The Terminator Page #17

Synopsis: The Terminator is a 1984 American science-fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose son will one day become a savior against machines in a post-apocalyptic future. Michael Biehn plays Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future sent back in time to protect Connor.
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Production: Orion Pictures Corporation
  6 wins & 6 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.0
Metacritic:
83
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
R
Year:
1984
107 min
Website
2,536 Views


believe she has awakened into the same nightmare.

CUT TO:

173 INT. OFFICE NEARBY173

ANGLE ON DOOR as it splinters open and Terminator stands,

guns raised. A COP fires from behind a desk.

Terminator sprays the room.

Starts to reload.

CUT TO:

174 INT. CORRIDOR

Vukovich edges open a door and fires half a clip into

Terminator's back. His eyes bulge as the intruder turns,

slamming a clip into his rifle and calmly fires two rounds.

Traxler drags Vukovich's body back inside the room.

TRAXLER:

Ed! Ed...?

CUT TO:

175 INT. CORRIDOR 175

TIGHT ON TERMINATOR, moving forward, intent

CUT TO:

176 INT. VUKOVICH'S OFFICE 176

MEDIUM ON SARAH, her teeth are chattering with fear as

SHOTS echo nearby. There is the RHYTHMIC THUNDER of the

shotgun, rattling AUTOMATIC FIRE, SCREAMING, and the sound

of RUNNING FEET. Getting closer.

SLOW DOLLY IN ON SARAH begins, ending in TIGHT C.U. as the

sounds get louder. More SHOTS.

Smoke begins to seep under the door.

DETAIL - DOORKNOB rattling as it is tried from outside.

E.C.U. - SARAH stifling a cry. She flinches as if slapped

as SHOTS sound.

DETAIL - DOOR KNOB, a series of SHOTS shatter the lock.

FULL ON DOORWAY - The door bangs open and a figure stands

silhouetted in the smoky hallway, holding a pistol.

E.C.U. - SARAH, as she closes her eyes. Holds her breath.

REESE (V.O.)

Sarah?

FULL SHOT - She scrambles out from beneath the desk and runs

to him in the thickening smoke.

CUT TO:

177 CONNECTING OFFICES177

PANAGLIDE FOLLOWING REESE AND SARAH as they cross the

corridor and move through a series of offices, doubling back

toward the main entrance.

CUT TO:

178 INT. OFFICE 178

Sarah and Reese move rapidly through the smoke.

Gunfire sounds nearby. They pass bodies.

VUKOVICH (V.O.)

(weakly)

Reese!

They find the Lieutenant propped in a corner, dying.

Reese bends toward him.

Vukovich holds out his custom Colt Python .357.

VUKOVICH:

(continuing)

You just keep her alive. Do

what you have to.

Reese snatches the gun and the keys and runs on.

C.U. - VUKOVICH watching them go.

CUT TO:

179 INT./EXT. OFFICES/SIDE ENTRANCE - NIGHT 179

FAST PANAGLIDE PRECEDING TERMINATOR as he runs through

the smoky rooms. A fire is burning, lighting everything

a flickering orange.

He emerges onto a landing through a side entrance. PAN

to follow his line of sight as he snaps the AR-180 to

his shoulder. B.G. a BLUE VOLKSWAGEN RABBIT is roaring

away across the parking lot.

TIGHT ON TERMINATOR aiming carefully. He pulls the trigger.

It clicks...empty. Slowly he lowers the scope-sight from

his eye and watches them go.

Terminator limps down the steps from the landing and walks

away as the fire spreads behind the windows of Division

Headquarters.

CUT TO:

180 INT. RABBIT - NIGHT 180

DETAIL - GAS GAUGE, it reads EMPTY.

CUT TO:

181 EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT 181

The Rabbit is stopped on the shoulder of a two lane

secondary road winding through the hills north of L.A.

Reese is fishing objects out of the car's trunk and

handing them to Sarah, who holds a flashlight.

