I wrote this on facebook, thought I'd share it with you guys. Bottom line is, anyone who has not seen the film 'The Terminator' MUST go and see it right now on pain of death:
So I just watched The Terminator all the way through with my adult mentality and critical insight primed and ready. As opposed to the other times I've seen it when I've either been a kid, playing a video game at the same time or started halfway through.
The film is fucking amazing. 5 out of 5 stars. It is the perfect archetype for an action movie. The screenplay is lightning quick, the dialogue is sumptuously self-aware; and the acting is absolutely comic-book perfect.
I don't want to make this note bigger than it has to be, so here is a list of points:
1. The film is so fucking believable. Every single action anyone does makes perfect sense. The Terminator actually KILLS people. QUICKLY. No bullshit standing over the downed foe and talking for 10 minutes about his master plans. You seriously feel that every way Sarah Connor escapes the Terminator is not at all contrived, and is perfectly understandable. The way the plot plays Connor into the club, with the police, Kyle Reese and the Terminator all in hot pursuit is masterfully executed; with not an ounce of fat on the bone. All meaty tension.
2. The soundtrack is AMAZING. Who gives a shit about homogenous, retarded modern day movie soundtracks. They are all trying to rip off Holst anyway. And failing. This soundtrack actually makes sense, actually makes some bold moves and the theme tune actually sounds like the movie says it should.
3. The special effects are spot on. Not too much, not too little.
4. The dialogue is razor sharp. It's full of hilarity and brutal efficiency. So many brilliant quotes. I now am asking every shop keeper I meet if they have a 'phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range'!
5. The story is actually very engaging from start to finish. I could imagine it going down a huge range of alleyways. The writers definitely didn't write themselves into any corners or dead-ends. Nothing was that predictable about the film, for me! Which is always a good thing, I find .
6. The action is efficient and realistic. That's what's so exciting about it. Who the fuck wants to see 10 minute battles? The scene at the end, where the Terminator is tirelessly chasing Sarah, is different, because it isn't a fight per se...and it takes on many dimensions. The way he ends up crawling towards here while she is herself dragging a dead leg gave me a slight tinged of Deus Ex Machina, but it soon went away and I enjoyed the masterful tension. I also very much enjoyed 'you're terminated, fucker'!
So in conclusion...I think 'The Terminator' is about as good as an action film can get. I feel sorry for the up and coming generation that so much action is hackneyed, trite and boring nowadays. Crank can go suck a meaty one.
The last, great action film to my mind was Gladiator, and before that The Matrix. Both films which made VERY bold moves, had very original soundtracks and genre-defining class. The Terminator is surely sitting at the pinnacle, however. I can't believe how good that film was!
I agree with most of what you said, but calling the special effects "spot on" is a little extreme a lot of the scenes with the terminator (the scene in the bathroom in particular where he's cutting out his eye ball) look really fake. I'm aware that this movie came out in the mid 80's but still to call it perfect is a bit much
KOFgokuon, I was more referring to the fact that the film isn't completely dominated by CGI scenes or completely over-the-top effects, in contrast to today's modern tripe. The intricacy of the eye-removal scene isn't important.
On June 21 2010 12:03 KOFgokuon wrote: I agree with most of what you said, but calling the special effects "spot on" is a little extreme a lot of the scenes with the terminator (the scene in the bathroom in particular where he's cutting out his eye ball) look really fake. I'm aware that this movie came out in the mid 80's but still to call it perfect is a bit much
It's not that this movie was made in the 80s... it was one of Cameron's first films, and hence -VERY low budget.
This blog warms my hearth. Why is 98% of what we see today recycled and re-recycled to death?
What I find quite interesting is that an 80's film (not this one, but talking in general) may be full of what we now consider clichés, but that's only the industry's fault, because at their time those ideas were actually original and innovative, they have just become overused.
Yes, exactly the same thing happens in popular music, and, even more worryingly, in video games :'(. When money gets involved, good ideas get squashed under the weight of this hideous question:
2 was very very good as well, however I felt it lacked the impact that the first had. The first did not have the same special effects, but there was such a thrilling suspense and fear. It was present in the 2nd part, but diminished.
I won't even bother mentioning the 3rd and 4th, they are something completely different and way inferior.
Oh the nostalgia in here is great. I couldn't have been more than 10 when I first saw this movie.
That's why we have the Thor Pilot because of Terminator.
This movie is so good that I rewatched last 5 months ago since I forgot how it went when I was a kid. Superb and this film brought James Cameron to another level in directing. Simplying checking the budget in the film makes me lol and tell myself how the hell do they make movies so epic with little money.
yeah, everytime I see something sweet but pitiful I always hear this soundtrack in my head of course.
On June 21 2010 12:51 minus_human wrote: 2 was very very good as well, however I felt it lacked the impact that the first had. The first did not have the same special effects, but there was such a thrilling suspense and fear. It was present in the 2nd part, but diminished.
I won't even bother mentioning the 3rd and 4th, they are something completely different and way inferior.
Oh the nostalgia in here is great. I couldn't have been more than 10 when I first saw this movie.
Hmmm, just a matter of personal taste I guess. I felt a greater sense of thrill and fear when watching Judgment Day. Though the first film was emotionally powerful and compelling, I thought Terminator 2 took an even grander and more epic perspective on the war - that though we are a very individualistic species, humans will sacrifice themselves and their personal happiness, even their lives, to continue the survival of our race. And in doing so inspire others, even intelligent machines, even our enemies. There are strong elements of this in the first film, but I thought the romance factor made it not worse, but a different kind of story from the second one.
Not to mention, I just liked watching the young John Connor and seeing the seeds of future brilliance in him as a child more than I liked the romance, as well as the romance was done.
One of my top favorite movies of all time. After watching this and later T2, I fell in love with the whole Terminator scene. Indeed a very incredible movie, Arnold plays the Terminator perfectly :D I'll admit that if the movie were remade now, the effects would be much nicer, but for a 1984 movie it was very well done. It isn't a particularly sappy movie and it's not over the top. It's beautiful in that you can describe it as "here's the situation, now watch as shit goes down." Agreed, everyone should watch this movie. It's fantastic.
EPT
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