Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #565 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-03-19
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Terminator was the film that cemented Arnold Schwarzenegger's place in the action-brawn firmament, and both his and the movie's subsequent iconic status are well deserved. He's chilling as the futuristic cyborg that kills without fear, without love, without mercy. James Cameron's story and direction are pared to the bone and are all the more chillingly effective for it. But don't overlook the contribution of Linda Hamilton, who more than holds her own as the Terminator's would-be victim, Sarah Connor, thus creating--along with Sigourney Weaver in Alien--a new generation of rugged, clear-thinking female action stars. The film's minimalist, malevolent violence is actually scarier than that of its far more expensive, more effects-laden sequel. --Anne Hurley, Amazon.com

On the DVD: Rejoice, The Terminator is back, better looking and louder than ever. After years of inferior VHS versions, the cleaned-up print of this DVD is a revelation, as is the digitally remastered Dolby 5.1 soundtrack: from the opening MGM lion's roar to the crunch of Arnie's boots and the pounding of Brad Fiedel's techno-industrial score, both picture and sound are of a quality that belie the movie's age. The first disc has the movie plus a DVD-ROM feature containing three different versions of the screenplay, which can be read scene-by-scene along with the film. On the second disc there are seven deleted scenes, including a fascinating foreshadowing of Sarah Connor's mission in T2, as well as trailers and TV spots. There are also two "making of" featurettes, one being an 18-minute piece from 1992 based around a friendly at-home chat with Cameron and Schwarzenegger ("We did the first Terminator for the cost of your motor home on the second film", jokes director to actor). The hour-long "Other Voices" featurette is an in-depth montage of cast and crew reminiscences covering all aspects of the production from its initial genesis as a fevered nightmare to the "guerrilla" filmmaking of getting the final shots. Script collaborator Bill Wisher neatly sums up the movie as "It's a Wonderful Life, with guns". The second disc also contains a stills archive of production photographs, James Cameron's amazing original conceptual artwork, plus his first story treatment. If you own a player, how can you resist? After all, the Terminator movies are what DVD was invented for. --Mark Walker

Video Description
DVD Special Features:

Remastered with 5.1 Audio
Terminator - A Retrospective
'Other Voices' Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Foreign Trailer
Alternative Trailer
Teaser Trailer
TV Spots
James Cameron's Artwork Stills
Production Photos
Stan Winston's Photos
Visual Effects Photos
Publicity Materials
Original Treatment Script Stills
DVD-Rom Special Features :
Original Treatment Script
1983 4th Draft Script
Final Shooting Script

Synopsis
James Cameron's THE TERMINATOR is one of the tightest, tensest sci-fi films ever made and a landmark in the genre. In the year 2029, battles rage between the superintelligent machines that rule the world and the last vestiges of humanity. In late-20th-century Los Angeles, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) suddenly finds herself stalked by an unstoppable killing machine--a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent from the future to kill her and her unconceived son, John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance. Sarah can rely only on Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier sent from the future to protect her from the seemingly indestructible Terminator and save humanity. This low-budget masterpiece was the breakthrough film for director Cameron, who weds special effects, thrills, and understated romance to create one of the finest action films of the 1980s, which spawned many imitations but few equals. Science fiction author Harlan Ellison sued over the film's similarities to his own works, especially the OUTER LIMITS episode "Demon with a Glass Hand," and won acknowledgement in the film's credits. Schwarzenegger will forever be known as the relentless Terminator, a heartless killing machine who returns (in a kinder, gentler form) in 1991's TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY.

Customer Reviews

Great
Now when i read the one star reviews they said that it was heavily edited but when they said the eye surgery scene is missing, i was thinking they must have another version. My version has this in it so they must have bought another product, because i own the one that is listed here.

Anyway the film is a classic, not to be missed i recommend them all apart from Terminator 3. That was complete crap, you should not let new diretors near a successful franchise. But this is the best out of the quadrilogy, i say quadrilogy because T4 is scheduled for 2009 you need to watch this film if you are a Terminator fan or not, it is just perfect cinema, the right score and great acting. Definately one of my favorite films.

Not Hi-Def
This is a great movie but it is not in HD. The audio is horrible :(

Quality Sci-fi
A wonderful film that at its heart has a well thought out story, and for the most part does not betray the fact that it was filmed 25 years ago. I've just re-watched it for the first time in ten years and none of the elements that made it so good in the 1980's have really dated at all. Sure there are no mobile phones to assist Sarah Conner, and the stop motion photography near the end betrays the films relatively low budget, but all in all its a roller coaster ride that takes some beating.

The first hour is relentless action with a high degree of tension as well. If by chance you've never seen it before you are really won't be sure who wants to kill Sarah Conner. Of course if you've seen T2 first you may be even more confused....

Schwarzenegger was made for this role, and the idea of him being a cyborg with real flesh is entirely believable. If theres one criticsm of the film its perhaps that they should have dubbed a different voice (a bit like they did with Dave Prowse in Star Wars) when The Terminator speaks.

Credit must go to James Cameron the director, who was responsible for so many quality Action/Sci-fi/Horror films in the 80's and early 90's. Sadly Cameron hasn't maintained that standard and since directing Titanic (which itself wasn't that good and was 10 years ago now) hasn't made another as good as The Terminator.