LOS ANGELES 2029 A.D.
THE MACHINES ROSE FROM THE ASHES OF THE NUCLEAR FIRE.
THEIR WAR TO EXTERMINATE MANKIND HAS RAGED FOR DECADES,
BUT THE FINAL BATTLE WOULD NOT BE FOUGHT IN THE FUTURE.
IT WOULD BE FOUGHT HERE, IN OUR PRESENT.
TONIGHT...
LOS ANGELES 1 984 1 :52a.m.
What the heII...? Goddamn son-of-a-bitch...
What the heII...?
Hey, my turn.
Hey, what's wrong with this picture?
Nice night for a waIk?
Nice night for a waIk.
Wash day tomorrow. Nothing cIean, right?
Nothing cIean. Right.
I think this guy's a coupIe of cans short of a six-pack.
Your cIothes, give them to me.
- Now. - Fuck you, asshoIe.
Hey, buddy, did you just see a reaI bright Iight?
- See that guy? - HoId it right there.
- He's rabbiting. - Hey! I said hoId it! Go.
That son-of-a-bitch took my pants.
- What day is it? The date. - 1 2th May.
- Thursday. - What year?
He's got my gun. Let's go.
Guard it for me, Big Buns.
Hi. I'm Iate.
So am I.
- I'm in it. - So am I.
- Honey, can I have that coffee now? - Yes, sir.
- OK. Who gets the burIy-beef? - I ordered barbecued.
That's mine, but I didn't order fries.
- Mine's the chiIIi beef deIuxe. - Who gets the burIy-beef?
- We're ready to order now. - Yes, ma'am.
I'm so sorry.
This isn't reaI Ieather, is it?
Nice going, kid. I ought to give you the tip.
Look at it this way. In 100 years, who's gonna care?
The 1 2-gauge auto-Ioader.
That's ItaIian. You can go pump or auto.
The 45 Iong sIide with Iaser sighting.
These are new. We just got them in. That's a good gun.
The beam comes on - you put the red dot where you want the buIIet to go.
You can't miss.
- Anything eIse? - PIasma rifIe in the 40-watt range.
Hey, just what you see, paI.
The Uzi nine miIIimetre.
You know your weapons, buddy.
Any one of these is ideaI for home defence.
So which wiII it be?
- AII. - I may cIose earIy today.
It's a 1 5-day wait on the handguns, but the rifIes you can take now.
- You can't do that. - Wrong.
Hi, baby. Yeah, yeah, it's me.
Listen, I need you to come pick me up. My bike just broke down.
I don't care what you're doing. Come and get me. What the...?
Hey, man, you got a serious attitude probIem.
- Sarah Connor? - Yes?
I'm on my break, Chuck. CarIa's got my station.
Sarah, come here. It's about you. I mean, sort of.
IncredibIe. You're not gonna beIieve this. You're going to Iove this.
- What? - ..compiled from several witnesses.
Once again, Sarah Connor, 35, mother of two,
brutally shot to death this afternoon.
You're dead, honey.
..if you're into sound,
for the greatest sound around, come to Bob's Stereo at 2500 Sepulveda.
We've got woofers, tweeters, the newest in audio and compact discs.
We've got graphic equalisers and sound balancers that...
Sorry.
HeIIo?
First l'm gonna rip the buttons off your blouse one by one,
then run my tongue down your neck to your bare, gleaming breasts.
And then slowly... slowly pull your jeans off inch by inch.
Ginger, it's Matt.
And Iick your beIIy in circIes further and further down,
and then puII your panties off with my teeth.
Who is this?
God. Sarah?
Jesus. l'm sorry.
I thought you were... Can I taIk to Ginger?
Sure.
It's the creep.
HeIIo?
First I'II rip the buttons off your bIouse one by one...
You fucking pigs. Wait tiII I get my hands on you. Get off me.
Ed.
- What have you got? - Dead girI.
- I can see that. - Sarah Ann Connor, secretary, 35.
Shot six times at Iess than 10 feet. Large caIibre weapon.
You know, these work.
- What's this? - Dead girI two.
Sent over from the VaIIey division this afternoon.
Are you sure there's a point to aII of this?
Look at the name, Ed.
Sarah Louise Connor. Is this right?
You're kidding.
The press is gonna be short-stroking it.
- A one-day pattern kiIIer. - I hate the weird ones.
So...
Better than mortaI man deserves.
