You know the story. It’s 1984 Los Angeles and a completely jacked male figure appears in a ball of lightning. The figure steals clothes and weapons, and then begins systematically killing off women named Sarah Connor. A second being, the tough but a little worse for wear Kyle Reese, also materializes in LA. He arrives just in time to save Sarah J Connor from the muscly menace. On the run, he explains that the assassin is a cyborg, called a Terminator, who has time traveled from the future to kill Sarah. In the future, a nuclear apocalypse has put machines in charge, but Sarah’s son would go on to lead humanity in rebellion—hence why cyborg gym-bro is trying to kill her. The Terminator pursues the two humans, overwhelming law enforcement and leaving destruction in his wake. Sarah must find the strength to carry a burden she didn’t ask for and defeat the super-human monster.
So yeah, I haven’t seen this one—but I have seen Terminator 2: Judgement Day, which I think is an excellent film, so it was interesting to go back and start the series. Knowing the story, I didn’t think there would be enough “meat” to carry the film, but the flick works really well as a chase/monster movie. This film is Jaws with a robot. It works because we get to see Sarah grow, grieve, love, and self-actualize throughout the film, in between pockets of really sweet action sequences. Knowing the Sarah Conner of T2, I thought Linda Hamilton did a great job of playing innocent and naive without being whiny or—Willie Scott in Temple of Doom (released the same year). Perhaps some of the stop-motion effects are showing their age, and I thought the “love story” was a little rushed, convenient, and a little Stockholm syndrome-y. But you know what—I’m willing to look past all that and enjoy this film as a perfectly awesome popcorn flick and a great start to a new franchise/lore. I think that Jimmy Cameron will go on to make some good movies.