History YMMV / TheTerminator

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' may have been the big box office smash and the one which deeply ingrained itself in pop culture, and a lot of people still consider it ''the'' EvenBetterSequel and the peak of the franchise. However there are also many people who consider the first film superior due to its greater focus on horror, darker tone, and the EvilIsCool (and in hindsight, novelty) factor of Schwarzenegger playing the villain. Last but certainly not least is its self-consistent timeline, as opposed to the more action-oriented sequels which involve changing the timeline in one way or another, opening up questions of paradoxes and bringing about an extremely confusing and flimsy canon and parts of the franchise mutually incompatible with each other. However, the most notable difference is that because Kyle and Sarah are mere humans without any Terminator allies, their situation and that of humanity at large feel much more desperate in a way that is virtually impossible for the sequels to match. Tellingly, it also has the highest critical score on Website/RottenTomatoes, the only film in the franchise to have a 100% score.

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' may have been the big box office smash and the one which deeply ingrained itself in pop culture, and a lot of people still consider it ''the'' EvenBetterSequel and the peak of the franchise. However, there are also many people who consider the first film superior. Namely due to its greater focus on the horror aspect of its plot, its darker tone, the EvilIsCool (and in hindsight, novelty) factor of Schwarzenegger playing the villain, and not least its self-consistent timeline, as opposed to the more action-oriented sequels which involve changing the timeline in one way or another, opening up questions of paradoxes and bringing about an extremely confusing and flimsy canon and parts of the franchise mutually incompatible with each other. Also and perhaps most notably, because Kyle and Sarah are mere humans all alone without any Terminator allies like in the sequels, their situation and that of humanity at large feel much more desperate in a way that is virtually impossible for the sequels to match. Tellingly, it also has the highest critical score on Website/RottenTomatoes, the only film in the franchise to have a 100% score.

* MagnificentBastard: [[ImplacableMan The Terminator]] himself -- first Cyberdyne [[Characters/TerminatorT800Model101 model T-101]]-- is a cyborg from the dystopian future of Los Angeles 2035 sent by evil supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]] to kill waitress Sarah Connor because her son John will eventually be the leader of the human resistance. Taking out a gun shop owner and targeting women with the exact same name while trying to find her, the Terminator racks up a high body count, particularly when he [[OneManArmy shoots up the police station]] to get to Sarah there and multiple occasions is only stopped when Kyle Reese intervenes. [[ItCanThink Learning human behavior over time]] and tricking Sarah over the phone into thinking she's talking to her mother, the Terminator is able to learn the latest location Reese and Sarah are hiding at to once again track them down and even continues to determinedly do so both when his human exterior is burned off and his legs are disabled as well. Throughout the film, the Terminator truly proves the notion from Reese that he [[{{Determinator}} "absolutely will not stop" until Sarah's dead]].

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' may have been the big box office smash and the one which deeply ingrained itself in pop culture, and a lot of people still consider it ''the'' EvenBetterSequel and the peak of the franchise. However, there are also many people who consider the first film superior. Namely due to its greater focus on the horror aspect of its plot, its darker tone, the EvilIsCool (and in hindsight, novelty) factor of Schwarzenegger playing the villain, and not least its self-consistent timeline, as opposed to the more action-oriented sequels and spinoffs which involve changing the timeline in one way or another, opening up questions of paradoxes and bringing about an extremely confusing and flimsy canon and parts of the franchise mutually incompatible with each other. Also and perhaps most notably, because Kyle and Sarah are mere humans all alone without any Terminator allies like in the sequels and spinoffs, their situation and that of humanity at large feel much more desperate in a way that is virtually impossible for the sequels to match. Tellingly, it also has the highest critical score on Website/RottenTomatoes, the only film in the franchise to have a 100% score.

