group of machines trying to wipe out humanity is instead being roundly defeated by a handful of rebels under the leadership of one John Conner (please note the spelling). So the machines build a time machine and send back a "Terminator" -- a killer cyborg -- to murder John's mother Sarah before John is born. The humans send back a warrior of their own to protect Sarah, and the race is on. What makes the movie work is that the very action the machines take in supposed self-protection is the one that actually defeats them. The protector the humans send back turns out to be John Conner's father; had the machines not tried to prevent Conner's birth, he'd never have been born in the first place. The whole package works out consistently in the end and raises all sorts of disturbing questions about free will and determinism. Of course all this nice dovetailing is shot completely to hell by the sequel, at the end of which Sarah Conner sails off into the "new" future with her son John -- the child of a father who will now never even exist, let alone travel back in time to sire him. Similarly, with the Terminators both destroyed and the future altered so that they can never be manufactured in the first place, there isn't anywhere for them to have been sent back _from_. Yeesh. So forget T2, with its flashy and expensive special effects, its cheesy plot holes (numerous but not here discussed), and its apparent primary purpose of boosting the ego of the King of the World. The first _Terminator_ is the one to see. Oh, there are some minor inconsistencies. For example, watch the list of names in the phone book carefully (the middle initials, I mean) and compare it to the names of the other murder victims. But this sort of thing is to be expected in a comparatively low-budget film. The only major plot hole is at the end. The Terminator has murdered two other Sarah Conners, Sarah's roomie, her roomie's boyfriend, and Sarah's own parents; he's shot up a bar full of people and an entire police station full of cops; and he's all but destroyed a factory. Sarah is injured, and pregnant with the child of a man from the future whose fresh corpse is found lying in that same factory. But just a few months later (as we can tell from her pregnancy), she's free as a bird? Does anybody really think she'd be allowed to run around loose after all of this?
Rating: 
Summary: One of the worst films I like
Review: I saw this film in 1984 when it came out, and now own it on video, despite the fact that this is one of the worst films plotwise I've ever seen. The character development (there is none) really doesn't get you going. If you're willing to put aside the fact that we're supposed to root for Linda Hamilton, who's an inept waitress, or the stereotypical black cop handling the investigation, or the weird roommate who never takes off her Walkman, the action still somehow manages to keep you going. At points it's just too easy. You sit and think at the end, why didn't they just do this in the first place? Still, for some reason I like this film, and chances are you will, too.
Rating:
Summary: ouch baby ouch!
Review: Terminator is one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. The plot was original. A superior machine race sends a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) back through time to kill the mother (Hamilton) of the future rebellion leader to stop her son from being born. The resistance sends a lone man (Biehn) back through time to stop the terminator. Schwarzenegger is awesome in this movie. Arnold portrays a killer machine who will stop at nothing to complete his assignment, to kill Sarah Connors. There is a love story mixed into the plot and the actors have great chemistry and intensity. This is the movie that turned Arnold into the world's greatest action star. See this movie, and then go watch Terminator 2, which is also great!
Rating:
Summary: A great start for the careers of many actors/actresses
Review: "Terminator" was one of the best Schwarzenegger films made. The machine with no emotions is very well played by Arnie. Linda Hamilton was iffy in this movie, but the helpless character that she plays was ok. Michael Biehn was terrific in this movie as was Lance Hendrickson.
Rating:
Summary: Der Terminator
Review: 'The Terminator' is a timely reminder that, once upon a time, Arnold Schwarzenegger was *way cool*, and that James Cameron was also similarly respected ('Aliens' is still the definitive Cameron film, though). Cast to perfection, Schwarzenegger dominates the film to such a degree that the hero, Michael Bhen, is totally overwhelmed. It's a very 1984 film - the action is extremely violent, the music is done with synths, and the bad guy carries an Uzi (the 'trendy movie bad guy firearm' for much of the 80's), but it hasn't dated too badly, as it's clear set in 1984 and works as a period piece. It's a model of how to make an action film, and how sometimes a bigger budget and more time can make a film worse. Initially, it sets up a complex, engaging plot in a few scenes. It then develops the plot with the minimum of fuss, moving swiftly through a mid-section that doesn't really pause for breath, before a striking climax and a neat, thoughtful ending. Not a scene is wasted, and not a penny is spent unwisely. Working on a tiny, 5 million dollar budget, Cameron keeps the effects short and sweet, and with minimal publicity and no real stars, the film must have been an unexpected surprised for the people of 1984. Schwarzenegger's salary for Terminator 2 was twice the entire budget of this film, despite which the sequel is inferior - bigger, more impressive to look at, but slower and clunkier, and with a horribly dull bit in the middle that a younger Cameron would have erased. All in all this is a classic piece of US cinema, and should be in your collection.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best
Review: The Terminator holds up surprisingly well against most of the big budget stuff made today. It's dark tones, rapid pace, and terrifically appropriate music make it a landmark in the action/sci-fi genre. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: educating the ignorant
Review: Many of the reviews whine that the transfer to DVD is poor qualilty. Their biggest complaint is the MONO soundtrack. First they want to know why it was not mastered in stereo. Well that is how the sound track was in the original film. Cameron made the right choice in making the transfer true to the original. The second thing they complain about is why the choice was made to do the original soundtrack in mono in the first place. Simple, it was a Low Budget Movie. It only had a total budget of approximately $6 million dollars! People seem to have forgotten that it was a total shock when it came out. I would not want to see the movie changed at all. It is perfect the way it is.
