History Trivia / Terminator

* ChannelHop: '''Each movie''' has gone through this (see TheProductionCurse as to why).
** ''The Terminator'': Hemdale (theatrical distribution by Creator/OrionPictures, television distribution by Carolco)
** ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'': Carolco (theatrical distribution by Creator/TriStarPictures, television distribution by Worldvision)
** ''Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'': C2, a Carolco SpiritualSuccessor. (Creator/WarnerBros distribution in the US, Creator/ColumbiaPictures worldwide)
** ''Terminator Salvation'': Halcyon (same distribution as the previous film)
** ''Terminator Genisys'': Skydance Productions (Creator/{{Paramount}} distribution)
** ''Terminator: Dark Fate'': Same production as the previous film, but with the help of James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment (Paramount distribution in the US, Creator/{{Disney}} via Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios worldwide)
** This also led to the first two being released in home video by a plethora of companies. The first film's distribution ended up being the wildest, going from Creator/{{HBO}} to Hemdale to Live (under license from Epic) to MGM.
** James Cameron was contractually obligated to give ''T2'' to Orion to option, but the filmmaker's asking price was so high that the studio had no choice but to pass. It is a fact that Cameron, Schwarzenegger, and producer Gale Anne Hurd despised Orion's treatment on the first film so much (although it was a hit) that the high asking price has been perceived to have been deliberate so they wouldn't have to work with the studio again. If the situation was different, Orion might have released both films.
** Creator/WarnerBros released the collection of all the movies.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://terminator.wikia.com/wiki/Terminator_Wiki The Terminator Wiki]]

!!This franchise [[TropeNamer named the following tropes]]:

* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive
* ICannotSelfTerminate
* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves
* NowIKnowWhatToNameHim
* TerminatorImpersonator
* TerminatorTwosome

* UnderminedByReality: The series' constant ScrewDestiny message is in turn constantly undercut by the fact that ''Terminator'' is a big-name series to which producers are compelled to [[FranchiseZombie churn out sequels]] for as long that they think that they will make money, which almost inevitably requires them to be [[StrictlyFormula by-the-numbers rehashes]] of the first two films. The result is viewers being constantly told that "there is no fate but that which we make for ourselves" by a movie where the characters have to stop an apocalyptic event that they'd ''already'' stopped half a dozen times by now, only for a new cause to arbitrarily come into existence while the last time they stopped it is unceremoniously shunted out of canon [[DistinctionWithoutADifference because "Judgment Day is inevitable"]].

!!This franchise [[ImageSource provides the page image]] for:

* In General
** GlowingMechanicalEyes
* ''Film/TheTerminator''
** BeautifulDreamer
** LaserSight
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''
** FingerWag
** FiringOneHanded
** GatlingGood
** GoodThingYouCanHeal
** NightmareFuel
** OrderliesAreCreeps
** RoboCam
** ScrewDestiny
** SunglassesAtNight
* ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines''
** ImplacableMan
* ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''
** TheNthDoctor
** VoluntaryShapeshifting

!!This franchise [[QuoteSource provides the quote source]] for:
* ''Film/TheTerminator''
** ImplacableMan
** NeverendingTerror
** PlasmaCannon
** TheyLookLikeUsNow
* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay''
** ParentalSubstitute
** [[TearJerker/{{Film}} Tear Jerker.Film]]

** If parts of T4 gave you nightmares then just skip [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZJslSbsLOU this link]]. At least there's no... teeth.
** News 4 in Tucson, Arizona has a weather, traffic, and safety observation network called Skynet: [[http://www.kvoa.com/news/introducing-news-4-tucson-skynet/]] They have billboards for it all over the city and it's a bit unsettling. (Especially when in ''The Sarah Connor Chronicles'' the Los Angles traffic system was originally destined to be the "nervous system" of Skynet.)

* UnderminedByReality: The series' constant ScrewDestiny message is in turn constantly undercut by the fact that ''Terminator'' is a big-name series to which producers are compelled to [[FranchiseZombie churn out sequels]] for as long that they think that they will make money, which almost inevitably requires them to be [[StrictlyFormula by-the-numbers rehashes]] of the first two films. The result is viewers being constantly told that "there is no fate but that which we make for ourselves" by a movie where the characters have to stop an apocalyptic event that they'd ''already'' stopped half a dozen times by now, only for a new cause to arbitrarily come into existence and/or the last time they stopped it to unceremoniously be shunted out of canon [[DistinctionWithoutADifference because "Judgment Day is inevitable"]].

* GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld: The rights at first were equally shared between James Cameron and the first film's co-writer/producer Gale Anne Hurd. By the second movie, Cameron's part was with Carolco, which went belly-up. The two producers who formed Carolco (and went on to form C2) purchased the Cameron share in the company's liquidation auction in 1998 and Hurd's share one year later. To prevent the eventual subversion of the trope, as once the first movie turned 35 the rights would revert to Cameron, the ''Genisys'' producers who currently own the franchise went to get his help for the sixth movie (although he only produces and helped create the story, as the ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' sequels kept him very busy). However, [[https://screenrant.com/studios-losing-rights-risk-die-hard-predator-beetlejuice/ Gale Anne Hurd’s filing of a copyright termination means the rights could potentially return to her and Cameron.]]

