The Terminator (1984)

I bought this on DVD in 2003 because I'd seen most of Terminator 2 on television in 1996, and gradually became curious to see what happened earlier. Also, I read that the first film was a better story.

Well, it's a crudely powerful story, effectively directed and acted, though I'm no fan of violent films and found it rather hard to take, so I watched it in short chunks spread over several weeks. It's hardly surprising that Americans are always shooting each other, if they grow up watching this sort of film for entertainment.

It seems to be a law of nature that all sf films are badly conceived and full of holes, and this one is no exception. Here are some of the things I don't believe about it.

Written in June 2003