The Terminator (1984)

Screenplay Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Movie Time: 107 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT
A co-worker of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) drags her over to the TV where there is a news report about a woman with the same name as her being killed. (00:16:55)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act I)

Another Sarah Connor has just been killed. Sarah, becoming paranoid, frantically flips through the phonebook, only to discover that every Sarah Connor in the book is being systematically terminated, and now she realizes that her life is in peril because her name is next on the list. (00:27:39)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) and Sarah are on the run from The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) in a high-octane car chase, during which Reese explains that The Terminator has come back from the future to destroy her and prevent John Connor, the yet-to-be-born son of Sarah and the future leader of The Resistance, from being conceived. During this chase of inches, they finally manage to escape when The Terminator crashes his car into a wall. But it’s a short-lived victory when they see The Terminator is no longer within the wreckage. (00:49:45)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act II)

Sarah receives a call from her worried mother, who asks where she is. Against her better judgement, Sarah gives in and tells her the name of the motel she’s staying at, but her mother is actually The Terminator emulating the voice. The Terminator now knows where to find them, and while Sarah and Kyle have sex (the conception of John Connor) in the motel, the terminator is on his way to search and destroy.  (01:23:11)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

On the run from the terminator, Reese and Sarah weave through a warehouse as Reese manages to throw a stick of dynamite, blowing the terminator apart. Sarah thinks she’s finally out of danger when the terminator is split in half from the waist down; however, he crawls his way out to continue the pursuit and try to kill her. She must now defeat The Terminator on her own. (01:37:00)