The Terminator
Film Series
(1984 - )
Director
Producer & Writer:
James Cameron
The Terminator
(1984)
Director
& Writer:
James Cameron
Producer
& Writer:
Gale Anne Hurd
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
(1991)
Director,
Producer & Writer:
James Cameron
Other Writer:
William Wisher
Terminator 3:
Rise of the Machines
(2003)
Director:
Jonathan Mostow
Producers:
Hal Lieberman,
Colin Wilson,
Mario F. Kassar,
Andrew G. Vajna
& Joel B. Michaels
Screenplay by:
John Broncato,
Michael Ferris
& Tedi Sarafian
Terminator
Salvation
(2009)
Director:
Joseph McGinty
Nichol
Producers:
Derek Anderson,
Moritz Borman,
Victor Kubicek
& Jeffrey Silver
Written by:
John Broncato
& Michael Ferris
Terminator
Genisys
(2015)
Director:
Alan Taylor
Producers:
David Ellison
& Dana Goldberg
Written by:
Laeta Kalogridis
& Patrick Lussier
Terminator:
Dark Fate
(2019)
Director:
Tim Miller
Producers:
James Cameron
& David Ellison
Screenplay by:
David Goyer,
Justin Rhodes
& Billy Ray
The Film Series’ Successes,
Contribution to Cinema & Legacy
The Terminator
The Film Series (1984 - )
The Terminator films, most notably James Cameron’s original films, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day, have had a significant impact on film and pop culture in general.
One of the Top 30 Most Commercially successful film franchises, ranked at #17 in IGN”s ranking of the Top 25 Greatest Film Franchises and the 6th highest rated franchise according to Rotten Tomatoes.
The Terminator films have all been commercially successful, however after James Cameron left the series they began to see diminishing returns on subsequent films. In addition, the original films are more critically praised with Terminator 2 the only film to receive Academy Award wins and nominations.
Critical analysis of the story and themes is centered on the films’ exploring artificial intelligence and technology’s potential danger of which the impact of this theme is so important that “the prevalent visual representation of AI risk has become the terminator robot”.
The Terminator (1984)
Commercially successful on release it made a $71.9 million profit at the box office and launched James Cameron’s film career, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s status as a leading man and a multi-film hit franchise.
Critically the film was praised for its story, screenplay, performances, action, thrills, suspense, humour, visual design and special effects with Time placing the film on its “10 Best” list for 1984.
Its critical reception over time is positive with Richard Schickel of Entertainment Weekly in 1991 calling it “one of the most original movies of the 1980s and seems likely to remain one of the best sci-fi films ever made”, while the film database Allmovie claimed it “established James Cameron as a master of action, special effects, and quasi-mythic narrative intrigue” and Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian stated that “on the strength of this picture… Cameron could stand toe to toe with Carpenter and Spielberg.”
#7 in Syfy’s 25 Scariest Sci-Fi Movies Ever Made and #42 in AFI’s “100 Years… 100 Thrills”.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
The most commercially successful film of 1991 in the US and Canada and around the world.
Critically the film was praised for its story, screenplay, performances, action, thrills, suspense, humour, visual design and special effects with particular praise for Robert Patrick’s T-1000 as a great villain and most importantly it won Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects, Best Make-Up and Best Sound.
Today it is largely considered to be one of the best science fiction, action and sequel films ever made with it regarded as an equal to, if not, better than The Terminator.
It is one of the most influential films in terms of its visual effects with it beginning the transition from practical effects to a reliance on computer-generated imagery – with it featuring the 1st main character in cinematic history to be completely computer generated.
#8 in AFI’s 2008 Top 10 Best Science-Fiction films and #48 in AFI’s 100 Best Heroes & Villains.