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Summary: Great Characters, great story for its time
Review: This is a fast paced, chilling and violent adventure in which the acting, characters, plot and directing just work very well together. I was at the edge of my set the whole movie, yet I was also amused by some of the subtle humor, symbolism, and little hidden messages that the director through in. Great movie.
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Summary: I'll be back (in 1991 that is)
Review: The first Terminator is not as good as the epic sequel that was made some years later. The plot is simple and this is still a fan fave and a cult sci-fi film.
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Summary: FANTASTIC Movie! Horrible DVD.
Review: I am one of the biggest fans of this movie (saw it many times in the theatre when it was released, bought the soundtrack on LP, have almost everything about it), and it IS one of the BEST Sci-Fi movies ever made - especially for its small budget. That said, this is one of the worst DVDs I've seen. The only special feature you get is ONE original trailer. No "Making Of" (which I have the VHS version of), No commentary tracks (come on James Cameron! Get with it! I love your movies and would love to hear your comments!), not even any other language or subtitle tracks - nothing spectacular on this DVD at all. I'm personally glad I have it because I'm a true collector of everything Terminator, but I can't recommend it for people who want more out of it. There really isn't much here in the DVD package - a waste of all that storage space.
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Summary: A classic of its genre
Review: James Cameron's "The Terminator" is not only one of the best actionmovies ever made, it is also among the most influential sci-fi films of all time. Even films like last year's "The Matrix" were at least inspired by the man vs.machine-story of "The Terminator".From the beginning to the end, this film is packed with incredible action scenes. It is especially wonderful that the action is not just there for its own sake. The fine screenplay motivates everything that happens onscreen. The film never lets up for one moment. In this respect, it is superior to its successor "T2:Judgment Day", which sometimes pauses for the sake of unnecessary discussions about the consequences of violence (Pointless in such an exhilerating spectacle). The film made a major star of Schwarzenegger, because his role was ideal for a man with limited acting ability. It also put director James Cameron on the map. He went on to helm classics like "Aliens" and "Titanic". Still, many people (myself included) believe that Cameron never made a film that surpassed his "Terminator".
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Summary: A Biblical Movie?
Review: Another reviewer already mentioned the Immaculate Conception. This was what went through my mind too. When you think about this film there is a rather biblical theme to it. Whether it's intentional or not is another question. What I mean is, when John Connor is conceived, Sarah is being impregnated by someone who hasn't been born yet. Technically, he doesn't really exist. So in a way, Sarah is like the Virgin Mary. Is it a coincidence that John Connor, the one who will save mankind, has the same initials of a messiah people worship already? Armageddon is, of course, a biblical theme. After it comes, John Connor will lead his followers in a battle against Skynet, which could really be interpreted as the Antichrist. The devil inside us(mistrust of the other side) was responsible for this defense computer being built, and unleashing the evil that followed. You may well laugh at my theory, I'm not a religious person. But if my theory is right, then this is the best screen adaptation of the Book of Revelation ever made!
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Summary: TERMINATOR
Review: GREAT MOVIE, YEAH, BUT WHAT WAS THE STUDIO THINKING WHEN THEY RELEASED THIS CLASSIC ON DVD, MONOPHONIC SOUND! ARE YOU KINDING? MOST DVD OWNERS ENJOY THE SOUND THAT DVD PROVIDES AS WELL AS THE SUPERIOR PICTURE AND EXTRAS. THE STUDIO TOOK MORE TIME TO EXPLAIN WHY IT DIDN'T ENHANCE THE SOUND THEN THEY SHOULD HAVE. MANY GREAT MOVIES HAVE BEEN DIGITALY REMASTERED AND THAT INCLUDES THE SOUND TRACK. ALL YOU FANS OF THIS MOVIE WATCH T2 IN 5.1 THEN THE ORIGINAL AND TELL ME YOU DON'T AGREE!
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Summary: Terminator
Review: This was a great movie. The first time I saw it I was about 7 years old. I especially liked the screen shots from "inside" of the terminators eyes. You know, when it shows what he is seeing. The special effects were cool (Example: the explosions). Very good movie. Very original.
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Summary: My favorite movie!
Review: This is the best movie because it has good acting, an awesome plot(that's not way too wacked out), and(since I'm a big 80's freak)awesome music. Oh, and it also has an almost unstoppable cyborg that kills, but there's more to that. I'm a big horror movie freak but this ONE action film is just outstanding! T2 is a terrific movie also but not as good as the original. If you don't have 'The Terminator' in your video or DVD collection then get it ASAP! This is definetally something you don't want to miss!
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Summary: Arguably Modern Sci-Fi's Greatest Story
Review: Is The Terminator the greatest story of modern sci-fi? One sure is hard-pressed to dispute such a mark. The excellence of the film really can't be quantified. The Terminator is a cybernetic organism - a machine fitted within a living body. It was created by a race of machines bent on the extermination of the remains of humanity in the Earth of a post-apocalyptic future. This Cylon-flavored empire has also discovered the means of time travel, and a cyborg assassin - Arnold Schwarzenegger's titular terminator - is sent back to 1984 Los Angeles. But following him is a human soldier, Kyle Reece (Michael Biehn). The purpose of both Kyle and the cyborg centurion is to find Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The Terminator's program is to kill Sarah, while Kyle's mission is to keep her alive and explain why she is being stalked. This involves several exciting set-pieces, such as a shoot-out in a disco, several car chases, and a massacre by The Terminator (after uttering the immortal "I'll be back" tagline) at LAPD HQ. Because he is a machine, The Terminator is impervious to almost all of the weaponry available in this time period. Amid the chaos, Sarah, after initially resisting Kyle, grows closer to him, and eventually both realize that his mission to protect her involves far more than either of them could have ever anticipated. The story gives the term Immaculate Conception an ironic and tender new meaning. The film's budget did not allow the kind of ultra-elaborate SFX of the 1991 sequel, but the effects work as it is does the job quite nicely, notably in Kyle's flashback where he and a squad blow up a walker machine and are then attacked by an aerial raider - shades of The Empire Strikes Back and Battlestar Galactica nicely rolled in one. There is chilling humor as well, from The Terminator's accosting of a trio of degenerates to the afforementioned "I'll be back" tagline to his curt dismissal of a janitor at a low-rent hotel. Director James Cameron has Schwarzenegger speak in the monotone of a Cylon, albiet without the synthesized harshness, and it pays off perfectly. This film was the breakthrough for Schwarzenegger, Hamilton, and director Cameron, and remains a breakthrough in sci-fi storytelling.
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Summary: Best Movie Ever
Review: Put Terminator in your Top 25 of all time, Life Mag., do it now, if you want to live. It has everything: story (true love, drama, and an unstoppable bulletproof cyborg with a hyperalloy combat chasis), great acting, stunts, and some funked out '80s music. This movie rocks.
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