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James Cameron's first feature film is the perfect blend of Sci-Fi, Action and Horror. The major roles as cliché as they may be, are all exquisitely performed by Arnie, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn.
The Terminator in many scenes truly looked like a hunter seeking out its prey, especially in the nightclub scene which is so enthralling the first time you see it. Kyle Reese is as determined as the T-800 to stop its goal of termination and Sarah Connor, that very target of both future comers, in the middle and poorly confused. Hamilton's performance is impressive, but even more so when you see her transformation in the sequel.
The flashbacks (or flashfronts) give us a vague vision of the future without revealing a lot, but enough to spark a great sense of intrigue. The Terminator is partly horror for sure, the gory effects, futuristic yet creepy score, the T-800's approach to situations (ala dismantling thugs in a gruesome manner when they refuse to give up their clothes) and the direction which is very remisiscent of slasher films enforce my statement.
Michael Biehn's performance is amazingly underrated, the way his character evolves from a cold, emotionless and symbolically faceless soldier to one with inbuilt affection towards the barer of his leader is a magnificent display of character development, Sarah's transformation doesn't only start in T2, there are subtle things here that indicate the progressing of a princessy-type girl into a serious and commanding woman, stuff like bravely aiding Reese and completely disregarding her own safety when the T-800 is right on their tail.
Now Arnie, he's one mean machine, some say he doesn't suit the bad guy role but when it comes down to the nitty, gritty, he's in heaven as the killer cyborg. His face literally looks like a stone and virtually unpunchable, thus matching my real life interpretation of a machine-man, even his accent seems out of computer faults as it's not fluent, unsure if that was intentional or not, but it's pretty cool when you think about it. The love story between Sarah and Reese is so sweet that the ending death will have your heart broken.
Every single action set-piece is glory, the police station shootout is easily my favourite among any action movie. So many quotable lines, good looking prosthetics, varied settings, flashbacks into the war between machines and humans are downright haunting, car chases, creative ending, explosions etc.
Much goodness in here, I love this film. The Terminator held a special place in my heart as a kid and still does, it's not quite my favourite now but any other day, it could be. Oh and that thumping theme is music to my ears.
Review #12 - The Terminator:
(James Cameron, 1984)
(James Cameron, 1984)
James Cameron's first feature film is the perfect blend of Sci-Fi, Action and Horror. The major roles as cliché as they may be, are all exquisitely performed by Arnie, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn.
The Terminator in many scenes truly looked like a hunter seeking out its prey, especially in the nightclub scene which is so enthralling the first time you see it. Kyle Reese is as determined as the T-800 to stop its goal of termination and Sarah Connor, that very target of both future comers, in the middle and poorly confused. Hamilton's performance is impressive, but even more so when you see her transformation in the sequel.
The flashbacks (or flashfronts) give us a vague vision of the future without revealing a lot, but enough to spark a great sense of intrigue. The Terminator is partly horror for sure, the gory effects, futuristic yet creepy score, the T-800's approach to situations (ala dismantling thugs in a gruesome manner when they refuse to give up their clothes) and the direction which is very remisiscent of slasher films enforce my statement.
Michael Biehn's performance is amazingly underrated, the way his character evolves from a cold, emotionless and symbolically faceless soldier to one with inbuilt affection towards the barer of his leader is a magnificent display of character development, Sarah's transformation doesn't only start in T2, there are subtle things here that indicate the progressing of a princessy-type girl into a serious and commanding woman, stuff like bravely aiding Reese and completely disregarding her own safety when the T-800 is right on their tail.
Now Arnie, he's one mean machine, some say he doesn't suit the bad guy role but when it comes down to the nitty, gritty, he's in heaven as the killer cyborg. His face literally looks like a stone and virtually unpunchable, thus matching my real life interpretation of a machine-man, even his accent seems out of computer faults as it's not fluent, unsure if that was intentional or not, but it's pretty cool when you think about it. The love story between Sarah and Reese is so sweet that the ending death will have your heart broken.
Every single action set-piece is glory, the police station shootout is easily my favourite among any action movie. So many quotable lines, good looking prosthetics, varied settings, flashbacks into the war between machines and humans are downright haunting, car chases, creative ending, explosions etc.
Much goodness in here, I love this film. The Terminator held a special place in my heart as a kid and still does, it's not quite my favourite now but any other day, it could be. Oh and that thumping theme is music to my ears.