Murderous killbots from the future sound like the elevator pitch for an anonymous 1950s science fiction film. It doesn’t sound like a successful Hollywood franchise sprawling over nearly 40 years, grossing more than 2 billion dollars across six entries. The Terminator’s success demonstrates the potential of an idea in the hands of creatives both dedicated and cunning. With five mainline sequels, several video games, and a TV series behind it, The Terminator keeps coming back. James Cameron’s first two entries, released seven years apart, combined generations' worth of special effects and cinematic techniques to craft a grounded and thrilling universe where the hokey became horrifying. He utilized projection, miniatures, forced perspective, and more to create classic films with an aesthetic that withstood the progress of visual effects development.
The titular Terminator was played by burgeoning actor and seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fresh off two Conan the Barbarian pictures, Arnold took on the role of the mechanical murderer. His physicality coupled with his cold demeanor made for a menacing and mesmerizing villain. The subversion of the story and character archetypes in T2: Judgement Day still shines as a prime example of a sequel that is stronger than its predecessor. Cameron’s exit from the franchise saw it struggle to escape his shadow, and a third entry in the franchise wouldn’t arrive for 12 more years. Future entries in the time travel tale ignore or reimagine events from other entries in the series, creating a convoluted action saga. Here’s a breakdown of the films as they were released and in canonical story order.
Terminator Films in Order of Releases
The Terminator - October 26, 1984
It’s the entry that spawned the franchise, and it launched James Cameron’s career as a must-watch young director. It gave us classic cinema lines like, “come with me if you want to live,” and, “I’ll be back.” It’s The Terminator. Cameron’s first pairing with writer and producer Gale Anne Hurd (Aliens, The Walking Dead) as well as frequent collaborator Michael Biehn (Aliens) depicted a bleak world overrun by an oppressive AI that uses an army of robots and cyborgs to crush the human race under its might. The film’s cutting-edge special effects and edgy sci-fi atmosphere set the film in a category all its own. The Terminator set the tone for ‘80s action with a one-liner spewing, dual wielding, leather-clad muscle-man in Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day - July 3, 1991
Seven years later James Cameron returned to write and direct the sequel to his ‘80s masterpiece, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The sequel evolved on the revolutionary technical prowess of its predecessor in every way and set the standard of ‘90s action movies until The Matrix changed the game years later. Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to this story that inverted the formula of the original. In many ways, this is the first successful attempt to reboot The Terminator franchise. Linda Hamilton is no longer the damsel in distress in need of a future savior, and Arnold is no longer the mindless killing machine bent on her destruction. She’s a caged animal on the run, and he’s a cyborg sent to save the boy whose existence a previous T-800 model failed to ensure never came to pass. Bleeding-edge CGI pioneered in The Abyss brought the liquid metal T-1000 (Robert Patrick) to life as the shapeshifting automaton hunting John Connor (Edward Furlong).
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - July 2, 2003
After 12 years, The Terminator franchise returned to theaters with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The movie is the unceremonious end to Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and was the first of the franchise untouched by James Cameron or director of photography Adam Greenberg (Ghost). Featuring Arnold vs the T-X (Kristanna Loken), and packed full of CGI and explosions, the movie is a humorous, modern entry in The Terminator series that sets up the long-teased war against the machines.
Terminator Salvation - May 21, 2009
A script full of Terminator tributes and a gritty presentation welcome viewers to the war against the machines Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, in this entry) prophesied in The Terminator. McG (We Are Marshall, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle) directed this washed-out, action-packed iteration that brought The Terminator franchise to a Mad Max-style apocalypse. It’s CGI heavy and features early de-aging technology that has become prevalent in modern Hollywood blockbusters. Written by the same duo who penned T3, John Brancato and Michael Ferris, Terminator Salvation expands the world after the rise of the machines. It’s a story about the difference between man and machine starring Christian Bale as a hardened John Connor in search of Skynet’s next primary target, Kyle Reese.
Terminator Genisys - July 1, 2015
Terminator Genisys is an ambitious attempt to reboot the franchise through time travel and subversion. It attempts to parallel The Terminator to use the audience’s knowledge and expectations against them. The timeline established through the series so far is disrupted when a T-800 (Schwarzenegger) is sent back to 1973 to help Sarah Connor (Emilia Clark) prepare for a coming T-1000 in 1984. Together, Sarah Connor, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), and the T-800 must battle the machinations of an altered future. Shot for shot recreations from The Terminator, multiple T-800s, and a cast of familiar names—with different faces—made this more a love letter for The Terminator fans than an entry point in the franchise for new viewers. Still, it’s an ambitious sequel unafraid to embrace the melodramatic sci-fi story The Terminator introduced 31 years earlier. Because of its middling performance, Terminator Genisys didn’t receive an official sequel.
Terminator: Dark Fate - November 1, 2019
The first film since T2 to feature Cameron as a writer and producer, Terminator: Dark Fate ignores the continuity of the previous three films. Tim Miller (Deadpool) delivers a non-stop action flick full of heart and character in this direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Hamilton returns to her iconic role as a vengeful Sarah Connor—a Terminator of Terminators. She aids an enhanced soldier from the future, Grace (Mackenzie Davis), in ensuring the survival of Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) who is hunted by a rev. 9 model Terminator (Gabriel Luna) from the future. This future, foreign to but forged by Sarah, sees Skynet rise in the form of Legion a few years later than the doomsday future predicted in 1984. Another mediocre box office performance leaves the future of the franchise wrapped in a mystery box rather than in an official title.
Chronological - The Main Line Sequence
This chronological order of films tells the story of John Connor and his life-long struggle against the machines.
The Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Genisys
Chronological - The Cameron Chronology
These three films tell the story of Sarah Connor and her mission to save her son, and the planet, from an AI apocalypse by any means necessary.
The Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Terminator: Dark Fate
Chronological - From The Future
An alternate viewing order to introduce the audience to the future Kyle Reese escapes from to warn Sarah Connor about the coming war.
Terminator Salvation
The Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator Genisys
With no immediate follow-up to Terminator Genisys or Terminator: Dark Fate in development, fans will have to turn to the old sequels and The Sarah Connor Chronicles for their terminator fix.