Ever since the beginning of the industrial revolution, people have had two views of technology. The first is optimistic. Technology will remove people from hazardous and monotonous situations. It will augment the human mind. The second view is pessimistic. Technology will enslave people, stifle creativity, and will lower the human condition.

The Terminator is clearly in the latter camp. It is the story of how technology got away from man, and ultimately decided that man had to be gotten rid of. To do this, it must send an assassin back through time to kill the mother of the leader of the human resistance, before he is born. This terminator will not stop until its mission is complete.

The leader of the human resistance is equally clever. He sends a foot soldier back through time to guard his mother against the terminator. Linda Hamilton is the object of everyone's desire in this movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the nasty robot with the really great lines, and Michael Biehn is the foot soldier.

This is a very simple movie with simple messages.

1. The future is not set. We get to choose our fate.
2. One person can make all the difference.
3. Stay out of Arnold's way.

This movie will give your kids nightmares: if you choose to show this to them, be sure to put a little money aside for therapy later.

This was the movie Schwarzenegger was born to star in. It ain't acting, it's attitude, and it is the role of his life. It's Hamilton and Biehn who do the acting, and they deliver performances that are far above what you would expect in a haunted house movie which, if you boil it down, this is.

The plot is clever, the production values are bent on making the film feel as real as possible. Sets and props are rarely clean. People have a "lived in" look.

No Suction!

Film Facts

Cast
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Michael Biehn
• Linda Hamilton
• Paul Winfield

Directed by James Cameron

Released in 1984

MPAA Rating: R

Reviewed by Mongo