The birth of a legend

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2004)

I have never seen Piranha II: The Spawning, and to be honest it's not high on my priority list. So to my way of thinking, this is James Cameron's real directoral debut. And what an opening it is.
To be just, it really shows its obvious budget limitations at times. The calibre of the action is occasionally lethargic and under-edited, which I'd bet meant there wasn't time or money to shoot and edit more aggressively. For most films, that would be it. But The Terminator has enough brains in its scripting and execution that the film as a whole remains a choice offering. The dystopian theme of the merciless future coming back to haunt the unsuspecting past makes this a deserved classic, and Cameron shows are rare budgeting genius as to what he can and cannot show to keep his audience impressed and off-balance (he knows we'll accept the time travel and the future with minimal evidence, but we'll never forgive him if we don't see the robot under there, so that's where he put all the money).
What's more, the actors give it a sense of just plain fun. Linda Hamilton may embody the 80s blond toy look at first, but soon shows herself to made of much firmer stuff. Michael Biehn has never received the attention he deserved after this film. He creates a completely different kind of soldier-hero, sensitive and vulnerable, deadly with the agility of a cat rather than channeling John Wayne. In fact, in the greatest of this movie's tricks on its audience, all the traditional macho hero requirements are fulfilled admirably by Arnold Schwarzenegger the killing machine. It makes one wonder about the spirit in which Cameron contributed to that Rambo screenplay.
In the final analysis, The Terminator is not to be missed by anyone who presumes to say they enjoy movies. It's a good one.