'The Terminator' is a classic for a reason. Easily one of James Cameron's best films and the perfect blend of horror, action, and 80s vibes. It still packs so much adrenaline and reminds us why retro sci-fi is unmatched.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2024

Guerilla filmmaking with a newcomer’s edge has rarely been put to better use.

| Nov 18, 2024

The Terminator, produced on a $6.5 million budget, reveals moments where the updated 4K video quality highlights its modest production roots.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 18, 2024

It’s engrossing, suspenseful, has a personality all of its own and absolutely stands the test of time.

| Aug 29, 2024

While Cameron would make better, more ambitious, and certainly more successful projects in the decades to come, none would feel so foundational to Cameron’s auteurism as The Terminator

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 1, 2024

Despite its simple plot and uninspired dialogue, The Terminator is an otherwise well-oiled machine propelled forward by the strength of James Cameron’s direction, Stan Winston’s special effects, and Schwarzenegger’s terrifying performance.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 7, 2024

Perhaps no other villain of the 80s is as iconic as Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator.

| Jul 18, 2023

This action flick has more than a few moments of intimacy, lyricism and tenderness as it confronts the bleak prospects for mankind from a matriarchal point of view.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 5, 2022

It's a powerhouse sci-fi action adventure which is undeniably the most thrill-packed movie- going experience for ages

| Jul 21, 2022

Although not a horror movie in the strictest sense, the film also introduced us to one of cinema's most iconic final girls...

| Jun 10, 2021

Never has a role been so perfectly sculpted for the Austrian bodybuilder, who possesses a powerful screen presence with little more than his menacing silhouette.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Sep 8, 2020

Though the production design is a bit flimsy at times, both the big ideas at work and director James Cameron's brilliance as a proactive, inventive filmmaker generate a powerful flow that cannot help but sweep viewers totally away.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 12, 2020

Sarah Connor's origin feels real and grounded in a way that most (super)hero stories never manage. She doesn't have wealth or fame. She doesn't get dosed with super juice.

| Nov 25, 2019

A fantastic blend of horror, action, and sci-fi.

| Original Score: A | Oct 2, 2019

Normally, Schwarzenegger's wooden on-screen presence is laughably bad, but his limited range works perfectly in this role.

| Jul 4, 2019

Forget that the premise is silly and the acting second-rate because director James Cameron has the action formula down pat.

| Apr 27, 2018

"The Terminator" brings film violence into the realm of the surreal.

| Jan 4, 2018

Those nightmares we've all had about being chased by some relentless, unstoppable monster? This is the movie adaptation.

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 18, 2017

Much of Terminator's greatness is due to its low-budget aesthetic and lo-fi energy; perhaps out of necessity, Cameron's sense of storytelling has a lean efficiency that both he and the series have long since abandoned.

| May 28, 2016

You almost forget the film's flaws - like the cartoony look of the war-ravaged future. Here, the most absurd excursion is believable and we go along willingly - stopping now and then for a breath or a laugh.

| Oct 26, 2015