Terminator Reviews: Our Verdict on Every Film

Our order from best to weakest is Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Terminator, Terminator: Dark Fate, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys. In my opinion the first two films are the series, and the other four are judged against them. James Cameron directed both, Brad Fiedel scored both, and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton carry them. Everything after that is a reaction to those two films, sometimes a smart one and sometimes not. Below, each film gets a short verdict.

The Terminator (1984), directed by James Cameron, is a good movie and, in my opinion, a better one than its reputation as a prelude to the sequel suggests. A cyborg assassin arrives naked from 2029 in Los Angeles to kill a waitress named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), and Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) follows from the same future to protect her. The machine works through the phone book looking for women with her name, which turns the plot into a chase with a clock on it. Schwarzenegger is billed first as the Terminator, and Fiedel's score gives a small production a cold, mechanical pulse. Read the full story on The Terminator (1984).

The Terminator (1984) was a hit: it cost $6.4 million and earned about $78 million worldwide, including $38.4 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. The Numbers lists a slightly lower domestic figure than Box Office Mojo, which is why I say "about" for the worldwide total. The full numbers sit on the Terminator box office page.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), directed by Cameron, is the best, and it is not especially close. A liquid metal T-1000 (Robert Patrick) is sent to kill the young John Connor (Edward Furlong), while a reprogrammed Terminator is sent to protect him, and Sarah Connor sits in a psychiatric hospital for warning people about a war nobody believes in. The shopping mall chase is a set piece that still works because the threat is so hard to read. The film cost $102 million and made about $519 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. The smartest decision was turning the villain of The Terminator into the protector in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Details are on Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015) rank third to sixth in our verdicts, in that order. Here are the verdicts in short form.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), directed by Tim Miller, has the strongest ensemble of the sequels, in my opinion. Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, billed first, alongside Schwarzenegger as T-800 and Carl, Mackenzie Davis as Grace, Natalia Reyes as Dani Ramos and Gabriel Luna as the Rev-9. It cost $185 million and made $261 million worldwide. See Terminator: Dark Fate.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), directed by Jonathan Mostow, is competent but hollow. Nick Stahl plays John Connor, Kristanna Loken plays the T-X and Claire Danes plays Kate Brewster. It made about $433 million worldwide on a $200 million budget, and it is loud without leaving much behind. See Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Terminator Salvation (2009), directed by McG, has better ideas than execution, in my opinion. It is the film that finally shows the 2018 war, with Christian Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, and it moved the series to a PG-13 rating. It made about $371 million on a $200 million budget. See Terminator Salvation.

Terminator Genisys (2015), directed by Alan Taylor, is the lowest ranked of the six films in our verdicts, though this is our own ranking and not a critic aggregate. Emilia Clarke plays Sarah Connor, Jai Courtney plays Kyle Reese, and Sarah has been raised by a reprogrammed Terminator she calls Pops. The idea of rewriting 1984 is interesting on paper, but it makes the film spend much of its running time explaining itself, and the retcon undercuts the original story. It earned about $441 million worldwide on a $155 million budget, though only $89.8 million came from the domestic box office. See Terminator Genisys.

Yes, the Terminator movies are worth watching, provided you treat the first two as the main course and the rest as optional. If you are new to the series, start with The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Anyone who wants the full picture can follow the Terminator movies in order guide, and the Terminator movies ranked page sets out how the six compare as a list. If you want to see where each film is streaming, check Where to watch Terminator. Watch Terminator: Dark Fate next, then the rest only if you want the full story.