The Terminator (1984) 4K Blu-ray Review

5

Starting life as director James Cameron's fever-induced nightmare The Terminator has morphed into a blockbuster cross-media franchise encompassing sequels, books, TV shows, graphic novels, and video games - but perhaps its biggest claim to fame is propelling Cameron and friend Arnold Schwarzenegger into the Hollywood big leagues, and to the very heart of popular culture.

By 2029, the nuclear apocalypse has engulfed the Earth, and what remains of the human resistance is being systematically exterminated by efficient robotic killers powered by Skynet, a highly advanced artificial intelligence that turned on its creators. To secure its future, the resistance has managed to propel a soldier, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) back in time to 1984 Los Angeles to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) - the mother of its future leader, John. Equipped with the same technology, Skynet also sends a human-looking T-101 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to the same timeline in order to extinguish mankind's last hope.

Gaining prominence in the emerging home video market of the 80s, The Terminator stood out from the pack of scrappily budgeted, direct-to-video nasties, spreading virally by word of mouth and serviced by video rental stores, which solidified its reputation and paved the way for its superior sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day some seven years later. Whilst its filmmaking technology is undeniably a relic of the past, Cameron and crew worked tirelessly against innumerable constraints to not just catch lightning in a bottle but produce a film that stands the test of time.

5

Video transfer

The Terminator is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in the Rec. 2020 color space. It is finished with the dynamic Dolby Vision and static HDR-10 high dynamic range formats and encoded with AVC H.265 compression.

While the restoration of Cameron's film catalog in 4K has ranged from decent (Titanic and The Abyss) to dire (True Lies and Aliens, hopes were high for The Terminator based on the strength of the 2K remaster produced in 2012 by Lowry Digital. It appears that the same 2K master has been overhauled here, with no new native scans of the negative. Instead, Park Road Post has once again its controversial generative AI algorithm to upsample the image, sharpening the frame with data that wasn't originally filmed.

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Whilst admittedly, this method does occasionally work, and more casual fans may marvel at how detailed and sharp the film now looks, for me, this approach to film restoration is largely problematic. I would much prefer a genuine high-resolution scan of the negative using the best tools available to preserve every bit of detail and information that can be authentically found within. Even with the best of intentions, frankensteining information onto a film is not restoration, and it's definitely not preservation. It's cannibalism. Ironically, Cameron doesn't appear to the inherent incongruity of inappropriately using AI tools on a film that warns of the dangers of AI.

The boast of Dolby Vision and HDR is little more than marketing spin. With the absence of a new scan, the only thing that can be achieved is increasing the white point to blinding levels (as it does on a number of occasions). As such, highlights in the T-100's chrome finish or the flame of an explosion don't resolve any additional detail in the image.

At the end of the day, does the 4K release look better than the Blu-ray? Unfortunately, I haven't got a straight answer for you. Yes, the image often looks sharper and more detailed, but it comes at the expense of naturalism and authenticity. Clearly, this is going to a subjective decision, but taking into account the price differential, I'd sooner recommend the older Blu-ray, which remains no slouch.

5

Audio transfer

The Terminator is presented in Dolby Atmos.

Originally released with mono sound, The Terminator received an aggressive surround upgrade for its 2001 DVD courtesy of industry legend Gary Rydstrom. Not without controversy, some low-fidelity elements were replaced with more bombastic foley effects that occasionally betrayed the original spirit with 1984 counterparts. For its 4K debut, that same mix has been extended to Atmos, which bolts on some surprisingly effective height surround channels. Dialogue comes across competently, the surroundings are kept active, and LFE is ominously effective.

And just in case all that sounds unpalatable - well, that original mono sound mix makes its return for the first time in 25 years!

Overall, the combination of a brand-new Dolby Atmos mix, in addition to the original mono mix makes this release the best of both worlds.

5

Bonus materials

Unfortunately, despite the film's laudable legacy, the opportunity hasn't been taken to produce any contemporary bonus features for this release. However, a number of rather dated bonus features have been ported from previous physical media releases.

First up is around ten minutes of Deleted Scenes in low-quality standard definition, including optional commentary by James Cameron. Great to see, but there's zero doubt their exclusion was for the best.

The two making-of featurettes, Creating The Terminator: Visual Effects & Music and Unstoppable Force: The Legacy of The Terminator, total around 20 minutes of footage and do an acceptable job in giving a sense of the production. It would have been nice if the same footage was repurposed with new talking head interviews for a proper making-of documentary.

Finally, the ten-minute Terminator: Closer to the Real Thing featurette is woefully out of date, having been produced 20 years ago to tie in with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. It really should have been left on the previous DVD.