toyhaven: The Terminator (1984): "I'll be back!" My toy blog - where I share my passion for toy collecting since 1994. Also providing toys & 1/6 scale action figures reviews from Hot Toys, Medicom, Sideshow Collectibles, Dam Toys, Art Figures etc. Over 20,144,386 Pageviews and Counting Thursday, September 20, 2007 The Terminator (1984): "I'll be back!" "The Terminator" was a 1984 sci-fi/action film directed and co-written by James Cameron who would also direct " Aliens (1986) " and "The Abyss (1989)" - all three films starred Michael Biehn as a military guy/soldier - before returning to " Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) ".

Michael Biehn played Kyle Reese, a Tech-Com sergeant sent from the future to rescue Sarah Connor played by Linda Hamilton from Skynet's Terminator T-800 played by none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger who would go on to utter his now very famous line: "I'll be back!" - Great movie! Kyle Reese in his Tech-Com gear by Hot Toys Battle Damaged Terminator by Hot Toys (looks nothing like Arnold Schwarzenegger but still cool nonetheless) - he carries the 7.62 mm M134 Minigun OR gatling gun only featured in T2 but hey, the more weapons, the better!! Die-cast T-800 Terminator Endoskeleton by Sunrise (this thing is HEAVY!!) Posted by The Terminator (1984) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error | Action , Sci-Fi | 26 October 1984 (USA) A seemingly indestructible humanoid cyborg is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines, while a soldier from that war is sent to protect her at all costs. Director: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 27 titles created 06 Sep 2012 a list of 47 titles created 08 Apr 2013 a list of 47 titles created 28 May 2015 a list of 39 titles created 28 Nov 2015 a list of 44 titles created 1 month ago Search for " The Terminator " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 5 wins & 6 nominations.

See more awards » Videos A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her teenage son, John Connor, from a more advanced cyborg. Director: James Cameron A cybernetic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 25-year old drifter and his future wife from a most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack. Director: Jonathan Mostow During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok. Director: Steven Spielberg Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown. Director: Robert Zemeckis Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis. Director: Steven Spielberg When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis.

Director: Steven Spielberg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.5/10 X After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform. Continuing their journey back to Earth with the attacked crew having recovered and the critter deceased, they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun. Director: Ridley Scott In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted? Director: McG A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.

Director: Robert Zemeckis The moon from Alien (1979) has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough? Director: James Cameron Enjoying a peaceable existence in 1885, Doctor Emmet Brown is about to be killed by Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen. Marty McFly travels back in time to save his friend. Director: Robert Zemeckis Edit Storyline A cyborg is sent from the future on a deadly mission. He has to kill Sarah Connor, a young woman whose life will have a great significance in years to come. Sarah has only one protector - Kyle Reese - also sent from the future. The Terminator uses his exceptional intelligence and strength to find Sarah, but is there any way to stop the seemingly indestructible cyborg ? Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com> Your future is in his hands. See more » Genres: 26 October 1984 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Mono (original release)| Dolby (DVD Re-Release)| DTS (DTS HD Master Audio) Color: Did You Know?

Trivia Rick Rossovich would later appear with Michael Biehn and Bill Paxton in Navy Seals (1990). All three had also worked together before in The Lords of Discipline (1983). See more » Goofs The same woman - blonde with a pink dress - appears simultaneously on the dance floor at Tech Noir and behind Sarah as the laser beam is pointed at her. See more » Quotes [the garbage truck's engine stops] Truck Driver : What the hell? Goddamn son of a bitch... See more » Crazy Credits The opening credits run while large outlines of the two halves of THE TERMINATOR cross each other. After the last directorial credit is shown, the title THE TERMINATOR zooms backward, is filled by metallic blue, and reveals itself. See more » Connections Burnin' in the Third Degree Performed by Tryanglz (Toronto, Ontario) – See all my reviews Is there a better person to play a cyborg than Arnold? For this movie he was a massively built oak tree of a man. His strange accent makes for a perfect callous robotic sounding killing machine. It's almost like his voice is a computer read out ( which I guess it is in one sense ).

Terminator is one of those films that started something huge. People didn't realize it at the time, but the careers of Arnold, Cameron and perhaps even guys like Micahel Biehn, Lance Henriksen and even Bill Paxton were substantially started because of this film. And Cameron must have liked working with them so much that he gave all of them substantial roles in his next film ( Aliens ). As we all know what the story is, I'll just tell you a bit about what is so fascinating about it. First I have to mention Michael Biehn. He has the real starring role. He is the character that has to explain everything to the audience. He has to explain this complicated story so that we know what is happening and why. It is not an easy job to do something like that and still come off looking all right. But Biehn is simply awesome in this film. A microcosm of his performance can be seen when Sara bites him. Biehn ( Kyle Reese ) replies " Terminator's don't feel pain. I do. Don't do that again. " That is such a great line delivered with the perfect expression, the perfect tone and the perfect timing. Biehn is perfect for the role.

This is also the first film that I saw as a youngster that ever warned me of the dangers of nuclear war and of the rapid advancements of machinery. Perhaps I was too young and naive to fully understand all that James Cameron was trying to say, but now that I am older, I can honestly say that the two Terminators are perfect anti nuke films. And they are so passionate with what they have to say. I like it when a film has something to say. I enjoy being entertained in the process but if you can manage both then you have a masterpiece. This is a masterpiece. Finally. there are two other reasons to enjoy this film. One, this is the first film where "I'll be back" was spoken. Now it is part of Arnolds vernacular. Secondly, Bill Paxton is in it. And he adds spark to any film that he's in. Especially here, as the idiot punk leader that really gets the hell beat out of him, he has some great lines. A great film. 224 of 257 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes The Terminator Information The Terminator Information The Terminator News The Terminator Information The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron , co-written by Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd and William Wisher Jr. and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger , Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton . The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the year 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, played by Hamilton. Biehn plays Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect Sarah. Though not expected to be either a commercial or critical success, The Terminator topped the American box office for two weeks and helped launch the film career of Cameron and solidify that of Schwarzenegger. Three sequels have been produced: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and Terminator Salvation (2009), as well as a television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008"2009).

In 2008, The Terminator was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Plot In a post-apocalyptic 2029, artificially intelligent machines seek to exterminate what is left of the human race. Two beings from this era travel back in time to 1984 Los Angeles: One is a Terminator ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ), a cyborg assassin programmed to kill Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton ); the other is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a human resistance fighter sent to protect her. After killing two other Sarah Connors listed in the telephone directory, the Terminator tracks its target to a nightclub. Kyle saves Sarah from the Terminator's attack and the two make an escape. Kyle explains that in the near future an artificial intelligence network called Skynet will become self-aware and initiate a nuclear holocaust of mankind. Sarah's yet-unborn son John will rally the survivors and lead a resistance movement against Skynet and its army of machines.