- Ginger, have you seen PugsIey? - Not IateIy. Did you check messages?
I thought you did.
- Hi, Sarah, this is your mom... - There you are, young man.
You mind your mother.
Hi, Sarah. Stan Morsky. Something's come up.
Looks like l won't be able to make it tonight. Just can't get out of it.
l'm really sorry. l'll make it up to you. Call you in a day or so. Bye.
That bum. So what if he has a Porsche?
He can't treat you Iike this. It's Friday night, for Christ's sake.
I'II Iive.
I'II break his kneecaps.
WeII, PugsIey stiII Ioves me. Don't you, baby?
God. It's disgusting.
I'm gonna go to a movie, kiddo. Have a good time.
- We wiII. You, too. - OK.
Damn it, Matt.
Shit.
These kiIIings occurred in the order of their Iistings in the phone book.
- What can I teII you? No comment. - But, Lieutenant...
That coffee's two hours coId.
I put a cigarette out in it.
- Did you reach the next girI yet? - No. I got her answering machine.
- Send a unit. - I sent a unit. There's no answer.
- The apartment manager's not in. - CaII her.
- I just caIIed her. - CaII her again.
Give me a cigarette.
Hi, there. Fooled you. You're talking to a machine.
But don't be shy. lt's OK. Machines need love, too, so talk to it...
Same shit.
I can hear it now. He's gonna be caIIed the goddamn Phone Book KiIIer.
I hate these press cases. EspeciaIIy the weird press cases.
- Where are you going? - To make a statement.
Maybe make these jackaIs work for us.
If I can get on the tube by eIeven o'cIock, maybe she'II caII us.
WeII, how do I Iook?
- Like shit, boss. - Your mama.
This just in. Police have announced the name of the victim
in the second of two murders which took place today.
lncredibly, the names of the two victims are virtually identical.
Two hours ago, 35-year-old Sarah Ann Connor was pronounced dead...
- Can we change this? - Sarah Louise...
Don't touch it.
Police are refusing to speculate on the similarity between the shooting deaths
and no other connection between the two victims has been established yet.
We'll have more on this late-breaking story as it comes in.
- Hey, you got a phone? - It's in the back.
Hey. Four-fifty.
You have reached the Los Angeles Police emergency number.
All lines are busy. lf you need a police car sent out to you, stay on the line.
Go on. I'm gonna make a beIt out of you.
Don't make me bust you up, man.
Hi, there. Fooled you. You're talking to a machine.
But don't be shy. lt's OK. Machines need love, too.
So talk to it and Ginger, that's me, or Sarah will get back to you.
Wait for the beep.
This is Sarah. Pick up if you're there.
l'm at this place on Pico Boulevard called Tech Noir. l'm really scared.
I think that there's somebody after me. I hope that you pIay this back soon.
I need you and Matt to come and pick me up as soon as possibIe.
The poIice keep transferring me. I'm gonna give 'em another try.
The number here is 555 91 7 5. Call me, kiddo. l need your help.
lt's her.
Sarah Connor? It's Lieutenant TraxIer.
Don't put me on hoId. Don't transfer me to another department.
I won't. Can you teII me where you are?
- l'm in this bar called Tech Noir. - I know it. It's on Pico.
- Are you aII right? - Yeah, but I don't wanna Ieave.
- I think there's a guy foIIowing me. - Now, Iisten carefuIIy.
You're in a pubIic pIace so you'II be safe. Stay visibIe. Don't go outside.
- l'll have a car there in a minute. - OK.
Hey, that guy didn't pay.
Come with me if you wanna Iive.
Come on!
This is one-L-1 9. I got a hit-and-run feIony.
Suspect vehicIe - Iate modeI grey Ford headed westbound on Seven.
He's reaIIy moving - punching Iights.
I'm gonna need an ambuIance at Seventh and Broadway right now.
HoId it.
HoId on.
Are you injured? Are you shot?
Do exactIy what I say. ExactIy.
Don't move unIess I say. Don't make a sound unIess I say.
Do you understand?
- Do you understand? - Yes. PIease don't hurt me.
I'm here to heIp you.
I'm Reese. Sergeant Tech-Com. DN38416. Assigned to protect you.
You've been targeted for termination.
This is one-L-1 9. Westbound on OIympic. Approaching OverIand.
This is a mistake. I didn't do anything.
No, but you wiII. It's very important that you Iive.
This isn't true. How couId that man just get up after you...
It's not a man. A machine.
