Friday, July 15, 2022
The Terminator
- Commentary: Well, people, I looked, and looked, and looked and couldn't find a review of this movie by Roger Ebert anywhere (although the reviews from Three Movie Buffs, to which I linked to the title of this post, more than suffice). I was sure I was, somehow, just missing it. Then, I chanced upon this admission, courtesy of IMDb and a dead link to "ReelzChannel", although Reelz certainly does exist, but searches there for "Roger Ebert" and "Terminator", came up with no results. In case you don't want to wander over to the link, it says that Roger Ebert admitted in 2009 that he'd never seen this movie.
That just didn't seem plausible, and I'm nothing if not dogged, so, of course, I continued to look and discovered this clip from Siskel & Ebert's television show At the Movies in which Ebert not only admitted to liking the movie, but particularly liked the peculiar angle of the love story. Although the clip is not dated, it is clear from the conversation that Siskel & Ebert were reviewing it during the movie's first theater run, which was in 1984.
Why is all this important? Well, through the many years since its release, this movie has gone up and up in audience and critical appraisal. The following two links to articles about the movie at Roger Ebert.com [30 Minutes on the Terminator] and the first two movies of the Terminator series [James Cameron's great double feature] underline this growing enthusiasm. In addition, the movie is certainly memorable. Not only did I remember it well, as I described to MFS a few days ago, "There's nothing like watching Arnold Terminator unfold into earthly existence."
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Arnold Schwarzenegger The Terminator Michael Biehn Kyle Reese Linda Hamilton Sarah Conner Paul Winfield Ed Traxler Lance Henriksen Vukovich Bess Motta Ginger Rick Rossovich Matt Earl Boen Dr. Silberman
Here's a link to the Wikipedia write-up of the film.
Release Date: 1984
Directed by James Cameron.
Labels: apocalyptic, dramaF, horror2, popcorn-and-soda7, science-fiction2, spectacle2, super-hero2, suspense3, thriller3, tragedy2, violence4
