Review 13: The Terminator

By Rene Ritchie
last updated

Review is like app or game coverage but for movie series, television shows, comic books, and other geeky entertainment. It's great stuff you can watch and enjoy on your Windows Phone, Surface, Windows tablet, or Xbox! On this week's episode Don, Matt, Guy, and Rene talk The Terminator. It's a post-apocalyptic trip through the original and T2, with a dash of T3, T4, and Sarah Connor Chronicles thrown in for good measure. So how does James Cameron's genre-defining 80s flick hold up today? We absolutely, positively will not stop until we've talked it to death!

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Rene Ritchie
Rene Ritchie

Rene Ritchie has been covering the personal technology industry for almost a decade. Editorial Director at Mobile Nations, analyst at iMore, video and podcast host, you can follow him @reneritchie on Snapchat, Instagram, or Twitter.

75 Comments
  • Everyone knows T2 is better than T1
  • Only if you were born after 1985
  • This
  • I was born in 83 and saw the original after seeing t2. Original was better. 3 was terrible. Salvation was alright.
  • 3 was not that bad. It's the same as the rest. It had the best automobile chase sequence of all of them imo
  • T2 was definitely the best. T1 was good, but t2 was epic
  • I saw T1 and loved it, then saw T2 and loved it as well. They work together. When Sarah is running, the elevator opens, and the original Terminator steps out... That moment takes both movies working in perfect harmony to really knock you for a loop. And it does. Amazing set of movies. T3, T4, and Sarah Connor Chronicles have their moments. But the first two are classics.
  • I remember the first teaser trailer for T2 with Arnold on the motorcycle swearing he won't kill humans, that teaser only works if you know what the terminator did in the first movie. There are a lot of nice tie-ins to the first movie (the pictures from the police precint from the first movie compared to the mall pics, the terminator still being wanted for that crime, etc.)
  • Yeah, I look like a young Arnold everytime I take my shirt off... Salvation was really good except that John Connor talks like BatMan.
  • The original was better imo. "I'll be back", then s#@t gets real.
  • T1 was effectively a terrifying horror movie. It was genuinely scary what the terminator was doing. T2 was also scary, especially the revolutionary CGI of the time, however it was more action based. I guess that comes from being a much more expensive movie.. In a way their relationship is a lot like that between Alien and Aliens.
  • Original the best-especially when you see it the first time. "give me your clothes and your motorcycle"
  • Yea, All the Terminator movies still hold up today.
  • John Conner was pants in T3 tho
  • Sara Conner Chronicles was great, and left on a ridiculous cliffhanger
  • Yeah, still angry they canceled SCC. It was going really well.
  • That's FOX for you... always canceling great shows.
  • And making horrible new ones...
  • Firefly? :'(
  • don't even mention Firefly... :'(
  • This is a pretty random topic
  • It's as random as an app review :) You can get movies and TV shows on Xbox Video, so we're reviewing and recommending them just like we do apps :)
  • Still, it's odd seeing a movie review pop up on a tech site...
  • T2 better! But the chick in Sarah Connor's Chronicles is dayyumm!
  • Damn. That pic is so HOT ;)
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  • im not following you there
  • Oh it's LOL
  • One of my favorite movies!! Terminator 1 and Terminator 2 are the best! I think part 1 is such a classic! Could watch it anytime!
  • A classic with a masterpiece followup, which in my opinion is the best flick ever. A complete movie, which fully satisfies viewer each time. Even SFX didn't age, with the incredible animatronic opening scene. Truly a behemoth of sci-fi films. It's a shame that further Terminator's wasted the trademark. Even more, Cameron himself lost the way after great Terminator, fantastic Aliens and outstandingly marvelous Judgment Day. Let's just hope the next Terminator will be better than utter bullshit served in Rise of the Machines and Salvation. So help us God.
  • Oh, and the best role of Schwarzenegger. Milestone of his career. Sadly nowadays Hollywood isn't even a shadow of its greatness of 80s and 90s.
  • Well, you're only remembering the good movies from those years but there was some pretty horrible flix even back then. Mike from Vsauce does a video on why music was better back then. He explains that people only remember the good things.
  • Partially your right, but a quick selection clearly shows that older is much, much better. Sure action movies were cheesy, but hey it's written in their DNA, convention. Now they're just a bunch of cheap rip-offs from the past. Just look on Cobra vs Bullet to the Head, The Expendables vs IDK Con Air, Face-off or 2008 Rambo vs the old trilogy.
  • Hola... Partially, it is perhaps better to compare top 10 box office returns on a monthly basis.. E.g. May 2014 with May 1984 etc.. Its amazing how many classics appear all the time in the 80s but perhaps not so much now. There is a genuine structural shift in the quality of Hollywood movies now. Less original screenplays and more focus on superhero blockbusters designed to appeal to global market
  • Reevieu Zerteen: Ze Toermeneeitoe
  • God damn it Rene, now I have to
    watch T and T2 again. They never get old. Did I mention I have 9 copies of Judgment Day?
  • Yeah, I think you did mention it a couple days ago... Didn't you? Lol...
  • Hahaha! I just re-watched all 4, plus the Sarah Connor Chronicles first season. So much fun!
  • 9 copies? Are they all different formats and editions?
  • 2 BD, 7 DVD editons.
  • Might I ask why you have 9 copies?
  • Nothing like T1. Classic.
  • T2 was clearly ahead of its time. I can watch it now and still be amazed. Just like Aliens was better than Alien.
  • Ooohh, I don't know! Alien is a fantastic watch, and really builds suspense throughout. It's my favourite by far. Aliens was a little more "in your face" which is why I think the first is better, but Aliens is still great!
