Terminator (franchise)/YMMV


 * Awesome Music: KLANG KLANG!!! KLANG!!! KLA-KLANG!!! (done with a frying pan in the first movie)
 * Used to awesome effect in Salvation. That signature theme is entirely absent until
 * Another thing, the 1984 Terminator theme was originally quiet, then suddenly HITS you with the KLANG! towards the end. Also, there were three parts to the theme:
 * Sara Connor: De-de-deeeeeee de de deeeeeeee
 * Skynet: Do-do do-do do-do do do
 * Terminator: KLANG-KLANG KLANG-KLANG KLANG-KLANG clap-clap
 * The Terminator theme was perfectly synched with Skynet's. (DUH!)
 * Guns N' Roses's "You Could Be Mine", which appears in two movies.
 * Dillon Dixon's amazing credit roll theme, "Open To Me"
 * Badass Decay: John Connor in T3. Justified, though, by the fact that he'd spent ten years believing he'd escaped his destiny, and so had not prepared for it.
 * Complete Monster: Skynet, the Big Bad of the franchise.
 * Contested Sequel: Both T3 and Salvation, though the former has had a better reception.
 * Draco in Leather Pants: The T-800 is a classic example of this trope, gathering so many fans at his debut that it becomes a heroic character in the sequel, as well as giving Arnold Schwarzenegger a rise to stardom.
 * Not to mention that he's actually wearing leather pants for most of the series.
 * He may be a merciless mass-murdering monster, but something about his massacre at the police station clicked with the anti-authoritarian youth culture of Reagan Era 1980 America.
 * People who worship Sarah Connor of Terminator 2: Judgment Day as a paragon of feminist virtue tend to be the ones who ignore the fact she is a cruel, violent, emotionally unstable bad-mother who is actually deconstructing militant feminism rather than celebrating it. Point in fact, according to Audio-Commentary of the 3-DVD Definitive Edition Director's Cut, Linda Hamilton (the actress who portrayed her) and James Cameron (Hamilton's then husband and the creator of the Sarah Connor characters) repeatedly stressed on multiple occasions that she is a messed up horror-of-a-human being rather than someone who is meant to be admired. Heck, even Sarah briefly thinks the Terminator is a better parent than her.
 * Even Better Sequel: T2 is commonly held to be one of the best movie sequels of all time, and many fans prefer it to the original.
 * Fanon Discontinuity: Many disgruntled fans think only the first two movies exist (and maybe the TV series).
 * This is also why Linda Hamilton left the series after 2: she felt that the "no fate but what we make" ideology is what should have ended the series.
 * Faux Symbolism: In Terminator Salvation  while receiving his lethal injection in the film's opening.
 * Also, John Connor's initials are J.C., and he was conceived after his mother received news that she would bear a son who would bring salvation to mankind. Yeah, that's subtle.
 * Fridge Logic: It's a time travel series, so this is more or less par for the course. See Headscratchers/Terminator and Fridge/Terminator for more.
 * Hell Is That Noise / Most Wonderful Sound: The ghastly mechanical-sounding GROAAAAAAN noise that plays whenever a Terminator shows up. Terrifying, yet absolutely awesome at the same time.
 * Notably, in T2, music similar in key and mood to the sound plays when Sarah is trying to waste Dyson, emphasizing the similarity in their behavior. She even moves much the way a Terminator would.
 * Hilarious in Hindsight: Before Arnie was cast, James Cameron actually considered Lance Henriksen and O.J. Simpson to portray the killer robot of the title. Henriksen ended up getting a different role in the first movie, but Simpson wasn't cast in the role because Cameron apparently "couldn't imagine such a nice guy playing the part of a ruthless killer" (it can also be a Funny Aneurysm Moment to some). And let's not forget that Henriksen eventially did wind up playing a human-looking robot in a James Cameron film.
 * Internet Backdraft: The fan outcry over the leaked ending of T4 prompted the studio to completely change the movie's third act.
 * Memetic Mutation: HASTA LA VISTA BABY!
 * I'll be back...
 * And the above mentioned Christian Bale rant.
 * Something determined is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel [various relevant emotions]. And it absolutely will not stop, ever - until [it does something relevant]!
 * Depending on the readership of a given blog, every time it runs a story about robotics and/or AI someone will jokingly mention Skynet.
 * Misaimed Fandom: See Draco in Leather Pants entry above.
 * Misaimed Marketing: The series is really violent (3/4 of it is rated R), yet kids aimed merchandise always seems to show up.
 * Nightmare Fuel: The fleshless skeleton of the terminator "rising like Death rendered in metal from the fires" of a burning wreck. James Cameron had a nightmare that inspired the entire franchise. It's even the trope picture for God's sake.
