The Terminator
(R)Caution: potential spoilers.
This came out in 1984, but I don't recall having even heard of it until the sequel came out in 1991. It must have been several years after I saw that before I first saw this movie on TV, but I don't remember exactly when I did. (Probably anywhere from the late 90s to the early 00s.) Anyway, I'm finally watching it for a second time in 2014, on DVD. I think the first time I saw it, I was somewhat underwhelmed, mainly because it was made on a much smaller budget than the sequel, so the effects were... less special. (The effects of the Terminator itself were done by Stan Winston, but they reminded me more of Ray Harryhausen.) And of course, the sequel just generally had the whole Hollywood blockbuster feel, whereas this was obviously more of an indie film. But I always appreciated the concepts in the story, and watching it now, I find the whole thing much more impressive. It still has a low budget feel, in addition to a markedly early '80s feel. On top of that, it's really more of an action movie than a sci-fi movie, and it closely borders on horror. But the science fiction elements really are more cleverly written than you'd expect, in this kind of movie. And it has some genuine humor, and genuine heart. Plus a number of nice, subtle touches, little things that in real life would be perfectly normal and unremarkable, but which in the context of the story, become amusingly ironic.
Anyway, it's set mostly in 1984, but there are a few scenes set in 2029. In the present, a naked man (Arnold Schwarzenegger) appears one night in Los Angeles, amidst a strange electrical phenomenon. He soon attacks some punks and steals their clothes. A bit later, another naked man (Michael Biehn) appears the same way, and he also manages to obtain some clothes. Both of them also obtain weapons, and both of them search the phone book for the name Sarah Connor. There are three women listed with that name, and the first man finds and kills two of them. The police and the press become interested in the fact that two Sarah Connors have been murdered, and of course the third Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) also becomes concerned about it, because she could be next.
Sarah spots the second man following her, and thinks he's the killer, so she ducks into a club, and eventually manages to contact the police. While she's waiting for them to come, the first man shows up and tries to kill her, but she's saved by the second man, with whom she runs away. While they're on the run, he explains to her that the first guy is actually a cyborg called a Terminator, which has been sent back in time to kill her. And he himself is a soldier named Kyle Reese, who had been sent back in time to protect her. He says that in a few years, there will be a nuclear war, which was caused by computers that had learned to think, and wanted to eradicate the human race. Years later, a resistance was organized among the survivors, by a man named John Connor: Sarah's son, who hasn't been conceived yet, in 1984. John ultimately led humanity to victory over the machines, but if the Terminator kills Sarah now, John will never be born, and there'll never be a resistance.
I don't want to give away any more details, but there's a lot more running and fighting and some talking and some sex. And basically the whole movie becomes a predestination paradox. One of, if not the best predestination paradox I've ever seen.