"I'll be back"

"The Terminator (1984)", directed by James Cameron, introduced the concept of a "terminator", a seemingly unstoppable cyborg assassin sent back from the year 2029 and bent on completing its mission; in this case, to terminate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) whose future son would lead a resistance against the machines. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), is also sent back from the future by John Connor to protect her.

The Terminator was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and he really nailed the role. The Terminator feels no pain, has no emotions and will stop at nothing to accomplish its mission. The time travel process developed by the machines can only send living tissue or an object covered with such living tissue, preventing Reese - and the Terminator - from bringing any advanced weaponry. Reese is sceptical of the stopping power provided by 20th century small arms; the Terminator is protected by a hard metal endoskeleton, although the living tissue covering the endoskeleton (referred to as a "combat chassis" by Reese) makes the Terminator indistinguishable from a human being.

At one point of the movie, both Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese end up at the Police Station. The Terminator arrives at the police station and asks to see Sarah, but the desk sergeant denies access. After examining the police station and uttering the infamous phrase "I'll be back", the Terminator leaves, only to return seconds later and plowing a car through the front of the building. The Terminator goes on a rampage through the building, killing almost all the police officers while Reese manages to escape from his cell and rescue Sarah.

The Terminator was a low-budget movie, at roughly $6.5 million, which turned out to be a box-office hit, earning $38,371,200 domestically. The film went on to gross more than $78 million worldwide. [source: wiki]

Hot Toys produced and released this 1/6 scale 12-inch Movie Masterpiece Battle Damaged T-800 with light-up eyes in 2005. Hot Toys named it T-800 although in the first movie, it was just known as a "Terminator". It wasn't until the sequel that there were Terminator model types.

Hot Toys obviously couldn't get the license for Arnold Schwarzenegger's likeness. Recently, they had the same problem with John Hurt as well. That's why their Nortromo crew member Kane looked nothing like the actor (see review here).

Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece Battle Damaged T-800 comes with light-up eyes - NICE!

The Terminator without his shades/sunglasses

One of the weapons used by the Terminator is an IMI Uzi sub-machine gun. He used it mainly in the Tech Noir nightclub, when Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) interfered with his attempts to terminate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).

Hot Toys also included a kit bag with shoulder strap. This was only seen in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". Because the T-800 appeared in both movies, hence the inclusion of this item.


Another gun used by the Terminator is the Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun. The Terminator used it to kill the gun store owner and was one of the two weapons used by the Terminator during the assault on the police station. A SPAS-12 was also seen in the hands of a human Resistance fighter in one of the "Future War" flashbacks.


Another view of the Terminator's battle-damaged face

The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) used an AMT Hardballer Longslide with a primitive laserlock sight (a one-off made by someone from a company that would later become SureFire) to assassinate several women from a phone book with the name Sarah Connor before getting to the real one (Linda Hamilton) at the Tech Noir nightclub.


Close-up of the AMT Hardballer Longslide with laser sight


"I'll be back!" but not in Terminator Salvation

Hot Toys also included the Vulcan M134 Minigun or handheld GE M134 Minigun which I've covered in September 20, 2007 (see review here)