The Terminator

Movie • 1984 • Action  

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In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the "Terminator" back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?
This movie contains 55 potentially triggering events.
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Both
Yes
No

Your Triggers
Does the dog die?
376 supporters
Yes
60
No
0
11
ActuallyAshlee
Two guard dogs are killed at roughly 1hr and 12min in. It occurs offscreen.
3 comments | Add comment
Abandonment
Yes
4
No
1
Is a child abandoned by a parent?
28 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
2
No
5
1
Ollie2
Pugsley (or Pugsly), Sarah Connor’s green Iguana pet, is left behind when Sarah goes on the run. The movie never brings him up or shows him again, after The Terminator invades her apartment and kills her roommate.
1 comment | Add comment
Abuse
Are there abusive parents?
46 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
0
No
7
Is someone stalked?
22 supporters
Yes
32
No
1
8
CameronRichter
The Terminator stalks the protagonists for the duration of the movie.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there domestic violence?
71 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Is a woman brutalized for spectacle?
77 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
0
No
9
Yes
1
No
22
2
Anonymous
cops think Kyle is crazy
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone abused with a belt?
22 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Is a child abused?
94 supporters
Yes
0
No
22
4
CharlieCharlie
Children are shown in an underground bunker dirty and frightened. They are shown in danger but are not killed on screen.
1 comment | Add comment
Addiction
5
Anonymous
cop makes a joke about the terminator being on pcp
1 comment | Add comment
Is there addiction?
16 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Does someone abuse alcohol?
16 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Animal
Were animals harmed in the making?
124 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
11
Does a horse die?
86 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
34
Does an animal die?
(besides a dog, cat or horse)
155 supporters
Yes
20
No
16
4
novams3
1:11:53 you’ll see a dead rat a kid holds up for food. 1:12:40 the guard dogs get shot off screen but you’ll only hear a whimper, no blood or violence.
2 comments | Add comment
Are animals abused?
178 supporters
Yes
2
No
22
1
Anonymous
no but in the scene where the cops interview Kyle, one of them behind the mirror makes a really disturbing joke about a suspect who burned a dog
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
29
Yes
26
No
0
5
Anonymous
in the war flashback scene under the bridge, a kid holds up a dead rat that they just hunted for food
2 comments | Add comment
Is an animal sad?
74 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Are rabbits harmed?
59 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Does a cat die?
152 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
33
Does a pet die?
143 supporters
Yes
8
No
2
5
novams3
1:12:40 guard dogs get shot off screen but you’ll only hear a whimper, no blood or violence.
2 comments | Add comment
Does a dragon die?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
29
Are there spiders?
42 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
25
Are there alligators/crocodiles??
5 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Are there snakes?
15 supporters
Yes
1
No
27
1
But there is a lizard
1 comment | Add comment
Are there sharks?
6 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Are there bugs?
28 supporters
Yes
8
No
18
5
ActuallyAshlee
Flies are shown on screen briefly
1 comment | Add comment
Assault
Does a woman get slapped?
17 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Is someone drugged?
26 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Is there pedophilia?
111 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
15
Is someone held under water?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Is rape mentioned?
78 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
Is someone beaten up by a bully?
20 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
7
Yes
13
No
0
0
KnightWhoSaysNi
Yes, a character is restrained while being held at the police station. I found it extremely triggering.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
27
6
Anonymous
when sarah passes her roommates boyfriend on her way out the door he gives her a cheek kiss in a weird playful way but it's like a joke between friends
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone's mouth covered?
10 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Yes
0
No
11
Bodily Harm
Yes
33
No
0
6
CharlieCharlie
The Terminator uses a razor during a self-surgery scene.
2 comments | Add comment
Are any hands damaged?
16 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
Are there dislocations?
8 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
4
Is there throat mutilation?
36 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
4
Does someone struggle to breathe?
27 supporters
Add comment
Yes
2
No
13
Is there decapitation?
32 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Is there cannibalism?
31 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
21
Yes
17
No
0
2
trnstrm
The terminator is crushed near the end of the movie in a hydraulic press.
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone choked?
15 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
35
No
0
3
Anonymous
when Kyle blows up the 18 wheeler with a pipe bomb towards the end, the terminator gets "burned alive" but it doesn't hurt or kill it
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone buried alive?
26 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
21
Is there body horror?
48 supporters
Add comment
Yes
13
No
0
Is there amputation?
25 supporters
Yes
1
No
14
2
Not specifically, an eye is taken out of its socket though
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
30
No
3
3
Natcaptor
Spoiler:

