I’ve
been a big fan of THE TERMINATOR ($20), ever since the first time
I saw it. My admiration for this particular film has compelled me to own
each and ever edition of the movie released on disc in hopes of finding
the definitive home video version- one containing the absolute finest
presentation. Of course, owing to the fact that THE TERMINATOR
is a relatively low budget movie, finding its holy grail in terms of audio
and video presentations has been exceedingly difficult. However, it appears
that my endless quest may have come to an end with MGM Home Entertainment’s
super DVD release of THE TERMINATOR.
Stepping
back from the presentation for a moment let me say this; I think THE
TERMINATOR is a great science fiction/action movie. In fact, I am
willing to say that, in my opinion, THE TERMINATOR is far better
movie than its big budget sequel, that cost more than ten times as much.
Like the title character, the film has a driven, single-minded quality
that does not allow it to deviate from its sole purpose- to thoroughly
entertaining its audience in a tight, economic fashion. Director/co-writer
James Cameron maintains the film’s focus throughout- telling his story
in a rapid-fire fashion that maintains the excitement and tension without
a single unnecessary frame of film.
For
the most part, THE TERMINATOR is an out and out action movie wrapped
in the veneer of science fiction cinema. The plot of THE TERMINATOR
concerns a cyborg from the future, called a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger),
which has traveled back in time to kill a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda
Hamilton). Following the Terminator into the past is a resistance fighter
named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), whose purpose is to prevent the cyborg
from killing Sarah Connor- because it is she who will eventually give birth to humankind’s only
hope for survival. Utilizing its present day setting, THE TERMINATOR
has very few science fiction trappings, other than the unstoppable killing
machine itself and a few shots that depict a post apocalyptic future.
Without this unnecessary baggage, THE TERMINATOR moves smoothly
from one high adrenaline action set piece to the next. The film also boasts
completely believable performances from its three primary character, all
of whom give the story all the credibility it needs. Although Hamilton
and Biehn carry most of the movie, it is Schwarzenegger performance as
the emotionless automaton that no one has ever forgotten. Heck, Schwarzenegger’s
entire film career was pretty much made by his performance in THE TERMINATOR.
The film also features fine supporting performances from Paul Winfield,
Lance Henriksen, Rick Rossovich, Bess Motta, Earl Boen and genre cinema
favorite Dick Miller.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE TERMINATOR available on DVD in
a 1.85:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback
on 16:9 displays. MGM has done a great job with the transfer and this
is the absolute best that THE TERMINATOR has ever looked in the
home venue. Certainly there is no denying that THE TERMINATOR is
a low budget film from the mid-eighties, but the transfer does minimize
many of the limitations that were so apparent in previous transfers. For
the most part, the transfer provides a crisp and very well defined image.
Daylight shots filmed under optimum conditions look stunningly good, although
darker sequences that employed low lighting appear softer and less detailed.
Colors are strongly saturated and flesh tones appear convincingly natural.
Intense warm hues and the trademark James Cameron blues are reproduced
without any chromatic distortion or bleeding. Blacks are very solid, although
shadow detail can be wanting in places due to the film stocks used and
limited light sources. Very few blemishes appear on the print element
used for the transfer and noticeable film grain has been greatly reduced
from previous video incarnations of THE TERMINATOR. Clean dual
layer authoring completely disguises all traces of digital compression
artifacts.
For
this release THE TERMINATOR has been given a newly mixed Dolby
Digital 5.1 EX soundtrack. In comparison to the original monaural soundtrack,
viewing THE TERMINATOR with the 5.1 channel mix almost makes the
experience like watching a brand new movie. The new mix is far more involving
and really pulls the viewer into the movie- something that flat monaural
could never do. Directional effects are well placed and never sound overtly
artificial, which is sometimes the case with older monaural movies mixed
into the surround format. Channel separation is quite good and sound effects
pan around left to right and front to back in a reasonably convincing
manner. There are some frequency limitations in the original recordings
that date some aspects of the sound. However, the bass channel has been
pumped up to give full authority to the gunshots and explosions. Dialogue
is always completely understandable, although at times some of the voices
sound a bit thin. The original monaural English soundtrack is also present
on the DVD, as are French and Spanish 5.1 EX tracks. Subtitles are offered
in English, French and Spanish.
3D
animation and sound enhance the DVD's stylishly designed interactive menus.
Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some solid supplements. Side one of the disc
offers DVD-ROM features that include the film’s screenplay, which can
be accessed in interactive fashion. Flipping over this rare DVD-14 disc,
one finds the bulk of the supplements on the single layer side. The highlight
of side two is the hour-long Other Voices documentary that
combines new and old interview footage to give one a thorough look at
the making of THE TERMINATOR. Night quite as insightful is the
featurette Terminator: A Retrospective. Running under twenty
minutes, the featurette is comprised of T2 era interview footage
featuring James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Seven deleted scenes
with optional director commentary are also present on the DVD. None of
the scenes really add to the film itself and were obviously removed to
enhance pacing. The DVD also includes an extensive array of still images,
which have been broken down into five sub sections. There is a lot of
great material amongst the stills and is worth going through them frame
by frame. Three theatrical trailers and two TV spots close out the supplements.
THE
TERMINATOR is a science fiction/action
classic that belongs in every DVD collection. MGM Home Entertainment has
certainly produced a DVD edition completely worthy of the film. The movie
looks and sounds great, and with the addition of the supplements, this
is an absolutely must own disc.
