I've watched them both recently and I see The Terminator as a creature of its moment and, for me, it doesn't hold up...its too rough. Its fine for where I was at the time, its fine given the state the industry was in at the time, but crude by present standards. Still...it's a cracking good story. Terminator 2 I can stand behind. Even now it competes visually with anything that's being done now. I mean, the CG is a tiny tiny bit dated, but it was basically done pretty well. And so often imitated that it now feels a little clichéd, you know? I still think it holds up. I feel more proud of the second film as a film. I feel proud of the first as a moment in history, in my development as a filmmaker, and as a piece of writing and the accomplishment of a little scrappy team working under the radar. But as a film there are a lot of cringes in terms of the end result. For me its a great idea poorly executed.
