What’s the worst Terminator movie of all time? Fans have debated this question for years. James Cameron’s 1984 thriller The Terminator, and its blockbuster follow-up, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, are considered two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made, and neither should be considered here. But that still leaves four Terminator sequels to sort.
Here are all the Terminator films released so far:
So, this really comes down to four movies: Terminator 3; Salvation; Genisys; and Dark Fate, all of which were poorly received. Terminator fans have been ordering this list of films from best to worse for years, but now Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Terminator himself, has had his say — although I think his answer is packed full of bias.
The 77-year-old actor and former Governor of California declared a winner (loser?) on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen while promoting Fubar Season 2.
“I would say the worst was probably the No. 4, because that was done during the time I was governor and I was not in it,” Schwarzenegger said.
That’s Terminator Salvation, which stars Christian Bale and Sam Worthington but not, as Arnie points out, Arnie himself. Well, Arnie didn’t act in the movie — a CGI version of Arnie as the Terminator turns up briefly to throw Bale around a room. It’s the best bit of the film.
“How do you do a Terminator movie without me being in the Terminator movie?” Schwarzenegger wondered. “It doesn’t make any sense. It’s impossible!”
Not only was Terminator Salvation poorly received, but it made less money at the box office than expected. It wasn’t until 2015 — six years later — that another Terminator movie came out (the similarly poorly received Genisys), this time with Schwarzenegger in it. But that made little difference to the film’s reception, which was savage. Salvation is currently the only Terminator film to date not to feature Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In the interview, Schwarzenegger joked that in response to Salvation, he threatened to pass a law while governor forbidding movies that “suck.”
“I called immediately,” he laughed. “I said, ‘I’m gonna pass a law that says it’s forbidden to do movies that suck!’”
In truth, Schwarzenegger’s pick here comes as no surprise, and it’s not even the first time he’s criticized Salvation. Whatever your pick, it seems there’s little life left in Terminator, despite similar 80s and 90s sci-fi franchises such as Alien and Predator enjoying a resurgence. The last movie Cameron directed in the franchise was Terminator 2: Judgment Day. He had no involvement with the three sequels that followed but returned as a producer on Terminator: Dark Fate — a movie he said he was “reasonably happy” with, though he admits it might have worked better without the original stars.
In 2022, Cameron said another Terminator reboot was “in discussion,” but nothing was set in stone, and we’ve heard nothing since. He said at the time: “If I were to do another Terminator film and maybe try to launch that franchise again, which is in discussion, but nothing has been decided, I would make it much more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy.”
Photo by Tolga Akmen/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
