At some point, The Terminator stopped being known as “James Cameron’s grimy horror sci-fi flick from 1984, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which got a fun, blockbuster sequel in 1991” and started being known as “that old movie that started this bizarre cycle where, every few years, one studio or another attempts to jump-start a new Terminator series, and it never, ever works.” Behold: The imminently forgettable Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003, McG’s Terminator Salvation in 2009, the underrated but short-lived TV show Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles in 2008 (starring Cersei Lannister as Sarah Connor!), and the legitimately unwatchable Terminator Genisys in 2015 (starring Daenerys Targaryen as Sarah Connor!). The cycle begins anew later this year, with Terminator: Dark Fate, which brings back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and which supposedly ignores everything after Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Or maybe even the people making it don’t remember anything after Terminator 2? Anyway, Hollywood won’t let the poor old T-800 die already, and the whole thing has gotten kind of depressing, which is too bad, because that first The Terminator? That old one from 1984? It’s great. by Erik Henriksen