FilmsThe TerminatorLike this

Films like The Terminator.

The Terminator (1984) reads as Sombre, breathless, extreme sci-fi / action, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, epic, measured. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988) poster
1. Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack1988

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991) poster
2. Mobile Suit Gundam F911991

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Mobile Suit Gundam I (1981) poster
3. Mobile Suit Gundam I1981

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Megazone 23 (1985) poster
4. Megazone 231985

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Arion (1986) poster
5. Arion1986

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the world-sized stakes; trades toward a relentless forward drive.

Universal Soldier: The Return (1999) poster
6. Universal Soldier: The Return1999

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the white-knuckle intensity — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Spriggan (1998) poster
7. Spriggan1998

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the white-knuckle intensity — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Venus Wars (1989) poster
8. Venus Wars1989

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a white-knuckle intensity.

Toward the Terra (1980) poster
9. Toward the Terra1980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Harmagedon (1983) poster
10. Harmagedon1983

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Macross Plus Movie Edition (1995) poster
11. Macross Plus Movie Edition1995

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the documentary-plain realism; trades toward a world-sized stakes.

Heaven and Hell (1980) poster
12. Heaven and Hell1980

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a world-sized stakes.

These are The Terminator’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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