"I'll be BOCK!"

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 1999)

Inspiring countless spin-offs, rip-offs, and parodies, this cold, gritty, tough sci-fi actioneer was the film that launched its stars and director into international stardom and jumpstarted Arnold Schwarzenegger's career.
The plot is pretty simple, but at the same time, mind-boggling. It's about a great war in the future: machines vs. humans. After years of combat, the humans eventually win under the leadership of Captain John Conner, and as a final counterattack, the machines blast a cyborg back through time to destroy the mother of Conner before he was born, thus preventing the humans' victory. But Conner finds out about the plan, and he sends back a military man of his own. So it's pretty much a battle of cat-and-mouse around the city of New York, as the military man, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) tries to protect Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) from his ruthless, unstoppable cyborg counterpart (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Jammed with breathtaking action scenes and believable performances, this movie became an instant classic, and director James Cameron, who would later win an Oscar for directing "Titanic," got instant recognition.
The dark colors alone in the movie make it memorable....(Can anyone recall more than about a minute of daytime in this film?) providing atmosphere that works. Awesome Arnie is also effecient as the Terminator, the ruthless cyborg, as he stalks Sarah and kills anyone who he has to in pursuit of her. But really, this is Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn's movie, as their characters are forced to survive together and Sarah must come to grips with the fact that she's the mother of the world's savior. Romance blossoms, of course, and all in all, I think it's the human story behind those two that really makes the film effective. Therefore, Arnold's really a backdrop for a bigger picture. His story really shows up in the sequel, which is also a great film.
See "The Terminator" if you have not yet. It's not for the squeamish, featuring drilling action scenes that drag on for a long time, but it's certainly worth as much money as you can spare to rent it!
***** out of *****