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' may have been the big box office smash and the one which deeply ingrained itself in pop culture, and a lot of people still consider it ''the'' Even Better Sequel and the peak of the franchise. However, there are also many people who consider the first film superior. Namely due to its greater focus on the horror aspect of its plot, its darker tone, the EvilIsCool (and in hindsight, novelty) factor of Schwarzenegger playing a villain, and not least its self-consistent timeline, as opposed to the more action-oriented sequels and spinoffs which involve changing the timeline in one way or another, opening up questions of paradoxes and bringing about an extremely confusing and flimsy canon and parts of the franchise mutually incompatible with each other. Also and perhaps most notably, because Kyle and Sarah are mere humans all alone without any Terminator allies like in the sequels and spinoffs, their situation and that of humanity at large feel much more desperate in a way that is virtually impossible for the sequels to match. Tellingly, it also has the highest critical score on Website/RottenTomatoes, the only film in the franchise to have a 100% score.

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' may have been the big box office smash and the one which deeply ingrained itself in pop culture, and a lot of people still consider it ''the'' EvenBetterSequel. However, there are also many people who consider the first film superior. Namely due to its greater focus on the horror aspect of its plot, its darker tone, and its self-consistent timeline, as opposed to the more action-oriented sequels which involve changing the timeline in one way or another, opening up questions of paradoxes and bringing about an extremely confusing and flimsy canon. Also, because Kyle and Sarah are mere humans all alone without any Terminator allies like in the sequels, their situation and that of humanity at large feel much more desperate in a way that is virtually impossible for the sequels to match. Tellingly it also has the highest critical score on Website/RottenTomatoes, the only film in the franchise to have a 100% score.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: Actually mixed with SpecialEffectsFailure. The puppet used for the eye removal scene and a few other close ups is obviously not Arnold, but it's a pretty neat practical effect regardless.

** The stop motion model used for the eye removal scene and a few other close ups is obviously not Arnold, but it's a pretty neat practical effect regardless.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Brad Fiedel's pounding, relentless, electronic score is the perfect evocation in sound of an unstoppable, murderous machine. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTgRWko3KyU now-classic theme]] evolves this idea by adding layers of sadness and melancholy, a requiem for a dead humanity.

* MagnificentBastard: [[ImplacableMan The Terminator]] himself -- first Cyberdyne model T-101 -- is a cyborg from the dystopian future of Los Angeles 2035 sent by evil supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]] to kill waitress Sarah Connor because her son John will eventually be the leader of the human resistance. Taking out a gun shop owner and targeting women with the exact same name while trying to find her, the Terminator racks up a high body count, particularly when he [[OneManArmy shoots up the police station]] to get to Sarah there and multiple occasions is only stopped when Kyle Reese intervenes. [[ItCanThink Learning human behavior over time]] and tricking Sarah over the phone into thinking she's talking to her mother, the Terminator is able to learn the latest location Reese and Sarah are hiding at to once again track them down and even continues to determinedly do so both when his human exterior is burned off and his legs are disabled as well. Throughout the film, the Terminator truly proves the notion from Reese that he [[{{Determinator}} "absolutely will not stop" until Sarah's dead]].

** Creator/BrianThompson plays another of the Terminator's first victims, specifically the one that [[AndShowItToYou gets his heart ripped out of his chest]], à la ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. Brian would later go on to play Shao Khan in ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation''. He would also go on to play the Terminator-like Alien BountyHunter in ''Series/TheXFiles''.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Creator/OrionPictures wanted ''Creator/OJSimpson'' to play the Terminator, but Creator/JamesCameron felt that nobody would buy O.J. as a cold-blooded killer. ''Yeah, about that''...

** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger took the role despite thinking it would be a "shit movie" because he thought it wouldn't damage his career too much if it failed. [[RightForTheWrongReasons He was right]] - [[StarMakingRole it didn't damage his career at all.]]

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: ZigZagged. Creator/LindaHamilton nearly backed out of the project on hearing that Kyle Reese was going to be played by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, convinced he wasn't up to the acting challenge of delivering pages and pages of expository dialogue, but was perfectly fine with him playing the killer cyborg. Even Creator/JamesCameron wasn't sure about hiring Schwarzengger for Reese, but fortunately both Cameron and Schwarzengger agreed he was perfect for The Terminator. That said, playing the emotionless robotic assassin is an acting challenge some true thespians would balk at: crafting a character with minimal dialogue, being believably a machine that merely ''looks'' human without falling into DullSurprise, having the precise level of restraint to invoke UncannyValley without veering into too wooden or too over-the-top. It took many, many more years for this trope to fully apply to Ahnald, but in hindsight the fact that not only is he the Terminator, but he is ''The'' Terminator is an early sign that he's far more than just a bodybuilder-turned-movie-star.

