THE FILMS
Contrary to some other posters on this thread, I have to say that the first Terminator is not only my personal favourite of the series, but also possibly one of my favourite films ever. I totally disagree with the posts that suggest Arnie looks silly in it, or that the '80s music and wardrobe let it down - those are some of the parts I enjoy most! I absolutely love the score (I'd buy it on vinyl if I could find it!) and the T1 look Arnie is my preferred one, especially with the original clothes and parted haircut. On a side note, I love how Reese looks too; in fact, I dressed up as him last Halloween. Here's a
pic, and here's the
full length. Sorry my living room is no Tech Noir, but nice to meet you all the same!
I don't disagree that it's a B-Movie (it's pretty much Cameron's first feature after all, it wasn't going to be a super budget blockbuster), but I love its dark, sci-fi horror tone and the moody aesthetic. Plus I think it's just a slightly tighter piece of writing than the second. Don't get me wrong, I think Cameron is the king of sequels in terms of changing genre and really ramping things up with the action (Aliens is another favourite film of mine and, again contrary to most, I possibly prefer it to the original), but for me T2 is the first moment where his worst traits begin to seep in, especially in the Director's Cut; too much heavy handed moralising about human nature. Don't get me wrong, I agree with his points, but those bits of dialogue are awkward and don't quite stand the test of time without making me cringe a little. So yeah, if I wanted one of the films immortalised on my figure shelves at the expense of the other and the products were of equal quality, I'd definitely favour T1.
nice! 
