Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie:

		List Price: $24.99		Label: MGM (Video & DVD) Salesrank: 118 Released: June 20, 2006
		Our Price: $7.99
		Used Price: $7.50
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
In the year 2029, the ruling super-computer, Skynet, sends an indestructible cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) before she can fulfill her destiny and save mankind.

Description of The Terminator [Blu-ray]:
This is the film that cemented Schwarzenegger's spot in the action-brawn firmament, and it was well deserved. He's chilling as the futuristic cyborg who kills without fear, without love, without mercy. James Cameron's story and direction are pared to the bone and all the more creepy. But don't overlook the contributions of Linda Hamilton, who more than holds her own as the Terminator's would-be victim, Sarah Connor--thus creating, along with Sigourney Weaver in Alien, a new generation of rugged, clear-thinking female action stars. It's surprising how well this film holds up, and how its minimalist, malevolent violence is actually way scarier than that of its far more expensive, more effects-laden sequel. --Anne Hurley

The Terminator [Blu-ray] Reviews:
This is NOT the SPECIAL EDITION!!!!!!!!!!
2009-11-26 - I just received this DVD today and I went to view the special features and I found out the hard way that this DVD was not the Special Edition as Amazon.com said it was! I bought the Special Edition several years ago and it's all scratched up now so I wanted to buy a new replacement one. I am very disappointed with Amazon.com about this issue!!!!!

The version I got from Amazon has:

1) The feature movie
2) Trailer
3) DVD rom features

Now the Actual Special Edition Version has:

1) The Feature Movie
2) Trailers
3) T.V. Spots
4) Documentaries: "THE TERMINATOR: A RETROSPECTIVE" & "OTHER VOICES"
5) TERMINATED Scenes with commentary
6) Still Galleries
7) Original Treatment
8) DVD ROM Features

So I want to let everyone know that this version is NOT the Special Edition version!!!!! It is just a single release version that you get from Wal-Mart or anywhere for $7.50 or less than what Amazon or the manufacturers are charging!!!!! So don't waste your money!! Just go to Wal-Mart! I hope that I have helped at least one person to make an informed decesion by writing this review. 5 stars for it being The Terminator. 1 star for false advertisement!

Not as bad as expected, but...
2009-11-19 - one reviewer already nailed it, but i'll repeat it: the first 10 or so minutes of "The Terminator" blu-ray disc look awful; PQ identical to, if not lower than, what one would expect from an upcoverting standard-def DVD player. That said, the PQ does improve as the movie goes on, but generally any scene shot in darkness looks horrid.

Awesome film, lousy blu-ray
2009-11-13 - I should have known that when a blu-ray disc was selling for under $10 that something was wrong. Sure enough, the picture quality is pretty much the same as a regular DVD. The fact that it's selling for such a low price probably means that somebody is wising up and will soon issue a better quality blu-ray version. My advice is to pass up on this offer and instead wait for the definitive treatment.

Terminator: Modernized vs. Nostalgic
2009-10-18 - THE MOVIE: 5/5
Terminator (or The Terminator, if you prefer) is and always will be an excellent movie. It expertly combines the two genres of science fiction and action. This movie was in my opinion James Cameron's break-through movie. After this, he made classic movies such as Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, and of course, Titanic. Terminator truly is a modern classic. It's one of those relatively low budget movies that made it big. You don't need to take my word of it: other reviewers have given it 5 out of 5 stars.

THE DVD RELEASE VS THE BLU-RAY RELEASE
The first DVD release of Terminator was released in the late 1990s. Even though it was widescreen, unfortunately it was non-anamorphic, which can look terrible on a modern widescreen TV (as it only fills the center of the screen and leaves 4 black bars). The audio was the original mono soundtrack, with all its nostalgic 1980s sounding music and dialogue that sounds... somewhat low quality (which was commonplace for a sci-fi B-movie) It's definitely a nostalgic experience in sound.

Recently, I acquired the Blu-Ray of the Terminator. The picture quality was amazing compared to the first DVD. It was anamorphic widescreen and looks nice on a widescreen TV; however, it still isn't quite up to normal HD standards since it was shot on low-quality film. Still, it was a great video improvement. When I first watched it, the audio bugged me, and I didn't quite know why. It turned out that the Blu-Ray had used the 5.1 remix of the sound. It added new sound effects and made the dialogue sound normal. The audio sounded modern, completely different from the nostalgic B-movie sound. Now, call me funny, but I didn't like it. I missed the old, mono quality audio with the cheesy 1980s sound effects that had been replaced with regular, sounding audio and improved sound effects. In my opinion, it took away the warm B-movie feeling that the first DVD had. To top it all off, I found that the Blu-Ray didn't include the original mono soundtrack.

The average viewer might like the Blu-Ray as it looks modern and sounds technically better. Others, like me, might love that warm, 1980s nostalgic experience of the DVD. The choice is yours.

Blu ray version needs to be remastered
2009-09-28 - This is a great movie, however blu ray shows a lower then expected resolution and it feels - especially in the opening scene like the studio did not try and remaster the negatives so you see all these old artifacts showing up on the film. Until its remastered for blu ray and cleaned up so its presentable in this format just stick with the DVD version.