A sci-fi tech-noir classic

Rating: 8/10 (2 May 2015)

This was one of those early movies that drew me in to the world of Hollywood. Of course, when I first watched it, I didn't have much idea about what went behind the scenes when making this movie. But now that I do, my respect for this movie has grown tremendously given what it was able to accomplish on such a low budget with such a small set of characters making what could have easily been a B-movie in the wrong hands seem like a solid sci-fi story ending with an epic feeling of the things to follow.
The movie begins with what is possibly one of the coolest title cards for a 1980s flick with Brad Fiedel's iconic Terminator theme playing in the background as the cast is listed in the form of messages displayed from a computer terminal. This is followed by the Terminator and the human making their appearances from the future into our present, gathering clothes and weapons and heading out in their own respective ways in the search for Sarah Connor, a teenage girl part-timing as a waitress upon whose survival rests humanity's future as both she and us learn later. What follows is a cat and mouse game where the human goes all out to protect her and the Terminator is all out to get her and it won't stop, literally right till the end.
What separates this movie (and its immediate sequel) from the "other" sequels is James Cameron's balancing act who, much like Spielberg, allows the story to take center-stage and drive everything else and has perfect control over the length of sequences, edits, camera cuts and angles. 10 minutes into the movie and you're in, drawn to this world, completely forgetting that the futuristic crafts and landscapes are miniatures with absolutely no chance of being drawn out of this world. While I didn't find the characters to be groundbreaking or as interesting as in other dramas, the plot was extremely well constructed and allowed for some really cool paradoxes that would make for some interesting discussion (would John Conner even exist if he hadn't sent Kyle back in time).
The effects deserve special mention too. It is incredible how much Stan Winston's crew and Fantasy II were able to achieve at the time. All the futuristic scenes, the sequence with the Terminator treating his injuries, the chase sequences and the entire ambitious final act all work and some of them still hold up three decades later. And Brad Fiedel's theme gives me goosebumps every time I hear it, as if signaling an impending apocalypse.
All the actors do well in their respective roles, particularly Arnold who shines in a part that seemed almost tailor made to suit his acting capabilities. But it is Cameron who is truly the star of this endeavor, believing in his project and driving it to execution. Thank God for the success of this movie, which gave us many more masterpieces by Cameron. But then, it was entirely deserving of it. A sci-fi tech-noir classic.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10.0