The Terminator became one of the most important science fiction franchises with its reflections on destructive human nature. In a dystopian future, a man-made artificial intelligence takes over the Earth. To secure your domain, Skynet sends a Cyborg into the past to prevent the birth of the only being that could prevent his dominance.
The original episodes made Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton the biggest references in Hollywood. James Cameron was also considered one of the greatest creative minds of all time. But not everything has been perfect, as it is also one of the sagas most affected by the continuous transfer of its rights and whose future is uncertain after the last two failed attempts to revive the saga. While we wait for clarity on what’s to come, here’s a guide to this convoluted science fiction universe.
Terminator: Films in order of release and where to see them
Terminator (Director: James Cameron, 1984)
Los Angeles, year 2029. Machines rule the world. The rebels fighting against them have John Connor as their leader, a man born in the eighties. To put an end to the rebellion, the machines decide to send a devastating robot back in time, a Terminator, whose task will be to eliminate Sarah Connor, John’s mother, and thus prevent his birth.
Where to see? Prime Video.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Director: James Cameron, 1991)
Sarah Connor, the single mother of the rebellious John Connor, is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. A few years earlier, a time traveler had revealed to him that his son would be the savior of humanity in a future dominated by machines. She then became a warrior of sorts, teaching her son John survival tactics. For this reason she is locked up. When a new and improved android, a model T-1000, arrives from the future to assassinate John, an old T-800 is sent to protect him.
Where to see? Prime Video.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Director: Jonathan Mostow, 2003)
It’s been a decade since Sarah and John Connor saved humanity from destruction. Currently John is 25 years old and lives in secret: there is no documentary evidence of his existence. So he escapes Skynet’s pursuit, but now the TX, the most advanced cyborg destruction machine, has been sent to him from the future. His mission is to complete the work that his predecessor could not complete. Now Connor’s only chance of survival is another Terminator.
Where to see? Prime Video.
Terminator: Salvation (Director: Joseph McGinty Nichol, 2009)
After Doomsday, John Connor is the man leading the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But Connor’s life is changed by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a stranger who claims to have been on death row and to have known his father. In a race against time, Connor must discover whether Marcus was sent from the future or rescued from the past as the Resistance prepares the final assault on Skynet’s operations center.
Where to see? Prime Video And Netflix
Terminator Genesis (Director: Alan Taylor, 2015)
The year 2032. The war of the future is underway and a group of human rebels have the artificial intelligence system Skynet on the ropes. To secure the future, John Connor sends his loyal soldier Kyle Reese to 1984 to save his mother Sarah from a Terminator programmed to kill her so she doesn’t give birth to John. But what Reese finds on the other side does not meet his expectations…
Where to see? Star Plus and ViX.
Terminator: Dark Fate (Director: Tim Miller, 2019)
Hidden target Then we move on to 2020, where humanity is threatened not so much by Skynet but by another AI called Legion. A new type of Terminator comes to Mexico City from the future to murder a young woman named Dani Ramos. However, he also travels from the future to the present Grace, a cyborg-human hybrid who, with the help of Sarah Connor, has to protect Ramos from the seemingly indestructible killer robot.
Where to see? Star Plus.
You can also purchase the box set with all six films on Blu-ray from Amazon.
Terminator: Chronology of all films
In its attempts to renew itself, the continuity of Terminator has become one of the most confusing in the history of science fiction cinema. And with so much time travel and adaptations to events throughout the franchise, it’s impossible for all of the works to fit together perfectly.
Without spoilerwe can say that there are three possible visions of the main continuities within the franchise:
First timeline
- Terminator (1984) – Set in 1984
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – Set in 1995
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) – Set in 2004
- Terminator: Salvation (2009) – Set in 2018
Second timeline
- Terminator (1984) – Set in 1984
- Terminator: Genesis (2015) – Comes and goes between 1984 and 2029
Third timeline
- Terminator (1984) – Set in 1984
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – Set in 1995
- Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) – set in 2018
