Intense powerful iconic

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2013)

In the future, the world has been taken over by SkyNet, a computer AI that achieves sentient and launches a global nuclear holocaust, in a bid to wipe out humanity. One man John Conner leads the human resistance. They are on the verge of destroying SkyNet when it sends a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to the present day to kill John Conner's mother. Connor sends soldier Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) to save his mother Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from the killer machine.
This is director James Cameron's first at bat, and he hits it out of the park. It is near perfection that started a franchise. First the story is perfectly constructed. All those hours of writing and rewriting during his deliveries really helped. Second the choice of Schwarzenegger is inspired. He is the perfect terminator. Third the intensity doesn't relent. It is a sci-fi horror that doesn't let go. It has the production of a much bigger action movie. It is a signpost for a genre, for a cultural touchstone, and for an era. It transcends being simply a movie.