Terminator: Enhanced Edition, The

The Terminator: Enhanced Edition is fantastic. Right off the bat, all of the future war sequences have been “enhanced,” starting with the opening shot.

I feel the same way about this film as I do about the various special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy. That is, I do miss the cheesiness of the original effects, but I recognize that the new effects look better and are more consistent with the rest of the series, so I welcome them.

I do feel that this edit is darker than the theatrical cut, both visually and tonally. It feels more real, and more like a horror film. More so than the theatrical cut, this version is actually scary.

My only major complaint is that the colors seem to be a little too washed out. It’s especially noticeable in the scene in the parking garage when Reese tells Sarah about her son. In other versions of the film that I own, the colors are very warm. In this version, Sarah looks like she’s dying of hypothermia.

I can’t remember what the Blu-ray looks like, so maybe this is the result of the “extreme teal” being reduced. Not a huge problem, but it does result in a less than ideal viewing experience.

The sprays of blood added to the police station shootout contribute to the more graphically violent “horror movie” tone.

The addition of more flies in the motel scene is an interesting detail, but I don’t know if it helps the film. It’s creepy and bizarre, which kind of works with the new darker tone, but it’s so extreme, it’s almost humorous, and it puts undue emphasis on a series continuity error, since the T-800’s flesh doesn’t rot and attract flies in the sequels the way it does in the original.

The stop-motion animation at the end has been smoothed out, making the T-800 endoskeleton look more real and more terrifying.

Overall, this is a whole new way to experience one of my favorite films of all time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have to admit I'm a huge fan of krausfadr's edits. I've yet to run into a bad one he's made so far and this is no exception. Here he's left the movie at the theatrical running time with no cutting of scenes nor inserting of any of the deleted scenes available. What he has done is to rework the sound effects as well as the visual effects and it's an outstanding effort by an outstanding fan editor. I'm extremely impressed with the updating of all the futuristic war footage. The SFX future scenes by Jamie Martin are absolutely incredible and blend in perfectly with this movie and add to the believability of the flash-forward scenes. Out of the majority of Terminator fan edits out there, this is now my go to for repeated viewing. If I could give a higher score than 10 on all categories I would but since I can't, I'll just say awesome!

I will not deny that Schwarzenegger's mannequin moments in the mirror have some improvement using zoom and VFX, but I would have left the moment where the T800 sees himself in the mirror with his glasses on, touching his hair.

The stop motion animation is very successful, respecting the 80's style, improving the original.

Simply awesome fan edit, this is my definitive version now. And wow, the VFX work in the new intro is excellent and throughout; just professionally done. Highly recommended.

Update: Added one star back after realizing I was incorrect (and sounding somewhat like a prick).
Ok, please take this review with a grain of salt. I ABSOLUTELY loved this edit, but with a few critiques concerning the new foley audio.
I agree that replacing the gun shots was a great idea (and much needed), but simply put, they are way too loud in the overall mix. They would also have benefited from ambient effects added to the them to keep the sound in the context of where the action is taking place (reverb in car parks, compression in apartments, etc.)
Now the positives. The video clarity was stunning and the new FX work is jaw dropping! It totally added a new depth to the film! This is a BRILLIANT edit to one of my all time favorite films. I know you put a TON of time and labor into this. For that, I thank you sincerely.