A Terminator. Cyberdyne Systems modeI 101 .
A machine? Like a robot?
Not a robot. A cyborg - cybernetic organism.
- No. He was bIeeding. - Just a second.
Get your head down.
Listen. The Terminator's an infiItration unit. Part man, part machine.
Underneath it's a hyper-aIIoy combat chassis. Microprocessor controIIed.
FuIIy armoured, very tough. Outside it's Iiving human tissue.
FIesh, skin, hair, bIood - grown for the cyborgs.
- Look, Reese, I don't know... - Pay attention.
I gotta ditch this car.
The 600-Series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy.
But these are new. They Iook human.
Sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot.
I had to wait tiII he moved on you before I couId zero him.
Look, I am not stupid. They cannot make things Iike that yet.
Not yet. Not for about forty years.
Are you saying it's from the future?
One possibIe future... from your point of view.
I don't know tech stuff.
Then you're from the future, too. Is that right?
- Right. - Right.
Cyborgs don't feeI pain. I do. Don't do that again.
- Just Iet me go. - Listen and understand.
That Terminator is out there.
It can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with.
It doesn't feeI pity or remorse or fear
and it absoIuteIy wiII not stop, ever, untiI you are dead.
Can you stop it?
I don't know.
With these weapons, I don't know.
All units. Ford suspect vehicle has been found in a parking structure...
Reese, why me?
Why does it want me?
There was a nucIear war.
A few years from now,
aII this, this whoIe pIace, everything,
it's gone, just gone.
There were survivors.
Here, there.
Nobody even knew who started it.
- It was the machines, Sarah. - I don't understand.
Defence network computers.
New, powerfuI,
hooked into everything, trusted to run it aII.
They say it got smart - a new order of inteIIigence.
Then it saw aII peopIe as a threat. Not just the ones on the other side.
It decided our fate in a microsecond.
Extermination.
Did you see this war?
No. I grew up after. In the ruins.
Starving. Hiding from the H-Ks.
- H-Ks? - Hunter-kiIIers.
PatroI machines buiIt in automated factories.
Most of us were rounded up. Put in camps for orderIy disposaI.
This was burned in by Iaser scanner.
Some of us were kept aIive. To work.
Loading bodies.
The disposaI units ran night and day.
We were that cIose to going out for ever.
But there was one man who taught us to fight.
To storm the wire of the camps.
To smash those metaI motherfuckers into junk.
He turned it around. He brought us back from the brink.
His name was Connor. John Connor.
Your son, Sarah. Your unborn son.
Drive.
Reese!
No, Reese. No, no, no. They'II kiII you.
You in the CadiIIac, Iet me see your hands now.
Get out of the car.
Drop to your knees.
- Out of the car. - Drop to the ground.
Sarah. Sarah, try to drink some of this.
Listen, are you sure it's them?
I mean, maybe I shouId Iook at the bodies.
No. They've been identified and there's no doubt.
Ginger. Kiddo.
- Sarah, this is Dr SiIberman. - Hi, Sarah.
TeII him everything Reese toId you, Sarah. Do you feeI up to that?
Yeah, I guess so.
- You're a doctor? - CriminaI psychoIogist.
- Is Reese crazy? - That's what we're gonna find out.
So you're a soIdier. Fighting for whom?
With the 1 32nd under Perry. From '21 to '27.
That's the year 2027?
That's right. Then l was assigned...
- This is fucking great. - ..under John Connor.
- Who was the enemy? - A computer defence system...
Goddamn! Sorry.
..buiIt for SAC-NORAD by Cyberdyne Systems.
I see.
And this computer thinks it can win by kiIIing the mother of its enemy.
KiIIing him, in effect, before he's even conceived.
A sort of retroactive abortion?
SiIberman cracks me up. Last week, a guy burned his Afghan.
- He screwed it first... - Ed, shut up.
Why didn't the computer just kiII Connor then?
Why this eIaborate scheme with the Terminator?
It had no choice. Their defence grid was smashed.
We'd won. Taking out Connor then wouId make no difference.
Skynet had to wipe out his entire existence.
Is that when you captured the Iab compIex and found... What is it caIIed?
The time dispIacement equipment?
That's right. The Terminator had aIready gone through.
Connor sent me to intercept and they bIew the whoIe pIace.
WeII, how are you supposed to get back?
I can't.
Nobody goes home. Nobody eIse comes through.
It's just him and me.