With the Resistance on the verge of victory, Skynet has sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah before John can be born, as a last-ditch effort to avert the formation of the Resistance. The Terminator is an emotionless and efficient killing machine with a powerful metal endoskeleton, but with an external layer of living tissue that makes it resemble a human being. Kyle and Sarah are again attacked by the Terminator, leading to a car chase and their arrest. Lieutenant Ed Traxler (Paul Winfield) and Detective Hal Vukovich ( Lance Henriksen ) tell Sarah that Kyle is insane. Kyle is questioned by psychologist Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen), who concludes that he is paranoid and delusional. The Terminator attacks the police station and kills many police officers in order to try and locate Sarah. During the rampage, Traxler comes out of his office and shoots at the Terminator, which turns around and fatally wounds him. Vukovich checks on the wounded Traxler before shooting at the Terminator and in return it shoots him dead. Sarah and Kyle escape and seek refuge in a motel. Kyle confesses that he has long been in love with Sarah, having been given a photograph of her by her son John.

Sarah reciprocates Kyle's feelings and they have sex. The Terminator tracks them to the motel and Kyle and Sarah escape in a pickup truck. In the ensuing chase Kyle throws pipe bombs at the Terminator in an effort to destroy it. Kyle is wounded by gunfire; Sarah knocks the Terminator off his motorbike, but Sarah loses control of the pickup truck and flips over. The Terminator recovers, but is struck by a gasoline tank truck dragging it a short distance. The Terminator kills one truck driver and tells the other truck driver to get out. It then steals the truck and resumes the chase. Kyle then jams a pipe bomb in the tank truck causing a massive explosion. The Terminator emerges from the burning truck and collapses. Kyle and Sarah embrace one another but the Terminator, with its flesh coating burned away, again pursues them into a factory. Kyle faces the Terminator by hitting it several times with a metal pipe but it knocks him down with a mortal blow. Though dazed, he jams a pipe bomb into its abdomen, causing an explosion which severely damages it, but Kyle himself is killed and Sarah is injured by a piece of shrapnel. Still partially functional, the Terminator tries to kill Sarah. She then destroys it by leading it into a hydraulic press.

Sarah is later taken out of the factory by an ambulance as Kyle's body is taken away. Later, a pregnant Sarah is traveling through Mexico. Along the way she records audio tapes which she intends to pass on to her unborn son, John. She debates whether to tell him that Kyle is his father. A boy takes a photograph of her which she purchases " it is the photograph that John will later give to Kyle. She drives on towards approaching storm clouds. Cast Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, a cyborg sent back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor. Schwarzenegger speaks only 18 lines in the film. James Cameron said that "Somehow, even his accent worked...It had a strange synthesized quality, like they hadn't gotten the voice thing quite worked out." Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, the Terminator's target. Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese, a human Resistance fighter sent back in time to protect Sarah. Paul Winfield as Ed Traxler, a police Lieutenant who questions Sarah. Lance Henriksen as Hal Vukovich, a police detective who questions Sarah. Earl Boen as Dr. Silberman, a police psychologist.

Additional actors included Bess Motta as Ginger Ventura; Rick Rossovich as Matt Buchanan; Dick Miller as the gun shop clerk; Shawn Schepps as Nancy; Bruce M. Kerner as the desk sergeant; Schwarzenegger's friend and workout partner, professional bodybuilder Franco Columbu as a Terminator in 2029; and Bill Paxton, Brad Rearden, and Brian Thompson as punks who are confronted by the Terminator; Marianne Muellerleile as one of the other women with the name "Sarah Connor" who get shot by the Terminator. Production Development In Rome, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning director James Cameron grew ill and had a dream about a metallic torso dragging itself from an explosion while holding kitchen knives. When Cameron returned to Pomona, California, he stayed at Randall Frakes' home where he wrote a draft for The Terminator. Cameron later stated that his influences while writing the script were 1950s science fiction films and episodes of The Outer Limits as well as contemporary films including The Driver and The Road Warrior. To translate the draft into a script, Cameron enlisted his friend Bill Wisher, who had a similar approach to storytelling.

Cameron gave Wisher the early scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department scenes to write. As Wisher lived far away from Cameron, the two communicated script ideas by recording tapes of what they wrote by telephone. Cameron's agent hated the idea for The Terminator and told him to work on something else. After this, Cameron fired his agent. The initial outline of the script involved two Terminators sent to the past. The first was similar to the Terminator in the film, while the second was a liquid metal cyborg that could not be destroyed with conventional weaponry. Cameron could not think of a good way to depict this robot, stating that he "was seeing things in his head that couldn't be done with existing technology." The story of the cyborgs in the film was cut down to a single robot idea. The liquid metal Terminator would be revisited with the T-1000 character in the 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day . Gale Anne Hurd , who had worked at New World Pictures as Roger Corman's assistant, showed interest in the film project. Cameron sold the rights for The Terminator to Hurd for one dollar with the promise that she would produce it only if Cameron was to direct it.

As a producer, Hurd had suggested edits to the script and took a screen writing credit in the film. Cameron has stated that Hurd "did no actual writing at all". Cameron and Hurd had friends who worked with Roger Corman previously and who were now working at Orion Pictures. Orion agreed to distribute the film if Cameron could get financial backing elsewhere. The script was picked up by John Daly at Hemdale Pictures. Cameron wanted his pitch for Daly to finalize the deal and had his friend Lance Henriksen show up to the meeting early dressed and acting like the Terminator. Henriksen showed up at the office kicking open the door wearing a leather jacket and had gold foil smothered on his teeth and fake cuts on his face and then sat in a chair. Cameron arrived shortly after which relieved the staff from Henriksen's act. Daly was impressed by the screenplay and Cameron's sketches and passion for the film. In late 1982 Daly agreed to back the film with help from HBO and Orion. The Terminator was originally budgeted at $4 million and later raised to $6.5 million. Pre-production </ref> |source="?James Cameron on casting Schwarzenegger.

|align=right |salign=right |width=33%}} One of Cameron's first tasks was to find someone to play Kyle Reese. Orion wanted a star whose popularity was rising in the United States but who also would have foreign appeal. Orion's co-founder Mike Medavoy had met Arnold Schwarzenegger and sent his agent the script for The Terminator. Cameron was dubious about casting Schwarzenegger as Reese as he felt he would need someone even bigger to play the Terminator. The studio had suggested O. J. Simpson for the role of the Terminator, but Cameron did not feel that Simpson would be believable as a killer. Cameron still agreed to meet with Schwarzenegger about the film and devised a plan to avoid casting him. Cameron planned to pick a fight with him and return to Hemdale and find him unfit for the role. Upon meeting with Schwarzenegger, Cameron was entertained by Schwarzenegger who would talk about how the villain should be played. Cameron began sketching his face on a notepad and asked Schwarzenegger to stop talking and remain still.

