James Cameron brought The Terminator to the silver screen in 1984. The movie told the story of a young woman who is being hunted by a machine from the future because she would give birth to the leader of the human Resistance. This young woman, named Sarah Connor, is also sent a protector to keep her alive: Kyle Reese, a future soldier who is serving under Sarah's son, John Connor.
The Terminator was filled with action, romance, horror, and a lot of heart. The film was a major success and gained even more recognition upon home release. It built such a large fanbase that, in 1991, a sequel titled Terminator 2: Judgement Day was released which is still considered one of the greatest action/sci-fi movies ever made. After two major successes, the Terminator franchise continued on through comic books, toys, a TV series, and most importantly, four more films.
6 Terminator Genisys (2015)
Terminator Genisys made some bold decisions and tried to mix up the franchise. Unfortunately, it mixed it up a little too much— including the bizarre and confusing spelling of "Genisys" in its title putting people off before even seeing the movie.
While Arnold was entertaining as the older "Pops" Terminator, Emilia Clarke's Sarah Connor left a little to be desired. She did an okay job, but living up to Linda Hamilton was always going to be a near-impossible feat. Jai Courtney and Jason Clarke did a good job as updated versions of Kyle Reese and John Connor, respectively. The story was different, but unfortunately, the trailers leading up to the movie gave away the biggest plot twist and ended up taking away the importance of the first film.
5 Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)
T3: Rise of the Machines isn't as bad as some fans say. However, coming off the two original films, it would've had to be absolutely amazing to be considered anything but a letdown. Nick Stahl as John Connor came off bland and didn't seem interested in even being there. Kristianna Loken as the evil T-X terminator wasn't very believable and, machine or not, her acting seemed forced and came off a little annoying. Finally, while Claire Danes is a tremendous actress, she also seemed disinterested in the whole thing.
Arnold had some funny lines but this is his most underwhelming performance in the franchise, probably because he was getting ready to be governor of California at the time. The story was a bit of a mess, even though the last scene in the movie is admittedly amazing. The music, mixed with John and Kate realizing that they were led to the bunker to survive and fight in the future, was a genuinely interesting— and emotionally-charged— twist.
4 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
The most recent entry in the franchise had a lot of entertaining aspects, but was basically a reboot instead of a sequel. While it references the original two films, it largely tells an updated version of the original movie. Instead of Dani being Sarah, it's switched to her being the new John. Natalia Reyes did a nice job as the victim but wasn't very believable as a future leader. Mackenzie Davis' Grace had some heroic moments but her acting was stale, especially since she was an augmented human and not a full cyborg.
Arnold was tremendous as new T-800 Carl as was Linda Hamilton returning as an older, grittier version of Sarah Connor. Gabriel Luna's evil REV-9 was frightening but was predictably defeated at the end. Dark Fate had some positive attributes but much of it is undone by the opening scene, which backtracked and wiped out everything that had taken place in T2: Judgment Day— and fandoms never take it well when a beloved part of a franchise is retconned out of existence.
3 Terminator Salvation (2009)
Terminator Salvation was the first film in the franchise that actually took place in the dark future, which had only been referenced in the first three movies. It's far from a perfect film, but it adds some new characters to the mix and tells the origins of some familiar faces.
The cast was stellar all around, but Sam Worthington's Marcus and Anton Yelchin's Kyle Reese stood out the most. Christian Bale is one of the best actors in Hollywood, but this wasn't his best effort and he'll be most remembered for his off-screen argument with a crew member. The updated Terminator theme is epic and the CGI Arnold as the T-800 was a really fun nod to the original film.
2 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
There's no denying the importance of this sequel. It's one of the greatest action movies, sci-fi movies, and sequels in general of all time. T2: Judgment Day is the perfect combination of action, horror, sci-fi, and humor.
Arnold is in the prime of his career and is amazing as an updated hero version of the T-800. Linda Hamilton has the breakout performance as a badass version of Sarah Connor. Edward Furlong has moments of being too whiny but ultimately does a nice job as the young John, especially since it was his first acting performance. And Robert Patrick's T-1000 is considered one of the greatest villains of all time and the CGI used to bring his performance to life was groundbreaking for its time. T2 was among the first movies that began the tradition of every new James Cameron release bringing some major new innovation to the entire medium of filmmaking.
1 The Terminator (1984)
T2Â is often considered the best movie in the franchise, but you don't have a T2 without the original. The Terminator was a unique, action-packed love story that transcended time and gave fans a glimpse of one scary potential future.
A cyborg assassin from 2029 is sent back in time to kill a young woman who will one day give birth to the future leader of the human resistance. A human soldier from 2029 is sent back as well to protect her. They fall in love and he ends up as the father of the future leader. The special effects may not have been as great as the sequel but this was seven years prior and was amazing for 1984. And to this day, many fans of the franchise still maintain that they prefer Arnold as an evil, scary Terminator rather than a wise-cracking buddy Terminator.