10 Things That Happen In Every Terminator Movie

April 30, 2024, 2:05 p.m.

Movies

10 Things That Happen In Every Terminator Movie

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Summary The signature lines "I'll be back" and "Come with me if you want to live" are recurring elements in all Terminator movies.

Skynet sending Terminators to kill John Connor is a consistent plotline throughout the franchise.

Industrial settings for final battles, driving swaps, advanced Terminators, and confusing timelines are also recurring motifs.

The Terminator movies are a staple of the sci-fi and action genres, which have established a handful of overt or subtle things that happen in every movie. The series’ story has always, to a degree, revolved around Skynet and the resistance battling to preserve or destroy the Connor family, to allegedly save or doom humanity. Many of the franchise’s most iconic recurring bits are established in The Terminator or Terminator 2: Judgment Day. However, even in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines its sequels, the writers keep coming back to some of these famous moments.

By the time of Terminator: Dark Fate, the story has long moved past the basic premise of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her son John (Edward Furlong) fighting to survive John’s childhood. However, certain familiarities still appear in the action and dialogue. In addition to the most obvious references, the Terminator sequels subtly call back to the original movies with repeated scenarios in the action and basic plot. Terminator may be a franchise that has gone on for too long, but it still enjoys its homages to the landmark movies that were its beginning.

Movie Release Date The Terminator 1984 Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1991 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines 2003 Terminator Salvation 2009 Terminator Genisys 2015 Terminator: Dark Fate 2019

Related Every Terminator Movie, Ranked Worst To Best (Including Dark Fate) The Terminator franchise is 35 years old and shows no signs of stopping. Here's every movie ranked from the 1984 original to Dark Fate.

10 Someone Says "I'll Be Back" (Or Something Like It)

One of the Terminator movies' most iconic lines.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 says "I'll be back" to police officer Judgment Day T-800 says "I'll be back" to Sarah and John Rise of the Machines T-850 says "She'll be back" and "I'm back" to John and Kate Salvation John says "I'll be back" to Kate Genisys Pops says "I'll be back" to Sarah and Kyle Dark Fate Sarah says "I'll be back" to Grace and Dani; Carl says "I won't be back" to Dani

“I’ll be back” is one of the signature lines of the Terminator series, established by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 in the first two movies. The original scenario is that, after politely asking to see Sarah at the police station, the T-800 “comes back” by driving a car straight into the lobby. Vehicles smashing through buildings appear many times throughout the franchise, while the context of the line has evolved. The T-800 says it again in Judgment Day when he leaves Sarah and John at Cyberdyne Labs to fend off the police, while the T-850 paraphrases it twice in Rise of the Machines.

After the initial trilogy, the line becomes a token nod to be said by any character, rather than always Schwarzenegger right before he jumps into the action. Terminator Salvation’s John (Christian Bale) says it to his wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) when she asks what to tell his men when they realize he’s gone; an older Sarah (Hamilton) to Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and Dani (Natalia Reyes) just before setting off a grenade in Dark Fate. The T-800 also says “I won’t be back,” possibly using the iconic line to signal Dark Fate will be Schwarzenegger’s last Terminator movie.

9 A Terminator Tries To Kill John Connor

John Connor is almost always Skynet's number-one enemy.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 tries to kill Sarah before John's birth Terminator 2 T-1000 tries to kill John as a child Rise of the Machines T-X tries to kill John as an adult Salvation T-800 tries to kill John at Skynet base Genisys T-800 goes back in time to kill Sarah; Pops kills Terminator John (T-3000) Dark Fate T-800 succeeds in killing John as a child/teenager

The inciting incident of the franchise is that Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to kill John Connor to ensure its victory over humanity in the future. It first tries to preeminently kill John by killing Sarah before John is ever born. Different Terminators are sent to kill John as a child in Judgment Day and as an adult (played by Nick Stahl) in Rise of the Machines. Skynet even comments on its own inability to kill John in Salvation when it lures John to its base for the CGI T-800 to kill him (and fails).

Things get complicated with Terminator Genisys, but it technically does depict the original T-800 arriving in 1984 to kill Sarah. This is in addition to this movie’s John (Jason Clarke) being infested by Skynet’s liquid machine particles and eventually killed in a fight with “Pops” (the T-800). Finally, Dark Fate opens with a shocking scene depicting an alternate timeline where another T-800 comes back after the events of Judgment Day and finally succeeds in killing John before he reaches adulthood — setting in motion the first Terminator movie that isn’t primarily about safeguarding the Connors.

8 The Terminator's Red Eyes Go Out

The Terminator's eyes fading away lets the audience know the fight is over.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 crushed in a hydraulic press Judgment Day T-800 impaled by T-1000 (before coming back) Rise of the Machines T-850 shuts himself down (before coming back); eyes hidden by human face Salvation Many Terminators Genisys Pops before being upgraded with liquid metal Dark Fate Carl destroyed by Grace's power source with Rev-9

After enduring an extensive battle, the eye lights going out is a signal to the audience that the heroes are finally safe. Alternatively, it signals a moment of devastation if it is one of the friendly T-800s.

