The Terminator (1984)

You won't be disappointed!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A lot of fun.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This movie is very quotable and iconic. With thrilling action sequences and really fast pacing. Arnold is amazing as the t-800 and this movie is also amazing.

The Terminator is a tour de force feature film by James Cameron-a story so good you can't help but be involved. It involves a dire future where machines rule and humans are worse off than rats. A man-a savior by the name of John Connor appears from the future into the present to save Sarah Connor- his mother. They are hunted by The Terminator- a vision of artificial intelligence which is lethal and methodical and incredibly well played by Arnold who was stepping into superstardom. This is one of the greatest thriller (horror?) drama films ever and a staple of science fiction. Watch The Terminator asap.

Computers that control nuclear weapons become self-conscious and start a nuclear war to exterminate the human race. After the war, survivors, led by John Connor, are in the war against machines and they are winning. Machines send cyborg to the past to kill Connor's mother and prevent his birth. Humans send Kyle Reese to save her. The rest is history.From today's perspective, this action SF is still good, but largely out-dated. Subjectively, I would rate it six out of ten. But when you take into account that it was filmed in 1984, that it had a serious impact on the genre and career of several actors, as well as anti-nuclear message and warning that technology develops faster than our ability to manage it safely, the rating must go up.8/10I would like to add another observation. If the film was exactly the same as it is, with the only difference that Terminator was not a robot but a ghost or a demon or something like that, it would probably be classified as a horror. This movie has all the elements of '80s horrors, and the only difference that distinguishes it from them is the quasi-scientific premise.

I'm going to preface this review by saying that The Terminator is one of my favourite films of all-time. And a film i consider to be a near faultless action/horror masterpiece!I think by now pop culture and anyone who considers themselves a film buff knows what this story is about. So i'm not going to go into a long winded jaunt into the finer plot elements as they've been done to death already. However I wanted too highlight one area of the film that I don't think gets enough credit. And that would be the phenomenal pacing and editing. In my opinion The Terminator has the best pacing in a film that I've seen, and perhaps one of the best of all-time.The film starts with a small amount of exposition which is needed. But as soon as the film shifts to the present day the film moves at a thunderous pace and never slows down. Even in the quieter character building scenes the plot is constantly being propelled towards the films endgame.From the assault on the Police precinct onward the film maintains a constant fluidity of pure action intertwined with deep character motivations. There's not a single dull frame in this film, even after my thirtieth odd watch i'm constantly engaged and sucked into the film, and a-lot of this down to brilliant editing.The action scenes are also expertly shot and choreographed. The transitions from one set piece to other flow smoothly, never feeling out of place. It's a truly remarkable achievement James Cameron was able to accomplish on such a small budget.With exception to Mad Max: The Road Warrior I can't think of another action film that's paced to perfection. There are very few films that are able to balance action, character development and world building with as much depth as The Terminator. Editor Mark Goldblatt deserves just as much credit as Cameron got for crafting a flawless action masterpiece.