The Terminator (1984)

Trailer

Wordy guest review #3.
Sarah Connor's normal ('80s) life is shattered when two men (okay, one cyborg and one man) arrive from the not-too-distant future - one to kill her and the other to save her. Her potential progeny has saved, or will save, humanity from the nefarious machines of the future, so the human race depends on her survival.

The plot is quite clever; the premise itself has time-travelling goodness and as the movie progresses, all the events fall into place to ensure the established future. The way Sarah is gradually hardened into the ass-kicking mother she'll have to be is especially awesome. Throughout the movie, the scene sometimes switches to the war-torn future, which is well-done and close enough to feel very real and relevant. It helps that instead of a tragedy looming several centuries from the present, the beginning of the war is quite imminent. On the other hand, the dialogue is often overly expository, and even though I hadn't known the particulars of the plot, there wasn't much that I didn't see coming.

At a couple of points during this movie, I foresaw potential Disapproval, but the ending convinces me otherwise ... The Pretentious Reviewer's Seal of Approval!