The first and last good Terminator movie

I'm happy to join in here favoring T1 over T2. I say this as a fan of all the movies. T1 just felt more tight. We had Reese, Sarah and the Terminator. I also felt like the Terminator though it was basically unstoppable it was destructible and Reese talks about it's anatomy. In T2 everyone has a hard on for T1000 which is cool to a degree, but it's like overkill with no explanation. I've always wondered, it's a machine, where is the computer? Is it a bunch of nanobites in the liquid? Even the T3 computer made more sense. I also like how it was a human vs. machine conflict. T2 and on a machine is fighting on behalf of the humans. This makes Reese my fav. character in the series.

I could go on, T1 was just a more tight movie for me.

T2 is a case of the 90's when sequels had to be made to make as much money as possible. Eventually when money becomes less of an issue, there might come a sequel to Terminator that doesn't cast Arnold or makes a replica of his whole body, but goes deeper into Sarah's psychological state of being after the first film. Yes movies are bound to employ technology that uses old actors as young far more regularly and with 100% accuracy and believability. It might be a completely different type of film than any Terminator film, perhaps not even a action horror film, but that would be a sequel that honors authenticity instead of the expectations of more of the same.

I agree.

I don't careabout 'dark and gritty', which seems to be some kind of mantra for some people that equals to 'good movie' in their minds.

This movie isn't good BECAUSE it's 'dark and gritty', but because it avoids being politically-correct or 'family-friendly', it doesn't have those limitations and restrictions to do 'whatever it wants', and this freedom, of course, adds to why the movie ended up so good.

In my opinion, this movie is magnificently great because of many different reasons, the biggest being that 'everything somehow worked'.

It has the early eighties vibes, just amazing soundtrack, intense energy and atmosphere that can't be manufactured, young Arnold at his best, and it OOZES inspiration and excitement of the creators of the movie.

The way the movie flows, is also something unique - I have never watched another movie, where, if I just watch the beginning, I just HAVE to watch the rest - but instead of being a compulsion of any kind, it's a natural, organic want to just watch a little bit longer, and just to see and feel more, and then before I notice it, the ending credits are rolling.

Back to the Future is the only movie that comes close - it's also endlessly rewatchable.

There are so many sparks of almost 'cosmic' genius in this movie, that I am surprised something like this was allowed to exist on a crappy planet like this.

So many unique moments really draw you in, in a way that no other movie even comes close to. There's a difference between a 'vision-based movie, where everyone poured their finest selves into it' and 'cold, calculated, corporation meeting-based money-grab (*ahemT2cough*).

In so many other movies, there has to be 'this' and there has to be 'that', and then 'those' won't be allowed, and 'that' has to be removed, etc. etc. Every modern movie goes through a spiritual surgery, until nothing visionary or interesting is left, and it's calculated to be a sure moneymaker (except for the 'woke' movies)