You Will Sure Wish The Terminator is Back!

Rating: 9/10 (28 April 2015)

In the not-too-distant future, machines rule the Earth and are locked in combat with a gallant band of freedom fighters led by their leader John Connor. Soon a murderous cyborg the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) - a remorseless, relentless bogeyman with a bone- crushing steel skeleton and a soul-piercing red diode glare - is sent back in time from the future to kill the mother of the as-yet- unborn leader of the human rebellion. Back in present-day Los Angeles, his mother – a timorous pushover waitress Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) - is unaware of her role in the struggles to come, until the arrival of our titular terminator, whose only purpose is to kill her and thereby change the future. Her only hope is a bashful guerrilla fighter Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) who has followed the T-800 back through time to prevent her death and evade any and all attacks from the killer cyborg, while gradually forming a romance with her throughout the mission to preserve her life. Can the Terminator track Sarah down and change the course of the future?
The story is deceptively tricky: In comparison to today's packaged thrillers, this is a surprisingly vicious little film, filled with indiscriminate killings and a rough-edged feel that makes it utterly compelling. James Cameron's direction of the ensuing chaos is masterful, and the characterization of the violence has something agonizingly original about it. He manages to generate maximum excitement from the very first frame and the dynamic thrills are maintained right up to the nerve-jangling climax. What really propels the movie, though, isn't the savagery but a well-written and taut screenplay with a nice eye for sharp detail that doesn't tend to drift off into the occasional ponderous bits. There's real heart and soul here, along with Arnold's best-ever performance - as a lumbering slab of dumb, destructive strength. Hamilton's performance as the bewildered waitress who will unwittingly become the savior of the human race is terrific. Biehn shines as Sarah's knight in shining armor.
The Terminator grabs us right away and carries us to the end with roller-coaster action sequences and clever time-travel twists. What it results in is arguably the best science fiction thriller of all time that throttles you with the air of a demented ballet.