Terminator Zero Revives the Iconic Franchise With Certified Fresh Rating

Terminator Zero is one of the franchise's best entries in years.

By Megan Peters

Terminator Zero is finally live and proving all of its haters wrong. When the ambitious project was first announced, a good few netizens questioned how James Cameron's legendary franchise would fit into the world of anime. Thanks to Production I.G., we've been given an answer as Terminator Zero is a total hit. Its official score has come through on Rotten Tomatoes, and the Certified Fresh rating just scratches the surfaces.

Over on Rotten Tomatoes, Terminator Zero boasts an impressive score of 96% with critics after 23 reviews. As for the fandom's rating, it stands as a solid 80% with well over 100 reviews to date. Gifted the site's coveted Certified Fresh rating, Terminator Zero is described as follows: "Shedding the skin of past Terminator incarnations to tell a sophisticated sci-fi saga of its own, this visceral anime proves its mettle."

Praised for its fresh take on Cameron's iconic movie series, Terminator Zero is nothing fans expected. The movie leans hard into its horror roots as showrunner and writer Mattson Tomlin examined what made The Terminator so terrifying. Speaking with ComicBook, the showrunner said he looked at The Terminator from a horror perspective while scripting this anime, and it gave him a very unique framework to play with.

The Horror Element of Terminator Zero

"The first thing that came to mind for me was just the first Terminator movie. With that first movie, you know, there's another version of the world in another timeline where Arnold Schwarzenegger does not become one of the biggest movie stars of the 1990s," Tomlin shared.

"Instead, that first movie is released, and then its sequel is another horror movie. And then the third is another horror movie and another and another and suddenly Terminator is more synonymous with Friday the 13th or Halloween than it is with big Hollywood blockbuster action. So that initial pull was the thing. It was felt like Terminator hasn't really been associated with horror now 40 years. That felt like a place I could take the series that would make it feel different from what has happened recently."

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Clearly, Terminator Zero has proved its mettle with fans and critics alike. With solid reviews littering social media, Production I.G. has carved yet another hit for itself. The major investment Netflix has put into anime is thriving thanks to this new release. And if we are lucky, maybe Tomlin will find the inspiration to return to Terminator Zero with a sequel someday.

What do you make of Terminator Zero? Have you checked out the anime yet? Give me a shout at @meganwpeters with your take! You can also let us know what you think over on Twitter and Instagram.

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