** Creator/BrianThompson plays another of the Terminator's first victims, specifically the one that [[AndShowItToYou gets his heart ripped out of his chest]], ala ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. Brian would later go on to play Shao Khan in ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation''. He would also go on to play the Terminator-like Alien BountyHunter in ''Series/TheXFiles''.

** The toy semi truck the Terminator crushes with the wheel of his car upon arriving at the house of the wrong Sarah Connor [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EeonZFAXYAAuHAw?format=jpg&name=medium looks similar]] to the semi truck the T-1000 would use in [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the sequel]] during the first chase scene.
** In this film, Reese uttered the iconic line "[The Terminator] doesn't feel pity or remorse or fear". Well, as of ''[[Film/TerminatorDarkFate Dark Fate]]'', we have seen Terminators show ''all three of those emotions''. In ''T2'', the T-1000 panicked when blown apart by a grenade and dunked in molten metal while in the latest film the Rev-9 shows a small amount of pity for someone whose property he destroys, and Carl shows ''deep remorse'' for its actions after [[spoiler:killing John Connor.]]
** Creator/PeterCullen narrated the original teaser trailer. A few months later, Cullen would voice his most famous (and his favorite) role - [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers another robot that disguises itself in order to blend in with human society]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[ImplacableMan The Terminator]] himself--first Cyberdyne model T-101--is a cyborg from the dystopian future of Los Angeles 2035 sent by evil supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]] to kill waitress Sarah Connor because her son John will eventually be the leader of the human resistance. Taking out a gun shop owner and targeting women with the exact same name while trying to find her, the Terminator racks up a high body count, particularly when he [[OneManArmy shoots up the police station]] to get to Sarah there and multiple occasions is only stopped when Kyle Reese intervenes. [[ItCanThink Learning human behavior over time]] and tricking Sarah over the phone into thinking she's talking to her mother, the Terminator is able to learn the latest location Reese and Sarah are hiding at to once again track them down and even continues to determinedly do so both when his human exterior is burned off and his legs are disabled as well. Throughout the film, the Terminator truly proves the notion from Reese that he [[{{Determinator}} "absolutely will not stop" until Sarah's dead]].

** "Phased Plasma Rifle with 40 Watt range." [[note]]The joke with this one is when the T-800 goes to a gunstore to get his guns. The fans joke in the sequel that John and a reprogrammed T-800 stock nearly every weapon, but not the plasma rifle[[/note]].

** The stop motion animation of Terminator endoskeleton walking can be a bit startling considering most of the effects in the film still hold up today. But at least JC doesn't spend all his time revisiting old works to improve their effects.

* PeripheryDemographic: ''The E! True Hollywood Story'' on the first movie pointed out the love story attracted lots of women. Because obviously women would never be into action sci fi. Arnold even points out in his autobiography that he suggested making ads centered around Kyle and Sarah instead of just the action. The studio refused, thinking the movie [[ItWillNeverCatchOn wouldn't last very long in the box office]].

** Just in general, the film suffers from a lot of this by [=21st=]-century standards; the film's whole budget was only a bit above $6 million (even in 2020, around about $15-16 million) but the script called for effects that, in the following century, would use processes demanding ten times that budget. Cameron and his crew did their best to make it work with 1984 filming technology and a comparatively limited effects budget, but as the examples below demonstrate, they still ran into a lot of problems.

** The dummy Terminator head used in the "eye removal" and "Fuck you, asshole" scenes is very obvious (although good by 80s standards).
** The endoskeleton itself is considered as such by several people. Largely with the poorly animated, poorly composited stop-motion model. [[DidntThinkThisThrough The SFX team built it out of steel, not realising how difficult it would be to move and animate.]]

