The Terminator (1984)

A robotic assassin from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to eliminate a waitress, whose son will grow up and lead humanity in a war against machines.

Director:

James Cameron

Writers:

James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd,

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton

Top 250 #172 | 5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Terminator
Michael Biehn	...	Kyle Reese
Linda Hamilton	...	Sarah Connor
Paul Winfield	...	Lieutenant Ed Traxler
Lance Henriksen	...	Detective Hal Vukovich
Rick Rossovich	...	Matt Buchanan
Bess Motta	...	Ginger Ventura
Earl Boen	...	Dr. Peter Silberman
Dick Miller	...	Pawn Shop Clerk
Shawn Schepps	...	Nancy
Bruce M. Kerner	...	Desk Sergeant
Franco Columbu	...	Future Terminator
Bill Paxton	...	Punk Leader
Brad Rearden	...	Punk
Brian Thompson	...	Punk

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 ?

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Plot Keywords:

the terminator | future | skynet | soldier | cyborg | 

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Taglines:

Your future is in his hands.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

26 October 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Terminator

Filming Locations:

212 West 7th Street, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,400,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$38,400,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hemdale Film, Pacific Western, Euro Film Funding

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A Hydraulic arm was used when the Terminator punches through the windshield in the alley scene. This was rehearsed several times and since Arnold Schwarzenegger's face was in the shot too, it all had to be choreographed perfectly, since replacing a windshield was too costly and time consuming.

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Goofs

When the terminator talks to the desk officer, you can see through the glasses which shows both his eyes intact, even though one should be missing.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[the garbage truck's engine stops]
Truck Driver: What the hell? Goddamn son of a bitch...

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in The Gatekeeper (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Photoplay"
Performed by Tryanglz
Written by Tane McClure (as Tahnee Cain), Pug Baker, Jonathan Cain
Published by Any Garage Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

Review of the Special Edition DVD

I've reviewed this classic movie before, but now I'm gonna review the DVD. To start, I must say that although they had their rationale for deleting the "terminated" scenes, as they were called, I think they definitely should have left that one scene in where Sarah Connor calls her mom and tells her to hide in the cabin, and where she finds the listing of Cyberdyne Corp. in the phone book. This scene established Sarah as one who is willing to try to take matters into her hands to stop a nuclear war and a horrible future. She talks to Reese about getting rid of Cyberdyne and they get into an arguement about whether or not that is a mission objective and Reese ends up chasing Sarah into a wooded area. I think the beauty of the woods, flowers and waterfalls was important too, because Reese starts crying and saying how all of this is destroyed, and the future is nothing but blackened, charred ruins littered with the skulls of attempted human genocide. What a terrific, powerful scene. I adore Michael Biehn, and I didn't realize what a great actor (and crier) he is!!! Maybe the other "terminated" scenes were okay to delete, although they were all delightful. The one where Sarah practices her "wholesome waitress" routine was cute. The one where she talks about Disneyland and hot dogs might have seemed silly, but it really brought home how foreign our world is to Reese, as did the crying scene. The tickling scene might have seemed silly to the editor, but I thought it really made a point: after all the violence and bleakness Reese lived through, to be with the woman he's always loved and idolized, to lay in a cozy warm bed with her experiencing the simple joys of life for the first time (I still wonder if Sarah devirginized him, since he said he'd "never" had any special someone in his life) seemed to bring everything into perspective. The scene where you discover that the factory was Cyberdyne Systems was important too, but I'll let these scenes slide. I really think they should consider releasing a TERMINATOR with the scene in the wooded area included. Nevertheless, I still consider this film as one of my favorite sci-fi films, and my favorite James Cameron film. I still admire who he infuses humanity with action and adrenaline, and the missing scenes were wonderful.