One of the best Films ever made

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2013)

The Terminator is easily one of the very best films ever made, in any genre. If i was to spend the rest of my life on a deserted island but could take 10 movies with me, quite probably this one would be on my list. Again, i'm not talking genre here; It's definitely one of the best SciFi/Action movies ever made, but it is also one of the best movies of all kinds ever made.
But let's stay with the action side of it for a while though: The action in this flick is simply awesome. Mostly done without special effects and surely without CGI, The Terminator defines cinematic action. This is what celluloid and cameras were invented for. This is the stuff aspiring filmmakers study in order to learn the craft of filming action. There are of course films with more action, but the quality of it is paramount here. Everything feels true, not a false moment, no laughable exagerrations. Camera angles, editing rhythm, performances. All elements are perfect and make the action reach you. This is how it should be done, and the reason why you're at the edge of your seat though you have seen much "phatter", "cooler", "crasser" action in the decades since 1984.
Let's have a look at the special effects now. I think the animatronics head shots are still absolutely valid today. The use of stop motion is totally visible, but those shots are not bad enough to catapult you out of the suspense. The model work is quite good most of the time, only some moments are a bit ludicrous. All in all, the effects are very watchable even in 2013 and far from being so bad that they would seriously impact the overall appeal of the film.
The music is awesome. I always hate it when a score dictates too much, when it is too classical for a movie, when it is too in-your-face, when it drowns action and emotion in too many notes, melodies, sounds. Here, the score is unnoticeable most of the time, which is always a good thing. Droning eerily in the background, it lets your senses focus on the carnage on the screen and the terror in your mind but also pushes the pace forward with its thumping industrial beats. Then there is the main theme; not much more than a single, brilliant melody, but powerful enough to transcend themes of love, pain, premonition. And when it finally echoes in the love scene, you understand in a split second that this is actually Sarah's theme and the whole movie is actually tinted with her emotions. In the factory scene, the music drastically changes into a horrifying medley of dissonant screeches, making the shift into the third Act just as audible as scraping away the Terminators living tissue and showing us the metal chassis underneath is making it visible.
There is not a single bad or even mediocre performance in this movie. All the actors are great, and i think Arnold does a hell of a job. Many people say he can't act but that he didn't need to here because he's playing a machine, so that it was alright. I think that's bullshit. Show me someone acting a machine and i show you someone looking real silly. *It's not that simple!* Arnold always knows what he does. He's a physical, agile actor, and perfect for the role, he makes you believe that this is a programmed killing machine, he makes the whole thing work. Biehn and Hamilton are at the top of their game and have a phenomenal chemistry. All the supporting actors do what they have to do perfectly.
One reviewer commented that "the script is one that other screenwriters wished to have thought of first". Another added that it is one of those scripts that is being teached in screen writing seminars; both is true. Cameron and Hurd delivered their masterpiece here. The story is strong, original and meaningful. There are no weak moments, no plot holes. The motivations are strong and genuine, and all the main characters arch. The finale leaves us with a very confident resolution, strong emotions of both the positive and negative variety and is very, very satisfying. In fact, the more you look at the story, the better it becomes.
Many people have criticized the time travel plot hole/paradox. But i think it all makes perfect sense: Reese is in his thirties, so he's born sometime between 1984 and 2029. He exists for one day in the year 1984, and for some thirty+ years in the "future". Connor sends him back, ending his existence in the year 2029. He dies in 1984, ending his existence altogether. You might ask "but what would happen if Reese was killed before having sex with Sarah?". But it's irrelevant. The story is what it is, just like you and me, we are here because our parents made love some day. The now is the result of all that happened, and the thing about The Terminator is that it gives Sarah a sneak preview of the future. So in the specific way the film deals with this kind of paradox, it also makes an intriguing statement about fate and predestination.