** During the famous moment where the Terminator leans close to the glass at the police station to promise "I'll be back", you can see both of Arnie's eyes behind his sunglasses, despite the fact that the Terminator had cut out its damaged left eye in the previous scene and was [[SunglassesAtNight wearing the sunglasses to cover up the exposed glowing red optic lens]].
** A few seconds after, the policeman behind the front desk is alerted to the Terminator about to ram-raid the station in a car by the leadlights illuminating him... but when the car comes crashing through the door it clearly has its headlights turned off.
** Look closely when Arnie is at the end of the first floor hallway during the police station rampage and is firing into a room with his left hand. His left hand that has the shotgun but makes automatic rifle sounds.

* WhatAnIdiot: See the [[WhatAnIdiot/{{Terminator}} franchise's page]].

* MagnificentBastard: [[ImplacableMan The Terminator]] himself--first Cyberdyne model T-101--is a cyborg from the dystopian future of Los Angeles 2029 sent by evil supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]] to kill waitress Sarah Conner because her son John will eventually be the leader of the human resistance. Taking out a gun shop owner and targeting women with the exact same name while trying to find her, the Terminator racks up a high body count, particularly when he [[OneManArmy shoots up the police station]] to get to Sarah there and multiple occasions is only stopped when Kyle Reese intervenes. [[ItCanThink Learning human behavior over time]] and tricking Sarah over the phone into thinking she's talking to her mother, the Terminator is able to learn the latest location Reese and Sarah are hiding at to once again track them down and even continues to determinedly do so both when his human exterior is burned off and his legs are disabled as well. Fully proving the notion from Reese that he [[{{Determinator}} "absolutely will not stop" until Sarah's dead]], the Terminator is the utmost pinnacle of villains in the Sci-Fi genre.

* OneSceneWonder: The Terminator in Reese's memories of the future, played by Arnold's best friend and fellow Mr. Olympia Franco Columbu (who appeared in the documentary ''Pumping Iron'' along with Arnold, Creator/LouFerrigno and other big names in bodybuilding). He was the first person other than Arnold to play a Terminator, and the only other person to play a T-800. So this is the only time we ever see a T-800 with a different model from Arnold's Model 101.

* FirstInstallmentWins: ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' may have been the big box office smash and the one which deeply ingrained itself in pop culture, and a lot of people still consider it ''the'' EvenBetterSequel. However, there are also many people who prefer the first film for its greater focus on sci-fi horror, its darker tone, and its self-consistent timeline, as opposed to the more action-oriented sequels which involve changing the timeline in one way or another, opening up questions of paradoxes and bringing about an extremely confusing and flimsy canon. Also, because Kyle and Sarah are mere humans all alone without any Terminator allies like in the sequels, their situation and that of humanity at large feel much more desperate in a way the sequels can't match. It also has the highest critical score on Website/RottenTomatoes, the only film in the franchise to have a 100% score.

** During the famous moment where the Terminator leans close to the glass at the police station to promise "I'll be back", you can see both of Arnie's eyes behind his sunglasses, despite the fact that the Terminator had cut out its damaged right eye in the previous scene and was [[SunglassesAtNight wearing the sunglasses to cover up the exposed glowing red optic lens]].

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Arnold Schwarzenegger took the role despite thinking it would be a "shit movie" because he thought it wouldn't damage his career too much if it failed. [[RightForTheWrongReasons He was right]] - [[StarMakingRole it didn't damage his career at all.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Creator/OrionPictures wanted ''Creator/OJSimpson'' to play the Terminator, but Creator/JamesCameron felt that nobody would buy O.J. as a cold-blooded killer. ''Yeah, about that''...

