This film marked the breakthrough for both Austrian bodybuilder Schwarzenegger and Director Cameron. The Terminator (Schwarzenegger), an invincible cyborg from the year 2029, is clothed in human tissue and sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Hamilton), a seemingly innocent woman. In the future, her unborn son, is a rebel freedom fighter for the human spirit in a world run by machines. Learning of the plot to kill his mother, Connor sends a warrior of his own in the hopes of assuring a future for mankind.
Special features include two featurettes: Creating The Terminator: Visual Effects & Music (13 minutes) and Terminator: A Retrospective (20 minutes), seven terminated (deleted) scenes, and high-definition previews.TS
The 1.90:1 MPEG-2-encoded Blu-ray Disc image is, in a word, impressive. The image is generally very good, with deep blacks, good shadow delineation, and vibrant colors, although the quality is not consistent. Details are quite clear, looking better than most other Blu-ray Disc early releases that are 20-plus years newer and shot with much higher budgets. (Danny Richelieu)
The uncompressed 5.1-channel LPCM soundtrack has dated fidelity that affects the entire audible frequency range. Like the Special Edition DVD, this is an impressive repurposing effort of the original mono theatrical dialogue, Foley, and effects stems, along with a new multichannel stem for the music score. The LFE channel is used well, highlighting the deep, tight bass delivered through the full-range channels. (Danny Richelieu)