The terminator gets crushed. There’s a close up on his head as it happens.
3 comments | Add comment
Is there Achilles Tendon injury?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Is there a hanging?
33 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Does someone asphyxiate?
25 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Is there genital trauma/mutilation?
76 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
15
1
Yes but it is very brief and towards the end
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
20
No
8
1
Anonymous
when the terminator comes to the technoir bar he breaks a guys hand who tries to get him to pay but you only hear a cracking sound it's not graphic
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone have a seizure?
6 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
26
Are any teeth damaged?
51 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Yes
25
No
0
2
Anonymous
when the terminator comes to the technoir bar he breaks a guys hand who tries to get him to pay but you only hear a cracking sound it's not graphic
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone tortured?
74 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
26
Yes
5
No
4
2
pedanther
Yes, during the final fight at the factory.
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone fall to their death?
10 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Yes
46
No
0
4
Seccers
Terminator removes his own eye to reveal a robotic eye underneath.
3 comments | Add comment
Is someone stabbed?
16 supporters
Yes
6
No
0
3
pedanther
The Terminator impales the person he steals clothes from. Later in the movie, Sarah gets stabbed in the leg by a bit of shrapnel from an explosion.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
5
SpaceCactus
As mentioned by another user, there are a lot of deaths in this movie, and there is often blood and/or gore when that happens, sometimes quite a bit. Whether or not that amount would be considered excessive is up to debate imo. It's not slasher-movie level goriness, but characters are shot, and within the first few minutes a guy gets his heart ripped out (though the lighting is a bit dark.) There are also two different parts about halfway through the movie where the Terminator does surgery on his right arm, and then on his left eye. Both moments show close ups, which can be pretty gross.
1 comment | Add comment
Children
Is an infant abducted?
20 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
Does a kid die?
47 supporters
Add comment
Yes
3
No
23
Is a minor sexualized?
98 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
Creepy Crawly
Are there bedbugs?
14 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Death
0
Alucarda
Kyle is killed by the explosion of a pipe bomb that he uses on the Terminator.
1 comment | Add comment
Does a major character die?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
11
No
0
Does a non-human character die?
22 supporters
Add comment
Yes
9
No
0
Does someone die?
12 supporters
Add comment
Yes
12
No
0
Disability
Yes
0
No
6
Is the r-slur used?
28 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
11
Drugs/Alcohol
Does someone overdose?
14 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
Family
Does a family member die?
21 supporters
Add comment
Yes
7
No
0
Does a parent die?
22 supporters
Yes
35
No
1
3
Anonymous
terminator shoots the wrong "sarah connor" in the first ten minutes who we find out had children