* MagnificentBastard: [[ImplacableMan The Terminator]] himself--first Cyberdyne model T-101--is a cyborg from the dystopian future of Los Angeles 2035 sent by evil supercomputer [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]] to kill waitress Sarah Conner because her son John will eventually be the leader of the human resistance. Taking out a gun shop owner and targeting women with the exact same name while trying to find her, the Terminator racks up a high body count, particularly when he [[OneManArmy shoots up the police station]] to get to Sarah there and multiple occasions is only stopped when Kyle Reese intervenes. [[ItCanThink Learning human behavior over time]] and tricking Sarah over the phone into thinking she's talking to her mother, the Terminator is able to learn the latest location Reese and Sarah are hiding at to once again track them down and even continues to determinedly do so both when his human exterior is burned off and his legs are disabled as well. Fully proving the notion from Reese that he [[{{Determinator}} "absolutely will not stop" until Sarah's dead]], the Terminator is the utmost pinnacle of villains in the Sci-Fi genre.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: ZigZagged. Creator/LindaHamilton nearly backed out of the project on hearing that Kyle Reese was going to be played by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzengger, convinced he wasn't up to the acting challenge of delivering pages and pages of expository dialogue, but was perfectly fine with him playing the killer cyborg. Even Creator/JamesCameron wasn't sure about hiring Schwarzengger for Reese, but fortunately both Cameron and Schwarzengger agreed he was perfect for The Terminator. That said, playing the emotionless robotic assassin is an acting challenge some true thespians would balk at: crafting a character with minimal dialogue, being believably a machine that merely ''looks'' human without falling into DullSurprise, having the precise level of restraint to invoke UncannyValley without veering into too wooden or too over-the-top. It took many, many more years for this trope to fully apply to Ahnald, but in hindsight the fact that not only is he the Terminator, but he is ''The'' Terminator is an early sign that he's far more than just a bodybuilder-turned-movie-star.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: ZigZagged. Linda Hamilton nearly backed out of the project on hearing that Kyle Reese was going to be played by Arnold Schwarzengger, convinced he wasn't up to the acting challenge of delivering pages and pages of expository dialogue, but was perfectly fine with him playing the killer cyborg. Even James Cameron wasn't sure about hiring Schwarzengger for Reese, but fortunately both Cameron and Schwarzengger agreed he was perfect for The Terminator. That said, playing the emotionless robotic assassin is an acting challenge some true thespians would balk at: crafting a character with minimal dialogue, being believably a machine that merely ''looks'' human without falling into DullSurprise, having the precise level of restraint to invoke UncannyValley without veering into too wooden or too over-the-top. It took many, many more years for this trope to fully apply to Ahnald, but in hindsight the fact that not only is he the Terminator, but he is ''The'' Terminator is an early sign that he's far more than just a bodybuilder-turned-movie-star.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The movie is ''screamingly'' [[TheEighties 80s]] in so, so many ways, and we're not just talking about the hair or the phone books; there's a lot of subtle societal attitudes about the poor, urban decay, the rise of computer technology, etc. that influence the film in ways both gross and subtle.

* StrangledByTheRedString: Turns out to be one of the [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools rare good examples]]. Reese claims to have been in love with Sarah ever since seeing her picture. Sarah is suspicious of him at first, but comes to trust him. Then, thanks to the fast pacing of the movie, [[CoitusEnsues they suddenly have sex]], followed by them being too busy fighting the Terminator to develop their relationship for the rest of the movie. At the end, Sarah says in a recording she's making for her son that she and Reese "loved a lifetime's worth".

* StrangledByTheRedString: Reese claims to have been in love with Sarah ever since seeing her picture. Sarah is suspicious of him at first, but comes to trust him. Then, thanks to the fast pacing of the movie, [[CoitusEnsues they suddenly have sex]], followed by them being too busy fighting the Terminator to develop their relationship for the rest of the movie. At the end, Sarah says in a recording she's making for her son that she and Reese "loved a lifetime's worth".

** Creator/BrianThompson plays another of the Terminator's first victims, specifically the one that [[AndShowItToYou gets his heart ripped out of his chest]], ala ''VideoGame/MortalKombat''. Brian would later go on to play Shao Khan in ''Film/MortalKombatAnnihilation''. He would also go on to play the Terminator-like Alien BountyHunter in ''Series/TheXFiles''.