The Terminator (1984) Review

The Terminator (1984)

The Terminator follows Kyle Reese, who travels to the past to save Sarah Conner, the mother of the yet unborn John Conner, who leads the fight against cyborgs in the future, from a ruthless terminator, who will stop at nothing to see Sarah dead. 

Oh the 80s. In terms of sheer imaginative and artistic difference, the 80s were a hell of a time for filmmaking. Nothing encapsulates that more than The Terminator and just how transformative it was for science fiction and cinema in general. It’s also crazy, seeing how far the franchise has come, from it’s beginnings, with the T-800 (Arnold) being the first villain (compared to where he is more of a savior in every movie since). Its been long enough between watches (like 15 years) that it felt completely fresh again, and in many respects, it was. It does the whole chase dynamic well, keeping the movie going and always finding ways to continually spice things up, from the terminator mowing down a police station, to thrilling car chases, to the final showdown, in all its mechanized glory. 

The Terminator works on almost every fundamental level because it expertly crafts horror and science fiction, accomplishing the latter in strides, as this is one of the more effective time travel plots out there. I also like the whole predestination paradox thing while Reese and Sarah, and how Reese was John’s father all along (something I loved that they haven’t touched at all in 6 movies). 

We get a small but amazing cast, starring Paul Winfield, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger, with what little acting experience he had thus far, is stellar, as he completely encapsulates the menacing T-800 in look, presence, and voice, acting as a true horror on screen (especially with those god awful prosthetics). 

The Terminator, directed by James Cameron, works on so many fronts, being an undoubtedly scary, thrilling, and exciting science fiction movie that checks all the boxes for any fan of 80s action movies and gives me a nice escape from the rather serious ones I feel I’ve been in indulging in as of late. 

8.8/10