The Terminator (1984)

3/5

The Terminator is James Cameron's first big movie (unless you count Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, about flying killer fish, which I have not seen and do not wish to) and you can tell he doesn't have the same technical expertise as he displays in his later movies. But you can see the nuggets of talent that enabled him to make the two most profitable films of all time. Cameron loves special effects--and there are quite a few good special effects here--but they severely date the film. And the bad special effects (e.g., the animatronic Schwarzenegger) overshadow the good ones.

Make no mistake, Schwarzenegger is the reason to see this movie. He delivers killer one-liners with aplomb and keeps the tension throughout. Unfortunately, this movie has been overshadowed by its bigger brother and sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. And for good reason: the sequel is far better in just about every way. But this movie is good enough to put you on the edge of your seat and pull you in until the very end. I suppose that's enough to enjoy the movie, but it's not enough to keep it in the conversation whenever somebody mentions Terminator.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/

The Stone Carvers (1984)

4/5

The Stone Carvers, by Paul Wagner and Marjorie Hunt, is an exceptionally well-produced, eminently fascinating portrait of Italian American stone carvers working in DC on the National Cathedral. They understand the form so intimately that they make the whole 30 minute story seem so organic while simultaneously having so much direction and purpose in every shot and every scene. While the subject matter may not sound interesting to you now, the filmmakers are able to craft the movie around people who are entertaining, engaging, and full of vibrancy and life. It's hard to take your eyes off of them.

I did not like the PBS feel to the film. This one part in particular had some sort of instructional, descriptive scrolling text that seemed so archaic and out of place. Also, the subjects were at times difficult to understand due to their thick accents. That is not really the film's fault (yes, they could have subtitled it), but it does hinder your enjoyment of the film a little bit. It is a great watch and definitely deserving of the Academy Award.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0088177/

The Killing Fields (1984)

3/5

The Killing Fields is based on the true story of New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg and his Pulitzer Prize-winning work on the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia during the Vietnam conflict. The movie spans several years, with the majority of the film focused on trying to get his partner/friend/translator Dith Pran out of the communist-run country. There were some moments of nail-biting tension, some emotive scenes and arresting images, and some powerful performances. And that was about it. The music was so awesomely inappropriate that it almost undermined the entire movie. The film was magnificently overlong and terribly paced. Pretty much half the scenes served absolutely no purpose. And I didn't come out of the movie thinking I learned anything because it was so narrowly-envisioned; it wasn't anything but its own specific story. Still, if you are interested, it might be worth checking out; maybe you'll get more out of it than I did.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0087553/