After the meeting, Cameron returned to Daly saying Schwarzenegger would not play Reese but that "he'd make a hell of a Terminator". Schwarzenegger was not as excited by the film; during an interview on the set of Conan the Barbarian , an interviewer asked him about a pair of shoes he had (which were for The Terminator). Schwarzenegger responded, "Oh some shit movie I'm doing, take a couple weeks." In preparation for the role, Schwarzenegger spent three months training with weapons to be able to use them and feel comfortable around them. For the role of Reese, various other suggestions were made for the role including rock musician Sting. Cameron chose Michael Biehn for the role. Biehn was originally skeptical about the part, feeling that the film was silly. After meeting with Cameron, Biehn stated his "feelings about the project changed". Hurd stated that "almost everyone else who came in from the audition was so tough that you just never believed that there was gonna be this human connection between [Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese]. They have very little time to fall in love.

A lot of people came in and just could not pull it off." In the first few pages of the script, the character of Sarah Connor is written as "19, small and delicate features. Pretty in a flawed, accessible way. She doesn't stop the party when she walks in, but you'd like to get to know her. Her vulnerable quality masks a strength even she doesn't know exists." For the role, Cameron chose Linda Hamilton , who had just finished filming Children of the Corn. Rosanna Arquette had previously auditioned. Cameron found a role for Lance Henriksen as Detective Hal Vukovich, as Henriksen had been essential to finding finances for the film. For the special effects shots in the film, Cameron wanted Dick Smith who had previously worked on The Godfather and Taxi Driver . Smith did not take Cameron's offer and suggested his friend Stan Winston for the job. Production Filming for The Terminator was set to begin in early 1983 in Toronto. Production was halted when producer Dino De Laurentiis applied an option in Schwarzenegger's contract that would make him unattainable for nine months while he was filming Conan the Destroyer.

During the waiting period, Cameron was contracted to write the script for Rambo: First Blood Part II . He also used this time to refine parts of The Terminators script and meet with producers David Giler and Walter Hill to discuss a sequel to Alien . There was limited interference from Orion Pictures. Two suggestions Orion put forward included the addition of a canine cyborg for Reese, which Cameron turned down, and the second was to strengthen the love interest between Sarah and Reese, which Cameron accepted. On creating the Terminator's look, Winston and Cameron passed their sketches back and forth. They eventually decided on a design that was nearly identical to the original one Cameron drew in Rome. Winston had a team of seven artists work for six months to create a puppet of the Terminator. It was first molded in clay, then plaster reinforced with steel ribbing. These pieces were then sanded, painted and then chrome-plated. Winston sculpted a reproduction of Schwarzenegger's face in several poses out of silicone, clay and plaster. Both the sequences in 2029 and stop motion scenes in the film were developed by Fantasy II, a special effects company headed by Gene Warren Junior. A stop motion model is used in several scenes in the film involving the skeletal frame.

Cameron wanted to convince the audience that the model of the structure was capable of doing what they saw Schwarzenegger doing. To allow this, a scene was filmed of Schwarzenegger injured and limping away. This limp made it easier for the model to imitate Schwarzenegger. One of the guns seen in the film and on the film's poster was an AMT Hardballer Longslide modified by Ed Reynolds from SureFire to include a laser sight. Both non-functioning and functioning versions of the prop were created. Due to cost considerations, the laser sights used an external power supply that Arnold Schwarzenegger had to activate manually. Reynolds states that his only compensation for the project was promotional material for the film. In March 1984, the film began production in Los Angeles. Cameron felt that with Schwarzenegger on the set, the style of the film changed, explaining that "...the movie took on a larger than life sheen.

I just found myself on the set doing things I didn't think I would do " scenes that were just purely horrific that just couldn't be, because now they were too flamboyant." Most of The Terminators action scenes were filmed at night, which led to tight filming schedules before sunrise. A week before filming started, Linda Hamilton sprained her ankle, leading to a production change whereby the scenes in which Hamilton needed to run occurred as late as the filming schedule allowed. Hamilton's ankle was taped every day and she spent most of the film production in pain. Schwarzenegger tried to have the iconic "I'll be back" line changed due to language barriers. In an October 1, 2012 interview on Good Morning America , he revealed that he had difficulty pronouncing the word I'll properly, and asked director James Cameron if it could be changed to "I will be back". Cameron refused, so Schwarzenegger worked to say the line as written the best he could. He would later say the line in numerous subsequent films throughout his career. Post-production After production finished on The Terminator, some post-production shots were needed.

These included scenes showing the Terminator outside Sarah Connor's apartment, Reese being zipped into a body bag, and the Terminator's head being crushed in a press. The film's soundtrack was synthesizer music composed by Brad Fiedel. Fiedel described the film's music as being about "a mechanical man and his heartbeat". Almost all the music in the film was performed live. The Terminators theme is played over the opening credits and is played in various points in the film in sped up versions: a slowed down version when Reese dies, and a piano version during the love scene. Fiedel created music for when Reese and Connor escape from the police station that would be appropriate for a "heroic moment". Cameron turned down this theme, as he believed it would lose the audience's excitement. The soundtrack to the film was released in 1984. Release Orion Pictures did not have faith in The Terminator performing well at the box office and feared a negative critical reception. At an early screening of the film, the actors' agents insisted to the producers that the film should be screened for critics. Orion only held one press screening for the film. The film was premiered on October 26, 1984.

On its opening week, The Terminator played at 1,005 theaters and grossed $4,020,663 making it number one in the box office. The film remained at number one in its second week. It lost its number one spot in the third week to Oh, God! You Devil . Cameron noted that The Terminator was a hit "relative to its market, which is between the summer and the Christmas blockbusters. But it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way around." Writer Harlan Ellison stated that he "loved the movie, was just blown away by it", but believed that the screenplay was based on an episode of The Outer Limits he had written, titled "Soldier". Orion gave Ellison an undisclosed amount of money and an acknowledgment credit in later prints of the film. Some accounts of the settlement state that "Demon with a Glass Hand", another Outer Limits episode written by Ellison, was also claimed to have been plagiarized by the film, but Ellison has explicitly stated that The Terminator "was a ripoff" of "Soldier" rather than "Demon with a Glass Hand".

