Under The Terminator's Skin

I loved this one. I was amazed at how deftly Dom dealt the knife to a classic. All the plot you need to know is right at the beginning (and maybe some exposition along the way). Once the action starts, it don't let up. Awesome music, and I'm amazed to learn how many different pieces he used.

Terminator has a very basic plot, which makes it a perfect candidate for a short film. The editor has done a great job. Nothing feels rushed, there are no jarring cuts and everything flows as if the film had always been this length. The limited dialogue and choice of music serve well in maintaining tension.

I dropped a point for audio editing because I felt that the dialogue could have done with being a bit louder. The music often drowned it out, but then again, that may have been the editor's intention.

Video quality was slightly pixelated. This wasn't too much of a problem for the most part, but it became very noticeable during shots of the exploded truck.

Narratively this was generally fine, although it was slightly odd that Sarah goes from cowering and confused ("please don't kill me") to suddenly trying to save Kyle's life.

All in all though, this is a good edit. Many memorable parts of the film have been seamlessly blended into something nugget sized. Well worth a watch.

Terminator 1 is the first movie I ever watched, still remember the old VHS I used to rewatch a million times as a kid (with the sex scene expertly taped over with Horlicks commercials by my dad). This edit does a great job of summarizing the film into 15 mins by using ingenious cutting techniques and great scene selection. I love the foley/original audio tracks being so clear, not sure if they were recreated or if it was a clear center channel, but it sounds pitch perfect. The new music is good, certainly appropriate for the atmosphere and is a worthy alternative to Fidel's iconic score.

All in all, a great edit to revisit for a fan, an a very interesting alternate look at T1. Nice work!!

Dom brilliantly retells the original 1984 film, capturing most of the major details and driving it all to the haunting "Under the Skin" score. The music is integrated so well, I actually had to check to make sure he wasn't just using the original soundtrack!

Dom is able to play the movie mostly silently, telling nearly the entire tale with visuals alone, which makes Sarah's story all the more visceral and nightmarish.

The only plot element left out is the issue of John Connor's parentage. But considering the kind-of creepy way it played out in the original movie, maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Perhaps Dom is implying that in this alternate history, John actually has a different father!

I feel bad not giving this edit the full highest marks. There's nothing that it does wrong; it's just that a couple of the other shorts in this consecution were so inventive that I had to rate them even higher, so I had to indicate a slightly different level of enjoyment. But there's nothing that I would have told Dom to do differently.

If you love the original films, this is a must-see!

I absolutely loved this. Great re-telling of the Terminator with a brand new eerie soundtrack which gives it a completely different tone which is more akin to horror than sci-fi action. Strangely, I was reminded of "Drive". But perhaps that was synesthesia at work.