The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, who co-wrote it with producer Gale Anne Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the titular character, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the post-apocalyptic 2029 to 1984 to assassinate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose future son will one day save the world from Skynet, a hostile artificial intelligence. Soldier Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) travels back in time to protect Sarah.
Cameron devised the premise of the film from a fever dream he experienced during the release of his first film, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), and developed the concept in collaboration with his friend William Wisher Jr. He sold the rights to the project to fellow New World Pictures alumna Hurd on the condition that she would produce the film only if he were to direct it; Hurd eventually secured a distribution deal with Orion Pictures, while executive producers John Daly and Derek Gibson of Hemdale Film Corporation were instrumental in setting up the film's financing and production.
Originally approached by Orion for the role of Reese, Schwarzenegger agreed to play the titular character after befriending Cameron. Filming, which took place mostly at night on location in Los Angeles, was delayed because of Schwarzenegger's commitments to Conan the Destroyer (1984), during which Cameron found time to work on the scripts for Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Aliens (1986). The film's special effects, which included miniatures and stop-motion animation, were created by a team of artists led by Stan Winston and Gene Warren Jr.
Defying low pre-release expectations, The Terminator topped the United States box office for two weeks, eventually grossing $78.3 million against a modest $6.4 million budget. It is credited with launching Cameron's film career and solidifying Schwarzenegger's status as a leading man. The success led to a franchise consisting of several sequels, a television series, comic books, novels and video games. In 2008, The Terminator was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Plot
In 1984 Los Angeles, an imposing man appears naked in an alley amid electric flashes and attacks some punks for clothes. Later, a man with scars appears in an alley the same way and evades police. The first man robs a gun shop, looks up addresses of women named Sarah Connor and begins murdering them. A waitress by that same name sees news reports about the murders and notices the second man following her. As she shelters in a nightclub, the first man kills her roommate Ginger and her boyfriend. He tracks her to the nightclub, where the second man preemptively fires on him. After a chaotic gunfight, the second man escapes with Sarah in a stolen car, while the first man gets up and pursues them on foot and in a police car.
The second man identifies himself as Sergeant Reese. He tells Sarah that the other man is a "Terminator", a cyborg assassin from the future, and he has also come from the future to protect her. As they hide in a parking garage, Reese explains that Skynet, a pervasive computer network built by Cyberdyne Systems, will gain intelligence and launch a nuclear war against humans. He grew up in the aftermath as machines rounded survivors into extermination camps, where Sarah's future son, John, would start a resistance. On the verge of the resistance's victory in 2029, Skynet sent the Terminator back in time to assassinate Sarah and prevent John's birth. The Terminator locates them and, during a renewed chase, Reese damages it with a gunshot to the eye. The Terminator crashes and disappears as police arrest Sarah and Reese. Sarah is notified of Ginger's murder while Reese is interrogated by Dr. Silberman, a skeptical criminal psychologist. The Terminator returns to a hotel hideout and repairs itself.
Just as Silberman leaves, the Terminator arrives at the police station searching for Sarah, slaughtering many officers in the process. Reese and Sarah escape in another car and get to safety. The next morning, they take refuge in a motel, where they assemble several pipe bombs and plan their next move. Reese confesses that he has adored Sarah since he saw her in a photograph that John gave him and came to the past out of love for her. Realizing that Reese is John's father, Sarah reciprocates his feelings as they conceive their son.
The Terminator locates Sarah by intercepting a telephone call intended for her mother, deceiving her into revealing her location with its voice-mimicking ability. She and Reese escape the motel in a pickup truck while it pursues them on a motorcycle. In the ensuing chase, Reese is badly wounded by gunfire while throwing pipe bombs at the Terminator. Sarah knocks the Terminator off the motorcycle but loses control of the truck, which flips over. The Terminator, now bloodied and badly damaged, hijacks a tank truck and attempts to run down Sarah. Reese throws a pipe bomb into the truck's hose tube, causing it to explode and reduce the Terminator to its endoskeleton.
