About This Quiz
Fans of the "Terminator" series might remember the cyborg's famous line "I'll be back," but you don't want to use that line on this quiz. There's plenty of fun to be had in reflecting back on the greatest moments from the various films in the franchise that have been produced since the first film came out in 1984. So don't wait; get started now.
Created by James Cameron and Gale Ann Hurd, "Terminator" has become one of the most iconic film franchises in cinema. In total, five films were produced in the series, and another film is on the way at the end of 2019. Aside from these films, numerous comic books, novels and even a television show have been placed in this cyberpunk-style world.
How big of a "Terminator" fan have you been since the first movie hit movie screens in 1984? Do you know the various cyborg units, both good and bad? Are you familiar with the storylines and the key events that shaped the series? Can you even recall what led to the basic premise of the plot? When you're ready to terminate this quiz, get started and hope you don't have to go back in time to get a better score.
"The Terminator: 2029" was a video game released in 1992 by Bethesda Softworks for the PC. The first-person grid-based game takes place in the future as the player shoots their way through cyborgs throughout eight different missions.
Sarah Connor received her own television series titled "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," released in 2008. The show was well-liked by fans, but it only ran for two seasons, ending in 2009.
In 2000, a four-part comic-book story came out that pitted Superman against an army of Terminators. In the comic book, titled "Superman vs. The Terminator: Death of the Future," Skynet teams up with the Superman villain Cyborg to take down the Man of Steel.
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Though the military started it, John Connor becomes one of the lead members of the Resistance. John is suited for this position after training for years in the jungles of South and Central America with his mother, where he learned to use hit-and-run-style tactics against more powerful foes.
When the first movie came out, the original date for Judgement Day was August 29, 1997. However, because of the alternate timelines due to time travel, the date changes throughout the various movies.
The way that time travel works in the "Terminator" universe is that only organic material can travel through time. A human or cyborg who time travels will arrive without any clothing or weapons.
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Located on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, the nightclub where Sarah goes to hide before she is confronted by the Terminator is called "Tech Noir." The name combines two styles of film used to make the movie: film noir and sci-fi.
The iconic sunglasses Arnold Schwarzenegger wore in "The Terminator" are Gargoyles ANSI Classics. Clint Eastwood, as Harry Callahan, previously wore these sunglasses in the film "Sudden Impact."
When Sarah Connor crushes the Terminator in the hydraulic press, the only part of the machine that's left is its arm, which had reached out of the press to strangle her. This arm would later be a critical component in the creation of Skynet.
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Sarah spent the years between the first and second movie training her son to embrace his role as humanity's protector in the future. However, she also tries to stop the rise of the machines by destroying a computer company, leading to her imprisonment at the state hospital.
The cyborg that disguises itself as a police officer isn't the only cyborg sent back into the past. The other machine is modeled after the Terminator from the first movie, but this time, he's been sent back to protect John Connor.
The role of Miles Dyson was offered to Denzel Washington before the casting of Joe Morton. Washington decided to turn down the role because he thought the character was portrayed as a coward.
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"No Fate" became an important quote for the "Terminator" franchise, representing the human ability to make their own decisions. John Connor later brings it back up at the end of "Terminator Salvation" when he says, "There is no fate but what we make."
After breaking into the Cyberdyne building and placing the bombs throughout the lab, Miles Dyson is shot by SWAT team members. Knowing he will die, Dyson decides to stay behind to complete the mission while the others escape.
The Terminator is programmed in a way that does not allow it to destroy itself. Despite opposition from John Connor, it asks Sarah Connor to lower it into a container of molten steel, ending a potential threat down the line should its programming be altered.
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One would think that a warrior like Sarah Connor would go out on the battlefield, but the "Terminator" series decides to pull back on the action when it came to her death. Instead of a blaze of glory, Sarah dies more subtly from leukemia.
While casting "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," casting went through thousands of actresses before finally deciding on Kristanna Loken to play T-X. The audition process was strange, as Loken had to walk around a hallway as if she were a robot while stopping and shooting occasionally.
A member of the United States Air Force, General Robert Brewster oversaw the Cyber Research Systems, which was responsible for Skynet. Though he oversaw the program, Brewster was never in favor of allowing the machine to control itself; instead, he hoped to keep a human operating it.
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Believing that a foreign entity was trying to hack their systems, General Brewster was convinced to turn on Skynet so that it could protect itself. However, the virus was a trick launched by Skynet, resulting in it becoming self-aware.
General Brewster informs John Connor and Kate Brewster that they could destroy Skynet if they head to Crystal Peak. However, once they get there, the area is revealed to be a fallout shelter, where they survive the coming nuclear attack.
Set in 2018, "Terminator Salvation" is the first film in the "Terminator" franchise set after Judgement Day. However, the timeline has yet to reach the point where cyborgs are sent back into the past to change the future.
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After donating his body to Dr. Serena Kogan for medical purposes, Marcus Wright is transformed into a human-machine hybrid who maintains his heart and brain. When he's revived in the future, Marcus has no knowledge of this until a mine explodes, exposing his metal endoskeleton.
The name of the submarine where the Resistance Headquarters is located is called the USS Wilmington. Built by the U.S. Navy, this submarine was of the Los Angeles class, managing to survive Judgement Day and carryout a fight against Skynet.
Skynet discovers that Kyle Reese is the father of John Connor, the result of Kyle being sent into the past to protect Sarah Connor. To keep this from happening, Skynet puts him number one on its hit list.
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The stem cells that Skynet acquires in the events of "Terminator Salvation" lead to the creation of the T-800 cyborg, the first cybernetic organism. This new organism cannot only infiltrate the Resistance but is also capable of going back into the past.
After reviving Marcus Wright, John Connor is impaled with a steel bar by a T-RIP cyborg. Marcus is able to destroy the cyborg, but John is in serious condition. Knowing that he had his own second chance at life, Marcus decides to give John a second chance as well.
The Time Displacement Equipment is not only capable of sending living tissue backward in time but also forward in time. Catherine Weaver uses the machine for this purpose in "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."
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Operation Chrono was the battle that led to Skynet realizing that it needed to destroy John Connor in the past before he could lead the Resistance. Ultimately, the operation leads to the events of 1984.
Before Pops was sent back to 1973 to protect Sarah Connor, its memory was wiped so that no one would know who sent it. When Pops arrives, it finds Sarah, but her parents are killed by the T-1000. Pops then takes it upon himself to raise Sarah.
Due to alterations in the past, Skynet does not come online in 1997 as it had originally occurred. Instead, it was moved to 2017, which Kyle Reese realizes when he's in the process of going back to 1984 to find Sarah Connor.
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As John sends Kyle Reese back in time, he is attacked by a disguised cyborg named Alex. During the attack, John is transformed into the T-3000 and travels back to 2014, where he helps create the Genisys Program that later becomes Skynet.
In "Terminator 5: Genisys," there was an extended film script that included events surrounding the Colorado Unit's attack on Skynet. The extended scene states that the war is over and Skynet has been defeated.
It's revealed that Detective O'Brien was one of the cops at the department store in "The Terminator." During this event, O'Brien finds out that a robot has been sent back from the future, which shapes his view around Sarah and Kyle when they tell him their story.
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The T-3000 uses a magnetic field to hold itself together, which is why other magnetic fields interrupt this process and damage its body. When the T-3000 loses its organic skin, it is destroyed by the Time Displacement Machine, which rips apart inorganic matter.
The Rev-9 is an advanced Terminator unit with the ability to separate its endoskeleton from its organic skin. Each of these separate units is able to fully function on its own, making it quite the danger to its target.