![The Terminator (1984)
<p> Where to watch: Prime Video<br /> The Terminator is the first film in the legendary franchise and it introduced the world to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic cybernetic human-disguised android known as Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, T-800, or simply The Terminator. Schwarzenegger’s character was sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 with a mission to kill a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in Los Angeles. Luckily for Sarah, a human soldier named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) was also sent back in time to prevent the Terminator from completing its mission. It turns out that Terminator and Reese come from a future where an artificially intelligent defense network known as Skynet has become self-aware and has unleashed a global nuclear war to end the human race. Sarah’s son John is said to be a key figure in the Resistance against Skynet, so the network sends the Terminator back in time to prevent his birth by killing his mother.” src=”https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com /2022/07/21/terminator-1-1658427021075.png?width=888&crop=16%3A9&quality=20&dpr=0.05″ class=”jsx-2920405963 progressive-image image jsx-294430442 rounded expand loading”/></div>
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The Terminator movies in chronological order (sort of)
The Terminator (1984)
where to watch: First video
The Terminator is the first film in the legendary franchise and it introduced the world to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic cybernetic android known as Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, T-800 or simply The Terminator. Schwarzenegger’s character was sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 with a mission to kill a woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in Los Angeles. Luckily for Sarah, a human soldier named Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) was also sent back in time to prevent the Terminator from completing its mission.
It turns out that Terminator and Reese come from a future where an artificially intelligent defense network known as Skynet has become self-aware and has unleashed a global nuclear war to end the human race. Sarah’s son John is said to be a key figure in the Resistance against Skynet, so the network sends the Terminator back in time to prevent his birth by killing his mother.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
where to watch: HBO Max
While Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese may have stopped Skynet’s time travel plan in the first film, this pesky self-aware network had no intention of stopping in its quest to preserve a future where he was the winner by making sure humans were no more.
This time, Skynet sends the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), an advanced Terminator made of nearly indestructible liquid metal, to 1995 to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong) when he was a child. As was the case with Sarah, John has luck on his side when the Resistance sends back a reprogrammed version of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 to stop that T-1000 from killing him.
As for Sarah, she finds herself incarcerated in Pescadero State Hospital for her violent attempts to stop Judgment Day. This day – August 29, 1997 – will be the day Skynet gains sentience and begins its quest to unleash a nuclear attack and end the human race for its part by trying to stop it.
Read our Terminator 2: Judgment Day review
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
where to watch: Rent or buy
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is the part of the list where the timeline gets a little fuzzy. While Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a sequel to Terminator 2, so is Terminator: Dark Fate. This means you can skip ahead to see a divergent timeline, or continue here to see the story as it was originally told. As a reminder, we will have for you the detailed deadlines at the bottom of the page!
Terminator 3 is mostly set in 2004 and exists in a world where 1997’s Doomsday never happened due to the events of the last film. John Connor (Nick Stahl) mostly lived as a nomad after his mother’s death in order to hide from the ever-present threat of Skynet. As we know, Skynet once again sends an advanced Terminator (Kristanna Loken) from 2032 to kill John, his wife Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) and his resistance allies. This time it’s a TX, a shape-shifting Terminator made of virtually indestructible liquid metal. The Resistance also follows suit and sends another reprogrammed Arnold Schwarzenegger T-800 to protect John and his friends.
Read our Terminator 3 review: Rise of the machines.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
where to watch: Rent or buy
The ending of Terminator 3 saw John and Kate discover that Crystal Peak was not the heart of Skynet, but a fallout shelter, and the resulting events led to Judgment Day and a nuclear attack that killed billions. of people in the world. Terminator Salvation, which is the only film not to feature Arnold Schwarzenegger, picks up years after the events of the third film in 2018 and begins with John Connor (Christian Bale) leading an attack on a Skynet base.
However, before Connor’s attack, we are sent back to 2003 to meet death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington). He was convinced by Cyberdyne Systems to donate his body to science, but he did not realize that he would become the first human-terminator hybrid after his death.
In 2018, Wright emerges from the destroyed Skynet base after John and his crew destroy it, and his path will eventually cross paths with John and Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). Yes, the same Kyle Reese who will one day go back in time to save Sarah Connor in the first movie and become John’s father.
Read our terminator review hi.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
where to watch: Rent or buy
As we mentioned before, Terminator: Dark Fate ignores everything that happened after Terminator 2 and takes place in a timeline where Sarah Connor managed to stop Skynet. Unfortunately, a T-800 from the future that never arrived returned to kill John Connor in 1998.
Dark Fate then shifts to 2020 where humanity is not so much threatened by Skynet, but by another AI called Legion. This AI sends back a new advanced Terminator known as Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) from 2042 to 2020 to kill Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). Luckily for Dani, the Resistance is still doing their job and sending an augmented human named Grace (Mackenzie Davis) back to protect her.
We won’t spoil anything else here, but know that this is the first time Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator have shared the screen in 23 years.
Read our Terminator: Dark Fate reviews.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
where to watch: Paramount+
Much like Dark Fate erased everything after Terminator 2, Terminator Genisys is a fresh start that changes the franchise’s entire timeline. Genisys begins in 2029 with the Resistance preparing to send Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to save Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) from the T-800. Things go awry and he finds himself in an alternate timeline which finds Sarah Connor and a reprogrammed T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) known as “Pops” working together. It turns out that an unknown party sent this T-800 back to 1973 to protect Sarah when she was nine years old after her parents were killed by one of Skynet’s T-1000s (Lee Byung-hun).
What follows is a time-traveling adventure that sends our heroes to a 2017 San Francisco where Skynet calls itself Genisys and is ready for its grand debut. As you can imagine, that’s not a good thing, and Kyle, Sarah, and Pops must stop new and familiar foes if they wish to save humanity from extinction.
Read our Terminator Genisys review.
Terminator movies in order of release
- 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)
The original continuity of the Terminator films
- The Terminator (1984)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
- Terminator Salvation (2009)
Terminator Movies Dark Fate Timeline
- The Terminator (1984)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Terminator: Dark Fate
Adam Bankhurst is a reporter for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Tic.
