Terminator, The (1984) [ID8316HD]

The Movie: Everyone should know the plot of this movie in 2012. Hell, everyone back in 1984 should have known this movie just the same. One of the few 80's science fiction movies worth remember, James Cameron's debut feature(other than the little known Pirhanna 2) not only reinvented sci fi flicks for the rest of the decade, but also brought us Arnold Schwartzeneger as the Terminator himself.
Enough about the impact of this film. For those who aren't already aware, the Terminator tells the tale of Sarah Connor, whom through circumstances she can't control is responsible for the survival of the human race. You see, in the film's depiction of the future humans have been essentially exterminated by a race of robots that had been graced with advanced artificial intelligence - Sarah Connor's son is responsible for leading the fight against these robots and ensuring the ongoing survival of the human race. In order to eliminate Sarah before she can give birth to her son, they've sent back an elite assassin machine - a Terminator - back in time to 1984 to "terminate" her. The human resistance from the future, knowing this is to occur, sends on of their own, Kyle Reese back in time to hunt down Sarah, and stop the terminator from destroying any chance of survival for the human race.
This movie has a little bit of everything. Action, a little comedy, and even finds time to squeeze in a quick romance scene towards the end of the feature. All packed into a briskly paced 109 minutes.
But I feel as if most of us here are pretty well acquainted with this film, so before I run through more of the motions, I'll head straight into the technical aspects of this release.

The Video: Oh boy. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that the material used for this Laserdisc is somewhat....shall I say underwhelming. It isn't terrible, but when I think of how many reference quality Laserdiscs of Terminator 2 that are out there, it simply falls flat. Perhaps this is rectified with the THX remastered Laserdisc, but this 1991 release has some serious issues. First off, this release was sourced from what looks to be a 35mm film print, with reel change markers and everything you'd expect from a telecine. The nature of film gives this release a fine layer of grain to begin with, but when you add the video noise that comes of the Laserdisc format, things start to look a little ugly. Skin tones look slightly washed out and colors seem slightly faded at times, which is never a good thing at all. Having seen this movie on both DVD and Blu Ray, I like to think I know how this film is supposed to look in terms of color timing and whatnot. Another bonus to this release is some visible dirt and a few scratches in the film, which isn't terribly obstructive, but is still noticeable. Over all, I wouldn't hunt this one down for its visual quality, but only if you desperately want a cheap copy of the movie on Laserdisc.

The Audio: There's one single audio track on both the digital and analog tracks: LPCM mono, faithful to the original theatrical presentation as seen in theaters in 1984. The track however, sounds good with excellent sound design and decent dialogue representation along side the film's various action scenes and sound effects. Nothing ever seems to get lost throughout the length of the feature. Other than that, there's nothing too notable about this release's sound track or sound design.

Overall, with a less than admirable video presentation, that while watchable, has nothing above any other shoddy noise ridden Laserdiscs in my collection. And I have quite a few of those (yes, I'm looking at you, Warner Home Video.) But with such a masterful film, one must be willing to make sacrifices in order to view them on our favorite home video format. I know I did. It's definitely a solid 6/10 release, and is still very watchable through all of its faults. I recommend it, as long as something better isn't available.

I haven't seen the version you're reviewing but I own the THX remaster and the image quality is great. The original trailer is also included after the film.

You get a nice test pattern after the credits roll with this release, that's about it

I own both this release and the THX remaster. I haven't given them a serious A/B comparison (yet) but when I first got the THX version I remember it being noticeably better.

I recently picked up the THX remaster, and it is leagues better in terms of visual quality. It still has the mono soundtrack though.

And it has that weird glitch as the title Terminator recedes, almost like the film was broken and missing a frame or they stopped the tape during the transfer and missed the insertion point when starting back up. The first THX DVD of it also has it since its a direct copy of the LaserDisc's D1 master tape.

Huh, I only played the DVD version Dolby 5.1-EX mix week before last. Only grudge about it is some of the original sound effects being replaced with new ones. but the sound effects of cars and HK (hunter-killer) that flies along the rear back to side wall right at the start. But when Terminator does the first Sarah Connor in the automatic he used was the wrong sound effect and I never get used to it when I hear it.

I came close to buying the THX mono original pressing around mid/late 90's at MVC priced around £40.00 or so? http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/01669/ID2 ... -The-(1984)

I don't care for the remix either, precisely because they replaced sounds. The mono mix is what AI know and love.

There is a special CAV german version of the film,but i wont buy it cause it's dubbed

I recently purchased this LD because it was mastered from a 35mm print.

I know the PQ isn't as good as later releases, but I like knowing that what I'm seeing is (a lesser quality version of) what people saw in the theater.

The fact that so many LDs were created from theatrical prints (as opposed to IPs) is what drives me to collect them.

Yeah, but when the IP was so much better, and trust me, I own both and looked at them side by side, for the remaster, as well as the sound, you're really depriving yourself of a more faithful presentation of the film!

Well, I do intend to own both.

I was just stating why I like ID8316HD.

I have this classic on DVD and the newly remastered Blu-Ray, and the only thing missing from both of these editions that pretty much any release from The Terminator has on Laserdisc is the orignal uncompressed mono mix. I know the mono track was used for a early special edition DVD in 2001, but I've heard that its a really sloppy compressed version that doesn't even begin to compare to the PCM of the LD version.

But yeah, watching Laserdiscs striked from theoretical 35mm prints is definitely a special unique experience. These were pressed in the early days of the format I believe. I have a couple (Atlantic City & American Werewolf In London) and although they are no were near as clean, as sharp, as colorful and as detailed as the stuff from the mid/late 90's and early 2000's which were obviously sourced from IPs, they are pretty awesome in their own right because like you said, its like watching a direct port lesser quality version from what was shown in theaters right to your TV.

The THX remaster is outstanding. I forgot it was LD to be honest until the side break.
I'll admit I am tempted by the rougher video quality of the 1991 issue.

Think it is nice to have a Terminator LD cover overview (do not show the non-THX US release as the cover is almost the same as the THX US release)

The US THX version Terminator, The (1984) [ID2940NSB]:



The JP non THX version Terminator, The (1984) [PILF-1297]:



The JP THX version Terminator, The (1984) [PILF-2292]:

I've never thought the THX version was all that great, especially with that weird glitch on the Terminator title as it shrinks away. The theatrical prints had a much more "metallic" look to the image, but we're not overly blue in tone. As bad as the first HBO release is, pressing and print-wise, I think it's transfer captured the 'look' of the theatrical prints much better.

I thought when comparing the two widescreen releases that the THX version had just a little more detail. It was all very minute in the end, but I give it up a slight nudge higher in terms of quality.

Maybe it was just me not having seen the film in a while. I'll have to check the older disc out.

edwin240170
Those LD TERMINATOR covers look great.

Good review. Cheers.

I picked up the THX version myself recently (for a £1, seemed like a good deal). Not seen it on anything but TV showings in a very, very long time. Bizarrely never picked it up on DVD or Blu. Looking forward to watching it, and especially with the mono soundtrack that so many people seem to get excited about.