He hands her a blanket, some road flares, and a first

aid kit. Then he slams the trunk. Reaching through the

side window, he turns the wheel and pushes the car off

the shoulder, over the embankment.

DOWN ANGLE INTO RAVINE, past Sarah and Reese, as the car

trundles down crashing through the underbrush to dis-

appear among the trees.

Reese looks out across the valley and the lights of L.A.

A helicopter circles in the distance, searchlight on.

REESE:

Let's get off the road.

CUT TO:

182 INT./EXT. DRAINAGE CULVERT - NIGHT 182

ANGLE LOOKING OUT from the mouth of an enclosed concrete

storm drain that passes under the road. Reese, followed

by Sarah, trudges down the slope and ducks inside.

The floor is wet but he doesn't seem to mind.

They both hunker down with their backs to the concrete,

facing each other.

They look beaten, grimy, exhausted.

She huddles under the blanket, waif-like.

REESE:

You cold?

SARAH:

Freezing.

REESE:

Come here.

She sits beside him and they wrap their arms around each

other with the blanket covering both of them.

SARAH:

Reese...you got a first name?

REESE:

Kyle.

SARAH:

Kyle, what's it like when you

go through time?

REESE:

White light. Pain. Like

being ripped inside out...

slowly. Like being born,

maybe.

Sarah scowls and draws her hand out from under his jacket.

SARAH:

You're wet. Oh my god.

In the beam of the flashlight her hand is glistening

with blood.

REESE:

I caught one, back there.

SARAH:

(incredulous)

Caught one? You mean you

got shot?

Reese shrugs.

REESE:

It's not bad.

Sarah sits up and turns toward him.

SARAH:

We gotta get you to a doctor.

REESE:

It's okay. Forget it.

SARAH:

Forget it? Are you crazy?

Let me see it.

Sarah opens his jacket and the flashlight beam shows his

shirt bloodsoaked at the shoulder.

SARAH:

(continuing)

Jeez. You idiot. Take

this off.

She cradles the flashlight between her knees and opens

the first aid kit as he removes his jacket.

REESE:

(looking at the

wound)

See. Missed everything.

Passed through the meat.

Sarah starts swabbing the flesh wound.

SARAH:

This is gonna make me puke.

Talk about something.

REESE:

What?

SARAH:

Just talk. Tell me about

my son. Is he tall?

She places a gauze pad in place and starts to wrap it.

REESE:

About my height. He

has your--

(winces)

...damn...he has your

eyes.

Sarah glances at his face for a second and then goes back

to work.

SARAH:

What's he like?

REESE:

(thoughtful)

You trust him. He's got that

strength. You'd die in a

second for John.

SARAH:

Well, at least I know what

to name him. I don't suppose

you'd know who the father is?

So I don't tell him to get

lost when I meet him.

REESE:

John never said much about

him. He dies. Even before

the war...

SARAH:

(interrupting)

Stop! I don't want to know.

Hold still. So...it was John

that ordered you here?

REESE:

I volunteered.

SARAH:

You volunteered?

REESE:

It was an honor. A chance

to meet the legend. Sarah

Connor. Who taught her son

to fight...organize, prepare.

From when he was a kid. When

you were in hiding, before

the war.

She stops taping. She seems lost, her bravado dissipated.

SARAH:

You talk about things I haven't

done yet in the past tense. It's

making me crazy. I can't think.

(pause)

Are you sure you've got the

right person?

Reese appraises her coldly.

REESE:

I'm sure.

SARAH:

Come on, me? The mother

of the future? Am I tough?

Organized? I can't even balance

my checkbook. I cry when I see

a cat that's been run over...

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James Cameron

James Francis Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker, director, producer, screenwriter, inventor, engineer, philanthropist, and deep-sea explorer. He first found major success with the science fiction action film The Terminator. more…

All James Cameron scripts | James Cameron Scripts

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Submitted by aviv on February 06, 2017

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