The red light of any given Terminator’s eyes going out is the indication that the fight is over — unless it’s the T-800, which is usually able to come back online and defend the heroes again. This is a bigger moment in the first few movies, where the main characters are dealing with only one or two Terminators. After enduring an extensive battle, the eye lights going out is a signal to the audience that the heroes are finally safe. Alternatively, it signals a moment of devastation if it is one of the friendly T-800s.

Rise of the Machines is an exception, where the T-850 shuts himself down while his face is still intact, leaving it up to Schwarzenegger's performance to convey what is happening. Meanwhile, red eyes go out left and right in Salvation, which takes place at the height of the war when there are Terminators everywhere. In this case, they tend to be a lot easier to kill because the movie can’t waste time on an extended battle with every Terminator present. However, this famous ending to a fight gets some of its impact back in Genisys and Dark Fate.

7 The Final Fight With The Terminator Takes Place In A Factory

The only way the heroes can defeat a Terminator is to be in a factory.

Movie Instance The Terminator Unspecified factory Judgment Day Steel foundry Rise of the Machines CRS facility/military base Salvation Skynet factory Genisys Cyberdyne complex Dark Fate Hydroelectric plant

After being chased by a Terminator through whatever setting the movie is taking place in (usually L.A.) the main characters always somehow end up in a factory setting for the final battle (the loosest interpretation being a military base at the end of Rise of the Machines). It is somewhat convenient in cases where the characters are apparently running for their lives with no sense of direction that they always happen upon a factory. However, the writers nearly always contrive this for the practical reason that there is no other way for the fight to end.

For in this setting, things like hydraulic presses and molten steel are lying around and are the only things powerful enough to destroy a Terminator in a pre-futuristic setting. In the case of Genisys, Pops kills the T-3000/John when they are both caught in an additional time machine John built in 2017. Dark Fate doesn’t closely adhere to the formula because the setting is mostly used to trick the audience into thinking the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) is dead when it takes Grace sacrificing herself, so the others can use her power source to kill it.

6 A Terminator Pursues Characters In A Freeway Chase

There is always a vehicular chase scene in a Terminator movie.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 pursues Sarah and Kyle Judgment Day T-1000 pursues T-800 and John; later T-800, John, and Sarah Rise of the Machines T-X pursues T-800, John, and Kate Salvation Terminators pursue Marcus, Kyle, and Star Genisys T-3000/John pursues Pops, Sarah, and Kyle Dark Fate Rev-9 pursues Grace, Dani, and Diego

A chase scene is also a guarantee in a Terminator movie when the plot typically revolves around a Terminator being assigned to kill a specific person, and they don’t have many other options but to run. Some recurring elements in these chase scenes include the car/bus/truck being flipped over and the main characters somehow surviving it. It is also very common for the initial driver to tell the person in the passenger seat to take the wheel or trade places with them, so they can lean out the window to shoot the Terminator following them. If they are lucky, they are capable of getting out of the car entirely for a better shot.

Furthermore, a couple of movies try to raise the stakes by having the character asked to drive have limited experience. Marcus (Sam Worthington) tells Kyle (Anton Yelchin) to drive in Salvation, only for Kyle to shout at him that he’s never done it before; Grace asks Dani if she can drive, and she says no, so her brother Diego (Diego Boneta) manages to climb over her in the front seat and take over. It appears to be a standard way for the Terminator movies to ramp up the danger in what is already a life-or-death situation.

Related Terminator 2: Why The Classic Freeway Chase Scene Was So Hard To Film One of many iconic scenes to be found in Terminator 2 sees the T-1000 make an attempt to take out John Connor on a freeway, but filming wasn't easy.

5 A Terminator Copies Somone's Voice Or Appearance

Terminators can mimic someone's voice, while most of them can shapeshift.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 with Sarah's mother's voice Judgment Day T-800 with John's voice; T-1000 with several characters' forms Rise of the Machines T-X with Scott and other characters' forms Salvation T-800 with Kyle's voice Genisys T-3000 and T-5000 with several characters' forms Dark Fate Rev-9 with several characters' forms

From its first appearance, one of the most useful and deceptive skills of the Terminator is the ability to adopt someone else’s voice. When Sarah calls her mother in the first movie to tell her to stay at her cabin, the T-800 has already killed her and is pretending to be her to get Sarah’s location. The new T-800 pretends to be John in Judgment Day while on the phone with John’s foster parents – and ascertains that he is actually speaking to the T-1000 (Robert Patrick)

The T-1000 and every model after the T-800 can also take the physical form of any person they touch. From Judgment Day onward, the Terminator rapidly changing form becomes a staple of the franchise. The exception is Salvation, which takes place before Skynet has developed this technology, although the Terminators can still copy voices. This ability is often used as a segue into discussing how brutal the Terminators are because when one appears in the form of a target’s family member, the protector knows that this person is probably dead.

