The Terminator

This is a testament to the power of craft in building a movie. Made inexpensively but never feeling cheap, James Cameron’s first full directing credit (he worked a grand four production days on his first credited directing job, Piranha II: The Spawning) has the kind of polish one might expect from someone several movies deep. There’s an assuredness to the filmmaking and storytelling while managing to feel surprisingly unconventional and working exceedingly well at the same time.

There isn...