Review of The Terminator (1984) by Akshay H — 02 Jan 2015

The Terminator is a cinematic masterpiece and a milestone in the action and science fiction genres alike. It's dark, gritty, raw, and bleak; presenting many thought-provoking philosophical questions and social problems, such as: Can advanced machines become self-aware? Is the future set or do we make our own future? Are we doomed to inevitably destroy each other? And etc.

While those questions are all open to interpretation, there's no question that this film is fantastic. The Terminator was shot on a shoestring budget of only $6.5 million and therefore, the team had to get creative in presenting this complex science fiction tale.

Thanks to director James Cameron's keen eye for detail and creativity; as well as Stan Winston's brilliant set pieces and effects, most of which still hold up pretty well even today, truly bring their combined vision to life.

Despite being already both an action and sci-fi film, The Terminator is also ingeniously a horror film, often going back and forth between the action elements and horror elements seamlessly in order to display its darker and bleaker themes through Arnold Schwarzenegger's gripping portrayal of The Terminator.

Speaking of Schwarzenegger, he plays the merciless killing machine known as T-101 and just steals the show, using few words and solely relying on his emotionless but intense facial glares, imposing physical stature, and robotic movements to convincingly portray the character.

Michael Biehn gives the most powerful performance in the film, evoking a real sense of danger and potential destruction (and it's rather unfortunate he didn't do much after this because he's a good but underrated actor).

Linda Hamilton is a perfect example of a ordinary person caught in an extraordinary situation, amounting to much more than just a helpless damsel in distress that her character could've easily been.

All and all, The Terminator is a classic in the action/sci-fi genres and is, in my opinion, James Cameron's best film (as well as one of my favorite films of all time).