The Terminator

It is difficult to imagine The Terminator (1984) without one-time bodybuilder and present-day Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Director James Cameron had originally intended to cast someone with an average physique as the killing machine in human disguise. But on seeing Schwarzenegger’s bulk and hearing his cold and emotionless clipped Austrian accent, he knew he had his man. Schwarzenegger has already achieved some fame through Conan the Barbarian but The Terminator affirmed it.

It was not just its unforgettable star that made this relatively low-budget movie such a smash-hit. The special effects were spectacular and the plot was intelligent and unusually thought-provoking for an action-movie. In a truly apocalyptic premise, the cyborg was an agent of Skynet, a sentient computer that was trying to wipe out the human race that had developed it. The Terminator was tasked with travelling back from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, thereby preventing her from conceiving a child, John Connor, who would later become the leader of the human resistance forces.

The Terminator made James Cameron one of the most sought-after science fiction directors of his day and he went on to direct Aliens (1986) and the long-awaited sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991).