Today the original Terminator film returned to the cinema, 31 years after its first release in 1984. Supposedly the film has been re-remastered for its cinema showing. What I mean is, in 2012 a remastered version of the film was released on Blu-ray for the first time. Critics praised the release as better than all previous releases on DVD and Blu-ray, but added that it wasn't perfect. It was the best that could be done with a low-budget film from the 1980's. Now, only two years later, the film has been remastered again. What did they do? I can't say. I own the 2012 version on Blu-ray, and I was watching out for improvements in the cinema today, but I couldn't see any. The problem is that on a big screen everything looks better than it does at home. I expect that the new version will be released on Blu-ray soon. First I'll wait for the experts to compare it with previous releases. If they say it's worth it I might rebuy the film myself.
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The cinema was packed today. There are so many fans of this old film who still want to see it again. Of course, the special effects don't match the quality of today's films. It was made in the days before computer graphics. The robotic Terminator in the final scene is some sort of model, as is obvious from its jerky animation. The advantage is that it was partially damaged at this point in the film, so it needed to move unevenly. The fans, including me, overlooked this weakness. The strength of the film is in its powerful story. There's a love story, there's a battle to save the human race, and there are mind-bending temporal paradoxes (which are expounded upon in the second film). "Terminator" is a film that has everything needed to make it appeal to the widest possible audience.
And I was one of those in the busy cinema with you... :)
ReplyDeleteYes this was just as good a watch as I expected. The future scenes did stand up really well on the big screen, particularly the third one where Sarah's photo is lost.
I do think it's a classic story wise, but the action scenes are definitely weaker than T2 with the notable exception of the police station massacre: one of the best set pieces in the history of film.
Arnie of course got his career cemented by this film, and just as well as he also had that awful conan sequel out in the same year.
Would be great to see the 2nd film in the terminator series remastered too, as I believe Cameron hopes to see through.
"Terminator 2" was already remastered for Blu-ray, and as far as I know it was a first-class remastering, because the original tapes were in good condition. "Terminator" only needed to be remastered a second time because of the poor quality of the original material. I have T2 on Blu-ray, and I can't find any fault with it.
DeleteWell great to see it like the blu ray and on the cinema screen. I was only 8 and more into Robin hood first time of asking..
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