Toasters with attitude
 Jun 13th, 2001
Advantages:
Thrilling, classic film .
Disadvantages:
Cardboard case, looks good buuut I worry about wear and tear
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
Soundtrack
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  kingsanj
About me:
I'm a lazy ba@£%rd who spends all his time watching DVDs, listening to music and getting pissed. So ...
Member since:05.03.2001
Reviews:34
Members who trust:7
Review rated by 37 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
STARRING: Arnold Schwarznegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Paul Winfield
DIRECTOR: James Cameron
CERTIFICATE: 15
TYPE OF FILM: Sci-Fi Horror
LENGTH: 103mins
YEAR: 1984
The Story
In the not to distant future Cyberdyne industries produces a computer controlled military defence system called Skynet for the USA government. Skynet achieves consciousness, and perceives all of mankind as a threat; as a result it launches a nuclear assault at Russia, causing retaliation and near destruction of mankind. The remaining humans are hunted down and forced to work in labour camps making more machines, that is until they are given hope and led in rebellion by John Connor. Mankind has almost prevailed when they discover that Skynet has developed a time machine and sends back a Terminator (Arnold Schwarznegger, apparently OJ Simpson was originally cast for this role but Cameron thought that nobody
would believe such a nice guy could be a cold hearted killer), a machine encased in an organic human body, to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), John’s as yet unaware and un-pregnant mother-to-be. John sends one of his men, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) through to protect his mother and then destroys the time machine. Both the Terminator and Reese are sent back naked and unarmed, this is because exposed inorganic matter interfere with the time machine’s field generators, as a result both have to arm themselves, find transportation and track down Sarah Connor. Finding Sarah Connor is hard because most records were destroyed in the nuclear war, and if Reese does find her first he will have to find a way to protect her from the apparently indestructible Terminator.
The Film
This is a classic. I’d be surprised if there’s someone reading who has not seen it, and even more surprised if there is someone who does not already know the story. This film was filmed on a very tight budget (a bit different to Cameron’s later work Titanic) yet Stan Winston’s effects manage not to look dated even by today’s standards.
The acting and character development is excellent, with Linda Hamilton perfect as both the initial ditsy waitress and the hardened saviour of humanity at the end (amazingly natural process in only 103 mins). This is the film which sent Arnie’s career into orbit, and quite rightly in my opinion he is excellent as the emotionless killing machine even though he has very little to say (only 16 lines). Michael Biehn is excellent in his now typical role of hard but shy and vulnerable soldier, lost in a time he has no idea of (which is apparently how James Cameron felt when writing the screenplay as he was sick and alone in Rome). As I’ve said before, this film is a classic, according to the booklet with the disc it has direct references in over fifty different films, and to be honest I was surprised the number wasn’t higher.
The Extras
This is a special edition double DVD pack; usually this means loads of extras of little value. However, this film is The Terminator and so little things like deleted scenes, trailers and a retrospective featurette mean a lot more and are very interesting.
On DVD-Rom the disc has three adaptations of James Cameron’s scripts (original, fourth draft and final shooting version). Like I said above, for most films these would be of limited interest, but this film is different. There is also a booklet that has some interesting trivia facts about the film (the source of much of the opinion) and a really good menu featuring a revolving Terminator’s endoskeleton.
The second disc is packed with extra, which I have listed below in two sections. Still Material
·Artwork
·Production Photo’s
·Terminator and Makeup effects
·Visual Effects
·Publicity materials Video Features
·The making of The Terminator – a retrospective
·Other voices – cast and crew recollections of the making of the terminator
·Terminated scenes – though of little value alone, do show a lot more about James Cameron’s thoughts on the relationship between Reese and Sarah
·3 Trailers
·2 TV spots The only thing missing is a director’s commentary, however, in the booklet there are instructions on how to get it (that don’t work), so it might be present as a hidden feature, but why they would want to hide such a big selling point I don’t know.
Value
This is probably the cheapest Special Edition DVD out there, you shouldn't have to pay more than £19.99 anywhere.
Overall An amazing DVD of an amazing film with tons of extras. This is a must for all fans of the film.
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by (3%):
by (3%):
25.02.2006 13:21
Excellent review, Ellie.
20.08.2005 12:27
great review
15.08.2005 10:55
Excellent Review