The Terminator (1984)

Rating: ****
Director: James Cameron
Music: Brad Fiedel
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton

James Cameron's brilliant sci-fi horror film about a cyborg from an apocalyptic future who gets sent to the past in order to eliminate the mother of their greatest adversary in the future. Make sense? The direction, acting, writing, sets, effects, action, and music are top notch and the film never skips a beat. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfect in the role of the relentless killer cyborg, which critics claimed would "ruin his acting career." Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton both deliver strong and dynamic performances, and surprisingly this film delivers one of the best love making scenes I've ever seen (in my humble and extremely biased opinion of course). It's sexy without being gratuitous, sensual without being mushy, dramatic without being insincere, and erotic without being sleazy. Extremely well done. A fantastic film that would pave the way to much higher greatness for both Cameron and Schwarzenegger.