Cameron was against Orion's decision and was told that if he did not agree with the settlement, they would have Cameron pay for any damages if Orion lost Ellison's suit. Cameron replied that he "had no choice but to agree with the settlement. Of course there was a gag order as well, so I couldn't tell this story, but now I frankly don't care. It's the truth. Harlan Ellison is a parasite who can kiss my ass." Marketing Around and shortly after The Terminator's release in theaters, a number of merchandise items and media were released and sold to coincide with the film. Shaun Hutson wrote a novelization of the film which was published in 1984. In September 1988, NOW Comics released a comic based on the film. Dark Horse Comics published a comic in 1990 that took place 39 years after the film. Several video games based on The Terminator were released between 1991 and 1993 for various Nintendo and Sega systems. A soundtrack to the film was released in 1984 which included the score by Brad Fiedel and the pop and rock songs used in the club scenes.

Home video The Terminator was released on VHS and Betamax in 1985. The film performed well financially on its initial release. The Terminator premiered at number 35 on the top video cassette rentals and number 20 on top video cassette sales charts. In its second week, The Terminator reached number 4 on the top video cassette rentals and number 12 on top video cassette sales charts. In March 1995, The Terminator was released as a letter boxed edition on Laserdisc. The film premiered through Image Entertainment on DVD, on September 3, 1997. IGN referred to this DVD as "pretty bare-bones...released with just a mono soundtrack and a kind of poor transfer." Through their acquisition of Polygram Filmed Entertainment's pre-1996 film library catalogue, MGM released a special edition of the film on October 2, 2001, which included documentaries, the script, and advertisements for the film. On 23 January 2001 a VCD version was released for the Hong Kong market. On June 20, 2006, the film was released on Blu-ray through Sony in the United States.

In late 2012, the film was re-released on Blu-ray, this time with a transfer by MGM, which features improved sharpness compared to Sony's 2006 Blu-ray, and revised color grading, as well as expanded extra material, such as deleted scenes and a making-of feature. Reception and legacy Positive reviews of The Terminator focused on the action scenes and rapid pacing. Variety praised the film, calling it a "blazing, cinematic comic book, full of virtuoso moviemaking, terrific momentum, solid performances and a compelling story...Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast in a machine-like portrayal that requires only a few lines of dialog." Richard Corliss of Time magazine said that the film has "Plenty of tech-noir savvy to keep infidels and action fans satisfied." Time placed The Terminator on its "10 Best" list for 1984.

The Los Angeles Times called the film "a crackling thriller full of all sorts of gory treats...loaded with fuel-injected chase scenes, clever special effects and a sly humor." The Milwaukee Journal gave the film 3 stars, calling it "the most chilling science fiction thriller since Alien ." A review in Orange Coast magazine stated that "the distinguishing virtue of The Terminator is its relentless tension. Right from the start it's all action and violence with no time taken to set up the story...It's like a streamlined Dirty Harry movie " no exposition at all; just guns, guns and more guns." In the May 1985 issue of Cinefantastique it was referred to as a film that "manages to be both derivative and original at the same time...not since the Road Warrior has the genre exhibited so much exuberant carnage" and "an example of science fiction/horror at its best...Cameron's no-nonsense approach will make him a sought-after commodity". In the United Kingdom the Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film's script, special effects, design and Schwarzenegger's performance. Other reviews focused on the film's level of violence and story-telling quality.

The New York Times opined that the film was a "B-movie with flair. Much of it...has suspense and personality, and only the obligatory mayhem becomes dull. There is far too much of the latter, in the form of car chases, messy shootouts and Mr. Schwarzenegger's slamming brutally into anything that gets in his way." The Pittsburgh Press wrote a negative review, calling the film "just another of the films drenched in artsy ugliness like Streets of Fire and Blade Runner ." The Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars, adding that "at times it's horrifyingly violent and suspenseful at others it giggles at itself. This schizoid style actually helps, providing a little humor just when the sci-fi plot turns too sluggish or the dialogue too hokey." The Newhouse News Service called the film a "lurid, violent, pretentious piece of claptrap". The film won three Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, best make-up and best writing.

In 1991, Richard Schickel of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the film giving it an "A" rating, writing that "what originally seemed a somewhat inflated, if generous and energetic, big picture, now seems quite a good little film" and called it "one of the most original movies of the 1980s and seems likely to remain one of the best sci-fi films ever made." Film4 gave the film five stars, calling it the "sci-fi action-thriller that launched the careers of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the stratosphere.

Still endlessly entertaining." TV Guide gave the film four stars referring to it as an "amazingly effective picture that becomes doubly impressive when one considers its small budget...For our money, this film is far superior to its mega-grossing mega-budgeted sequel." Empire gave the film five stars calling it "As chillingly efficient in exacting thrills from its audience as its titular character is in executing its targets." The film database Allmovie gave the film five stars, saying that it "established James Cameron as a master of action, special effects, and quasi-mythic narrative intrigue, while turning Arnold Schwarzenegger into the hard-body star of the 1980s." Halliwell's Film Guide described the film as "slick, rather nasty but undeniably compelling comic book adventures." The film holds a 100% "Certified Fresh" rating and a score of 84/100 ("universal acclaim"), respectively, on the review aggregate websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. The Terminator has received recognition from the American Film Institute. The film ranked 42nd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills, a list of America's most heart-pounding films.

The character of the Terminator was selected as the 22nd-greatest movie villain on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains. Arnold's catch phrase "I'll be back" was voted the 37th-greatest movie quote by the AFI. In 2005, Total Film named The Terminator the 72nd-best film ever made. In 2008, Empire magazine selected The Terminator as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. Empire also placed the T-800 14th on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. In 2008, The Terminator was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Themes Darian Leader considers The Terminator as an example of how the cinema has dealt with the problem of masculinity, stating that it illustrates that to be a man requires more than having the body of a man, and that something symbolic that is not ultimately human must be added. He sees The Terminator as similar to The Six Million Dollar Man and RoboCop in this respect.

The film also evokes a number of biblical and theological themes. See also The Terminator - iSnare Free Encyclopedia The Terminator This article is about the 1984 film. For the franchise it initiated, see Terminator (franchise) . For the eponymous character, see Terminator (character) . For other uses, see Terminator (disambiguation) . The Terminator $78.3 million [4] The Terminator is a 1984 American science-fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron . It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator , a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton ), whose son will one day become a savior against machines in a post-apocalyptic future. Michael Biehn plays Kyle Reese , a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect Connor. The Terminator topped the American box office for two weeks and helped launch Cameron's film career and solidify Schwarzenegger's. It received critical acclaim, with many praising its pacing, action scenes and Schwarzenegger's performance.