 * The nuclear holocaust scene in T2 holds the dubious honor of being praised by scientists as the most horrifyingly realistic portrayal of a nuclear attack committed on film, to date.
 * Every single robot in T4 is terrifying. And the terminator factory with racks and racks of T-800 parts that may or may not go homicidally active at any second. Sweet dreams.
 * Some thought the T-600s in T4 actually looked scarier than the more advanced 800s.
 * Only the Creator Does It Right: The Cameron-directed movies are much more highly regarded than the other two.
 * Periphery Demographic: The E! True Hollywood Story on the first movie pointed out the love story attracted lots of women. Because obviously women would never be into action sci fi.
 * Ron the Death Eater: Some of Sarah's detractors can take it a little too far (see above).
 * Special Effect Failure
 * T1: Watch the background when the skeleton rises out of the fire. Someone partially stands and grabs the lever, pulling it down to lift the endoskeleton. There's also the scene when the Terminator preforms open-eye surgery with an incredibly fake Arnold head.
 * The endoskeleton itself is considered as such by several people. Largely with the poorly animated, poorly composited stop-motion model.
 * T2: Happens in-story to the T-1000 after it recovers from being frozen and re-melted. Its morphing ability becomes damaged, causing it to involuntarily take on the appearance of things it touches (a striped railing, the patterned metal floor); also, its feet partially melt into what it's standing on, and its chrome form ripples through its "skin" a couple of times. This was only briefly shown in the theatrical edition, but expanded on in the director's cut.
 * Also occurs genuinely in a few other scenes like the bar brawl.
 * T2 3-D: The motorbike prop sometimes doesn't work, so the Terminator actor arrives in the present on foot. This isn't so bad on its own, but the motorbike sounds can be heard anyway, and when he and John go through the time portal again, they're suddenly on a motorbike.
 * Tear Jerker:
 * This deleted scene. When you stop and think about how much of a Crapsack World Kyle lives in...it gets to you.
 * The second movie: As Sarah Connor was about to murder Dyson in cold-blood in front of his family, she realizes that she has become exactly like what she hates the most, and collapses weeping in guilt.
 * The "burning playground" opening, juxtaposed to Brad Fidel's gentle and heartfelt rendition of the "Terminator Theme" strikes just the right emotional nerves, reminding us of how important it is to save this world for the next generation.
 * "I know now why you cry, but it's something I could never do." Grown Men Cried.
 * And the bit at the end, y'know, with his.. the thumb, and... the molten, y'know, is there someone else?
 * Hell, this entire sequence is a Tear Jerker. It's VERY heartrending to see John pleading the T-800 not to go. Even after you consider that it was the closest he ever got to have a father figure. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moments, when watched back-to-back with Sarah's final speech in the movie.
 * The Final First Hug between the T-800 and John is pretty heartbreaking too.
 * Terminator Salvation.
 * Uncanny Valley: In T4, the T-800 at the end has a digital rendering of young Arnold Schwarzenegger's head. Justified, because the real Arnold has aged noticeably since 1984 just like everyone else, and the CG effect is actually pretty appropriate for a robot.
 * The movies tend to deliberately try to invoke this trope, the first movie was an especially masterful use of it to build terror and suspense. As the T-800's organics get more and more damaged, the effect becomes more like being chased by an unstoppable corpse monster.
 * T-600s would be easily given away by their rubber skin.
 * The T-1000 fits this trope for most of his screentime in T2. On the commentary, co-writer Bill Wisher points out that throughout the film, Robert Patrick, who plays the T-1000, moves like a human being but just a tad smoother (because he's a liquid creature). In the scene where he talks to John's foster parents and again when he arrives at the mental hospital to ask the night nurse to see Sarah Connor, he behaves like a normal person(even smiling in a natural way in the former scene), but still puts out a subtly menacing vibe. Being a more advanced terminator and remaining more true to James Cameron's original idea of the terminator as an under-the-radar infiltrator (he disguises himself as a cop for crying out loud), it's expected that he could more accurately mimic a human posture, mannerisms and demeanor, but still do so in such a way that there was still something "off" and spooky about him.
 * James Cameron mentioned in the "making of" video that part of why he cast Robert Patrick was because "he moves like a cat", and the T-1000 regards its environment in an almost feline way.
 * Visual Effects of Awesome: The T-1000 completely blew the audience mind when Terminator 2 came out, and still looks amazing today. It, and Jurassic Park, are credited for the CGI revolution.
 * 1984 Arnold showing up in Salvation was considered by everyone to be outstanding.
 * T2-3D was often advertised as being the first attraction to bring together 3D footage, special effects, and live-action stunts.
 * What an Idiot!: Resistance HQ broadcasting the shutdown signal from its own location, rather than a buoy or an airplane.