Review of The Terminator (1984) by Kai82 — 24 Mar 2021

A remarkable science fiction movie from James Cameron that started a successful franchise, entered pop culture history and has of cause Arnold Schwarzenegger's most iconic role. In the future of 2029 humanity was heavily decimated after a nuclear holocaust and is at war with the supercomputer Skynet and its machines.

Shortly before being defeated Skynet sends one of his Terminators back in time to stop his biggest menace in form of the woman Sarah Connor. However the human resistance manage to send one of their soldiers named Kyle Reese back too.

Now the battle for the future of humanity begins. The story is entertaining, succeeds in worldbuilding and creating lore you are invested in. It has of cause some loopholes but I think there is no movie that is 100,0% perfect.

It matters that it is entertaining and works well. Action wise it delivers and has memorable scenes. It is a hard race against a seemingly unstoppable persecutor who will stop at nothing and has no compassion.

The practical effects for the movie were for its time remarkable and I have seen newer movies with higher budgets performer much weaker. You can see again and again how much effort was put into the movie.

The soundtrack by Brad Fiedel was great. It is amazing how a simple theme the Terminator theme is but is has become iconic. Lets go to the actors: We have in general a great performance and lets start with the Terminator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger.

It is his most iconic role that everyone relates him to it. He does an excellent job as cruel, logical and efficient killing machine (I am not even sure if he speaks more than 100 words in the movie).

Then we have Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor who is similar. She does also a great job and it will be her signature role too. She developed a lot in all the movies and the TV series. Finally for the trinity we have Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese.

He is a great actor and his filmography is as excellent as his acting skills. The rest is a good addition but the main appeal are these 3 characters. Overall this is an iconic movie that I recommend for everyone who likes science fiction.

It started the successful franchise that is still strong today even if the later movies are weaker (Of cause not Terminator 2 which is the best sequel in movie history or at least a frequent contender).

It has the tropes and stories that give immersion and kept you engaged.