Review of The Terminator (1984) by Ryan V — 20 Nov 2016

Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is a struggling waitress whose humdrum life is upended by a time-travelling killer cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who hunts her with ruthless and relentless efficiency. It turns out that she's going to give birth to a hero who will lead humanity against a robotic uprising in the 21st century; the machines, driven by desperation, are trying to kill her before she gets pregnant.

However, a time-displaced resistance fighter (Michael Biehn) has vowed to protect Sarah with his life. The Terminator turned Arnold Schwarzenegger into a superstar, propelled director James Cameron to the Hollywood elite, and launched a now-tired franchise, but this film is more than the sum of its catch phrases.

It has a rock-solid story structure, tons of cool action scenes, a gripping performance from Hamilton, an iconic turn from Schwarzenegger, a tight, no-nonsense pace, a tense and memorable score by Brad Fiedel, and cool special effects from Stan Winston.