BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: In 2029, giant super-computers dominate the planet, hell bent on exterminating the human race! And to destroy man's future by changing the past they send an indestructible cyborg - a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) - back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the woman who's unborn son will become mankind's only hope. Can Sarah protect herself from the unstoppable menace to save the life of her unborn child? Or will the human race be extinguished by "one mean hunk of mutant metal" (L.A. Herald-Examiner)?

FILM REVIEW: "The Terminator" is an historic classic; for me personally it's probably the best action film I've ever seen (from my own subjective standpoint of course!). Although its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, is far superior technologically and visually, this first film in the franchise is by far the best of them all, and in no small part thanks to James Cameron's brilliant script and direction in which he creates a moody, atmospheric landscape within which a battle between man and machine is waged. Arnold Schwarzenegger found his signature role, and some might say the only role he truly suits, a killer robot from the future with a deadly mission to kill Sarah Connor, the future mother of the human resistance against the machines in the future. Unlike other sci-fi films which tend to border on the silly or amusing side, this is a film you can take absolutely seriously, even with Arnie in the lead, and is a thrilling ride from start to finish.

After being treated to a post-apocalyptic nightmare of the future in the film's opening prologue, the film begins with Arnie's arrival as the Terminator in LA. He arrives completely naked, a fact that some street punks find amusing until the Terminator kills them in order to take their clothes. From there, we're introduced to Sarah and her normal life, and then to Kyle Reese, a human sent back in time to help protect Sarah from the Terminator. All three eventually come together in one particularly tense sequence in a night club where the Terminator reveals himself to everyone, pulls out his gun and is just about to shoot Sarah when Reese intervenes and saves her.

By today's standards the visualisation of the Terminator on screen (at least in the end) looks a little old-fashioned and clunky but it's no less thrilling. We are treated to a number of full body shots at the end which are stop motion and stilted, but this doesn't detract from the thrills, especially when in one sequence where we think the Terminator has been destroyed, twice, and he still gets up again. There's a great scene in the documentary on the bonus disc where the composer, upon first seeing this scene, says, "if that things gets up one more time I swear I'll... &%$#!". It's very suspenseful and entertaining.

Linda Hamilton does an amicable job as the vulnerable Sarah Connor; she's the girl next door who finds herself in an extraordinary situation and has to learn to adapt to an entirely new life once the Terminator enters the picture. Michael Biehn plays Kyle Reese with an almost manic intensity, driven to protect Sarah Connor at all costs. Throughout the film we are slowly treated to a more human side to the character who comes to fall in love with Sarah and thus conceive the leader of the human resistance, John Connor. Biehn does an excellent job, more so because it falls on his shoulders to explain everything that's happening, something I'm sure he wouldn't have relished. But at the same time, it's to Cameron's credit that this exposition which would have been boring otherwise is always told in the middle of a tense action sequence, so it's never boring.

Perhaps what sets this film apart from most action films is that everything is driven by the drama of the story, something you don't often find. So when the Terminator is chasing our heroes in a spectacular car chase with gun going off and parts of the city getting destroyed, we can still feel the tension and the drama in the scene for the characters rather than being a spectacular technical feat which so often happens in so many action films. As a result, you're constantly wondering if they are going to be able to stay one step ahead of the unstoppable cyborg.

"The Terminator" is a brilliant film; it might be a little dated now, but it's no less great than when it was first released.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: For a modest production from 1984, this film looks nothing short of spectacular on DVD with this transfer. Granted, the video isn't always great, there are some film artefacts and a general level of softness throughout the picture, but the colour and vibrance restored to the images are nothing short of spectacular, especially the night scenes which look fabulous. The soundtrack has been given a 5.1 surround sound overhaul (much like that one for Jaws) and is just plain brilliant, taking full advantage of any surround system it gets delivered through. This is an excellent transfer.

EXTRAS REVIEW: This 2-disc special edition of The Terminator is chock full of great extras beginning with two brilliant documentaries; one a retrospective interview with director James Cameron and star Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the other a one hour plus documentary featuring numerous interviews with cast and crew from the film. This only would have made a great extras package but we're treated to much more, including deleted scenes, stills, artwork, production photos, visual effects featurettes, publicity materials including trailers, original treatment scripts and script draft, and a wealth of subtitles. This is a strong set of extras that perfectly complement such a great film.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.