A Sci-Fi Classic That Turned Unknowns Into Icons Cements Its Legacy on Streaming

All the way back in the fall of 1984, nobody paid much attention to an upcoming sci-fi thriller hailing from the guy who directed Piranha II: The Spawning, which starred a bodybuilder with limited acting ability in the title role, along with a leading lady arguably best known for appearing in Children of the Corn earlier that same year, but that all changed when The Terminator was unleashed.

These days, it’s one of the rare movies to hold a perfect 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, while it’s long been lauded as one of the greatest and most influential films both the action and science fiction genres have had to offer. While the argument rages as to whether or not sequel Judgement Day is better, nobody’s going to deny that our first introduction to the titular cyborg isn’t an all-time great.

Almost 40 years on, and with a slew of inferior additional installments under its belt, The Terminator still holds up as a bastion of cinematic excellence, and it remains capable of drawing in viewers who are watching it for either the first, 10th, 50th or 100th time. As per FlixPatrol, the first of many undisputed James Cameron classics has become one of the top-viewed titles on the Google Play Movies charts, with the visceral set pieces and breathless pacing more than compensating for some dated visual effects.

There hasn’t been a great Terminator flick in over 30 years, and it’s not a coincidence that two arrived within seven years of each other with Cameron at the helm on each occasion. Even he couldn’t work his magic on Dark Fate, but the OG will forever remain unsullied no matter how many unremarkable successors follow in its wake.

via Orion Pictures

All the way back in the fall of 1984, nobody paid much attention to an upcoming sci-fi thriller hailing from the guy who directed Piranha II: The Spawning, which starred a bodybuilder with limited acting ability in the title role, along with a leading lady arguably best known for appearing in Children of the Corn earlier that same year, but that all changed when The Terminator was unleashed.

These days, it’s one of the rare movies to hold a perfect 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, while it’s long been lauded as one of the greatest and most influential films both the action and science fiction genres have had to offer. While the argument rages as to whether or not sequel Judgement Day is better, nobody’s going to deny that our first introduction to the titular cyborg isn’t an all-time great.

Almost 40 years on, and with a slew of inferior additional installments under its belt, The Terminator still holds up as a bastion of cinematic excellence, and it remains capable of drawing in viewers who are watching it for either the first, 10th, 50th or 100th time. As per FlixPatrol, the first of many undisputed James Cameron classics has become one of the top-viewed titles on the Google Play Movies charts, with the visceral set pieces and breathless pacing more than compensating for some dated visual effects.

There hasn’t been a great Terminator flick in over 30 years, and it’s not a coincidence that two arrived within seven years of each other with Cameron at the helm on each occasion. Even he couldn’t work his magic on Dark Fate, but the OG will forever remain unsullied no matter how many unremarkable successors follow in its wake.