Over the last two weeks I’ve seen both the Terminator and Indiana Jones trilogies. I’ve seen a couple of these movies when I was a kid but that’s so long ago I could barely remember what these movies were about. With Indiana Jones 4 slated to be released in May and a new Terminator TV series starting this month (and Terminator 4 in 2009) I decided to check out both trilogies.

Terminator
In the near future machines will take over the world. The machines send a Terminator (Schwarzenegger), a assassin robot that looks like a human, back in time with the mission to kill Sarah Connor to prevent that her unborn son will become the leader of the insurgence against the robots. Fortunately for her a guy called Kyle Reese is send back in time to protect her against the terminator.

This movie is almost 24 years old, the special effects look very dated but the story is still quite interesting. I give it a 7.5/10.

Terminator II: Judgment Day
This is the best movie from the Terminator trilogy – Judgment Day is a real classic. In this movie two robots are send back in time: one to kill John Connor and one to protect him. Terminator II has a very good story and dozens of kickass action scenes. Schwarzenegger really shines in this movie with lots of memorable quotes like “Hasta la vista, baby” or “I’ll be back”.

Very impressive movie and one of the few cases were the sequel is a lot better than the original, I rate this movie 9/10.

Terminator III: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 2 was released in 1991 and 12 years later in 2003 a third installment in the Terminator franchise arrived. This movie is set more than ten years after the events in Judgment Day and the star of the show, John Connor, is now in his 20s. Once again two robots are send back in time: one of them is the familiar T-101 (Schwarzenegger) and then there’s also the beautiful but evil T-X who has the mission to terminate Connor and some of his friends. This movie is a race against time to prevent the machines from taking over the world.

I give Rise of the Machines a 8/10, it’s not as memorable as Judgment Day but better than the first movie.

Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark
This weekend I watched the Indiana Jones trilogy, the first movie is set in 1936. In this flick Indiana Jones travels around the world to prevent the nazis from getting their hands on the Ark of the Covenant. A very good adventure film, I rate it 8/10.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
The second Indie movie is set in 1935. After a wild ride Indiana Jones, a young Chinese boy and a club singer named Willie end up in a small town in India. The poor villagers welcome them and give them the task to recover a sacred Sankara Stone from the Pankot Palace. I give it a 7/10 as I found the story less appealing than the other two Indie films.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
The main events of the Last Crusade are set in 1938 and just like in the first movie the nazis are Indiana’s main concern. Indiana learns that his father, who was trying to uncover the location of the Holy Grail, is missing and embarks on a mission to save his father and try to find the Holy Grail before the nazis do.

IMO this is the best movie from the Indiana Jones trilogy, I give it a 8.5/10.