Tech Noir is the consensus centerpiece, with the precinct assault, tanker finale, future exposition, and Mexico coda among a deep set of alternatives.
In the discussion (8)
- Early candidates include every Ginger scene, Bill Paxton’s arrival, and Rick Rossovich returning from a plate-glass-window throw to keep fighting in his underwear.
- Tech Noir combines indiscriminate danger, slow-motion club imagery, Sarah recognizing both pursuers, Kyle’s rescue, and the reveal that shotgun blasts cannot stop Arnold.
- Kyle’s tunnel explanation of Skynet, extermination, and Sarah’s unborn son is praised as exposition that should fail but succeeds through writing and performance.
- The Terminator repairing his arm and eye is remembered as astonishing 1984 practical work whose crudeness now adds charm; sunglasses make the puppet face convincing.
- The police-station assault turns flimsy PCP explanations into a brutal crash-and-shootout showcase whose sound improved with later formats.
- The oil-tanker chase, delayed explosion, and endoskeleton emerging from fire create a false ending and reset the rules again.
- The Mexico coda completes Sarah’s transformation and pays off the photograph Kyle had carried without explaining away the causal loop.
- Two hosts explicitly choose Tech Noir, and the third centers his favorite quality on that scene’s revelation of how hard the machine is to kill.
The title, Arnold’s casting and dialogue, the gun-shop scene, supporting actors, synth score, romance, practical effects, and the unkillable-villain structure have aged best.
In the discussion (8)
- The two-word title is praised as perfect, direct, sequel-friendly 1980s naming.
- Arnold as a robot is called A-plus casting, and the gun-shop inventory scene turns his delivery, scale, and Dick Miller’s salesmanship into repeat-viewing pleasure.
- Bill Paxton’s brief punk appearance, including his distinction as a Terminator/Alien/Predator victim, is a treasured cameo.
- Arnold’s pronunciation of Sarah Connor, Lance Henriksen and Paul Winfield’s overqualified cops, and Cameron’s dark Los Angeles atmosphere remain distinctive.
- “Fuck you, asshole,” the address demand, and especially Cameron refusing Arnold’s requested “I will be back” rewrite preserve his signature vocal comedy.
- Brad Fiedel’s synth pulse is picked as an enduring musical trigger despite its inexpensive-sounding era-specific tools.
- Kyle’s claim that he crossed time for Sarah gives the romance enormous stakes, while the explicit hotel scene remains narratively essential because it conceives John Connor.
- Stan Winston’s practical effects and Arnold’s effortless disposal of a visibly strong Rick Rossovich sustain the machine’s threat.
Future-war effects, dated chronology and hair, exposed nudity, a personal scooter association, the Harlan Ellison dispute, Ginger’s food and pet choices, and John Connor’s weak message draw criticism.
In the discussion (7)
- The red future lasers and stop-motion endoskeleton look dated, although the handmade work remains charming and the machine-dominated future feels newly plausible.
- The once-distant 2029 setting is now close, intensifying jokes about missing lasers and walking robots.
- Sarah’s heavily sprayed hair is criticized while her later Mexico headband reveals a more timeless look; Arnold’s opening nudity is also called dispensable.
- Sarah’s Honda scooter ages badly for one host because he later crashed the same model.
- Harlan Ellison’s claim that the story borrowed from his Outer Limits work led to a settlement and acknowledgement that Cameron bitterly rejected.
- Ginger’s enormous post-sex sandwich, celery with peanut butter, milk, and dark-kitchen routine feel like a vanished 1980s horror convention.
- The iguana exemplifies dated offbeat screen pets, while future John’s formal message omits affection and useful practical information for his mother.
The unnamed-to-the-panel psychiatrist who later returns in Terminator 2 wins by being recognizable specifically as the franchise’s doctor.
In the discussion (2)
- Rick Rossovich is rejected as too firmly known by name and better suited to Heat Check; Paul Winfield and Lance Henriksen are also too established.
- Dick Miller is considered, but the returning psychiatrist wins even though the speakers do not supply his actor’s name.
Michael Biehn wins for playing Kyle Reese at maximum intensity in nearly every scene.
In the discussion (1)
- His urgent “Come with me if you want to live” delivery exemplifies the fifth-gear performance.
Rick Rossovich beats Bill Paxton for the heat check through a phone call, sex scene, fearless underwear fight, and unrealized post-Top Gun momentum.
In the discussion (2)
- Paxton makes a strong 30-second case, but Rossovich has more material and returns to fight an enormous intruder without hesitation.
- Losin’ It, Streets of Fire, The Terminator, Top Gun, and Roxanne looked like the start of a larger career that did not arrive.
Mid-1980s Los Angeles is the strongest playful apex, while Cameron, the time-travel device, hotel-room sex, Ray-Bans, and Tech Noir receive qualified cases.
In the discussion (5)
- Arnold, Cameron, Linda Hamilton, and Biehn are rejected because later work provides clearer career peaks.
- The combination of Terminator, Beverly Hills Cop, Fletch, and the Lakers makes mid-1980s Los Angeles a defensible local summit.
- Titanic is chosen as Cameron’s strict apex, though the cheap 1980s hotel sex scene gets a joking category peak.
- The simple one-way naked time-travel rule is praised against later films’ increasingly elaborate mechanics, but the discussion stops short of a firm all-movie victory.
- Top Gun beats this film for sunglasses, while Tech Noir may be the apex of Pico-area 1980s nightclubs.
A ten-episode version could cross-cut Kyle and John’s machine-war future against Sarah’s pursuit until the two timelines collide.
In the discussion (2)
- The longer form could add pursuit and future backstory, though franchise fatigue and the elegant sufficiency of the original weigh against it.
- Cobra Kai and Terminator: Dark Fate make the hosts more receptive to returning characters and unexpected extensions than the initial question suggests.
Choices split among the crawling half-Terminator, Rick Rossovich’s briefs or Ginger’s sandwich, and Arnold’s red motorcycle.
In the discussion (3)
- One choice is the practical upper half of the destroyed Terminator displayed on a living-room couch.
- Another jokingly chooses Rossovich’s briefs and then Ginger’s sandwich.
- The last chooses Arnold’s recognizable red motorcycle, imagined as a perfect conversation piece.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wins unanimously over a strong James Cameron co-winner case.
In the discussion (2)
- Arnold turns industry skepticism and two Conan movies into an iconic action-star identity that plausibly would not exist in the same form without this role.
- Cameron created the concept from a nightmare and launched his career, but the hosts believe his talent would have broken through elsewhere.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Speaker not identified
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Speaker not identified
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
Most Rewatchable Scene
