It’s been a strange and busy old month this month, what with Jenna’s new house and my family members seemingly dropping like flies, and I’m surprised we’ve managed to get together, but we did it! This might also be the second most fun I’ve ever had watching a movie with Jenna. I was about to say the absolute most fun, but then I remembered Sharknado. Nothing will ever beat Sharknado but this did come pretty close, especially with the exceptional CGI work! I think we’re both a little embarrassed to have never seen our pick this month, but hey, better late than never!
We were planning on watching Platoon for this month’s Blind Spot, but time and tiredness wouldn’t allow for it, and with Terminator Genisys out next month, it seemed like a suitable swap around.
If you didn’t know already, or had simply forgotten, The Terminator has been sent back in time to 1984 with one mission, to murder Sarah Connor, who, in the future, will give birth to John Connor, who in the future leads a war against machines and computers. Future John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect Sarah...and now my head hurts. Did I get that right? Yep I think that's right...ish!
A fly on the wall would have had a great time whilst we were watching this.
‘Oh, he’s naked!’
‘Umm...he’s very much naked, oh my’
‘Where’d that other naked guy come from?!’
We also had a funny discussion over the plot twist (spoiler alert, obviously) which we had worked out fairly early on, which went something like this…
Jenna: Oh, what if Reese is actually Connor’s Father? Wait, how would that even work…
Allie: No, no, what if he was actually John Connor’s Father!
Jenna: ...That’s what I just said.
Allie: I thought you meant Sarah Connor’s Father!
Jenna: How would that make sense?!
This conversation was too funny and also spanned about 40 minutes - i.e. it took Allie a further 30 or so minutes to come up with the same theory as me but without realising I had already stated the same theory 30 minutes earlier! 30 minutes!! It was 10!
This conversation was too funny and also spanned about 40 minutes - i.e. it took Allie a further 30 or so minutes to come up with the same theory as me but without realising I had already stated the same theory 30 minutes earlier! 30 minutes!! It was 10!
Sometimes I worry for us...but we do have fun when we watch movies together! Onto something more constructive though, I really did enjoy watching The Terminator. I kind of wish I had done so years ago when I could appreciate the special effects, because watching them know was laughable. Some of the stop motion effects were really dodgy, but that’s just down to the time this was made. I’m sure we’ll all be poking fun at our recent special effects in years to come. We shouldn't have found it funny because as Allie said it would have been great when it was realised THIRTY years ago, but it was a great giggle comparing the work to an episode of Thunderbirds and watching the scenes quite obviously change from prosthetic faces to real faces, real filming to stop motion!!
In fairness, looking past the graphics and CGI (or lack of it) this is a great Sci-fi movie, the concept is bloody brilliant (if you don't get tied up in time travel paradoxes as I did a couple of times while watching). Its terrifying to think that in the future machines could take over the world. Did anyone else think that the writers of Avengers: Age of Ultron may have taken some influence from Terminator?! There seemed to be a lot of similarities in both the storylines and the robots.
In fairness, looking past the graphics and CGI (or lack of it) this is a great Sci-fi movie, the concept is bloody brilliant (if you don't get tied up in time travel paradoxes as I did a couple of times while watching). Its terrifying to think that in the future machines could take over the world. Did anyone else think that the writers of Avengers: Age of Ultron may have taken some influence from Terminator?! There seemed to be a lot of similarities in both the storylines and the robots.
This is a really hard one to score. If I put on a professional blogger hat and analysed the effects, cheesy dialogue, etc, then this would have a lower score, but we’ve always scored films on our enjoyment more than anything else! As much as I took the piss out of the dialogue and the graphics I do have to account for when the film was released and the awesomeness of the story...
Funny you should choose this one, I've recently found myself thinking about trying to watch The Terminator again. It's certainly an intense movie but a lot of fun as you said. It's good that you finally got a chance to see it.
ReplyDeleteIf you liked The Terminator, I'd recommend taking a look at Terminator 2: Judgement Day. In some ways that could be considered an improvement on the first one. The special effects hold up a little better and there's also the fact that Sarah Connor has also grown into a much stronger character. The Terminator centers almost entirely around her transformation into an action heroine. By Terminator 2 we're able to see a lot more of Sarah Connor as a tough girl, as well as the Terminator from the first film become a good guy. I actually did a whole essay last year about how Sarah Connor changes between films:
http://hitchcocksworld.blogspot.ca/2014/12/sarah-connor-and-development-of-action.html
At the moment, I can't comment on the other installments since I haven't seen them. If you'd like to watch Terminator 3 I don't see any reason to stop you (I hear that one has a female terminator in it) but most of the reviews haven't been promising.
I've heard some good things about Judgement Day, I think I'd like to try and at least watch that before watching the newest one this month. It would be good to see Sarah Connor have a much stronger role, too! I'll check out your post with my lunch break today :)
Delete- Allie
Happy you guys finally got around to this one. It's truly one of the greatest sci-fi flicks of all-time. Even with the cheesy dialogue and badly dated effects. It's still ridiculously intense and, yes, fun. I agree with John about seeing T2. It's a must. Some say it's better than the first. It certainly holds up better from a visual standpoint. Personally, I like T3 also, but most don't share my opinion. I suggest seeing that one, too.
ReplyDeleteI've heard a lot of people say T2 is better than the first, I definitely want to give it a watch before seeing the newest one this month :)
DeleteNo doubt I'll be wanting to see T3 also :D
- Allie
Great review! The Terminator films are ones that I really need to re-watch. It's been years since I've seen them.
ReplyDeleteThank you :) I wish I'd seen it much sooner to be honest, and I'll definitely see at least the second one now!
Delete- Allie
This is what always makes me smile - the way a certain generation will look at the state of digital effects and say "that looks like crap"...all the while, the generation after them look back on the films that did things practically and say "that looks like crap".
ReplyDeletePretty cool story though, ain't it? Looking back, I realize I was shown this movie at WAY too young an age for it to really be appropriate (8), but I will always have fond memories of sitting there and being thrilled by those intense chase sequences.
this might have also been my first experience with nudity in a film too...
It's a brilliant story, definitely! I wish I'd seen it much sooner to be honest, but still old enough to really understand it :)
DeleteThe digital effects might have been lost on me, but those chase scenes still made my heart race for sure!
- Allie
Dated visual effects always inspire fun conversations. I love how you two let us in on yours. This one has always paled in comparison to James Cameron's second installment, 1991's T2: Judgment Day. That is a brilliant film with that high dollar CGI we have come to love. With the budget he had, though, Cameron really does offer a fun story here.
ReplyDeleteI think dated visual effects are a ton of fun, ha! I really need to see T2: Judgement Day now, I haven't heard a bad word about it. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze it in before seeing the latest one :)
Delete- Allie