Who knew the that the future Republican governor of California once worked in the movies? We had no idea. James Cameron made a star of Arnold Schwarzenegger in this tremendously enjoyable and propulsive 1984 action smash, which has spawned two sequels to date and influenced countless movies and video games. (In fact, The Terminator may have been responsible for combining those two industries.) In a masterstroke of casting, the Austrian bodybuilder plays a robot sent back in time to kill mankinds future savior. His overmuscled stiffness and puny command of the English language become the movies strengths, of course, as Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton (the chosen mother) battle a hulk that seems unstoppableexcept for a telling inability to improvise. (R) BRIAN MILLER
March 25-26, 7 p.m.; March 27-28, 9:30 p.m., 2011