a lot of other parents killed
4 comments | Add comment
Yes
20
No
3
6
CharlieCharlie
The Terminator runs over a toy truck with a car. The toy is laying abandoned in the street.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
2
No
15
3
Tideoftrash
Kyle drags Sarah into a car and stops her from running away when she’s scared of him. She ends up choosing to stay with him but it could be triggering
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone cheat?
18 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
20
Fear
Are there ghosts?
8 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
26
Yes
32
No
0
2
Alucarda
When Kyle first arrives in the past, he is chased by a police officer. The officer loses him for only a few seconds before Kyle jumps out and gets into a struggle with the officer. An electronic stinging sound is made when this jumpscare happens. Another jumpscare happens in the final climax of the movie. Sarah believes the terminator is finally destroyed but comes back and reaches out to grab her. Loud electronic music is played, making it quite effective. If you look closely before it happens, you can notice the terminator slightly twitch.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there a shower scene?
10 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
25
Are there natural bodies of water?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Are there clowns?
0 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
26
Is someone possessed?
10 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
28
Is trypophobic content shown?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Are there razors?
S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® (1-800-DONTCUT)
13 supporters
Yes
9
No
1
1
Anonymous
cutting into forearm skin and face skin with a surgical scalpel in a bathroom
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
7
No
0
3
trnstrm
Yes, but they're only seen when Kyle is running through a department store.
1 comment | Add comment
Gross
Does someone vomit?
91 supporters
Yes
1
No
26
3
Only a mention
3 comments | Add comment
Does someone wet/soil themselves?
21 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
13
Is there farting?
10 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Is someone eaten?
30 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Is there on-screen pooping?
38 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Does someone spit?
10 supporters
Yes
22
No
1
1
CharlieCharlie
A cop spits out his gum.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there audio gore?
39 supporters
Yes
17
No
3
1
CharlieCharlie
You can hear the Terminator cut himself open.
1 comment | Add comment
Large-scale Violence
Are there 9/11 depictions?
8 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Law Enforcement
Is there copaganda?
26 supporters
Yes
0
No
11
3
NearEastMugwump
Eh, not really. The cops are portrayed as well-meaning but ultimately ineffective.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
6
No
0
2
Tideoftrash
Kyle is arrested and held in an interrogation room in handcuffs
1 comment | Add comment
LGBTQ+
Are there transphobic slurs?
45 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Yes
0
No
7
Is there deadnaming or birthnaming?
31 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Is there bisexual cheating?
20 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Is an LGBT+ person outed?
21 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Loss
Is a priceless artifact destroyed?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Medical
Is electro-therapy used?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Are needles/syringes used?
30 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
20
2
pedanther
There is not a scene in a mental institution, but there is a sequence where one of the main characters is interviewed by a psychologist and incorrectly diagnosed as delusional.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there a hospital scene?
11 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Is there menstruation?
6 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Does someone have cancer?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Mental Health
2
Tideoftrash
No but Kyle is (incorrectly) diagnosed as “a loon“ by a psych and his story about being from the future dismissed as crazy
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
27
No
3
4
Anonymous
self-surgery but not self-harm. after the first chase scene, when terminator disappears from the car. next scene is him doing arm + eye surgery, extremely gross, onscreen. he doesn't feel pain
2 comments | Add comment
Is autism misrepresented?
30 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
0
No
11
1
NearEastMugwump
Since the only depiction of mental illness is in the SECOND movie (which has its own page), and not the first, no.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there D.I.D. misrepresentation?
18 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Is there autism specific abuse?
39 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
15
Yes
0
No
7
1
pedanther
Some of the transitions between waking reality and flashbacks are abrupt, especially when Kyle is having his nightmare, but it's usually clear which is which.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
2
Kyle suddenly experiences desperation, uncontrolled anger and becomes physically aggressive while he's handcuffed and being interrogated by police when they challenge the legitimacy of his story. This leads them to believe he's mentally ill. Not sure it's what is meant by "meltdown" persay, but close enough that it still might be considered a trigger.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there misophonia?
31 supporters
Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
Yes
18
No
8
2
CharlieCharlie
Yes, Kyle has nightmares and flashbacks that are very stressful for him.

Sarah is shown shaking and distraught after learning of the death of her two friends.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there ABA therapy?
16 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Yes
0
No
12
Is there body dysphoria?
14 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Is there body dysmorphia?
27 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Yes
28
No
3
6
Natcaptor
Near the end Sarah crawls through a brief but narrow gap under a large hydraulic press.
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone have an eating disorder?
34 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Yes
0
No
25
Yes
16
No
0
2
LJConrad
Unclear but the hero has flashbacks to his traumatic background.
2 comments | Add comment
Noxious
Are there underwater scenes?
7 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
8
No
0
0
pedanther
Both mimetic (explosions, gunfire, etc.) and non-mimetic (sudden loud music on the soundtrack to emphasize a jump scare).
1 comment | Add comment
Is there shakey cam?
37 supporters
Yes
21
No
2
0
CharlieCharlie
Unstable camera movements from the Terminator's perspective.
1 comment | Add comment
Does a baby cry?
14 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Is there screaming?
12 supporters
Add comment
Yes
5
No
0
Is there obscene language/gestures?
5 supporters
Add comment
Yes
8
No
0
4
Anonymous
in basically all of the war flashback sequences there's constant flashing lasers (several in the first ten minutes)

there's a war flashback when they camp out under the bridge that starts and ends with lasers and has some close ups of fire

a lot of cop car lights (when they escape from terminator in the bar)

