Assassination and murder often makes for a thrilling story as it is, but what if the murderer happens to be a machine from the future? Unstoppable, invincible, unable to feel pain or remorse, unable to deviate from its programming. The terminator is an inherently scary figure, partly because of the traits mentioned above, and also because it comes from a scary future ravaged by nuclear war and a robot apocalypse.
The first Terminator film delivers its premise impeccably, and does so with an agreeable amount of action. Granted that all the sequels have surpassed this film in terms of action, The Terminator still delivers plenty of thrills as the titular machines brutally hunts down its targets. Most of the movie is comprised of chases: car chases, foot chases, with intermittent shootouts, explosions, and fights. In spite of this, the film drags very little; it's actually quite tight, as it effectively uses the space in between the action to develop the story and characters.
And the story is quite sound, partly because of its unique premise, and largely because it's told really well. It makes phenomenal use of flashbacks to reinforce the background and characters of the story. Its focus on the characters is superb, and you really grow to care for them by the film's end. Overall, the film shows great depth and detail to make it stand above and beyond most other sci-fi flicks.
The film looks great, with excellent photography and editing. A lot of scenes, such as the nightclub scene, leaves a great lasting impact. Acting is great: I love Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in their respective roles. Writing is pretty decent. This production has plenty of good, utilitarian sets, props, costumes, and special effects. Music is really weird, but very moody and appropriately industrial.
Highly recommended!
4.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Perfect | Film: Very Good)
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