Rating:
Summary: Technical Aspects of DVD
Review: There are many very good reviews of this film below. Therefore, this review will deal solely with the technical aspects of the DVD. Amazon gave this DVD very poor picture and sound ratings (Picture: 3, Sound: 1.5). I was hesitant to purchase this DVD because of those ratings. However, the DVD is at a quality level similar to the actual theatrical presentation. Do not let these low ratings deter you from purchasing this DVD. The movie was made in 1984, so make no mistake about it, this film is not at a quality level similar to modern DVD films, however, this movie is more then "viewable." The DVD presentation of "The Terminator" is of sufficent quality for one to enjoy the film.
Rating:
Summary: The movie that made Schwarzenegger synonomous with action!
Review: Before The Matrix and Battlefield Earth there was The Terminator. For the 80's this was the pinnacle of sci-fi creation and with the tools available they did a marvelous job. A terminator, a heartless, mindless, beast of apocolaptic creation, designed for one thing, to kill you [similar to the IRS]. One of the truely great sci-fi movies. This was the movie that propelled me into sci-fi as a kid and still entices me now.
Rating:
Summary: A young woman with two strong men in her life
Review: It is now accepted that "The Terminator", the predecessor of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, is a classic science fiction film. This was not immediately obvious to a lot of people who only gave T1 the nod after the success of T2. I am happy to lavish praise on both movies. Consider though that T1 had a production budget of less than one fifth of T2 and you may start to get a feel for what an outstanding job was done on it.
Terminator is the story of a young woman, (Sarah Connor), being stalked. When you get down to it, that is the essence of the film and also the source of the suspense and empathy we feel for that character. We can all imagine what it would be like to have your life placed at risk at the hands of a persistent murderer.
Where this film pushes the envelope is that the stalker is a cyborg, (part mechanical, part organic), killing machine, (Terminator), from the future. Everyone else has said it so I may as well. Schwartzenegger was perfectly cast in the role of an emotionless machine of destruction. It's mission to assassinate the mother of John Connor, who was to later in time become the leader of an army that opposed the terminator's creator, Skynet. Said creator being a self aware computer that had taken control of the world by using the automated nuclear defence grid.
Sarah has an ally in the form of a soldier who volunteered to travel from the future to protect the mother of his commander against the Terminator. Played by Michael Biehn, Kyle Reese is determined to save the woman that he loves. He managed to fall for Sarah before he had even met her, through a faded Polaroid that John Connor gave him some years earlier. In my opinion, it is Biehn that shines in this picture. Yes, the rest of the actors were excellent but this was the first major film that Bein was in and he was nothing short of brilliant. I think that a large part of the horror we feel towards the terminator is a reflection of Reese's attitude and reactions to it. If this obviously tough and battle scarred veteran is brought nearly to the edge of hopelessness then you just know the bad guy is a serious problem.
Terminator was a fast paced film with a relentless series of suspenseful chases and terrifying action sequences. I could not at the time imagine a film that could be as gripping, that is until I saw Judgment Day, otherwise known as T2. Same plot only with the roles exchanged. This time the victim is John Connor a twelve year old boy, the original terminator, still played by Schwartzenegger, is the protector, (reprogrammed in the future). The bad guy is also a terminator, but this time it is an advanced prototype, (T-1000). No longer a Cyborg but a living metal organism that can flow into any shape it desires.
If I thought the first terminator was relentless then the T-1000 is unstoppable. Well, at least until he faced the newly buffed Sarah Conner in the dramatic finale. The special effects in T2 were ground braking and the attention to detail was flawless in every part of the movie. I have never met anyone who didn't walk out of the cinema after T2 with a look of stunned awe on their face.
|
