The Terminator [1984]
Director: James Cameron
Actor: Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lance Henriksen
The first Terminator film was considered a low-budget film back 1984. I guess that would put it en par with a film like Clerks in this day and age. Regardless, it is a visual masterpiece, with decent acting, and fantastic tension-building. Even the soundtrack, as cheesy and dated as it may sound, fits really well.
Sarah (Hamilton), is a young woman living in L.A., working as a waitress at a restaurant, going out on the weekends and trying to have some fun. One day one of her co-workers calls her over to watch a local news bulletin about a woman with the same name as her having been shot and killed, but she thinks nothing of it. When later that day another Sarah Conner gets murdered, the police starts to investigate in earnest. It’s obvious that the killer is going by the phonebook, eventually getting to all the other Sarah Conners. Just when Sarah realises what’s happening, she is approached by a rather creepy looking guy called Reese (Biehn) who rescues her from a massive guy (Schwartzenegger) who tries to kill her. Reese says he’s from the future and that he’s been sent to 1984 to protect her from what he calls the “Terminator,” a cyborg sent to eliminate Sarah because she’s going to be the mother of John Conner, the leader of the human resistance against the machine overlords of 2020. The chase starts from there as the Terminator relentlessly works towards Sarah’s demise while Reese works diligently to protect her.
Less polished than its sequal, the cool Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but what it lacks in polish, it makes up in grit and atmosphere. Double-thumbs up to this movie.