also whenever it shows the terminators POV there's a red screen with rapidly flashing text
2 comments | Add comment
Paranoia
Is someone watched without knowing?
13 supporters
Add comment
Yes
9
No
0
Is the fourth wall broken?
11 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
13
Pregnancy
Is a baby stillborn?
25 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
Does someone miscarry?
22 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
25
1
shroomoss
There is a character that is mentioned that hasn't been born yet, there is also a pregnant character at the end of the movie too.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there childbirth?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
26
Are there abortions?
15 supporters
Yes
0
No
27
6
Anonymous
criminal psychologist makes a joke about the terminator being "retroactive abortion"
1 comment | Add comment
Does a pregnant person die?
17 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
26
Prejudice
Are there homophobic slurs?
40 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
14
7
CharlieCharlie
Calls Kyle "crazy" and a "loon".
2 comments | Add comment
Are there usages of the n-word?
30 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
14
Yes
0
No
16
Are there "Man in a dress" jokes?
34 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
12
Does an LGBT person die?
29 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Are there fat jokes?
52 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
20
Is there aphobia?
20 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Is a minority is misrepresented?
23 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
6
Yes
0
No
23
3
pedanther
The only signficant black character does die, but not first, and in the context of many other people also dying.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there hate speech?
28 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
19
Race
Is there blackface?
32 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Relationships
Yes
0
No
11
3
SiRenfield
Only time travel shenanigans, Kyle is technically way younger than Sarah since he travelled to an era around twenty years before he was born but he’s physically and mentally the same age as her and as far as I know there wasn't any Time Travellers Wife-esque meetings between the two
1 comment | Add comment
Religious
Is religion discussed?
11 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Are there demons or Hell?
12 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Sex
Yes
15
No
0
4
Anonymous
a bit of penis only for a second in shadows, nonsexual context

not sure what’s in the sex scene i skipped it, but seemed to be mostly waist up from the thumbnail
1 comment | Add comment
Is there bestiality?
81 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
3
pedanther
There is a sex scene, and it might be a first time for one or both of them (he mentions that he's never had a serious romantic relationship before) but if so it is not mentioned. So, maybe? but loss of virginity is not the point of the scene.
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone sexually objectified?
42 supporters
Add comment
Yes
1
No
7
Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
82 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
Yes
40
No
0
6
ActuallyAshlee
Full frontal male nudity, and a sex scene with partial female nudity.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there BDSM?
19 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Sexism
Yes
0
No
8
Sickness
Is someone terminally ill?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Does someone have a stroke?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Does someone have a chronic illness?
1 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Is there dementia/Alzheimer's?
24 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
10
Social
Are there fat suits?
29 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
8
Yes
15
No
0
2
Alucarda
A drunk homeless man is seen in the first 10 minutes in an alley.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
3
No discussions, but there are philosophical/existential components to the movie as it centers somewhat on the idea of fate and our ability to change destiny through our choices and actions.
1 comment | Add comment
Are there anti-abortion themes?
32 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
7
Spoiler
Is Santa (et al) spoiled?
4 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
25
Are there end credit scenes?
36 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
12
No
17
11
KEdRuss
Ending is bittersweet. A main character dies by the end, and despite winning the day, there is a sense of impending and inevitable dread on the horizon.
1 comment | Add comment
Vehicular
Does a car honk or tires screech?
13 supporters
Add comment
Yes
12
No
0
Does a car crash?
18 supporters
Yes
37
No
0
3
Anonymous
there's nasty fender benders in every chase scene, in one early scene Kyle T-bones a police car in an alleyway

immediately after Kyle gets shot after fleeing the motel, there's several extremely bad ones in a row. she rams the motorcycle, their car flips over, terminator slides across the pavement and gets run over by an 18 wheeler, he rams into them with the 18 wheeler
3 comments | Add comment
Does a plane crash?
10 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
28
Yes
32
No
0
2
Anonymous
after terminator says "i'll be back" he drives his car into the police station and hits a cop
2 comments | Add comment
Violence
Does someone drown?
16 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
22
Is there blood/gore?
53 supporters
Yes
37
No
0
4
CameronRichter
Various characters are injured and shot throughout the movie. A gruesome close-up scene of the Terminator stitching & repairing his injuries.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
24
6
ActuallyAshlee
No, but post nuclear war scenes are shown
3 comments | Add comment
Yes
32
No
0
4
ActuallyAshlee
Frequent throughout
3 comments | Add comment