Its success led to a franchise consisting of four sequels ( Terminator 2: Judgment Day , Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines , Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys ), a television series , comic books, novels and video games. In 2008, The Terminator was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the American National Film Registry , being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Contents 10 External links Plot In 1984 Los Angeles , a cyborg assassin known as a Terminator arrives from 2029 and steals guns and clothes. Shortly afterwards, Kyle Reese , a human soldier from 2029, arrives. He steals clothes and evades the police. The Terminator begins systematically killing women named Sarah Connor , whose addresses he finds in the telephone directory. He tracks the third Sarah Connor to a nightclub, but Kyle rescues her. The two steal a car and escape with the Terminator pursuing them in a police car. As they hide in a parking lot, Kyle explains to Sarah that an artificial intelligence defense network, known as Skynet , will become self-aware in the near future and initiate a nuclear holocaust .

Sarah's future son John will rally the survivors and lead a resistance movement against Skynet and its army of machines. With the Resistance on the verge of victory, Skynet sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah before John is born, to prevent the formation of the Resistance. The Terminator is an efficient killing machine with a powerful metal endoskeleton and an external layer of living tissue that makes him appear human. Kyle and Sarah are apprehended by the police after another encounter with the Terminator. Criminal psychologist Dr. Silberman concludes that Kyle is paranoid and delusional. The Terminator repairs his body and attacks the police station, killing many police officers in his attempt to locate Sarah. Kyle and Sarah escape, steal another car and take refuge in a motel, where they assemble pipe bombs and plan their next move. Kyle admits that he has been in love with Sarah since John gave him a photograph of her, and they have sex. The Terminator discovers their location, and they attempt to escape in a pickup truck. In the ensuing chase, Kyle is wounded by gunfire while throwing pipe bombs at the Terminator. Enraged‚ Sarah knocks the Terminator off his motorcycle but loses control of the truck, which flips over.

The Terminator hijacks a tank truck and attempts to run down Sarah, but Kyle slides a pipe bomb onto the tanker, causing an explosion that burns the flesh from the Terminator's exoskeleton. It pursues them to a factory, where Kyle activates machinery to confuse the Terminator. He jams his final pipe bomb into the Terminator's abdomen, blowing the Terminator apart, injuring Sarah, and killing Kyle. The damaged Terminator reactivates and grabs Sarah. She breaks free and lures it into a hydraulic press , crushing it. Months later, a pregnant Sarah is traveling through Mexico, recording audio tapes to pass on to her unborn son, John. She debates whether to tell him that Kyle is his father. At a gas station, a boy takes a Polaroid photograph of her which she purchases—the same photograph that John will eventually give to Kyle. Cast Earl Boen as Dr. Peter Silberman, a criminal psychologist . Bess Motta as Ginger Ventura, Sarah's roommate. Rick Rossovich as Matt Buchanan, Ginger's boyfriend.

Additional actors included Shawn Schepps as Nancy, Sarah's co-worker at the diner; Dick Miller as the gun-shop clerk; professional bodybuilder Franco Columbu (Schwarzenegger's friend and workout partner) as a Terminator in 2029; Bill Paxton and Brian Thompson as punks who are confronted by the Terminator; and Marianne Muellerleile as one of the other women with the name "Sarah Connor" who was shot by the Terminator. Production Development In Rome , Italy , during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning , director Cameron fell ill and had a dream about a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion. [5] Inspired by director John Carpenter , who had made the slasher film Halloween (1978) on a low budget, Cameron used the dream as a "launching pad" to write a slasher-style film. [6] Cameron's agent disliked the Terminator concept and requested that he work on something else. After this, Cameron dismissed his agent. [7] Cameron returned to Pomona, California and stayed at the home of science fiction writer Randall Frakes , where he wrote the draft for The Terminator.

[8] Cameron's influences included 1950s science fiction films, the 1960s fantasy television series The Outer Limits , and contemporary films such as The Driver (1978) and Mad Max 2 (1981). [9] [10] To translate the draft into a script, Cameron enlisted his friend Bill Wisher , who had a similar approach to storytelling. Cameron gave Wisher scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department to write. As Wisher lived far from Cameron, the two communicated ideas by recording tapes of what they wrote by telephone.[ clarification needed ] The initial outline of the script involved two Terminators being sent to the past. The first was similar to the Terminator in the film, while the second was made of liquid metal and could not be destroyed with conventional weaponry. [11] Cameron felt that the technology of the time was unable to create the liquid Terminator, [11] [12] and returned to the idea with the T-1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). [13] Gale Anne Hurd bought the rights to The Terminator from James Cameron for one dollar.

[14] Gale Anne Hurd , who had worked at New World Pictures as Roger Corman 's assistant, showed interest in the project. Cameron and Hurd had friends who worked with Corman previously and who were working at Orion Pictures , now part of MGM . Orion agreed to distribute the film if Cameron could get financial backing elsewhere. The script was picked up by John Daly at Hemdale Pictures . [16] Cameron wanted his pitch for Daly to finalize the deal and had his friend Lance Henriksen show up to the meeting early dressed and acting like the Terminator. [16] Henriksen, wearing a leather jacket, fake cuts on his face, and gold foil on his teeth, kicked open the door to the office and then sat in a chair. [16] Cameron arrived shortly after which relieved the staff from Henriksen's act. Daly was impressed by the screenplay and Cameron's sketches and passion for the film. [16] In late 1982, Daly agreed to back the film with help from HBO and Orion. [16] [17] The Terminator was originally budgeted at $4 million and later raised to $6.5 million.

[18] Pre-production Casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as our Terminator, on the other hand, shouldn't have worked. The guy is supposed to be an infiltration unit, and there's no way you wouldn't spot a Terminator in a crowd instantly if they all looked like Arnold. It made no sense whatsoever. But the beauty of movies is that they don't have to be logical. They just have to have plausibility. If there's a visceral, cinematic thing happening that the audience likes, they don't care if it goes against what's likely. [19] —James Cameron on casting Schwarzenegger. For the role of Kyle Reese, Orion wanted a star whose popularity was rising in the United States but who also would have foreign appeal. Orion cofounder Mike Medavoy had met Arnold Schwarzenegger and sent his agent the script for The Terminator. [17] Cameron was dubious about casting Schwarzenegger as Reese as he felt he would need someone even bigger to play the Terminator. Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson were offered the Terminator role, but both turned it down. [20] The studio suggested O. J.

Simpson for the role, but Cameron did not feel that Simpson would be believable as a killer. [21] [22] Cameron agreed to meet with Schwarzenegger about the film and devised a plan to avoid casting him; he would pick a fight with him and return to Hemdale and find him unfit for the role. [23] Upon meeting him, however, Cameron was entertained by Schwarzenegger who would talk about how the villain should be played. Cameron began sketching his face on a notepad and asked Schwarzenegger to stop talking and remain still. [22] After the meeting, Cameron returned to Daly saying Schwarzenegger would not play Reese but that "he'd make a hell of a Terminator". [24] Schwarzenegger was not as excited by the film; during an interview on the set of Conan the Barbarian , an interviewer asked him about a pair of shoes he had (which were for The Terminator).

