One of the best action movies of the 80s!

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2007)

This movie is something of an enigma to me. It comes from an era in the history of film where a lot of really bad movies were made. Especially sci-fi movies suffered a lot of indignities (not counting Blade Runner, Aliens and the two Star Wars movies made in the decade) but also good action movies were quite far apart. For this movie to be a success in both genres is quite something. This is James Cameron's first masterpiece.
Acting wise the movie is nothing short of excellent. Arnold Schwarzenegger produced the role that would turn out to be his signature role in the terminator. His acting is wooden, stiff and very emotionless which is of course perfect as he plays a robot from the future and even though he was outmatched villain wise by Robert Patrick's T-1000 in the sequel he is still very memorable in this movie and the "I'll be back" line is one of the most memorable of the 80s. Linda Hamilton is great as Sarah Connor and creates a very likable, vulnerable and at the same time strong character and you can't help but sympathize with her. The strongest performance in my opinion is that of Michael Biehn who very unjustly never became a really big name in the movie industry because his performance as Kyle Reese is everything movie acting should be about. His character is both very strong but at the same time emotionally crippled. The way he plays the role with the exact right amount of desperation is pure genius. Lance Henriksen is critically underused in his role and unfortunately doesn't have enough screen time to really create a lasting impression and that's a shame.
The effects and action sequences are remarkably well construed, breath taking and exciting. James Cameron proves that he has a flair for action with this movie and even though the effects are dated they still somehow hold their own in a time where computer effects are dominating action movies. Especially the ending is very thrilling mainly because of the editing which basically makes the ending. The stop-motion elements of the movie work remarkably well, once again because of the editing. The film also uses full size puppets molded after Arnold's face and body and because of the lighting (and again the editing) you barely notice the change between real actor and puppet. Brad Fiedel's score has a very 80s feel to it and is practically the only thing that is not timeless about the movie.
All in all The Terminator is definitely one of the best action and sci-fi movies of the eighties and indeed any age. If you haven't seen it yet, you should. Don't think it's just another Schwarzenegger movie, it is so much more.
9/10