This film is utterly outstanding. After the molten-bile inducing abomination that was T3: Rise Of The Cash Cow, I couldn’t help feeling some rage-scarred trepidation at the prospect of a follow up. Going against the standard formula of Hollywood films, The Terminator series actually managed to better the original with the sequel, T2, expanding upon the original concepts whilst simultaneously managing to scare the bejeezus out of me, no matter how many times I watched it.

Violent outrage and savage disappointment doesn’t even come close to how I felt watching T3; a film that so moved me to anger that I was actually swearing at the screen. So, when I heard that the fourth instalment was being unleashed in cinemas nationwide, I simply refused to go- a petulant move I am now seriously regretting, because I know I missed out on what would have undoubtedly been a jaw-dropping experience that I would have happy repeated over and over.

With producer Moritz Borman and co-writers John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris, all of T3 infamy, as well and Charlie’s Angels 1 & 2 Director McG, I couldn’t help expecting the new Terminator film to be another over produced, latex-clad toy advertisement, with excessive slow motion sequences to pad out the major deficits in plot and direction. Then I heard that the iconic Michael Ironside had been cast, and I had to retire to a dark room to reassess my preconceptions…

As soon as the credits rolled, I was utterly transfixed. Brad Fiedel's iconic thrumming, clanging Terminator 1 & 2 theme has been diligently revivified by film-score legend Danny Elfman to such great effect that I was already getting goosebumps and wanting to check over my shoulder for some kind of indestructible impending doom.

The pace of this film is excellent, combining careful references to the previous films with excruciating suspense and a barrage of frenzied, adrenalin-fuelled explosions, grease and robot massacring. – I realised half way through that my mouth was still gaping and I had edged closer and closer to the screen, mesmerised by the fantastic gratuitousness…

The attention to detail throughout is phenomenal, bordering on fanatical. As you will see when you watch the featurettes, the dedication to upholding the ethos of the original two movies is heart-warming. The entire crew was devoted to recreating and enhancing every detail, even designing their own range of Terminators so you could track the fictional progression of machine designs as they were tried and developed over time.

The result of such enthusiastic devotion enhances the depth and texture of both the plot and the visuals, presenting a convincingly war-wizened army of Machines, each with their own strengths, weaknesses and idiosyncrasies and creating a very convincing dystopian future. As well as the predecessing films, T4 also bears reference to other grimy, alternate-reality films like Mad Max: Beyond The Thunderdrome, The Matrix (don’t get me started on those sequels…) and Twelve Monkeys.

The actors are satisfyingly well cast (even Helena Bonham-Carter manages to deliver), and one can only assume that Christian Bale’s infamous temper tantrum on set was really due to being upstaged by Michael Ironside and relative unknown Sam Worthington, who both managed to out-gruff him at every opportunity, (that’s right Bale, I went there- come get me…). I was actually quite disappointed that his rant wasn’t included as an extra special feature, but the abundance of featurettes, commentaries and story-boards adequately sufficed.

I wont go into details about the plot, as I don’t want to give anything away- all I will say is this: there is a rather random and (I thought) superfluous flash of lady-lumps by the all the more superfluously-randy Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood), who seems to get the horn at the most inappropriate moments, although I’m sure most viewers will find this more pleasing than irksome.

The film in its entirety could easily exist as a stand-alone action-movie, as well as being a fantastic addition as the third in the Terminator series, writing off that prior anomaly of an impostor, T3 which we will never speak of again…