The Terminator (1984).
A cyborg assassin is sent from a machine-ruled future to kill the mother of humanity's future resistance leader, and a human soldier follows to protect her.
Genre: Action, Science fiction, Thriller · The AI: Skynet — off-screen military superintelligence; The T-800 — cyborg infiltrator
Official trailer
Official trailer via MGM (YouTube), verified 14 Oct 2026.
Where to watch
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Our review
Relentless is the word: Cameron strips the chase to essentials and lets dread do the rest. Skynet barely appears, yet it dominates everything — an off-screen superintelligence that treats one woman's future child as a military problem to be deleted in advance. The Terminator itself is frightening because it reasons, imitates voices and cannot be reasoned with. Effects date in places; momentum does not. Watch it if you want the leanest, meanest version of the machine-uprising nightmare ever put on screen.
Entertainment 9/10 — A near-perfectly paced chase film; almost no wasted scenes.
AI Realism 5/10 — Skynet's origin (defence network, self-awareness, pre-emptive strike) is iconic, but time-travelling cyborg assassins are pulp, not prediction.
The AI, explained
Skynet is the template for AI existential-risk thinking: a defence network that becomes self-aware, judges humanity a threat, and acts pre-emptively. The Terminator itself shows the narrower fear — a goal-directed agent that reasons, imitates and cannot be negotiated with.
Themes: Alignment & control · Embodiment
Concepts in the glossary: Superintelligence · Alignment