A brutal, yet flawed classic

Rating: 9/10 (20 May 2005)

In 1984, little known director James Cameron picked up little known body building muscle man Arnold Schwarzenegger for a sci fi action movie 'The Terminator'. In short, both do very good jobs: Cameron, with his excellent provision of special effects and action sequences, and Arnold, expertly playing the terminator: an emotionless killing machine.
For the time, and even now, this film is nearly startlingly brutal. Less slow than 'Alien' and more in your face, this is a no-holds, dark piece of work, as this piece of human metal performs hideous operations and cold bloodily (yes, the Terminator has blood) kills innocent (or not so innocent) beings.
This film was a landmark for it's time, a lot to do with the special effects. Maybe less so impressive today, but the action sequences are frequent, and frequently impressive. This is tense, exciting stuff, from the word go. We care for our characters, but in a strange way, this Terminator has likable qualities: it manages to be so insensitive, yet so undeniably unstoppably cool.
Where this film faults is general errors. They may be little, and not hold back the entertainment value, but do stick out like a knife in the back. (Note: James Cameron directed 'The Titanic', check this website for goofs!) For instance, the tension is unintentionally held back in one scene where our heroin desperately shoves a quarter into a phone box and dials 911. Since when is money needed for emergency calls?
Still, this is brutal and effective: a classic, and still today, it remains and very solid, if faulted, movie.
***/ out of **** (3 and a half out of 4)