The Terminator (1984)

★ 7.7 1h 48m 14,449 votes IMDb

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?

The Terminator

Where to Watch

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video Watch
Netflix Netflix
Disney Plus Disney Plus
HBO Max HBO Max
Max Max
Hulu Hulu
Paramount Plus Paramount Plus
Apple TV Plus Apple TV Plus
Peacock Peacock
Showtime Showtime
Starz Starz
Paramount+ with Showtime Paramount+ with Showtime

Rent / Buy

Rent

Apple TV Apple TV Rent
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Rent
Amazon Video Amazon Video Rent
YouTube YouTube Rent
Vudu Vudu Rent
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Buy

Apple TV Apple TV Buy
Google Play Movies Google Play Movies Buy
Amazon Video Amazon Video Buy
YouTube YouTube Buy
Vudu Vudu Buy
Fandango at Home Fandango at Home

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator Age 78 · Thal, Styria, Austria Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action film...
Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese Age 69 · Anniston, Alabama, USA Michael Connell Biehn is an American actor whose work in 1980s and 1990s genre cinema helped define the modern action and science-fiction lead. He is most closely associated with James Cameron’s films...
Linda Hamilton
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor Age 69 · Salisbury, Maryland, USA Linda Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress, best known for role as Sarah Connor in The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day; and for her television work as Catherine Chandler...
Paul Winfield
Paul Winfield as Traxler Age 86 · Los Angeles, California, USA Paul Edward Winfield (born May 22, 1939) was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landm...
Lance Henriksen
Lance Henriksen as Vukovich Age 85 · Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA Lance Henriksen (born May 5, 1940) is an American actor and artist. He is best known to film and television audiences for his roles in science fiction, action, and horror films such as The Terminator,...
Rick Rossovich
Rick Rossovich as Matt Age 68 · Palo Alto, California, USA An American actor. His brother, Tim Rossovich, is a former professional football player and also an actor. Description above from the Wikipedia article Rick Rossovich, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full l...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 9/10 May 07, 2015
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
Jodie 10/10 Feb 18, 2017
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.
Gimly 9/10 Mar 19, 2018
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._
Kamurai 6/10 Jul 29, 2020
Good watch, might watch again, and can recommend.

I have no idea what just happened, I just watched the 2020 version, and it doesn't even look better, and there doesn't seem be a lot of info on the situation.

It has decent practical effects, it's a got plenty of action in a machine chasing a woman aided by a soldier from the future.

Arnold carries an odd amount of weight as an emotionless cyborg, but Linda Hamilton shores up the rest. I don't think it is Michael Biehn's fault, but Kyle Reese is kind of a forgettable character in this.

The depth of this action movie is just on the concept of time travel, and whether or not you can truly change the future.

This is a good movie, but it lacks something really special for the time of 2020, it's more important as a precursor to the sequel.
GenerationofSwine 10/10 Jan 12, 2023
Here we go, the movie that started it all and wasn't Arnold believable as a robot? He came across as threatening and creepy as all get out, and the thick accent really played for the role.

And then, of course, the plot was so unbelievable that it sucked everyone right in, from the start you suspended your disbelief because you knew it was going to be one heck of a ride.

The cinematography was absolutely brilliant, everything seemed to fall into place perfectly for the first outing of the Terminator franchise and we got to see Sarah Connor transform from a frightened waitress at the start of the film, to someone that would become on of science-fiction's best known heroes by the end of it.

It was a truly fantastic film.

Similar Movies