The Terminator franchise has carved a significant space in the sci-fi/ holocaust genre of films. Created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, the fight between humans and machines have been intricately defined across the saga, with focus developing to a multiverse kind of scenario.
It is spread across various timelines, wherein in each movie the judgement day is set on a different date. The dystopian depiction of the taking over of artificial intelligence has been portrayed in the most action oriented way across the years.
“Hasta La Vista, Baby”
The iconic character of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800 terminator model has become one of the most recognizable figures in pop culture, beginning from the original Terminator film in 1984. T-800’s outright use of various guns and other weapons to take out villain robots have simply kept the viewers engrossed across all the movies. John and Sarah Connor’s resistance force against the synthetic intelligence Skynet have successfully taken on the fictional futuristic depiction of the fight between man and robots, a concept which has been the focus in similar movies such as The Matrix series and I, Robot.
Terminator Watch Order
Apart from a total of six movies that serve as the mainframe, the franchise also includes few television and web series to its name. For fans of the franchise and for the ones who have just been introduced to the film series, there is a chance that the order of viewing could turn out to be a bit confusing, as various timelines come into play. In order to ease the confusion, we have prepared the viewing order according to release dates of the different media portrayals and also according to various continuities.
Terminator Release Date Order
Terminator Films
The Terminator (1984)
In the first movie in the Terminator franchise, robots under the direction of artificial intelligence Skynet take over the world, with their mission being the annihilation of humanity. They develop robot assassins called Terminators for this purpose. John Connor starts a resistance force to defeat Skynet and to save humanity. When a human victory is imminent, the machines send a Terminator back in time to kill John’s mother Sarah Connor so that movement never develops in the first place. John then sends a soldier Kyle Reese to protect Sarah.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
With the failure of the robots in the first film, they try again in 1995, by attempting to kill John Connor as a child. They send a more advanced Terminator, the T-1000. John again sends back a protector, a reprogrammed Terminator, who is a doppelganger of the assassin Terminator from 1984. Sarah Connors then goes forward to prevent Skynet from being developed, by destroying the Cyberdyne systems before they create it; thus using the same tactics that the robots used on her before.
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (2003)
Post the destruction of Cyberdyne in the previous film, the Skynet Takeover is postponed, but has not been averted. In order to secure a victory for the robots, they sent a new Terminator, the T-X, to assassinate the future allies of John Connor, including Connor and his future wife Kate Brewster. Kate sends the reprogrammed Terminator from the future to save herself and Connor from the T-X.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
After the events of the third film, Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust. John Connr struggles to become the leader of the existing humans and his path crosses with Marcus Wright, who is a survivor in the post apocalyptic world.
Terminator Genisys (2015)
The fifth installment in the franchise serves as a reboot to the film, and takes place in an alternate reality. When on the verge of winning the war against Skynet, John sends his trusted advisor Skynet to protect his mother Sarah. But Kyle arrives at an alternate timeline where Skynet has never launched its initial attack in 1997, and Sarah Connors is brought up by a reprogrammed Terminator who was sent from the future to be her guardian since childhood.
Sarah, Kyle and the Guardian now try to uncover a new application system of Cyberdyne Systems, called Genisys, while escaping T-800 Model 101, the T-1000 and Skynet’s T-3000. They receive further assistance from Detective O’Brien, who learns about Skynet and time travelling Terminators and helps the human trio to avert Judgement Day.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
The film is a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The machines send a Terminator, Rev-9 back in time to assassinate Dani Ramos, who would be linked to the Resistance force in the future. The Resistance sends Grace, one of their soldiers to protect her. The duo eventually ends up joining forces with Sarah Connor and T-800 to defeat the Terminator.
Terminator Television Series
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008-09)
Spanning across 2 seasons, the plot revolves around John and Sarah Connor who are living under the radar after destroying Cyberdyne in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. A Terminator named Cameron and Derek Reese, the brother of Kyle Reese, is sent from the future to protect the Connors and prevent Judgement Day.
Terminator Web Series
Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series (2009)
In 2016, years after the happening of Judgement Day, Blair Williams is fighting the war against the machines in Los Angeles. He tracks down computer hacker Laz Howard meanwhile and tries to persuade him to join forces with the resistance.
Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles (2015)
Released in three parts to promote the fifth Terminator film, the plot features several YouTube stars alongside Schwarzenegger’s T-800, as they stand against the T-360 (played by YouTuber Toby Turner).
Future Projects
Netflix announced plans to develop a Terminator anime series in February 2021.
Chronological Terminator Watch Order
Original Terminator Watch Order
- The Terminator
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
- Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series
- Terminator Salvation
Battle Across Time Terminator Watch Order
- The Terminator
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- T2-3D: Battle Across Time
The Sarah Connor Chronicles Terminator Watch Order
- The Terminator
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Reboot Terminator Watch Order
- Terminator Genisys
Dark Fate Terminator Watch Order
- The Terminator
- Terminator 2: Judgement Day
- Terminator: Dark Fate
