This article is about the film. For the character, see Terminator (character). For other uses, see Terminator (disambiguation).
| The Terminator | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | James Cameron |
| Produced by | Gale Anne Hurd |
| Written by | James Cameron Gale Anne Hurd William Wisher, Jr. |
| Starring | Arnold Schwarzenegger Michael Biehn Linda Hamilton |
| Music by | Brad Fiedel |
| Cinematography | Adam Greenberg |
| Editing by | Mark Goldblatt |
| Studio | Hemdale Film Corporation Pacific Western Productions |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 26, 1984 |
| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$6.5 million |
| Gross revenue | $78,371,200 |
The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from the year 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, played by Hamilton. Biehn plays Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect Sarah.
Though not expected to be either a commercial or critical success, The Terminator topped the American box office for two weeks and helped launch the film careers of James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. In 2008, it was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