Although Sarah and Reese initially believe they are triumphant, the Terminator soon recovers. They flee into a factory, where Reese activates machinery to distract it, but the Terminator eventually discovers them. Reese lodges his last pipe bomb into the Terminator's midsection, blowing it apart at the cost of his own life. The Terminator's still-functioning torso pursues Sarah through a hydraulic press. She clears the press and uses it to crush the Terminator, finally destroying the cyborg.
Months later, while pregnant with John, Sarah travels through remote Mexico with a guard dog to hide from Skynet, recording audio tapes for her son. At a filling station, a boy takes an instant film photograph of her, the one that John will one day give to Reese, and she buys it. She restarts her car and drives toward ominous storm clouds.
Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, an advanced bioroid disguised as a human male that is sent back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor. Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese, a member of the resistance against Skynet sent back in time to protect Sarah. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, a young diner waitress and the Terminator's target, who is soon to be the mother of the future leader of the resistance, John. Paul Winfield as Ed Traxler, a police lieutenant who tries to protect Sarah. Lance Henriksen as Hal Vukovich, a member of the Los Angeles Police Department. Bess Motta as Ginger, Sarah's roommate whom the Terminator murders after mistaking her for Sarah. Rick Rossovich as Matt, Ginger's boyfriend whom the Terminator additionally murders. Earl Boen as Doctor Peter Silberman, a criminal psychologist.
Additional actors included Shawn Schepps as Nancy, Sarah's co-worker at the diner; Dick Miller as a gun shop clerk the Terminator murders; professional bodybuilder Franco Columbu as a Terminator in the future; Bill Paxton and Brian Thompson as two of the trio of punks whom the Terminator confronts at the start of the film; Marianne Muellerleile as one of the other women with the name "Sarah Connor" whom the Terminator dispatches; Rick Aiello as the bouncer of the local nightclub where the Terminator finally locates Sarah; and Bill Wisher as a police officer who reports a hit-and-run felony on Reese, only to be knocked unconscious and have his car stolen by the Terminator soon thereafter.
Production Development
In Rome, Italy, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), director James Cameron fell ill and had a dream about a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion. 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. Cameron's agent disliked the early concept of the horror film and requested that he work on something else. After this, Cameron dismissed his agent.
Cameron returned to Pomona, California, and stayed at the home of science fiction writer Randall Frakes, where he wrote the draft for The Terminator. 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). 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 phoning each other and recording phone calls of them reading new scenes.
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. Cameron felt that the technology of the time was unable to create the liquid Terminator, and shelved the idea until the appearance of the T-1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
Gale Anne Hurd, who had worked at New World Pictures as Roger Corman's assistant, showed interest in the 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. Hurd suggested edits to the script and took a screenwriting credit, though Cameron said she did no "actual writing". Cameron would later regret the decision to sell the rights for one dollar. Cameron and Hurd had friends who worked with Corman previously and who were 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, chairman and president of Hemdale Film Corporation. Daly and his executive vice president and head of production Derek Gibson became executive producers of the project.
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, 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. Cameron arrived shortly and then relieved the staff from Henriksen's act. Daly was impressed by the screenplay and Cameron's sketches and passion. 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. Aside from Hemdale, Pacific Western Productions, Euro Film Funding and Cinema '84 have been credited as production companies after the film's release.
Casting 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 co-founder Mike Medavoy had met Arnold Schwarzenegger and sent his agent the script for The Terminator. Cameron was uncertain about casting Schwarzenegger as Reese as he felt he would need someone even more famous to play the Terminator. Sylvester Stallone and Mel Gibson both turned down the Terminator role. Medavoy suggested O. J. Simpson but Cameron did not feel that Simpson would be believable as a killer due to his affable persona.
Cameron agreed to meet with Schwarzenegger 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. Cameron was entertained by Schwarzenegger, who would talk about how the villain should be played, and Cameron began sketching his face on a notepad, asking 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".