The complete movie

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 1999)

First of all I'll say that this is my favourite movie. Granted there are better dramas, films with superior acting and deeper stories, but The Terminator, for me, is the complete movie.
You have a clever Sci-fi story, time travel, one of the best villains in movie history, a love story and relentless action.
The reason this film really hit the mark for me was when I first saw it. I was about 15 and saw it on video knowing nothing about it and I was blown away. For the first time the 'bad guy' didn't tie people up, drag out a death scene only to be thwarted at the minute. No this finally showed what a true killing machine would do. There's two great remarks in the film that I only picked up on repeated viewings: "Stay in a public place and you'll be safe" and "There's over 30 cops in this building, what could happen to you" (sorry not a direct quote words to that affect). These statements are then blown away as The Terminator just destroys everything that gets in his way.
On top of this refreshing callous violence is the wonderfully developed love story between Reece and Connor. It's so well done that the character interplay takes place at the same time as the main action.
I could go on and on as to why I love this film, but I'll leave it there.
By the way T2 was such a disappointment when compared to this. >10/10