One of the reasons I like the first Terminator movie is because it is a typical 80s gun flick, but with a new idea. And some of the scenes, no matter how ghetto they may seem, are really memorable. I'm talking about Terminator cutting out its eye, Terminator driving a car through the police station and being able to tell that the officer behind the desk is a dummy (watch the scene in slow motion).
And then the tanker exploding at the end; when I found out that it was actually a model tanker I was just blown away. Like "Whoa". Amazing what they did in that film. The idea and affects paved the way for a lot of things that came after it (in my opinion).