"The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here, in our present. Tonight..."
— Title Card
The Terminator (1984)
Opening"Nice night for a walk, eh?"
— Punk Leader
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Nice night for a walk."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Wash day tomorrow? Nothing clean, right?"
— Punk
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Nothing clean. Right."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Hey, I think this guy's a couple cans short of a six-pack."
— Punk Leader
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Your clothes... give them to me, now."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Fuck you, asshole!"
— Punk Leader
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"That son of a bitch took my pants!"
— Man in Alley
The Terminator (1984)
Alley"Sarah Connor?"
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Phone Book"There's a storm coming."
— Gas Station Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Foreshadowing"I know."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Foreshadowing"The 12-gauge auto-loader."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"That's Italian. You can go pump or auto."
— Pawn Shop Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"The .45 long slide, with laser sighting."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"Just touch the trigger, the beam comes on and you put the red dot where you want the bullet to go. You can't miss."
— Pawn Shop Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"Hey, just what you see, pal!"
— Pawn Shop Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"The Uzi nine millimeter."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"You know your weapons, buddy."
— Pawn Shop Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"All."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"I may close early today. There's a 15-day wait on the handguns, but the rifles you can take right now."
— Pawn Shop Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"You can't do that."
— Pawn Shop Clerk
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"Wrong!"
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Weapons"Sarah Connor?"
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Tech Noir"Get down!"
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Tech Noir"Come with me if you want to live."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Tech Noir"This is a mistake. I haven't done anything."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Escape"No, but you will. It's very important that you live."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Escape"How could that man just get up after you just..."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"He's not a man - a machine. Terminator, Cyberdyne Systems Model 101."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"A machine? Like a robot?"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Not a robot. A cyborg. Cybernetic organism."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"The Terminator's an infiltration unit: part man, part machine. Underneath, it's a hyperalloy combat chassis, microprocessor-controlled. Fully armored; very tough. But outside, it's living human tissue: flesh, skin, hair, blood - grown for the cyborgs."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy. But these are new, they look human. Sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Look, I am not stupid, you know. They cannot make things like that yet!"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Not yet, not for about 40 years."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Are you saying it's from the future?"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"One possible future. From your point of view. I don't know tech stuff."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Then you're from the future too - is that right?"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Right."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Right."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Revelation"Cyborgs don't feel pain. I do. Don't do that again."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Car"Just let me go!"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Car"Listen, and understand! That Terminator is out there! It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead!"
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Car"Reese. Why me? Why does it want me?"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Future"There was a nuclear war. A few years from now, all this, this whole place, everything, it's gone. Just gone."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"It was the machines, Sarah."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"Defense network computers. New... powerful... hooked into everything, trusted to run it all. They say it got smart, a new order of intelligence. Then it saw all people as a threat, not just the ones on the other side. Decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"I grew up after. In the ruins... starving... hiding from H-K's."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"Hunter-Killers. Patrol machines built in automated factories. Most of us were rounded up, put in camps for orderly disposal."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"This is burned in by laser scan. Some of us were kept alive... to work... loading bodies. The disposal units ran night and day. We were that close to going out forever."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"But there was one man who taught us to fight, to storm the wire of the camps, to smash those metal motherfuckers into junk. He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"His name is Connor. John Connor. Your son, Sarah... your unborn son."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Future"I'm a friend of Sarah Connor. I was told she was here. Could I see her please?"
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Police Station"No, you can't see her. She's making a statement."
— Desk Sergeant
The Terminator (1984)
Police Station"Look, it may take a while. Want to wait? There's a bench over there."
— Desk Sergeant
The Terminator (1984)
Police Station"I'll be back."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Iconic"In the 21st century, a weapon will be invented like no other. This weapon will be powerful, versatile and indestructible. It will feel no pain. No pity. No remorse. No fear. It will have only one purpose: to return to the present and prevent the future. This weapon will be called the Terminator."
