The Terminator

James Cameron's debut is one of world's greatest wonders! Not only did we get an extraordinary visionary of a director who revolutionized mainstream filmmaking since the day of his inception, we also received one of the best actions films of all time - The Terminator!

With pure visual storytelling, Cameron directs our attention from scene 1 to last with utmost simplicity! On the surface, the film is a riveting action flick, but it's deeper than how it appears. The beauty of Cameron's script is that it doesn't explain itself, yet you understand everything, from the time loop plot, the stakes at question, protagonist and antagonist motivations plus where the primary action is headed! We see how our hero Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) grows from an everyday girl to a war-fighting soldier! There are always cues thrown in to show how she'll evolve to take charge and accustom herself to the storm that's coming! Transition of events from past to present and vice versa is effortless too! Juxtaposition between Kyle (Michael Biehn) and T-100 vividly shows the difference between two foreign organisms!

Arnold Schwarzenegger is terrifyingly intimidating as the humanlike cybernetic organism that mimics voices! He is relentless, unforgiving and doesn't hesitate to blow past you with a bullet. Speaking of bullet, The Terminator has pit stop after pit stop of fantastic action sequences! Police car chase, parking lot catch, truck pursuit, police building infiltration shootout and the climax in the factory are pure greatness! Brad Fiedel's pulsating theme music is epic! Stan Winston's animatronics will be remembered for its remarkable innovations! Bare-boned model 101, T-800 Arnold performing self-operation on his arm and ripping the cornea layer of his eye are iconic!