Variosity Vault

The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose not-yet-conceived son will one day save mankind from extinction by Skynet, a hostile artificial intelligence, in a post-apocalyptic future. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) is a soldier sent back in time to protect Sarah. Cameron devised the premise of the film from a fever dream he experienced during the release of his first film, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), and developed the concept in collaboration with his friend Bill Wisher.