The Terminator

Orion Pictures | Release Date: October 26, 1984

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

84	METASCORE Universal acclaim based on 21 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

Marjorie Baumgarten

Director James Cameron and producer Gale Anne Hurd (both of whom co-wrote the script) demonstrate their storytelling virtuosity. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Schwarzenegger is presented as a lumbering slab of dumb, destructive strength--the image is more geological than human--and Cameron plays his crushing weightiness against the strangely light, almost graceful violence of the gunplay directed against him. The results have the air of a demented ballet. Read full review

Glenn Kenny

Kineticism and suspense, combined with strongly conceived characters....Made Cameron a talent to watch. [13 Jan 1995, p. 67]

Jay Scott

An efficient, cold-blooded sci-fi splatter movie that never makes the mistake of forgetting that on some level it is deeply ridiculous. Read full review

Janet Maslin

A B-movie with flair. Read full review

PremiereStaff (Not Credited)

A model of economic storytelling....It raised the bar for movie action to a bionic level. [1 Dec 2003, p.13]

Richard Corliss

Plenty of tech-noir savvy to keep infidels and action fans satisfied.[26 Nov 1984, p. 105]

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

An amazingly effective picture that becomes doubly impressive when one considers its small budget. Read full review

100

Staff (Not Credited)

A blazing, cinematic comic book, full of virtuoso moviemaking, terrific momentum, solid performances and a compelling story. Read full review

100

Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson

The movie's scares are intense, but the notion that the Terminator would move on to politics is even more frightening.

EmpireMark Dinning

A tense, slickly executed thriller.

100

The GuardianPeter Bradshaw

Getting the extraordinary physical specimen of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the lead was a stroke of genius and a stroke of fortune. Each of his pecs is the size of a bull’s flank. It is a tremendous black-comic performance and, without Schwarzenegger, the movie is of course unthinkable. Read full review

Kirk Ellis

The havoc makes for a genuine steel metal trap of a movie that may very well be the best picture of its kind since The Road Warrior. Read full review

Josh Larsen

Those nightmares we’ve all had about being chased by some relentless, unstoppable monster? This is the movie adaptation. Read full review

Hank Gallo

It's rather confusing. But in the context of this wildly imaginative movie, it's all, rather exciting, too. Read full review

James Berardinelli

It's a rousing science fiction story that proves an on-screen adrenaline rush. Read full review

100

Tom Huddleston

From the slam-bang direction to the relentless pace to the not-a-word-wasted dialogue and even the driving synth score, everything else about The Terminator just works. Read full review

Bill Cosford

Fast, well made and utterly inconsequential -- The Terminator is a vintage "B," and it's good to know that Hollywood can still crank them out. [29 Oct 1984, p.C6]

Jack Kroll

The Terminator is a splendid meta-monster, Frankensteined for the computer age. And Cameron devises not one, not two but, well, let's call it X climaxes that will melt the hinges of your jaws. [19 Nov 1984, p.132]

Rita Kempley

When Terminator is not taking itself seriously -- and sometimes even when it is -- it's lots of fun. And filmmakers James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd don't drown us in blood, though it's not for the squeamish. Read full review

Paul Attanasio

A slickly made, shoot-'em-up sci-fi fantasia, it stands for the proposition that, inside the most staid local theater, there is a drive-in yearning to be free. [29 Oct 1984, p.B4]