When thinking about the most iconic movie franchises to be created, the Terminator franchise has to come to mind. With some of the most iconic quotes and amazing action scenes to be made, it is no wonder that the movie series has been around since the 1980s.
There are so many different movies to watch to keep up with all of the events happening. Here is how fans can watch the movie series in order of events that happen.
Terminator: Genisys (2015)
The film opens up in 2029 with John Conner beating Skynet. After Skynet is defeated, Kyle Reese is sent back to 1984 with the hopes of being able to save John’s mom. Reese was shocked when he went back and found that Conner’s mom herself was a very strong warrior and wanted to battle the machines.
The movie had some differences from the original one when his mom was unable to properly get herself ready for battle. The beauty of this franchise is that even though this movie is listed as the first one to watch, fans can still watch it last by itself as the timeline would still make sense without this movie.
The Terminator (1984)
The first movie in the legendary series started off with Arnold Schwarzenegger playing a machine called Terminator. His goal was to go back to 1984 from 2029 and kill Sarah Conner, as she is the mother of the man who will help save the humans from Skynet. Skynet was created and became self-aware in 1997, which became a problem because the machine wanted to control and viewed humanity as its biggest threat.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1994)
The sequel to the first movie picks up 11 years later after Sarah went to jail for trying to bomb a computer factory. Unfortunately for Skynet, John is still alive and living with his foster family. There were two different terminators at this time with two very different missions that they were trying to carry out.
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
The most recent entry into the movie franchise picks up right after Terminator 2: Judgement Day leaves off. Sarah and John Conner take on Skynet head-on in this movie together. Even though the two defeated Skynet in the previous movie, they have not stopped the AI threat, but have only pushed it back a little while.
Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles (TV Show 2008-2009)
Even though the show was released much later, it talks about Sarah and John and their relationship in 1999. They are running from a new terminator and even go to the future to 2007. The show provides some closure to Sarah and John’s relationship as mother and son.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
A decade later, Sarah Conner has been officially killed, but that is the least of her son, John’s, problems. Skynet now has its sights set purely on him. John decided that his best possible course of action would be to live where nobody else does and with as little technology as possible. Skynet decides that instead of targeting John, it would be smarter to target and go after others in the group that John is part of to try and lure him back.
Terminator: Salvation (2009)
This movie shows us what life is like in the year 2018. The resistance group that Conner is a part of has decided to stage an all-out attack on Skynet after learning that Skynet was planning to kill everyone in the resistance now that the machine had the strength to do so.
An alternative order
Should anyone wish to watch the movies and show in release order, that is very easy to do also. Fans would start with The Terminator. The next to watch would be Terminator 2: Judgement Day, followed by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. After finishing the first trilogy, the next thing that fans would watch is Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles television show.
The last three movies to watch would be Terminator: Salvation, Terminator: Genisys, and Terminator: Dark Fate. Those who have not yet started the legendary series will be glad that they did. The writers and creators know what they are doing and have done an amazing job keeping the series going for this long.
