The film which started the ball rolling for the franchise which is now, in 2009, once again the hottest thing in the movie industry.

Made on by far the smallest budget by a group of unknowns, the story and adventure feel make this arguably the strongest of the series.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the monosyllabic killing machine from the future, sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, the mother of the leader of the human resistance, before he is even conceived. But Sarah is not alone. Kyle Reese, (Michael Biehn) a resistance soldier, is sent back through time to protect her, and together Sarah and Kyle unwittingly conceive the same unborn saviour of humanity that they are trying so hard to protect. As Sarah (Linda Hamilton in a now-iconic role) says at the end; "A person could go crazy thinking about this!"

At its core, The Terminator is a flat-out action/sci-fi/chase movie. Look deeper at it and you could go on forever with the ifs, buts, maybes etc.

Arnie has never been better than here, where his physicality does much of the talking. He also proves himself to be a much underrated facial actor, and a lot of thought went into his portrayal as the cyborg assassin.

Michael Biehn's career would never quite live up to the success of this film, but he shines here as the hardened guerilla fighter.

Hamilton is perhaps the true star of the whole series, and the character certainly endures the most powerful character arc.

A high-energy, high intensityadventure sure to please any Arnie or sci-fi fan, and smarter than the average mainstream actioner.