** ''T4'' also has a new Kate Brewster and Kyle Reese; understandable and necessary in the latter case, since he's several years younger than in the original film.

* CharacterSpecificPages:
** [[Characters/TerminatorT800Model101 T-800 Model 101]]

* [[Characters/TerminatorT800Model101 T-800 Model 101]]

* FranchiseZombie: Although he would give some praise to the sequels here and there (mostly because he's friends with some people involved including actors), Creator/JamesCameron wanted the franchise to end with ''Judgment Day''. None of the myriad of producers who came to own the franchise thought much of this and sequels were produced. Three of them, ''Salvation'', ''Genisys'' and ''Dark Fate'' ended up {{stillborn franchise}}s with mostly diminishing returns in both critical reception and box office. The producers of ''Genisys'' had another go at it with ''Dark Fate'', but again, Cameron's real involvement in it doesn't amount to much.

* SequelGap: 7, 12, 6, 6 and another 4 years between installments.

* FranchiseZombie: Although he would give some praise to the sequels here and there (mostly because he's friends with some people involved including actors), Creator/JamesCameron wanted the franchise to end with ''Judgment Day''. None of the myriad of producers who came to own the franchise thought much of this and sequels were produced. At least two of them, ''Salvation'' and ''Genisys'', ended up {{stillborn franchise}}s with diminishing returns in both critical reception and box office. The producers of ''Genisys'' had another go at it with ''Dark Fate'', but again, Cameron's real involvement in it doesn't amount to much.

* OlderThanTheyThink: The line "Hasta la vista, baby" was used by Bob Hope in 1970, Jody Watley's "Looking for Love" in 1987, and Tone Lōc's 1988 single "Wild Thing," the latter's music video inspiring Cameron to include the line in the ''[[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay Terminator 2]]'' script.

** ''Terminator Salvation'': Halcyon (same distribution as the 3rd film)

** ''Terminator: Dark Fate'': Same production as the 5th film, but with the help of James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment (Paramount distribution in the US, Creator/{{Disney}} via Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios worldwide)

** First movie00: Hemdale (theatrical distribution by Orion, television distribution by Carolco)
** Second movie: Carolco (theatrical distribution by [[Creator/{{Sony}} TriStar]], television distribution by Worldvision)
** Third movie: C2, a Carolco SpiritualSuccessor. (Warner Bros. distribution in the US, Columbia worldwide)
** Fourth movie: Halcyon (same distribution as the 3rd film)
** Fifth movie: Skydance Productions (Paramount distribution)
** Sixth movie: Same production as the 5th film, but with the help of James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment (Paramount distribution in the US, Fox/Disney worldwide)
** This also led to the first two being released in home video by a plethora of companies. The first film's distribution ended up being the wildest, going from HBO to Hemdale to Live (under license from Epic) to MGM.
** James Cameron was contractually obligated to give ''T2'' to Orion to option, but the filmmaker's asking price was so high that the studio had no choice but to pass. It is a fact that Cameron, Schwarzenegger, and producer Gale Anne Hurd despised Orion's treatment on the first film (although it was a hit), that the high asking price has been perceived to have been deliberate so they wouldn't have to work with the studio again. If the situation was different, Orion might have released both films.

* ChannelHop: Each movie has gone through this (see TheProductionCurse as to why).
** First movie: Hemdale (theatrical distribution by Orion, television distribution by Carolco)

** Fifth movie: Annapurna Pictures/Skydance Productions (Paramount distribution)

* TheProductionCurse: More legally cursed than anything. See the ChannelHop trope above? That occurred because the production companies (and a couple of the distributors) kept folding [[SequelGap before the next sequel could be made]].

* GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld: The rights at first were equally shared between James Cameron and the first film's co-writer/producer Gale Anne Hurd. By the second movie, Cameron's part was with Carolco, which went belly-up. The two producers who formed Carolco (and went on to form C2) purchased the Cameron share in the company's liquidation auction in 1998 and Hurd's share one year later. To prevent the eventual subversion of the trope, as once the first movie turned 35 the rights would revert to Cameron, the ''Genisys'' producers who currently own the franchise went to get his help for the sixth movie (although he only produces and helped create the story, as the ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' sequels kept him very busy).

* GodDoesNotOwnThisWorld: The rights at first were equally shared between James Cameron and the first film's co-writer\producer Gale Anne Hurd. By the second movie, Cameron's part was with Carolco, which went belly-up. The two producers who formed Carolco (and went on to form C2) purchased the Cameron share in the company's liquidation auction in 1998 and Hurd's share one year later. To prevent the eventual subversion of the trope, as once the first movie turned 35 the rights would revert to Cameron, the ''Genisys'' producers who currently own the franchise went to get his help for the sixth movie (although he only produces and helped create the story, as the ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' sequels kept him busy).

* SequelGap: 7, 12, 6, and another 6 years between installments. If one wants to count [[Ride/Terminator23DBattleAcrossTime T2 3-D]] as a formal entry, it becomes an eerily regular 7, 5, 7, 6, 6.