The Terminator review

A cyborg assassin, the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzeneggar), is sent back through time to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) – a woman whose unborn son will lead the human race to victory in a future war against the machines. Sarah’s only hope is Kyle (Michael Biehn), a soldier sent from the future to chase the Terminator and destroy it before it destroys her.

I’m not sure what you’ve been doing with your life if you’ve not seen The Terminator. I couldn’t give two shits if you’ve spent your whole time looking after mentally ill children, a life without this film is a life wasted! Even the mentally ill children have seen it! The Terminator established James Cameron as a master of action and special effects, while turning Arnold Schwarzenegger into the undisputed action star of the 80s. And for good reason. The Terminator is a masterpiece of film making.

Cameron creates a dystopic future ruled by sinister robots, a future that is intercut with the dark and seedy modern day Los Angeles. Apart from the ruined buildings and human skulls lying all over the fucking place, 1984 doesn’t differ a great deal to the post-apocalyptic 2029. This serves to link you emotionally to the future so that you feel that it could actually happen. At times, the Terminator is wonderfully sadistic. It has a total disregard for all human life as it systematically kills its way from room to room round a police station in search of Sarah and Kyle. Effects by Stan Winston are excellent and while they maybe a little dated by today’s standard, still hold up 25 years on. The scenes in which Arnie performs a little self-surgery are fucking cool and are certainly not for the squeamish. Add to that some great one-liners, one of the funniest sex scenes ever committed to celluloid, action sequences that continually top the previous throughout the whole film and perpetual violence, you’ve got one of the best movies ever made. In 2008, The Terminator was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

The Terminator has spawned a whole franchise and is one of the few films that has a follow-up, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, that is just as good as the original. Its been much imitated but never bettered! If you’re unfortunate, or too stupid, not to have seen it then some of the ideas may seem familiar. But they won’t compare to the fucking mastery contained in The Terminator. And with a fourth in the franchise coming up later this year, there's no fucking excuse not to see it!

"It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead" out of 5