Schwarzenegger responded, "Oh some shit movie I'm doing, take a couple weeks." [25] He recounted in his memoir, Total Recall, that he was initially hesitant, but thought that playing a robot in a contemporary film would be a challenging change of pace from Conan the Barbarian and that the film was low profile enough that it would not damage his career if it were unsuccessful. He also wrote that "it took [him] awhile to figure out that Jim [Cameron] was the real deal" (i.e., a director as talented as Spielberg, Hitchcock or Coppola). In preparation for the role, Schwarzenegger spent three months training with weapons to be able to use them and feel comfortable around them. [24] Schwarzenegger speaks only 18 lines in the film, and fewer than 100 words. James Cameron said that "Somehow, even his [Austrian] accent worked ... It had a strange synthesized quality, like they hadn't gotten the voice thing quite worked out." [26] For the role of Reese, various other suggestions were made for the role including rock musician Sting . [27] Cameron chose Michael Biehn for the role.

Biehn was originally skeptical about the part, feeling that the film was silly. After meeting with Cameron, Biehn stated his "feelings about the project changed". [27] Hurd stated that "almost everyone else who came in from the audition was so tough that you just never believed that there was gonna be this human connection between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. They have very little time to fall in love. A lot of people came in and just could not pull it off." [28] To get into Kyle Reese's character, Biehn studied the Polish resistance movement in World War II . [29] In the first few pages of the script, the character of Sarah Connor is written as "19, small and delicate features. Pretty in a flawed, accessible way. She doesn't stop the party when she walks in, but you'd like to get to know her. Her vulnerable quality masks a strength even she doesn't know exists." [30] For the role, Cameron chose Linda Hamilton , who had just finished filming Children of the Corn . [31] Rosanna Arquette had previously auditioned.

[32] Cameron found a role for Lance Henriksen as Detective Hal Vukovich, as Henriksen had been essential to finding finances for the film. [33] For the special effects shots in the film, Cameron wanted Dick Smith who had previously worked on The Godfather and Taxi Driver . Smith did not take Cameron's offer and suggested his friend Stan Winston for the job. [34] Brad Fiedel was with the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency where a new agent named Beth Donahue found that Cameron was working on The Terminator and sent him a cassette of Fiedel's music. [35] Fiedel was then invited to a screening of the film with Cameron and Hurd. [35] Hurd was not certain on having Fiedel compose the score as he had only worked in television music previously, and not theatrical films. [35] Fiedel convinced the two that he would be right for the job by showing them an experimental piece he had worked on, thinking that "You know, I'm going to play this for him, because it’s really dark and I think it’s interesting for him." The song convinced Hurd and Cameron to sign him on to the film.

[35] Filming Filming for The Terminator was set to begin in early 1983 in Toronto , but was halted when producer Dino De Laurentiis applied an option in Schwarzenegger's contract that would make him unavailable for nine months while he was filming Conan the Destroyer . During the waiting period, Cameron was contracted to write the script for Rambo: First Blood Part II , refined the Terminator script, and met with producers David Giler and Walter Hill to discuss a sequel to Alien , which became Aliens , released in 1986. [33] [36] There was limited interference from Orion Pictures. Two suggestions Orion put forward included the addition of a canine android for Reese, which Cameron refused, and to strengthen the love interest between Sarah and Reese, which Cameron accepted. [37] To create the Terminator's look, Winston and Cameron passed sketches back and forth, eventually deciding on a design nearly identical to Cameron's original drawing in Rome. [34] [38] Winston had a team of seven artists work for six months to create a Terminator puppet; it was first molded in clay, then plaster reinforced with steel ribbing.

These pieces were then sanded, painted and then chrome-plated. Winston sculpted a reproduction of Schwarzenegger's face in several poses out of silicone, clay and plaster. [38] The sequences set in 2029 and the stop-motion scenes were developed by Fantasy II, a special effects company headed by Gene Warren Junior. [39] A stop-motion model is used in several scenes in the film involving the Terminator's skeletal frame. Cameron wanted to convince the audience that the model of the structure was capable of doing what they saw Schwarzenegger doing. To allow this, a scene was filmed of Schwarzenegger injured and limping away; this limp made it easier for the model to imitate Schwarzenegger. [40] [41] One of the guns seen in the film and on the film's poster was an AMT Longslide pistol modified by Ed Reynolds from SureFire to include a laser sight . Both non-functioning and functioning versions of the prop were created.

At the time the movie was made, diode lasers were not available; because of the high power requirement, the helium–neon laser in the sight used an external power supply that Schwarzenegger had to activate manually. Reynolds states that his only compensation for the project was promotional material for the film. [42] In March 1984, the film began production in Los Angeles. [38] [43] Cameron felt that with Schwarzenegger on the set, the style of the film changed, explaining that "the movie took on a larger-than-life sheen. I just found myself on the set doing things I didn't think I would do – scenes that were just purely horrific that just couldn't be, because now they were too flamboyant." [44] [45] Most of The Terminator's action scenes were filmed at night, which led to tight filming schedules before sunrise. A week before filming started, Linda Hamilton sprained her ankle, leading to a production change whereby the scenes in which Hamilton needed to run occurred as late as the filming schedule allowed. Hamilton's ankle was taped every day and she spent most of the film production in pain.

[46] Schwarzenegger tried to have the iconic line " I'll be back " changed as he had difficulty pronouncing the word I'll. He also felt that his robotic character would not speak in contractions and that the Terminator would be more declarative. Cameron refused to change the line to "I will be back", so Schwarzenegger worked to say the line as written the best he could. He would later say the line in numerous films throughout his career. [47] After production finished on The Terminator, some post-production shots were needed. [48] These included scenes showing the Terminator outside Sarah Connor's apartment, Reese being zipped into a body bag, and the Terminator's head being crushed in a press. [21] [43] [48] Release Schwarzenegger with President Ronald Reagan two months before The Terminator's premiere in 1984. Orion Pictures did not have faith in The Terminator performing well at the box office and feared a negative critical reception. [49] At an early screening of the film, the actors' agents insisted to the producers that the film should be screened for critics. [21] Orion only held one press screening for the film.

