Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
A cyborg assassin travels from the future to kill Sarah Connor, while soldier Kyle Reese arrives to protect her.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
In 1984 Los Angeles, a machine called the Terminator hunts women named Sarah Connor. Resistance fighter Kyle Reese follows from a future ruled by Skynet and explains that Sarah's survival matters to humanity's coming war.
Why it belongs
The Terminator gives a low-budget pursuit relentless legibility through nocturnal Los Angeles, practical effects, Brad Fiedel's pulse, and Schwarzenegger's mechanical economy.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Cameron stretches limited resources through blue-lit Los Angeles streets, Stan Winston's exposed-machine effects, disciplined pursuit geography, and Brad Fiedel's mechanical pulse, giving the killer's forward motion the inevitability of an industrial process.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
