Beginning with the first film in 1984, the
Terminator series has given two decades of filmgoers some of the most dazzling special effects as well as some of the most memorable catch phrases. In the role that made him a star,
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as T-800, a humanoid robot from the future. In the first film, Schwarzenegger's character is sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (
Linda Hamilton), the would-be mother of John Connor, the man who will one day lead the human resistance against the brutal and oppressive robots. However, in the second film, 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Schwarzenegger returns as a "good" Terminator, sent by the human resistance to protect a teenaged John from the more advanced T-1000 (
Robert Patrick), a robot made of liquid metal, capable of morphing into anything it touches. Schwarzenegger remained a good guy the third time around in 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the first of the series to not involve director
James Cameron.
Terminator 3 also saw the first female Terminator in the form of the evil T-X played by
Kristanna Loken. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide