The Terminator

Too much Harry Potter so I'm mixing it up again with another recent addition that I think is another reflection of my unhealthy man crush for James Cameron.
Prior to The Terminator, Cameron's directorial resume included Xenogensis and Piranha Part II. Needless to say I have ever seen either film and I doubt you have either. But, I can see why The Terminator was considered a sleeper hit back in 1984 even though the character of the Terminator has sense become a part of pop-culture.
The film itself is a cross between '80's slasher film in which a soul-less killer lays waste to everyone in his path in pursuit of one woman who doesn't understand why they are connected and sci-fi film. I wonder if people originally heard the premise for this film and simply let out a collective grown.
Now, according to wikipedia, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Not bad for a sci-fi film with a budget below $7 million dollars.
The film centers around Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton), a bad waitress with bad '80's hair who is just trying to have some fun when her life is put in jeopardy by a time traveling robot from the year 2029. Her savior also comes from the year 2029 and despite the acting of Michael Biehn, I can assure you the character of Kyle Reese is human. Both time travelers head straight for the phone book and The Terminator begins to systematically eliminate everyone named Sarah Connor. Thankfully our heroine is the last one listed and the first one Reese finds. There is a shoot out in a night club and a chase scene and from that point on the film goes back and forth between chase scenes and shoot outs as Reese tries to explain to Sarah how there is a nuclear war in the near future and the surviving humans are at war with machines for survival. He also must explain to her that the her son will be the one to lead the human resistance against the machines which is why the terminator is after her.
While this film doesn't feel like Cameron's own in the same way that films like Avatar, Aliens and T2 do, it does show him establishing a knack for constructing huge action sequences that are there for more than just the noise. The film also made Schwarzenegger a bigger star and cemented him as the top action star of the '80's. For Linda Hamilton, she plays the role well but it's strange watching her play Sarah Connor as so weak when you contrast that with her performance in T2. Of the 4 Cameron films I own this is my least favorite, but that is more of a credit to the other 3 than a knock on this one. When you factor in the time for which it was made, the budget and the experience Cameron brought to the film it's amazing to think that it was able to reach and maintain it's status in pop culture for so many years. I still enjoy watching this, but ultimately it only makes me want to watch T2 even more as I believe that one completely blows this one out of the water.