I'll be back... (The Terminator (DVD))

Member Name: Critchyboy

Product:	The Terminator (DVD)
Date:	28/09/01 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant film, Excellent extras

Disadvantages: None

The Teminator was the brain child of a director who's only hit so far had been Pirhana 2: The Spawning and was the result of a nightmare he'd experienced in Rome. The end result is an excellent, if dated, thriller.

The Terminator will always stand the test of time, it is after all one of those films that taps into the fear within each one of us about the end of the world. It gets into the psyche and makes you really think about the future.

Time-travelling aside, if you try to work out the logistics of it all then you give yourself a headache. For example, Reese as John's Father if he only met Sarah in the past when he was sent from the future...I'm sorry. I need a paracetamol.

The plot is simple. Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a role made for him - hardly and acting or speaking - creates a monster so benign of any emotion or morality invokes sheer fear. Sarah Conner, played by Linda Hamilton, is astounding. Overtaken by the turn of events and the realisation of the future as given to her by Reese truns from Blond airhead into cyborg-crushing hardbird by the end of the film. The most subtle performance comes from Michael Biehn as the war-weary Reese whose mission is to protect Sarah from Arnie's robotic killer. Resse having been sent by the son he had not yet conceived in the future...I need another another paracetamol!

There are certain points in the film that look dated. The nightclub scene, for instance, and Sarah's clothes and hair-do. But they are minor quibbles. The effects too have dated but are still mindblowing for the miniscule budget that director James Cameron had to play with.

This is a classic film. Relevant and moving - especially given the climate of the world at the moment.

The DVD itself is crammed with extras ranging from documentaries to a varitable banquet of deleted scenes through production photos and everything in between! The DVD menus are brilliantly animate
d and the pulsing soundtrack plays underneath as you decide what on earth you're going to look at next.

The DVD-Rom had three versions of the script for those who really want to know how many lines Arnie actually spoke!

Picture and sound are, as with most DVD's, excellent and the film itself is presented in Widescreen - I have got to get me a widescreen TV!

Overall, this is a very pleasing double disc special edition. Cleanly packaged, bursting with information and a brillaint film to boot.

Summary: