The holy grail of Sci-fi horror.

Rating: 10/10 (5 December 2001)

IMHO, you can't do much better than the Terminator. It is sci-fi horror at its finest. This movie introduces us to one of the best villains ever seen next to Darth Vader himself. Anyone who prefers the kinder, gentler Terminator over the monster that Arnold portrays here is a person with quite different tastes than mine. Watching that cyborg calmly slicing his damaged eye out and impersonating Sara's Mom are chilling sights that you won't soon forget! Arnold absolutely makes this movie what it is, it's true that he was born to play this role, although all others involved are excellent.
Most people of course think of the "I'll be back" line, which has become Arnold's catch phrase, and has become rather tired. Not here. The things that the Terminator says ARE often funny, but not in a yuck-yuck one liner type of way. The key is that the Terminator is not trying to be funny at all! He SEEMS funny because he simply makes demands or states facts, which is not the way real humans interact. So we laugh when the Terminator says, "I'll be back", not in a "Arnolds bein' funny" way, but in a nervous, "what's the heck is he talking about?" way. He truly appears to have no soul at all, and gives the performance of a lifetime. So for those who like Arnold's newer, funnier movies, be warned- don't expect anything pleasant here. There is no kid, no happy ending, no "everything will be all right" message. The Terminator is very bleak, very scary, very dark, and not for everyone by any means. But if you like sci-fi horror movies this is the holy grail and may never be topped.
P.S. -I don't know much about guns, but listen carefully to what the Terminator tries to order in the gun shop early in the film. Also notice that he stares downward while talking in this scene because he's reading the list off his eyeballs. Great attention to detail, great stuff!!