The Terminator

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 cybernetic 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) additionally 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 film's 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, a nude, but imposing man appears 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 authorities. 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 hears about their news reports and notices the second man following her. As she shelters in a nightclub, the first man kills her roommate Ginger, alongside 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 had additionally come back in time 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 tracks Reese and Sarah, but it retreats after being shot in the eye and crashing during a car chase with the duo as they are arrested. Sarah is notified of Ginger's murder, while Reese is interrogated by skeptical criminal psychologist Doctor Peter Silberman. Just as Silberman leaves, the now-recuperated 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, whereupon Reese's first name, Kyle, is known. 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 Cyberdyne-owned factory, where Reese activates machinery to distract it, but the Terminator eventually discovers them. Reese lodges his last pipe bomb into the 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 as she then uses this to finally destroy it. Months later, while pregnant with John, Sarah Connor travels through remote Mexico with a guard dog to hide from Skynet, documenting audio tapes to guide her expected 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 purchases it. She restarts her car and drives toward ominous storm clouds.

Cast

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