The Terminator

It's a bad time to be a movie reviewer. Nothing is coming out on time.

So let's set the wayback machine for 1984, to check out one of the best sci-fi movies and has left a mark indescribable in size for movies and pop culture. I was very impressed with this movie and it has been considerable time since I last sat down to watch it, we're talking easily a decade here. But I'll be damned if I said it didn't hold up. I actually did forget that James Cameron directed both movies, everyone talks about his work on Terminator 2 but never this one which is a shame cause he had it just as much then and I like the fact he wrote it as well so it truly does feel like his movie. Now the plot is as original as you see it to be, to regular moviegoing audiences the concept of a raging war between man and machine that has reached a stalemate leading both sides to send agents back in time, to save and kill respectively, an important figure that would lead to the defeat of the machines, would be an awesomely original concept and it no doubt is executed about as perfect as you can get but there have been other stories like it before that time and place. Hell, certain plot elements is a spin off of the Grandfather Paradox which in and of itself is a spin off of the Bootstrap Paradox. Google it. So it handles all the elements incredibly well. The time travel is explained and works uniquely, the action is done incredibly well, the special effects were really unlike anything else, even the romance angle isn't half bad. Add on top of that the great camera work, the f***ing hardcore soundtrack, really damn good acting, and you truly have a great movie. Now why it garnered so much popularity and success is another story, the film performed pretty well at the box office and critics did like it but at the same time it took 7 years to make the next film, an unheard of occurence then and more so now. This really could have been the one and only but it had a half life all of it's own. I think just the concept of the film mixed with the excellent special effects is what got people to go see it, but let's talk about Arnold. I have heard so many people kinda bash his performance, "Oh he looks obviously like a giant robot, walks like one, talks like one, it's sort of hard to take him seriously.". F***ing and?? How is that a bad thing? He embodies the role in an almost method actor way, he doesn't move more than he has to, rarely speaks, handles weapons with eerily precise speed and movement, I genuinely was taken aback by his performance but in the best way possible. He kinda scares the hell out of me just a bit, exactly as he should. The film knows how to build that tension, dread, and even anxiety especially towards the end. So...piss off maybe? It's a great movie, easily making it's own genre that Cameron himself dubbed Tech-Noir, a very appropriate title, and unexpectedly got raped into a franchise. It happens. 4 stars, 8/10! Will the sequel surpass this one like it does in many people's eyes? Possibly, but I would never argue if you said the first was still the best. I'll be back.