  • T1 was very good, but T2 was very an excellent followup.
  • After T2 Cameron said that her had reach his opus magnum, absolute peak of his abilities. Time shouted that not only his. And now just get hyped about Transformers etc. Don't get me wrong, I like Bay's action packed blockbusters, but they don't bring anything with then apart of topnotch SFX, jaw dropping but shallow action sequences and sexy female protagonists. Back in the days sci-fi movies used to not only amaze but also stimulate imagination. Now we have fast food quality movies with montage taken straight from MTVs music clips. Did sth fascinate you like Blade Runner in the days? Doubt it.
  • Are you forgetting Camerons brilliant Avatar?
  • You want more recent good sci fi movies check out those with Tom Cruise: Minority Report, Oblivion, Edge of Tomorrow...
  • None of them is even in the same dimension with juggernauts like T, T2, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Blade Runner, The Matrix Trilogy especially first movie, old Star Wars saga, Dark City, 12 Monkeys, The Thing, Predator, Totall Recall with Arnold, Event Horizon, RoboCop, The Fly, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Escape from New York, Donnie Darko, Cube, Jurassic Park etc. I'm not saying that all newer SF movies all trash, just to mention Children of Men, District 9, Moon, Inception, Serenity, both Abram's Star Trek's. The thing is they in majority don't have the secret sauce - subtle but crucial feeling of the 80s, 90s and 70s. Just look towards Alien and it's brilliant retro sci-fi setting or the dense, packed with tension and action atmosphere of The Terminator, T2 and Aliens. You weren't and aren't watching their storylines, you live it, soak these worlds
  • Runner is absolutely the dogs bollocks. Visually stunning film noir-ish, a bunch of great young actors and not forgetting Do Android Dream Of Electric Sheep came from the golden age of Sci-fi. Still unsurpassed
  • Yup, untreatable as a cyberpunk detective story in a delicious noir sauce. Hauer was amazing as Roy Batty.
  • Guys, could you provide a link for WP Podcast app when every time you publish one?
  • How would we do that? Daniel is looking into getting us into the app, but our old contact as MS podcasting isn't there any more :-/
  • Don't have an idea. I've subscribed within the Podcast app by copying RSS address manually.
  • That's the answer we keep getting, sadly. Working on it though!
  • What is the point of this thread? Are we going to get a review thread for everything we can think of to do on our win phones? Could become tedious....
  • We do 6 movie/TV shows a month. Way less than we do app reviews. Judging by a lot of the comments, people are into it. They should be. This is 2014, not 2004. :)
  • Starship Troopers next? It's worth reminding since Verhoeven left Hollywood showing a juicy middle finger to PG-13. Remember the brutality of Robocop (Murphy's execution) or awesome animatronic effects in original Totall Recall? Now look on the remake of the second one. The horror...
    Out maybe 2012 Dredd, which is pretty good and worth praising.
    Really good work guys, Review is the first podcast I download and listen to in my life. I just wish it would be shorter, more condensed - sth like plus minus 45 minutes. The same goes for WPC podcast.
  • Starship Troopers is absolutely on the list. So is Die Hard. We've got a good slate coming your way!
  • Great, don't forget about Alien, Aliens, duh, the whole quadrology. Maybe in November before Alien: Isolation comes out? I wish and believe that the game will be the long awaited and fully deserved title for the fans of the franchise. Let's not forget about H.R. Giger who passed away this month. Great artist, no, one of the best ever lived. Man of talent, outstanding esthetic taste and a true and unique vision. Thanks for feeding my imagination with art I can't even fully comprehend hypnotized by its greatness and all those childhood nightmares Mr Geiger.
  • T2 is amazing.
  • Astala Vista baby ;)
  • T2 is my favorite movie ever.
  • Terminator is the best, T2 is a good movie but not a good sequel, too kiddie and totally goes against the established rules of time travel in T1, at least T3 works more as the true sequel to the original and has the best action in the series! For me, T1, T3, TS, T2...
  • just wanted to remind you that xbox video is giving away a free tv show (lost girls season 1)
  • T2 is less a sequel than a big budget remake of T1 in many aspects. You can watch it without having seen T1 at all and still enjoy it as intended. I saw T1 during its initial theatrical run and was blown away. It will always hold a special place in my heart, and even though T2 is a technically superior movie, the grittiness and inventiveness of T1 has rarely been surpassed in action cinema since.
  • Man, I got a lot of catching up to do ! As always, Keep up the good job René. Say René, is The Wire still on your list ?
  • I haven't finished the Wire yet. I loved Homicide: Life on the Street and while the Wire is amazing, it takes me a while to get through it. Guy loves it though, so we'll get to it for sure.
  • I understand, looking forward to it :)
  • Asta la windows vista, baby.
  • Lol
  • I like Barney!
  • Great, don't forget about Alien, Aliens, duh, the whole quadrology. Maybe in November before Alien: Isolation comes out? I wish and believe that the game will be the long awaited and fully deserved title for the fans of the franchise. Let's not forget about H.R. Giger who passed away this month. Great artist, no, one of the best ever lived. Man of talent, outstanding esthetic taste and a true and unique vision. Thanks for feeding my imagination with art I can't even fully comprehend hypnotized by its greatness and all those childhood nightmares Mr Giger.
  • RIP H.R.Giger
  • The T2 teaser that was on DVDs originally where there was an assembly line of Terminators and a T-800 is being built and it says "I'll be back" greatest teaser ever.
    http://youtu.be/TbcmLPXuQzo