30 cops? No problem!

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2003)

I saw the Terminator at my old neighborhood theater, the Alpine. It was the kind of theater where the occasional stray cat would run across the bottom of the screen on a Saturday night followed by one or two of his pals. It was the kind of theater where your shoe might stick to the carpet from all the spilled soda. It was the kind of theater where the occasional shootout had been known to happen, thankfully never while I visited. It was the last movie I got to see there because after it's run, they replaced it with "Cooley High" and "Them", the last two movies that would ever be shown there. The theater was torn down to make way for a McDonalds, which is still there to this day. I guess the reason I'm telling you, dear IMDB user, about the theater is because it was a symbol of "the old days" for me. I was ten years old when I saw the Terminator, nineteen years ago. Thinking about that fact while watching T3 two days ago made me feel a little sad, especially when it dawned on me that I had watched that movie and it's two sequels with one my oldest and closest friends. Sad to say, I think the state of movies these days has dwindled. I remember going to the movies in those years not only to see great special effects and unflinching violence (cut me some slack, I was a kid then; what kid didn't love movie violence?) but with the sincere hopes that I would be hypnotized by a great story. These days, it's rare that you actually get that. You might get some astounding special effects wrapped around a thin shell of a "story" and that's if you're lucky. The Terminator was one of those movies that blew me away when I first saw it and it did so with an intensity that still rivals most action movies I have seen ever since.
I'm not going to go into plot details because honestly, if you're reading this, I think you know what to expect already. For those out of the loop, just know that this is the movie that made Schwarzenegger and that's no exaggeration. The definition of ruthless in the dictionary should have a picture of him from the movie right next to it. I remember watching this movie and the feeling I got, when he went into the police station and mowed down everyone and their mothers who even dared to stand up and get in his way is still a feeling I get when I watch that scene, almost twenty years later. Not that I enjoy seeing the cops bite it in fantasy or reality but the thrill of watching an unstoppable killing machine destroy everything in it's path with such frightening single-mindedness in achieving it's goals.... it's really something else. This is one of those movies that I have never gotten tired of. It's a B-movie but a B-movie with heart. There's a reason that it was voted one of the ten best movies of the '80s and it's because it's infinitely rewatchable. All of the characters are memorable in this. The only gripe that I have with the flick is that the special effects haven't held up all that well and to be truthful, they were never really that good to begin with, even back in '84. It doesn't detract much though because this movie grabs you from it's opening shot and never lets you go. This movie isn't about how cool the effects are or how much action it has. It's a movie with a great story that doesn't get overwhelmed by anything else. I love this movie and I can't recommend it enough. If you haven't seen this movie, stop reading this and go get the damn DVD. If you think the movie sucks I will gladly refund the $15 or so dollars. Just be prepared to give me a convincing explanation as to why you hated it.
I hope that people reading this understand the sentimentality behind my review. There was a time when I used to enjoy looking forward to seeing movies on the big screen. I still enjoy the occasional movie in the theaters these days and it's funny how the really good ones are made on a smaller scale. I just feel like these days, it's all about how much of a budget gets approved and how much of it goes towards the film's big action set piece. That's fine and all but how about giving me a good story to go with it? Maybe one day, the flicks will recapture the imagination they once had without resorting to the ageing tactics employed today. Long live the Terminator, in all his stop-motion glory.
RATING: ***** out of *****.