द टर्मिनेटर

There are actors,and there are movie stars.Arnold Schwarzenegger is without question a movie star,because every time he is on screen, he is,well,Arnold.There is a different Arnold in this film,and this is what I like about it.He,for once,is playing the villain,and to perfection,I might add.He makes for one of the best screen villains ever in cinema history.It's a pity that his "good guy" image won't allow him to play the bad seed more often,but that's Hollywood, I guess.Aside from the thrilling sequel,this is perhaps Arnold's best work.

The Terminator, created after another one of James Cameron's reaccuring dreams (Abyss was another one.) A true beginning in sci-fi movies. As Schwarzenegger said to his friend when he was picked to play the part as the Terminator, "they want me to play as some robot from the future in this weird sci-fi movie." His friend said, "take it." Schwarzenegger is perfect as the Terminator, merciless, no fear, no love, no pity, no remorse, no emotions. None could have pulled it off as well as he did. Even his eyes showed no emotion with still showing true evil. Michael Beign is just the opposite. A man sent from the future to stop this machine. He plays his part as perfect as Schwarzenegger plays his. A perfect cast of characters for an all star movie! Plenty of action, story line, plot, character interaction, love story, and romance. Everything is tied into this movie that possibly could be, making it a 3 star movie. Only drawback is it's a little dragged out at parts and gets slightly boring from time to time but it's so minor that one would have to think about it to care. A truly awesome movie.

I don't like action movies generally, and had to be coaxed into seeing this one by a friend. It was a major and pleasant surprise to me, and I left it with questions beyond the scope of the film, which always happens with the ones I really like (ie, Did John know who Reese was/would be when he sent him?). Most of all, I left it a Michael Biehn fan; he is great in this movie.

I just saw a horrifying, touching, very good movie again; it's The Terminator. Now to talk of it as great film, to compare it with American Beauty might seem idiotic--it's an almost unrelentingly dark, violent, frightening action movie, after all--but strip away the relentless action, strip away the technophobia, strip away the blatant dislike of cops and modern youth, strip away the poignant love story and, at its core, it's about an immature, essentially mindless girl becoming a strong, determined woman. That's a theme more movies should have if we want girls to have strong role models.

In the course of a few hours during which Sarah Connor realises that she is running for her life from a soul-less machine in human flesh that is implacably and violently determined to kill her, she transforms from a girl who can't balance her cheque book to a woman who can order a wounded, beaten man to "get on your feet, soldier." She is clear-headed, not panicky, focused in crisis and incredibly courageous. And it's not that she has lost her essential femaleness but that she's grown up.

It's relentless, heartless violence appals and fascinates me. It's gritty depiction of our society as a prelude to an even more horrific one in 2023 darkens my heart. It's quickly developing love story touches me. Its humor makes the dark places in me smile. But most of all I am touched and fascinated by Sarah's precipitous transformation. As a good life exercise, ask yourself this: Would you have the courage to do what she does?

9.5 out of 10.

For the gift of `Aliens' and `The Terminator' I am willing to forgive Cameron's `Titanic'. The key plot concept is beautifully simple - machines take over the earth in the future. Machines are eventually over thrown by one man. Machines travel back in time to kill man's mother, thus preventing him being born and stopping their own defeat. One human also travels back to stop the machines from killing his leader's mother.

`The Terminator' is a classic good versus evil struggle, with little in the way of greys clouding the issue. The terminator is an unstoppable brutal remorseless killer, and it perfectly suits Arnold Schwarzenegger's limited acting abilities. His few lines, including the infamous `I'll be back' are all well judged and timed, and give a great feeling of precision and inhumanity to his character. Coupled with his chiselled features, he's the best choice for the role. Michael Biehn is playing a character type that he'd reprise two years later in Cameron's `Aliens' - the human tough guy: he's got the fight, but still the ability to love and care for people. His features are well chosen for this and although his delivery of lines is hardly exceptional - they tend to come out in the same tone of voice - he's able to carry his part. Linda Hamilton is the woman-thrown-into-chaos, somewhat reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley character in `Alien', although Hamilton doesn't have Weaver's strength of presence. All the actors are, for an action science fiction, above average and so never distract.

It's the script, with Cameron's force behind it that lifts the movie from mediocrity. Yes, there's a certain amount of corniness - the `we loved a life time' element for example - but the movie has a real sense of conviction present. The movie believes in itself and, through its passion, will make you believe too. There's a general sense of darkness in the movie - rarely do we see daylight, and, when we do, it's often the soft light of dawn. There's a nice sense of tension in the action scenes, helped not only by Cameron's camera work but also by an excellent electronic score (including a fantastic brooding credit sequence). Sure some of the SFX look clunky in these days of `Attack of the Clones' and `The Fellowship of the Ring', but they still work. There's a certain sense of inevitability, intertwined with hope, permeating the picture that creates a mood I particularly enjoyed and that's harder to find in the current crop of science fiction movies.

`The Terminator' is not a perfect picture. The movie lags in some parts, and the romance element is fairly contrived. Despite all that the movie brims with energy and promise, a script that mostly delivers, characters you can enjoy, and the ultimate Arnie role. Well worth catching. 8/10.