4 A More Advanced Terminator Appears

Skynet upgrades the Terminators for every new movie.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 Judgment Day T-1000 Rise of the Machines T-850 and T-X Salvation Marcus, a hybrid human Genisys T-3000 and T-5000 Dark Fate Grace, an augmented human; Rev-9

With each new Terminator movie, a more advanced hunter-killer arrives from the future to kill whomever Skynet deems to be a threat. The T-800 in The Terminator is not necessarily “more advanced” because the audience is not familiar with any other Terminators at this point. However, Kyle (Michael Biehn) says that it is the most advanced model yet, as opposed to older ones that only had rubber skin instead of real human flesh, establishing the T-800 as an improvement over something else.

New Terminators with new abilities are introduced in every movie. The T-1000 is the first liquid metal Terminator, while the T-X (Kristanna Loken) makes the T-850 “obsolete.” The T-5000 (Matt Smith) and Rev-9 are simply deadlier, more durable Terminators, while human-robotic hybrids also begin to appear. It is standard for the filmmakers to want to raise the stakes with each sequel, making a new Terminator an inevitability. Additionally, every Terminator model contributes to the tone of their respective movie.

3 It Takes Several Tries To Kill The Final Terminator

The battle with the main villainous Terminator is always drawn out.

Movie Instance The Terminator T-800 withstands several explosions and gunfire Judgment Day T-1000 is frozen by liquid nitrogen and thawed by heat from molten steel Rise of the Machines T-X is only killed by a hydrogen fuel cell; withstands everything else Salvation T-800 withstands explosions, gunfire, and molten steel Genisys T-3000 is only slowed down or killed by a magnetic force; withstands everything else Dark Fate Rev-9 can only be killed by an EMP or an augment's power source; withstands everything else

The final battle in every Terminator movie, taking place in an industrial setting, is drawn out because it takes the characters several tries to kill the Terminator. This typically involves them shoving the Terminator into several machines and attacking it with different materials (like liquid nitrogen) until they find something that will kill it. They keep shooting at it only in the hopes that it will keep the threat at bay, as they are all well aware that bullets aren’t going to do anything.

The final fights only feel bogged down in the newer Terminator movies because they are not as good as the first two. In The Terminator and Judgment Day, the difficulty of killing the Terminator establishes what a dangerous enemy it is. By extension, it illustrates how devastating Skynet’s awakening will be — at least until the Terminators become too easy to kill in Salvation.

2 The Terminator Timeline Gets More Confusing

The time travel plots get more convoluted as the Terminator franchise goes on.

Movie Instance The Terminator Paradox of John's conception Judgment Day It is not clear if Judgment Day has been prevented Rise of the Machines Judgment Day is only postponed Salvation Circumstances of John and Kyle meeting and John's role in the military are different; other continuity errors Genisys An alternate timeline where a T-800 raises Sarah Dark Fate An alternate timeline where young John is killed by a T-800

The Terminator’s ending and paradox set the stage for a franchise where the mechanics of time travel will never be crystal clear. The paradox of Kyle Reese being sent back in time to protect John’s mother and fathering John establishes a time loop system, where everything the time traveler does was always going to happen. The sequels only make it more perplexing by suggesting that the characters can change the future. The characters fight to prevent Judgment Day in the second movie, with no one asking if it will result in John never existing because Kyle will never come to 1984.

They only delay Judgment Day, which eventually happens in Rise of the Machines. There are some inconsistencies between what Kyle describes as the future in The Terminator and what is seen in Salvation, but this could be due to a slightly altered timeline. Genisys and Dark Fate then each present alternate timelines, leaving it up for debate how much, if any, of the original timeline still happened. Most of this will never be answered because creating new questions about the paradoxes is an inherent property of each Terminator movie.

Related 9 Movie Sequels That Caused Massive Continuity Problems With The Original Films Most big Hollywood franchises have had continuity errors of varying degrees, with a single entry in the series often causing the confusion.

1 Someone Says "Come With Me If You Want To Live" (Or Something Like It)

The most famous line from the Terminator movies.

Movie Instance The Terminator Kyle says "Come with me [...]" to Sarah Judgment Day T-800 says "Come with me [...]" to Sarah Rise of the Machines John says "Do you want to live? Come on!" to Kate Salvation Kyle says "Come with me [...]" to Marcus Genisys Sarah says "Come with me [...]" to Kyle Dark Fate Grace says "You come with me or you're dead in the next 30 seconds" to Dani

This classic Terminator catchphrase reflects the recurring dynamics of the franchise where characters are forced to trust someone whom they don’t know if they want to survive.

Every character who says the famous Terminator catchphrase is part of a time-honored tradition of the franchise's story and tone. Kyle is the first character to say the famous line, “Come with me if you want to live,” but the T-800 can perhaps be credited with cementing its fame in Judgment Day. At some point in every movie, a character says this or a paraphrased version of it. Most often, the character sent back in time to protect someone from a Terminator says it to the intended target.

This classic Terminator catchphrase reflects the recurring dynamics of the franchise where characters are forced to trust someone whom they don’t know if they want to survive. It is always said by someone who has more knowledge, experience, and resources for fighting Terminators, and although they are about to drag the other character through a nightmare of danger, they mean well and want to help. “Come with me if you want to live” is only one of several things that appear in every Terminator movie, but it is definitely the most famous and has the biggest implications.