The Terminator Movies

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

So my stepson is on an Arnie kick right now and wanted to watch The Terminator. I was his age when I saw it and figured, hey, good idea - so we watched it last night, I hadn't seen it in awhile. The movie holds up well. Arnold is great in the part, kicking ass and taking no prisoners and while some of the effects might be obviously just that, effects, they're still pretty cool even if they are starting to show their age.

I think the weak link in the movie is Linda Hamilton. She's not horrible in the part but not as completely convincing as Arnold is. She doesn't ruin in, in fact I think there are moments where she's quite good, but I guess maybe Arnold is so good as the emotionless killing machine that everyone else kind of pales in comparison.

At any rate, the MGM Blu-ray is nothing to write home about. Better than the DVD but then there's this British Special Edition that just came out:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Te.../34798/#Review

Looks like its time to upgrade.

I'll now have bought this on VHS, DVD, special edition DVD, Blu-ray and evidently soon to be special edition Blu-ray import.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

AVS' review isn't as kind to the picture quality.

http://www.avforums.com/movies/The-T...0/blu-ray.html

Has anyone here seen it yet?

[Scott Intellectual Carrot Find all posts View Profile Close Scott]

Awesome movie with a relentless pace. The soundtrack also kicks ass. Like ALIEN It's the only one in the series that's worth a damn, IMO.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

No, not seen the new release...but my thoughts on the TERMINATOR is pretty much the same as yours.....

It's a solid film because the story is kinda simple and no frills action film and (apart from a tacky club scene) there isn't THAT much to dat eit... It's also an action film that doesn't really slow down from beginiing to end....Arnold just keeps on going and going and going.

I think Linda is good in it...She plays the kind of "ordinary" girl caught up in this story very well.....But like you said..no competing with Arnold in this one...He just OWNS it....

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I like the club scene. TECHNOIR RULES! haha.

I was telling Alison last night that I saw T2 in the theater 3 times as a kid - once with my dad (who loved it) then later with my friends (who hadn't seen it yet) and then as part of a double bill at the drive in. At the time I remember thinking that it was the greatest movie ever made and that there was no way any movie would ever beat it. I also thought this about Wayne's World at one point though, so I didn't really know what I was talking about then.

Regardless, I haven't seen T2 in a while (though I have a feeling that will change this week) but remember it not holding up as well. I don't care for Edward Furlong much and I like Arnold better as the bad guy.

[Todd Jordan Smut is good. Find all posts View Profile Close Todd Jordan]

ARnold is so much better as the emotionless badguy. Robert Patrick made T2 worth while though, and those effects were MIND-BLOWING to me when it was in its theater run.

I always thought the otiginal suffered from some low-budget restraints in the FX, and although I love the movie I always though the aircraft at the beginning during the war scenes looked awful.

Lots of great lines in that movie though.

[The Silly Swede Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close The Silly Swede]

The first two are classics. The first one is best, as it is fast paced and brilliant in its simplicity. The second one tries to be to much, which hampers it a bit, but it is still an awesome piece of filmmaking. I like to pretend that the 3rd and 4th ones were never made, or at least that they are not parts of the same franchise.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I saw the 3rd one when it was a new release on DVD and only remember that it had that blonde chick in it and that it had a cool scene with a truck. I haven't rewatched it since and I haven't seen the 4th one but I own both of them on Blu-ray.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

Saw the third one.....remember bits and pieces but overall I think that by the time it was released there were bigger and better movies that had used TERMINATOR as a template...So part 3 was not as impressive or as "different"as the first two were (as they were both kinda"new" when they were released.....especially the second with its CGI)

PART 4...I was tempted to see it when I saw that CHRISTIAN BALE was cast...but I quickly came to my senses and avoided it like the plague.....

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

I hated the third one when I saw it in the theatre, but watched it not that long ago (my daughter is also on an Arnie kick), and it holds up pretty well.

The second one is still decent, though the effects have aged a bit, but man, Edward Furlong really bitches that one up for me. It's great, otherwise.

The first one is the best of the bunch. I'm not big on Hamilton, but she's alright in it. Oddly enough, I was eyeballing that UK release the other day because i got a notification about new Region Free titles on .co.uk. Might need to check it out.

Quick movie trivia....who is the only actor to have been killed by a Terminator, a Predator, and an Alien?

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

Bill Paxton? He was in Predator 2 I think.

[Andrew Monroe Pallid Hands Find all posts View Profile Close Andrew Monroe]

Yeah, I was gonna say Jenette Goldstein but she wasn't in any of the PREDATOR films I guess.

I'v been watching bits of T2 lately as it's seemingly on AMC everytime I swing by there. It still holds up pretty well but yeah, Furlong is a drag. The first one is my favorite and the only one I would rewatch from begining to end.

[Nolando Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Nolando]

First one was the first R-rated film I snuck into as a barely-underage lad. Love it now as I loved it then. I liked the 2nd one at the time it came out but, for me, it's not Furlong that hurts it as much as Hamilton being the focal point for Cameron's ham-fisted sermon. "War bad!" Jeez, did a 7th grader write that movie? The 3rd film is, I think, the easiest/funnest to watch when yer loaded.

[Ian Jane Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Ian Jane]

I liked the 2nd one at the time it came out but, for me, it's not Furlong that hurts it as much as Hamilton being the focal point for Cameron's ham-fisted sermon. "War bad!" Jeez, did a 7th grader write that movie?

We get a lot of that in the first movie too, it just comes from Reese rather than Sarah. It's not any more subtle though.

[Mark Tolch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mark Tolch]

Bill Paxton? He was in Predator 2 I think.

Yup, Paxton got killed by Arnie in the first Terminator, done in by the ALIENS, and smoked by Predator (2).