— Tagline
The Terminator (1984)
Marketing"I hate these press cases, especially the weird press cases."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"To make a statement. Maybe make these jackals work for us. If I can get on the tube by 11:00, maybe she'll call us. Well, how do I look?"
— Lieutenant Ed Traxler
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Like shit, boss."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Yo momma."
— Lieutenant Ed Traxler
The Terminator (1984)
Police"That coffee is two hours cold."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"And I put a cigarette out in it."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Ed!"
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"What do you got?"
— Lieutenant Ed Traxler
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Dead girl."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"I can see that."
— Lieutenant Ed Traxler
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Sarah Ann Connor, secretary, 35, shot six times at less than ten feet. Large caliber weapon."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"You know, these work."
— Lieutenant Ed Traxler
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Why didn't you bring any weapons, something more advanced? Don't you have, uh... ray guns? Show me a piece of future technology."
— Dr. Peter Silberman
The Terminator (1984)
Interrogation"Ray guns?"
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Interrogation"You go naked. Something about the field generated by a living organism. Nothing dead will go."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Interrogation"I didn't build the fucking thing!"
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Interrogation"This is great stuff. I could make a career out of this guy!"
— Dr. Peter Silberman
The Terminator (1984)
Interrogation"You still don't get it, do you? He'll find her! That's what he does! That's all he does! You can't stop him! He'll wade through you, reach down her throat and pull her fucking heart out!"
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Interrogation"So Reese is crazy?"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Police"In technical terminology, he's a loon."
— Dr. Peter Silberman
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Sarah, this is what they call body armor. Our tac guys wear these. It can stop a 12-gauge round."
— Lieutenant Ed Traxler
The Terminator (1984)
Police"He was probably on PCP. Broke every bone in his hand and wouldn't feel it for hours."
— Detective Hal Vukovich
The Terminator (1984)
Police"Hey, buddy. You got a dead cat in there, or what?"
— Cleaning Man
The Terminator (1984)
Flophouse"Fuck you, asshole."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Flophouse"Can you stop it?"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Motel"I don't know. With these weapons? I don't know."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Motel"Talk to me some more."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Motel"Tell me about where you're from."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Motel"John Connor gave me a picture of you once. I didn't know why at the time. It was very old - torn, faded. You were young like you are now. You seemed just a little sad. I used to always wonder what you were thinking at that moment. I memorized every line, every curve... I came across time for you, Sarah. I love you; I always have."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Motel"Do I look like the mother of the future? I mean am I tough, organized? I can't even balance my checkbook! Look Reese, I didn't ask for this honor and I don't want it, any of it!"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Motel"Thank you, Sarah, for your courage through the dark years. I can't help you with what you must soon face except to say that the future is not set. You must be stronger than you imagine you can be. You must survive or I will never exist."
— Kyle Reese (quoting John Connor)
The Terminator (1984)
Message"The hardest thing is deciding what I should tell you and what not to. But I guess I've got a while yet before you're old enough to even understand the tapes. They're more for me at this point just so I can get it straight."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Tape Recording"Should I tell you about your father? Boy, that's a tough one. Will it affect your decision to send him here, knowing that he is your father? If you don't send Kyle, you can never be. God, a person could go crazy thinking about this."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Tape Recording"I suppose I will tell you... I owe him that. Maybe it'll be enough if you know that, in the few hours we had together, we loved a lifetime's worth."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Tape Recording"Nobody goes home. Nobody else comes through. It's just him and me."
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Final"Get out of here!"
— Kyle Reese
The Terminator (1984)
Factory"You're terminated, fucker!"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Factory"You're terminated!"
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Factory"I know now why you cry. But it's something I can never do."
— The Terminator
The Terminator (1984)
Factory"The future is not set. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves."
— Sarah Connor
The Terminator (1984)
Closing"With storms like this, who needs enemies?"
— Man in Truck
The Terminator (1984)
Closing