[49] The film premiered on October 26, 1984. On its opening week, The Terminator played at 1,005 theaters and grossed $4.0 million making it number one in the box office. The film remained at number one in its second week. It lost its number one spot in the third week to Oh, God! You Devil . [50] [51] Cameron noted that The Terminator was a hit "relative to its market, which is between the summer and the Christmas blockbusters. But it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way around." [52] Writer Harlan Ellison stated that he "loved the movie, was just blown away by it", Some accounts of the settlement state that " Demon with a Glass Hand ", another Outer Limits episode written by Ellison, was also claimed to have been plagiarized by the film, [56] [57] [58] [59] but Ellison has explicitly stated that The Terminator "was a ripoff" of "Soldier" rather than "Demon with a Glass Hand".

[54] Cameron was against Orion's decision and was told that if he did not agree with the settlement, he would have to pay any damages if Orion lost a suit by Ellison. [60] Cameron replied that he "had no choice but to agree with the settlement. Of course there was a gag order as well, so I couldn't tell this story, but now I frankly don't care. It's the truth." [61] [62] Marketing For more details on this topic, see List of Terminator comics and List of Terminator video games . Shaun Hutson wrote a novelization of the film which was published on February 21, 1985. [63] In September 1988, NOW Comics released a comic based on the film. Dark Horse Comics published a comic in 1990 that took place 39 years after the film. [64] Several video games based on The Terminator were released between 1991 and 1993 for various Nintendo and Sega systems.

[65] A soundtrack to the film was released in 1984 which included the score by Brad Fiedel and the pop and rock songs used in the club scenes. [66] Home video Michael Biehn signing a copy of the film during an appearance at Midtown Comics in 2012. The Terminator was released on VHS and Betamax in 1985. The film premiered through Image Entertainment on DVD , on September 3, 1997. [50] [71] IGN referred to this DVD as "pretty bare-bones ... released with just a mono soundtrack and a kind of poor transfer." [72] Through their acquisition of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's pre-1996 film library catalogue, MGM released a special edition of the film on October 2, 2001, which included documentaries, the script, and advertisements for the film. On June 20, 2006, the film was released on Blu-ray through Sony in the United States.

[76] In late 2012, the film was re-released on Blu-ray, this time with a transfer by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, which features improved sharpness compared to Sony's 2006 Blu-ray, and revised color grading, as well as expanded extra material, such as deleted scenes and a making-of feature. [77] Reception and legacy The Terminator received critical acclaim and many consider it one of the best films of 1984. Positive reviews of The Terminator focused on the action scenes and rapid pacing. Variety praised the film, calling it a "blazing, cinematic comic book, full of virtuoso moviemaking, terrific momentum, solid performances and a compelling story ... Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast in a machine-like portrayal that requires only a few lines of dialog." [78] Richard Corliss of Time magazine said that the film has "Plenty of tech-noir savvy to keep infidels and action fans satisfied." [79] Time placed The Terminator on its "10 Best" list for 1984.

[49] The Los Angeles Times called the film "a crackling thriller full of all sorts of gory treats ... loaded with fuel-injected chase scenes, clever special effects and a sly humor." [49] The Milwaukee Journal gave the film 3 stars, calling it "the most chilling science fiction thriller since Alien ." [80] A review in Orange Coast magazine stated that "the distinguishing virtue of The Terminator is its relentless tension. Right from the start it's all action and violence with no time taken to set up the story ... It's like a streamlined Dirty Harry movie – no exposition at all; just guns, guns and more guns." [81] In the May 1985 issue of Cinefantastique it was referred to as a film that "manages to be both derivative and original at the same time ... not since the Road Warrior has the genre exhibited so much exuberant carnage" and "an example of science fiction/horror at its best ... Cameron's no-nonsense approach will make him a sought-after commodity". [82] In the United Kingdom the Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film's script, special effects, design and Schwarzenegger's performance.

[82] [83] Other reviews focused on the film's level of violence and story-telling quality. The New York Times opined that the film was a "B-movie with flair. Much of it ... has suspense and personality, and only the obligatory mayhem becomes dull. There is far too much of the latter, in the form of car chases, messy shootouts and Mr. Schwarzenegger's slamming brutally into anything that gets in his way." [84] The Pittsburgh Press wrote a negative review, calling the film "just another of the films drenched in artsy ugliness like Streets of Fire and Blade Runner ." [85] The Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars, adding that "at times it's horrifyingly violent and suspenseful at others it giggles at itself. This schizoid style actually helps, providing a little humor just when the sci-fi plot turns too sluggish or the dialogue too hokey." [86] The Newhouse News Service called the film a "lurid, violent, pretentious piece of claptrap".

[87] British author Gilbert Adair called the film "repellent to the last degree", charging it with "insidious Nazification" and charging that it had an "appeal rooted in an unholy compound of fascism , fashion and fascination." [88] The film won three Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film , best make-up and best writing . [89] In 1991, Richard Schickel of Entertainment Weekly reviewed the film giving it an "A" rating, writing that "what originally seemed a somewhat inflated, if generous and energetic, big picture, now seems quite a good little film" and called it "one of the most original movies of the 1980s and seems likely to remain one of the best sci-fi films ever made." [90] Film4 gave the film five stars, calling it the "sci-fi action-thriller that launched the careers of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the stratosphere. Still endlessly entertaining." [91] TV Guide gave the film four stars referring to it as an "amazingly effective picture that becomes doubly impressive when one considers its small budget ...

For our money, this film is far superior to its mega-grossing mega-budgeted sequel." [92] Empire gave the film five stars calling it "As chillingly efficient in exacting thrills from its audience as its titular character is in executing its targets." [93] The film database Allmovie gave the film five stars, saying that it "established James Cameron as a master of action, special effects, and quasi-mythic narrative intrigue, while turning Arnold Schwarzenegger into the hard-body star of the 1980s." [94] Halliwell's Film Guide described the film as "slick, rather nasty but undeniably compelling comic book adventures." [95] The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 8.7/10 based on 50 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With its impressive action sequences, taut economic direction, and relentlessly fast pace, it's clear why The Terminator continues to be an influence on sci-fi and action flicks." [96] The film also holds a score of 83/100 ("universal acclaim") on review aggregator website Metacritic .

[97] The Terminator has received recognition from the American Film Institute . The film ranked 42nd on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills , a list of America's most heart-pounding films. [98] The character of the Terminator was selected as the 22nd-greatest movie villain on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains . [99] Arnold's catch phrase " I'll be back " was voted the 37th-greatest movie quote by the AFI. [100] In 2005, Total Film named The Terminator the 72nd-best film ever made. [101] In 2008, Empire magazine selected The Terminator as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time. [102] Empire also placed the T-800 14th on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters. [103] In 2008, The Terminator was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry .

