50 Fun Facts About The Terminator (1984)

Who directed The Terminator?

He also co-wrote it with producer Gale Anne Hurd; the film is credited with launching his career.

Who plays Sarah Connor?

She had just finished Children of the Corn; Arquette and Thompson both auditioned for the part.

Who plays the soldier sent back in time to protect Sarah?

He initially thought the script was silly; to get into character he studied the Polish resistance in World War II.

From which year is the Terminator sent back to 1984?

Franco Columbu, Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding friend, plays a Terminator in the future-war scenes.

What is the name of the hostile artificial intelligence in the film?

The Terminator robot has since become what one study called the prevalent visual representation of AI risk.

What is Sarah Connor's job when the film begins?

The script describes her as 19 with 'a vulnerable quality that masks a strength even she doesn't know exists'.

Who produced the film and shares the writing credit?

She had been Roger Corman's assistant at New World Pictures; the director later said she 'did no actual writing at all'.

Which studio distributed the film?

The studio had so little faith in it that it held only one press screening.

The director dreamed up the premise while ill during the release of which film?

It was his first feature as director; he had worked on the other two as an art director and effects man for Roger Corman.

In which city did the director have the fever dream that inspired the film?

The dream featured a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion.

Which low-budget slasher film inspired the director to write a slasher-style script?

His agent disliked the early horror concept and asked him to work on something else, so he fired the agent.

Which friend helped the director turn his draft into a script, swapping scenes by phone?

He was handed the Sarah Connor and police-station scenes to write, and later co-wrote Terminator 2. He also plays a policeman in the film.

The original outline had a second Terminator made of what?

The technology of the time could not do it, so the idea waited until the T-1000 in Terminator 2.

For how much did the director sell the rights to his producer?

The condition was that she could produce it only if he directed; he later regretted the bargain price.

John Daly of which company agreed to finance the film in late 1982?

Daly and his head of production Derek Gibson became executive producers, with help from HBO and Orion.

Which actor burst into the financing pitch dressed and acting like the Terminator?

Leather jacket, fake cuts and gold foil on his teeth; he was rewarded with the role of Detective Vukovich.

Roughly how much did the film gross worldwide?

About $38.3 million came from the US and Canada and $40 million from other territories.

Which action star turned down the role of the Terminator?

Mel Gibson also passed; Orion's Mike Medavoy suggested O. J. Simpson, whom the director didn't find believable as a killer.

Which rock musician did the director meet about playing Kyle Reese?

He wasn't interested because the director was too much of an unknown at the time.

Roughly how many lines of dialogue does Schwarzenegger speak in the film?

Fewer than 100 words in total; the director thought even his accent had a 'strange synthesized quality' that worked.

How long did Schwarzenegger train with weapons to prepare for the role?

He privately called it 'some shit movie I'm doing' during a Conan the Destroyer interview, then changed his mind after seeing twenty minutes of the edit.

Which film had the actress playing Sarah just finished when she was cast?

Lisa Langlois had been offered Sarah first but was already shooting The Slugger's Wife; Cindy Morgan was also considered.

Which effects artist led the team that built the Terminator after Dick Smith declined?

His seven artists spent six months on a puppet molded in clay, cast in steel-ribbed plaster and chrome-plated.

In which city was filming originally set to begin in early 1983?

Dino De Laurentiis invoked an option in Schwarzenegger's contract, making him unavailable for nine months.

Schwarzenegger's commitment to which film delayed the start of production?

The director used the wait to write Rambo: First Blood Part II and to start talks on a sequel to Alien.

During the delay, the director was hired to write the script for which sequel?

He also met David Giler and Walter Hill about an Alien follow-up, which became Aliens in 1986.

Orion suggested giving Kyle Reese what companion, which the director refused?

The studio's other note, to strengthen the romance between Sarah and Reese, was accepted.

Which company, headed by Gene Warren Jr., created the future-war and stop-motion scenes?

A shot of Schwarzenegger limping was filmed so the stop-motion endoskeleton could plausibly imitate his walk.

The laser-sighted pistol on the poster was a modified version of which gun?

Diode lasers weren't available yet, so its helium-neon sight ran on an external power pack Schwarzenegger switched on by hand.

In which city was most of the film shot, largely at night?

Night shoots meant tight schedules before sunrise; production began in March 1984.

What injury did Sarah Connor's actress suffer a week before filming?

Her running scenes were pushed as late as possible, her ankle was taped daily and she spent most of the shoot in pain.

Schwarzenegger asked to reword which line because he struggled to pronounce it?

He wanted 'I will be back'; the director refused, and the line later landed at 37th on the AFI's greatest movie quotes.

The crew told a police officer the permit-less final highway scene was a student film from where?

Post-production pickups also included the shot of the Terminator's head being crushed in a press.

Who composed the synthesizer score?

He had only scored television before, and won the job by playing the producers an experimental piece.

The main theme is in which unusual time signature?

It came from an accidental incomplete loop on the sequencer; the composer liked the 'herky-jerky' propulsion and kept it.

The theme's melody was recorded on which synthesizer?

Almost all of the music was recorded live; the composer described the score as 'a mechanical man and his heartbeat'.

In which month of 1984 did the film premiere?

It opened at 1,005 theaters, took $4.0 million and went straight to number one.

Which film knocked The Terminator off the top of the US box office in its third week?

The director was content to be 'a big fish in a small pond' between the summer and Christmas blockbusters.

Which writer claimed the film borrowed from his TV scripts and won a settlement from Orion?

He said it was 'a ripoff' of his Outer Limits episode 'Soldier'; later prints carry an acknowledgment credit.

Which 1960s anthology series was among the director's stated influences?

He also cited 1950s sci-fi films, The Driver and Mad Max 2.

In which year was the film added to the US National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress deemed it 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

How many Saturn Awards did the film win?

Best Science Fiction Film, Best Make-up and Best Writing.

Where did the Terminator rank on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains list?

The film itself placed 42nd on AFI's 100 Thrills list.

Which studio released the film on Blu-ray in 2006, the first 1980s title on the format?

Fox reissued it in 2013 from a 4K restoration supervised by the director, and an Ultra HD disc followed in 2024.

Bill Paxton appears in the film as what?

He is one of the trio the Terminator confronts on arrival; Dick Miller is the gun shop clerk.

Earl Boen's Dr. Peter Silberman has what profession?

Boen is the only actor besides Schwarzenegger to appear in the first three films.

Paul Winfield plays which police lieutenant?

Winfield had earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Sounder a decade earlier.

Which genre term do two academic books credit the film with originating?

It is also the name of the nightclub where the Terminator finally catches up with Sarah.

Which is the only sequel Schwarzenegger did not appear in, apart from a digital likeness?

The director and Linda Hamilton returned only for Terminator 2 and Dark Fate.

What grade did CinemaScore audiences give the film on release?

Critics were split too: Time put it on its ten best of 1984, while the New York Times called it 'a B-movie with flair'.