The Terminator

"Your future is in its hands."

1984 1h 48m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

★7.7TMDB · 15,249

ActionThrillerScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?

“Your future is in its hands.”

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Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Terminator
Michael Biehn
Kyle Reese
Linda Hamilton
Sarah Connor
Paul Winfield
Traxler
Lance Henriksen
Vukovich
Rick Rossovich
Matt
Bess Motta
Ginger
Earl Boen
Silberman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: James Cameron
Writers: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $78M — a 12.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

42 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Terminator Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by James Cameron, shot by Adam Greenberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Brad Fiedel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Mark Goldblatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James Cameron directs. Adam Greenberg behind the camera. Brad Fiedel scores. Mark Goldblatt cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Grossed $78M — a 12.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
242 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Part of the "The Terminator Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by James Cameron, shot by Adam Greenberg. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Brad Fiedel. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Mark Goldblatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Your future is in its hands.".
11IMDB entry: tt0088247 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1215,249 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
13Classified under 22 themes, including "man vs machine", "artificial intelligence (a.i.)", "saving the world", "laser gun".
14Released under 25 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Adam Greenberg
Original score: Brad Fiedel
Editing: Mark Goldblatt
Costume design: Hilary Wright
Makeup / hair: Jeff Dawn
VFX supervisor: Gene Warren Jr.
Sound: David J. Hudson
Stunt coordinator: Ken Fritz
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $6,400,000
Box office: $78,371,200
Return: 1225% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Terminator (1984)

Awards

Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

The Terminator Collection

A series of science-fiction films about the futuristic conflict between the humans led by John Connor and the Terminators that are made and controlled by Skynet, a self-aware super computer that started Armageddon and may indeed end humanity for good. Skynet's most well-known products in its genocidal goals are the various terminator models, such as the T-800 (Model 101).

Also by

James Cameron

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-05-07
★ 9/10
I can't. Nobody goes home. Nobody else comes through. It's just him - and me. It's funny really, writing a review for The Terminator these days just feels a little pointless, I mean anyone who wanted to see it would have done so already. In truth the effects work is a little creaky now but that doesn't matter, they were awesome in 1984. It's a ripper of a story awash with high energy action, rip-snorting characterisations and tech-noir atmospherics. It's place in the pantheon of science fiction films is assured, its influence on the genre undoubted, while the lead cast members cemented themselves in the sci-fi hall of fame. No more needs to be said really, The Terminator is a kinetic live action comic book of a movie, classy movie making, paced to precision and featuring a story that's brilliantly complex and utterly compelling. 9/10
Jodie2017-02-18
★ 10/10
Writing a review for a movie this old does indeed seem pointless, but since this is one of my favorite films I thought I would review it anyway. In my opinion The Terminator is a beautiful, yet tragic love story set in the back drop of the future and the past. A soldier from the future is sent to the 80's to save the leader of the resistance (John Connor) mother from a High Tech Cybernetic Killing Machine. We all know that. What I loved was that this soldier, Kyle Reese volunteers for this suicide mission. He volunteers for one reason because, he had fallen in love with this woman, Sarah Connor. Though they were separated by several decades of time and Judgement Day, her son tells him these tales of his mother Sarah and gives him a single picture of her, purposefully pushing Reese to fall for his mother and this is the reason for him traveling through time to do the nearly impossible. Save and protect Sarah Connor to save the human race in the future and kill a super bad ass T-800 with low tech weaponry and a reluctant Damsel. Bullets flying and bombs booming make this movie highly entertaining. The storyline, ridiculous as it is, is fantastic and had everyone in the 80's and 90's quoting this SciFi film. It's always a good watch. It holds up nicely overtime.
Gimly2018-03-19
★ 9/10
I know saying this puts me in the minority, but the first Terminator movie is actually my favourite of the franchise. That's not a knock on the second movie, Judgment Day is awesome. But I really dig the lower down, dark, sci-fi horror vibe of the original (it is a knock on every movie in the series that came after T2 though). Schwarzenegger as the titular Terminator is inspired casting. Firstly, any restrictions he had in acting ability back in the 80s are brushed aside by the fact that he's playing a cold, unfeeling machine. And can you imagine someone who looks like that coming after you? Forget the fact he's got an arsenal in his back pocket, forget the fact that he's got a near unstoppable metal exoskeleton, Arnie is already a machine! Being hunted by that man would be terrifying, and you feel that in the performance of the leads. The Terminator is one of the best movies I've ever seen, and I have seen - a lot. Final rating:★★★★½ - Ridiculously strong appeal. I can’t stop thinking about it.