Before James Cameron had billion-dollar blue aliens, sinking ocean liners and enough studio money to build whatever he wanted, he made one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever for about $6 million. Arnold Schwarzenegger barely speaks, wears leather trousers, and spends 107 minutes trying to murder the mother of someone who hasn't been born yet. Simple enough.
That movie is The Terminator, and Cameron's 1984 sci-fi classic has officially found a new streaming home on Prime Video. The movie earned around $78 million worldwide during its original theatrical run and eventually spawned one of Hollywood's biggest science-fiction franchises.
A member of the future human-resistance movement is teleported back to 1984 L.A. His purpose is to rescue Sarah Connor, the mother of the man who will lead the 21st-century rebels against tyrannical machines, from being killed before she can give birth. Standing in his way is a futuristic cyborg also sent back in time to assassinate the woman.
Linda Hamilton (Stranger Things) stars as Sarah alongside Schwarzenegger (Predator) as the Terminator, Michael Biehn (Tombstone) as Kyle Reese, Paul Winfield (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) as Lieutenant Traxler, Lance Henriksen (Aliens) as Detective Vukovich, and Earl Boen (Terminator 2) as Dr. Silberman.
What Did James Cameron Make After 'The Terminator'?
The Terminator changed everything for Cameron. Made for roughly $6.4 million, the sci-fi thriller earned around $78 million worldwide and gave Cameron the calling card he needed for a much bigger job: making a sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien.
Cameron wrote and directed Aliens, which arrived in 1986 and brought Sigourney Weaver back as Ellen Ripley. Rather than simply copying the slow-burning horror of the first movie, Cameron turned the sequel into a full-blown action movie, sending Ripley back to LV-426 alongside a squad of Colonial Marines. In fact, so determined to make Aliens was Cameron, that the cameras had barely stopped rolling before he'd moved on, as Biehn exclusively told Collider.
“We were shooting The Terminator for 11 weeks, nights. Friday, as soon as the sun comes up, it’s over, right? So I go home. I’m exhausted. I’m totally exhausted. Jim and Gale probably put in twice as many hours per 24 hours than I did. They were probably working 16, 18-hour days. I was only working 12, 13-hour days.”
Two days later, Hurd called Biehn and invited him over. Cameron had assembled a rough cut of the famous Tech Noir sequence and wanted his leading man to see it. Despite still being exhausted from filming, Biehn drove over and found that The Terminator was already in the rearview mirror.
“I went into his office, and he’s just writing with intensity, really hardcore writing. I came within two or three feet of him, and he didn’t even notice me. Then all of a sudden he looked up and went, ‘Oh, hey, Michael. Good to see you.’ This is 48 hours after we wrapped.”
The Terminator is streaming now on Prime Video.
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