I’ve
been a big fan of THE TERMINATOR ($20), ever since the first time
I saw it. My admiration for this particular film has compelled me to own
each and ever edition of the movie released on disc in hopes of finding
the definitive home video version- one containing the absolute finest
presentation. Of course, owing to the fact that THE TERMINATOR
is a relatively low budget movie, finding its holy grail in terms of audio
and video presentations has been exceedingly difficult. However, it appears
that my endless quest may have come to an end with MGM Home Entertainment’s
super DVD release of THE TERMINATOR.
Stepping
back from the presentation for a moment let me say this; I think THE
TERMINATOR is a great science fiction/action movie. In fact, I am
willing to say that, in my opinion, THE TERMINATOR is far better
movie than its big budget sequel, that cost more than ten times as much.
Like the title character, the film has a driven, single-minded quality
that does not allow it to deviate from its sole purpose- to thoroughly
entertaining its audience in a tight, economic fashion. Director/co-writer
James Cameron maintains the film’s focus throughout- telling his story
in a rapid-fire fashion that maintains the excitement and tension without
a single unnecessary frame of film.
For
the most part, THE TERMINATOR is an out and out action movie wrapped
in the veneer of science fiction cinema. The plot of THE TERMINATOR
concerns a cyborg from the future, called a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger),
which has traveled back in time to kill a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda
Hamilton). Following the Terminator into the past is a resistance fighter
named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), whose purpose is to prevent the cyborg
from killing Sarah Connor- because it is she who will eventually give birth to humankind’s only
hope for survival. Utilizing its present day setting, THE TERMINATOR
has very few science fiction trappings, other than the unstoppable killing
machine itself and a few shots that depict a post apocalyptic future.
Without this unnecessary baggage, THE TERMINATOR moves smoothly
from one high adrenaline action set piece to the next. The film also boasts
completely believable performances from its three primary character, all
of whom give the story all the credibility it needs. Although Hamilton
and Biehn carry most of the movie, it is Schwarzenegger performance as
the emotionless automaton that no one has ever forgotten. Heck, Schwarzenegger’s
entire film career was pretty much made by his performance in THE TERMINATOR.
The film also features fine supporting performances from Paul Winfield,
Lance Henriksen, Rick Rossovich, Bess Motta, Earl Boen and genre cinema
favorite Dick Miller.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made THE TERMINATOR available on DVD in
a 1.85:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback
on 16:9 displays. MGM has done a great job with the transfer and this
is the absolute best that THE TERMINATOR has ever looked in the
home venue. Certainly there is no denying that THE TERMINATOR is
a low budget film from the mid-eighties, but the transfer does minimize
many of the limitations that were so apparent in previous transfers. For
the most part, the transfer provides a crisp and very well defined image.
Daylight shots filmed under optimum conditions look stunningly good, although
darker sequences that employed low lighting appear softer and less detailed.
Colors are strongly saturated and flesh tones appear convincingly natural.
Intense warm hues and the trademark James Cameron blues are reproduced
without any chromatic distortion or bleeding. Blacks are very solid, although
shadow detail can be wanting in places due to the film stocks used and
limited light sources. Very few blemishes appear on the print element
used for the transfer and noticeable film grain has been greatly reduced
from previous video incarnations of THE TERMINATOR. Clean dual
layer authoring completely disguises all traces of digital compression
artifacts.
For
this release THE TERMINATOR has been given a newly mixed Dolby
Digital 5.1 EX soundtrack. In comparison to the original monaural soundtrack,
viewing THE TERMINATOR with the 5.1 channel mix almost makes the
experience like watching a brand new movie. The new mix is far more involving
and really pulls the viewer into the movie- something that flat monaural
could never do. Directional effects are well placed and never sound overtly
artificial, which is sometimes the case with older monaural movies mixed
into the surround format. Channel separation is quite good and sound effects
pan around left to right and front to back in a reasonably convincing
manner. There are some frequency limitations in the original recordings
that date some aspects of the sound. However, the bass channel has been
pumped up to give full authority to the gunshots and explosions. Dialogue
is always completely understandable, although at times some of the voices
sound a bit thin. The original monaural English soundtrack is also present
on the DVD, as are French and Spanish 5.1 EX tracks. Subtitles are offered
in English, French and Spanish.
3D
animation and sound enhance the DVD's stylishly designed interactive menus.
Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as some solid supplements. Side one of the disc
offers DVD-ROM features that include the film’s screenplay, which can
be accessed in interactive fashion. Flipping over this rare DVD-14 disc,
one finds the bulk of the supplements on the single layer side. The highlight
of side two is the hour-long Other Voices documentary that
combines new and old interview footage to give one a thorough look at
the making of THE TERMINATOR. Night quite as insightful is the
featurette Terminator: A Retrospective. Running under twenty
minutes, the featurette is comprised of T2 era interview footage
featuring James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Seven deleted scenes
with optional director commentary are also present on the DVD. None of
the scenes really add to the film itself and were obviously removed to
enhance pacing. The DVD also includes an extensive array of still images,
which have been broken down into five sub sections. There is a lot of
great material amongst the stills and is worth going through them frame
by frame. Three theatrical trailers and two TV spots close out the supplements.
THE
TERMINATOR is a science fiction/action
classic that belongs in every DVD collection. MGM Home Entertainment has
certainly produced a DVD edition completely worthy of the film. The movie
looks and sounds great, and with the addition of the supplements, this
is an absolutely must own disc.
