The Terminator Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: The Terminator
Year: 1984
Director: James Cameron
Country: US
Language: English

"I'll be back" is not only the most iconic line in the Terminator franchise, but it's one of the most iconic lines in American film history. It has been re-used over and over again by Schwarzenegger himself, as well as parodied in numerous forms of media. In 2005 it was chosen as #37 on American Film Institute's List called 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes. The original line in James Cameron's script was a not so memorable  "I'll come back", but after Cameron changed the line Schwarzenegger suggested it be "I will be back". Relatively new to English, the Austrian-born actor thought "I'll" was too feminine. Thankfully Cameron stuck to his gut and refused to listen to Arnold. 

A cyborg is sent from the future on a deadly mission. He has to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a young woman whose life will have a great significance in years to come. Sarah has only one protector - Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) - also sent from the future.

Orion Pictures was a studio that wanted to be known for its artistic integrity, producing films like Amadeus and Platoon, thus they perceived their co-production The Terminator as a low budget action film that was intended to make a quick couple of bucks. James Cameron was living in his car at the time, struggling to make ends meet, and felt the film could be movie magic. The relationship between James Cameron and executive producer/Hemdale head John Daly went quite sour because of their view of what the film should be. Cameron felt Orion's advertising support was poor at best, as the company constantly denied his requests to beef up the campaign. Orion also wanted to end the film quite early, but the Canadian Director argued until Orion backed down. 

Linda Hamilton's acting in this entry was superb, although I felt her character was underdeveloped compared to Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Here she isn't the kick ass mother we know and love; rather she's dependent on a non-robotic male named Kyle Reese and plays more of a heroine in distress. The best performance is Arnold Schwarzenegger. He acts like a killing machine should; incredibly cold, sterile, soulless and unyielding. His facial expression never changes throughout the film and his physical appearance makes him slightly more imposing and intimidating than the Liquid Terminator.

The special effects are remarkable, though not as impressive and revolutionary as those seen in  T2.  The vision we see of the metal Cyborg walking from the truck fire is special effects magic,it looks quite believable even though the film was made in the early 80's. The score is memorable and the overall frantic tone of the picture create an atmosphere of suspense and urgency. While I normally roll my eyes at a Cameron film, Terminator is a good picture that is enhanced with the sequel. 3.5/5