The Terminator (Remastered Edition) Blu-Ray Review

James Cameron‘s sci-fi masterpiece The Terminator finally comes to Blu-Ray with a brand new digitally remastered video transfer that fixes virtually every problem on the previously released disc that has been in circulation for years. The only kicker here is that you’ll have to import the disc from region B territories, like the United Kingdom. Still, this new version of The Terminator is the absolute best possible version to own and it’s more than worth the shipping fees to import the title.

In 1984 James Cameron completely changed the sci-fi game with The Terminator. He was then an unknown director working his way up the ranks and he somehow managed to make my personal favorite science fiction film of all time. The Terminator is the perfect example of a timeless film, because with each repeat viewing I find even more to enjoy and even little to complain about.

Sure, The Terminator wears its shoestring budget on its sleeve and it’s no acting masterpiece from Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it’s an intense experience that plays up its high concept flawlessly.

The story follows a robotic organism (Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent back in time to kill the mother of the leader of the human resistance in the futuristic apocalypse. Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in 1984 is simply a young adult with a job as a waitress and no real life goals aside from what her Friday night holds. That all changes when she encounters this emotionless killing machine from the future, but lucky for her Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) was also sent back in time, as a protector.

Sarah and Kyle battle this deadly robot as Kyle attempts to prepare Sarah for her grim future, while also keeping her alive in present time. James Cameron directs The Terminator with brutal intensity and incredible originality. It’s really shocking watching the film almost 30 years later and still being extremely impressed with it. The special effects are dated, but still show as pioneering and groundbreaking material. The use of practical effects is always something worthy of praise and the effort on behalf of everyone involved did not go to waste. The Terminator still is a marvel to look at and to experience.

Cameron’s script wastes little time and uses every single second to build on the near-death pressure that’s constantly being applied to Sarah and Kyle as they run out of options to defeat the Terminator. The conclusion is tight and crucial to the franchises eventual future and Cameron’s name will forever go down in history for creating such a film.

Arnold Schwarzenegger gained the most popularity from the film, portraying the non-stop killing machine without a pulse, but the most impressive performance goes to Linda Hamilton for providing us with yet another strong female character to root for. Michael Biehn might also be one of the strongest characters of the entire series, yet he only gets one film to expand upon the character and the importance of Kyle Reese.

The Terminator is still my all-time favorite science fiction movie and one of the best action films ever put onto a screen.

The Terminator comes to Blu-Ray with an all-new digitally remastered 1080p video transfer that is absolutely gorgeous. Some have already started complaining about the film’s grey filtering, but I promise you it only enhances the clarity and depth. Up-close shots are spread out with an overabundance of balanced depth and coloring, with overly grainy and hard to make out darkness being a thing of the past. This might very well be one of the best catalog releases I’ve ever laid my eyes upon.

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is an improvement as well, with all channels helping to create a deeper and harder hitting track that blasts bullet holes into your couch as Arnold stalks and attempts to kill Sarah and Kyle. This track particularly gives new life to the back channels, with lots of gunfire showering the channels. Dialogue is ever present on the front channels and never hard to understand.

Here’s a list of the bonus content found on the disc:

• Creating The Terminator: Visual Effects & Music (SD)
• Terminator: A Retrospect (SD)
• Terminated Scenes (SD)

Finally, the best-looking and sounding version of The Terminator is widely available on Blu-Ray. The previous release suffered from a beat-up and lacking video transfer, which crippled the effectiveness of the Blu-Ray disc and made a double dip inevitable. This newly remastered edition is perfect from a video and audio standpoint, but feels slightly light in the special features category.

I doubt we’ll see this version available in the US for a few more years, so fans of the film will want to pull the trigger and import this disc while it’s still relatively cheap.

The Terminator remains one of the best science fiction movies ever made and I doubt that’ll ever change as long as this disc is in circulation and widely available to the public. Buy it and truly complete your Terminator collection today.