[104] The film initiated a long-running Terminator franchise , which currently consists of five films and several adaptations in other media. [105] [106] Biographer Laurence Leamer writes that The Terminator, "was an influential film affecting a whole generation of darkly hued science fiction, and it was one of Arnold's best performances." [107] Themes Psychoanalyst Darian Leader sees The Terminator as an example of how the cinema has dealt with the problem of masculinity ; he writes that, "We are shown time and again that to be a man requires more than to have the biological body of a male: something else must be added to it...To be a man means to have a body plus something symbolic, something which is not ultimately human. Hence the frequent motif of the man machine, from the Six Million Dollar Man to the Terminator or Robocop ." [108] The film also explores the potential dangers of AI dominance and rebellion. The robots become self-aware in the future, reject human authority and determine that the human race needs to be destroyed.

The impact of this theme is so important that "the prevalent visual representation of AI risk has become the terminator robot." [109] Soundtrack Producer Brad Fiedel, Kevin Elson, Jay Ferguson, Michael Verdick, John French, Trevor Courtney [110] The Terminator soundtrack was composed and performed on synthesizer by Brad Fiedel . It has been described as having a "deceptively simple melody" line and "haunting synthesizer music". [114] It is in a time signature of 13 16, which came about as Fiedel experimented with the rhythm track on his music equipment; it was initially an accident, but Fiedel found that he liked the "herky-jerky" "propulsiveness". [115] Fiedel created music for when Reese and Connor escape from the police station that would be appropriate for a "heroic moment". Cameron turned down this theme, as he believed it would lose the audience's excitement. [112] "Factory Chase" features an electric violin played by Ross Levinson.

[114] The track "Love Scene" is a softer piano-based version of the main theme that was described as "bittersweet". The soundtrack to the film was released in 1984. The first six tracks of the soundtrack comprise the Terminator score. The second half is performed by various artists and has been described as synthesizer-based and dance-oriented pop rock. The songs by Tahnee Cain & Tryanglz contain hard rock rhythm guitar. "Pictures of You" has an emphasis on synthesizer and differs from Jay Ferguson 's hit songs. "Intimacy" has been described as "latter-day new wave and primitive, early techno". [114] Release The soundtrack album was originally released through Enigma Records . Milan Records released a remastered version of the score on April 8, 2016. [119] [120] Reception Online music database AllMusic praised the score of the film, referring to it as an "underrated highlight" of The Terminator and referred to it as a "marvelous synthesizer score". The review stated that the second half of the album featuring the pop songs was "generic".

[114] The review praised the "Definitive Edition" version of the album which featured the entire film score, opining that it "comprises some of the best science fiction-oriented film music of recent decades." [118] Reviewing the 2016 re-issue, Pitchfork gave the album an 8.5 out of 10 rating, and labeled it as one of their best new reissues. Track listing Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error Terminator 2: Judgment Day ( 1991 ) R | From $9.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her teenage son, John Connor, from a more advanced cyborg.

Director: a list of 21 titles created 29 Mar 2011 a list of 36 titles created 14 Jan 2012 a list of 46 titles created 07 Jun 2012 a list of 25 titles created 30 Oct 2014 a list of 21 titles created 20 Aug 2015 Title: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) 8.5/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 4 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 23 nominations. See more awards » Videos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/10 X A seemingly indestructible humanoid cyborg is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines, while a soldier from that war is sent to protect her at all costs.

Director: James Cameron Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown. Director: Robert Zemeckis A cybernetic warrior from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a 25-year old drifter and his future wife from a most advanced robotic assassin and to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack. Director: Jonathan Mostow A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis. Director: Steven Spielberg During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.

Director: Steven Spielberg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.5/10 X After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform. Continuing their journey back to Earth with the attacked crew having recovered and the critter deceased, they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun. Director: Ridley Scott When Dr. Henry Jones Sr. suddenly goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, eminent archaeologist Indiana Jones must follow in his father's footsteps and stop the Nazis. Director: Steven Spielberg Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action. Director: Steven Spielberg The moon from Alien (1979) has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough? Director: James Cameron When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. Director: Ridley Scott A young F.B.I.

cadet must confide in an incarcerated and manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. Director: Jonathan Demme Edit Storyline Over 10 years have passed since the first cyborg called The Terminator tried to kill Sarah Connor and her unborn son, John Connor. John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance, is now a healthy young boy. However another Terminator is sent back through time called the T-1000, which is more advanced and more powerful than its predecessor. The Mission: to kill John Connor when he's still a child. However, Sarah and John do not have to face this threat of a Terminator alone. Another Terminator is also sent back through time. The mission: to protect John and Sarah Connor at all costs. The battle for tomorrow has begun... Written by Eric ggg It's nothing personal.

See more » Genres: Rated R for strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 3 July 1991 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Terminator 2: Judgment Day See more » Filming Locations: (Laserdisk 1993 Special Edition: Extended Version) | 156 min (Blu-ray 2009 Skynet Edition: Extended Special Edition) | 130 min (Extreme DVD) Sound Mix: 70 mm 6-Track (analog 70 mm prints)| CDS (digital 35 mm and 70 mm prints)| Dolby SR (analog 35 mm prints)| Dolby Stereo (in selected theatres)| Mono (original release)| Auro 11.1 (IMAX version)| Dolby Atmos (IMAX version)| Dolby Digital (Extreme Edition) Color: Did You Know? Trivia Van Ling : The DVD producer and FX Coordinator appears as Dyson's assistant in the lab.

See more » Goofs When the T-1000 shoots his Beretta 92S pistol in the hallway of the mall, the reports are muffled and distorted as if suppressed, yet the pistol has no silencer attached to its muzzle. See more » Quotes [first lines] Sarah Connor : [narrating] Three billion human lives ended on August 29th, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear fire called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Skynet, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the human resistance, John Connor, my son. The first Terminator was programmed to strike at me in the year 1984, before John was born. It failed. The ... Now read the Bantam Book See more » Connections Published by Del Sound Music (BMI) Courtesy of EMI Records USA A Division of Capital Records, inc. by Arrangement with CEMA Special Markets Movie that everyone should see! 13 March 2008 | by 851222 (Lithuania) – See all my reviews Greetings from Lithuania.

WOW! The best word that describes this movie is "wow"! Not only to say that this is the best Action movie of all time, this is probably one of the greatest movies ever made . The people in my country watched this film when there where limited VHS cassettes at all. And again, my favorite Director did an timeless epic-masterpiece. Yes, an epic. Every scene in this movie is beyond the perfection. The timeless plot. Groundbreaking effects. Unforgettable "Hasta la vista, baby." . Perfect direction for a sci-fix action film. When the action starts, you're in for the ride of your life. There never be the same movie like T2. What else I can say about this film? A Must see for everyone. 82 of 93 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes

Question: In "The Terminator", a 1984 film directed and co-written by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger had the famous line: "I'll be ... " what?
Answer: Back