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?
Where to Watch The Terminator
- Eric BakkeOctober 13, 2024A pretty rad low-budget robot movie.
- RedHarlow13August 30, 202610/10 - Simply a Classic Movie Way ahead of its time
- hairydemonAugust 10, 2026boring and stupid
- MrBlockchainJuly 24, 2026Excellent in 4k Dolby atmos brings an old movie back to life
- MetalRevenantMarch 14, 2025The violence it enacts feels surreal because, from the viewpoint of the human characters, it is stripped of ordinary motivation or morality. This marks a significant shift in cinematic depictions of violence: it is not just extreme violence, but violence driven by an entity whose sole directive is the systematic extermination of a target. That cold, unwavering purpose amplifies the sense of horror, making the Terminator’s brand of destruction feel inescapable and beyond the usual bounds of human aggression.
- PatrickveenJune 14, 2026The whole series became iconic. But nothing beats judgement day. However The Terminator is epic for a 1984 movie
- Aecio LemosDecember 13, 2024One of the best science fiction movies of all time. May be a prediction of our future with AI?
- Jon Hardamon Sr.May 18, 2026Ahead of its time and one of my all time favorite movies!
- CarterApril 24, 2026The Terminator is a fantastic movie. The film has a simple but great premise that is executed to perfection. The cast is all great in here and all play very iconic and amazing characters. The film contains a lot of iconic quotes and moments. The horror elements are also great in here; there is a lot of thrilling moments and a lot of great kills. The action sequences are great as well with some awesome practical effects. The score is amazing. The film also has a really solid and tragic romance at the centre of it all. Overall it’s a fantastic movie.
- 3d agoWhen you really stop and think about it the original Terminator has many of the same ingredients as the classic slashers. Like Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees we have an unstoppable killer, a lot of body counts, terrified victims, relentless stalking, and a protagonist who must fight for her life, against something that can't be killed. If the T-800 was going after Sarah with either a Knife 🔪 or an axe 🪓 instead of a gun 🔫 then there wouldn't be even a debate on whether it's a slasher or not. Just because the T-800 uses guns throughout the film, does not mean or disprove the fact that this is a slasher with Sci-Fi elements sprinkled into it. 🤖 The Terminator/T-800 is basically a Sci-Fi Slasher Villain! The T-800 behaves like a slasher villain just like Michael Myers especially; he methodically hunts down his target, shows absolutely no emotion whatsoever and will kill whoever gets in his way, of him pursuing his target. And what makes the T-800 so frightening as well is, that he just keeps coming and coming relentlessly, no matter what you throw at him in the same vain as "Michael Myers & Jason Voorhees." You can shoot him, injure him, he even bleeds, and you can put him through anything and he refuses to stay down, it doesn't phase him at all. He's 💯 imo a mechanical slasher villain. The Body Count And The Stalking 🔪 Another reason why I consider "The Terminator" a slasher movie, is the way that it builds tension when the villain is in pursuit of his victim. He simply just does not stop, no matter how safe Sarah is or where she is, he will still chase her down with terrifying determination. And his attack on the police station is a perfect example of that. Sarah Connor: The Final Girl! Sarah Connor also fits the whole slasher Final Girl criteria as well. In the beginning just like Laurie in the original "Halloween" she's an ordinary young woman going about her everyday life. As the story progresses she goes from being somebody ordinary, frightened & vulnerable again just like "Laurie Strode" in Halloween 78 to becoming a character that slowly gets stronger as the film goes on. Even though "Sarah" goes through a hell of a lot more, throughout "The Terminator" than Laurie did Halloween 78 that's not the point. The point is that the whole character traits, growth & development is very very similar. Although Sarah does go onto become the ultimate badass in "Terminator 2 Judgment Day" her struggles in this first film, does have striking similarities to your traditional Final Girl from a slasher. In terms of the whole journey of the character and finding that inner strength 💪 within her yhat she never knew she had. What Makes The Terminator Different from the rest of the other Terminator Movies in the Franchise? Of course, The Terminator has plenty of Sci-Fi elements such as time travel, the post-apocalyptic future, artificial intelligence and the whole resistance against Skynet as well all give the film that Science-Fiction mythology. However, I don't think those elements are enough to cancel out its slasher identity. The original Terminator has slasher written all over it. It looks, feels, smells and has a lot of the same vibes of your traditional slasher a 💯 Instead of it being a masked murderer stalking teenagers, its a machine sent back from the future stalking an ordinary woman in Los Angeles. And also instead of it being a seemingly supernatural killer, its a cybernetic or cyborg assassin whose metal skeleton makes him different in that way, but the traits are exactly the same as Michael Myers & Jason Voorhees. 🤖🔪 So what do you think? Is The Terminator (1984) secretly a slasher movie, with Sci-Fi elements attached to it; or would you class it purely as just a Sci-Fi & Action movie, and don't see it as a Slasher movie whatsoever. Let me know in the comment section below 👇
🔪🩸🤖 Why The Terminator (1984) Is 💯 a Slasher Movie!
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Free on 20+ platforms. Pick yours.The Terminator Trivia
The Terminator was released on October 26, 1984.
The Terminator was directed by James Cameron.
The Terminator has a runtime of 1h 47m.
The Terminator was produced by Gale Anne Hurd.
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 key characters in The Terminator are Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).
The Terminator is rated R.
The Terminator is an Action, Adventure, Thriller film.
The Terminator has an audience rating of 8.9 out of 10.
The Terminator had a budget of $6.4M.
The Terminator has made $78.4M at the box office.