Dark sci-fi classic

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2013)

The film that gave Arnie true screen cred, and launched James Cameron's career, this modest-budget sleeper hit from 1984 has become one of the greatest-loved sci-fi films ever, featuring an iconic robotic killing machine, The Terminator.
The film makes full use of Arnie's imposing presence, a towering, relentless behemoth who carves a path of destruction, wiping out anyone in his way to assassinate his target - Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, who is about to learn the fate of mankind, and her destiny to play in it.
Like the titular character, this film rarely lets up, only pausing for brief moments when Sarah and her protector, soldier-from-the-future Kyle Reese - Michael Biehn - hide out in a motel away from the city. Much like the bigger-budgeted Aliens, James Cameron shows what he can be capable without mega-million-dollar budgets, getting great mileage out of limited resources. Brief visions of the nuclear-ravaged L.A. of 2029 still look fantastic for their age, a bleak, hellish landscape, where everyone is in constant fear of the roving robotic 'Hunter-Killers', and the Terminators.
This first film has a much darker edge than the others, sometimes veering into horror territory with The Terminator a virtually indestructible, literally inhuman foe, though one who still has human organs that have to be dealt with when too damaged - like removing a damaged eyeball for example.