• Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, a cybernetic android disguised as a human male that is sent back in time to assassinate Sarah Connor.
• Michael Biehn as Kyle Reese, a member of the resistance against Skynet sent back in time to protect Sarah.
• Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, a young diner waitress and the Terminator's target, who is soon to be the mother of the future leader of the resistance, John.
• Paul Winfield as Ed Traxler, a police lieutenant who tries to protect Sarah.
• Lance Henriksen as Hal Vukovich, a member of the Los Angeles Police Department.
• Bess Motta as Ginger, Sarah's roommate whom the Terminator murders after mistaking her for Sarah.
• Rick Rossovich as Matt, Ginger's boyfriend whom the Terminator also dispatches.
• Earl Boen as Doctor Peter Silberman, a criminal psychologist.
Additional actors included Shawn Schepps as Nancy, Sarah's co-worker at the diner; Dick Miller as a gun shop clerk; professional bodybuilder Franco Columbu as a Terminator in the future; Bill Paxton and Brian Thompson as punks whom the Terminator confronts and dispatches; Marianne Muellerleile as one of the other women with the name "Sarah Connor" whom the Terminator dispatches; Rick Aiello as the bouncer of the local nightclub where the Terminator finally locates Sarah; and Bill Wisher as the police officer who reports a hit-and-run felony on Reese, only to be knocked unconscious and have his car stolen by the Terminator soon thereafter.

In Rome, Italy, during the release of Piranha II: The Spawning (1982), director James Cameron fell ill and had a dream about a metallic torso holding kitchen knives dragging itself from an explosion. Inspired by director John Carpenter, who had made the slasher film Halloween (1978) on a low budget, Cameron used the dream as a "launching pad" to write a slasher-style film. Cameron's agent disliked the early concept of the horror film and requested that he work on something else. After this, Cameron dismissed his agent.

Cameron returned to Pomona, California, and stayed at the home of science fiction writer Randall Frakes, where he wrote the draft for The Terminator. Cameron's influences included 1950s science fiction films, the 1960s fantasy television series The Outer Limits, and contemporary films such as The Driver (1978) and Mad Max 2 (1981). To translate the draft into a script, Cameron enlisted his friend Bill Wisher, who had a similar approach to storytelling. Cameron gave Wisher scenes involving Sarah Connor and the police department to write. As Wisher lived far from Cameron, the two communicated ideas by phoning each other and recording phone calls of them reading new scenes.

The initial outline of the script involved two Terminators being sent to the past. The first was similar to the Terminator in the film, while the second was made of liquid metal and could not be destroyed with conventional weaponry. Cameron felt that the technology of the time was unable to create the liquid Terminator, and shelved the idea until the appearance of the T-1000 character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Gale Anne Hurd, who had worked at New World Pictures as Roger Corman's assistant, showed interest in the project. Cameron sold the rights for The Terminator to Hurd for one dollar with the promise that she would produce it only if Cameron was to direct it. Hurd suggested edits to the script and took a screenwriting credit in the film, though Cameron stated that she "did no actual writing at all". Cameron would later regret the decision to sell the rights for one dollar. Cameron and Hurd had friends who worked with Corman previously and who were working at Orion Pictures. Orion agreed to distribute the film if Cameron could get financial backing elsewhere. The script was picked up by John Daly, chairman and president of Hemdale Film Corporation. Daly and his executive vice president and head of production Derek Gibson became executive producers of the project.

Cameron wanted his pitch for Daly to finalize the deal and had his friend Lance Henriksen show up to the meeting early dressed and acting like the Terminator. Henriksen, wearing a leather j…

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Orion Pictures did not have faith in The Terminator performing well at the box office and feared a negative critical reception. At an early screening of the film, the actors' agents insisted to the producers that the film should be screened for critics. Orion only held one press screening for the film. The film premiered on October 26, 1984. On its opening week, The Terminator played at 1,005 theaters and grossed $4.0 million making it number one at the box office. The film remained at number one in its second week. It lost its number one spot in the third week to Oh, God! You Devil. Cameron noted that The Terminator was a hit "relative to its market, which is between the summer and the Christmas blockbusters. But it's better to be a big fish in a small pond than the other way around." The Terminator grossed $38.3 million in the United States and Canada and $40 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $78.3 million.