FromRoboCoptoMinority ReporttoUniversal Soldier,there are plenty of great sci-fi action movies out there that fans of theTerminatorfranchise are sure to love. James Cameron introduced his gift for coming up with simple but brilliant story ideas with his breakthrough filmThe Terminator. The concept of a killer cyborg going back in time to kill the mother of the man leading the charge against the machines in the future was both a great sandbox to stage sci-fi action set-pieces in present-day L.A. and a great vehicle for social commentary on the rise of artificial intelligence.
Cameron hasn’t been directly involved in theTerminatorfranchise in a while, and the series has suffered because of it. Butplenty of other sci-fi movies and action franchises have carried the torchin the meantime. Alex Garland crafted his own cautionary tale about A.I. by way of a Hitchcockian suspense thriller. Steven Spielberg directed his own tech-noir masterpiece from a Philip K. Dick story. AndEdge of Tomorrowdid a better job of dramatizingTerminator’s future warthanTerminator’s ownTerminator Salvationdid.
Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story“Second Variety,”Screamersis a chilling sci-fi thriller about machines turning on their makers(a common theme in Dick’s work). After scientists create a machine to wipe out their enemies, they unwittingly cause a catastrophe when the machine becomes a threat to everyone, including its own creators.
Every Terminator Viewing Order: Chronological, Release, & More
The Terminator timeline is tricky so here are some of the potential viewing orders for movies in the Terminator franchise.
Although it received mostly negative reviews from critics,Screamersis deeply atmospheric and curiously ambiguous. Similar to the originalTerminatormovie, it pulls off blockbuster sci-fi spectacle on a relatively slim budget with no big-name stars.
Cyborgcombinesthe dystopian chills of cyberpunk with the punching and kicking of martial artsmovies. Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a mercenary fighting a band of marauders in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. LikeThe Terminator, it uses a grim look at humanity’s future as the backdrop for an action-packed thriller.
PictureGhost in the ShellmeetsBloodsport, orKickboxermeetsThe Fifth Element.Cyborgwas panned by critics on its initial release, but it was popular enough with audiences to spawn a franchise, and it definitely scratches thatTerminatoritch.
Terminator Salvationdidn’t quite manage to capture the intensity of a future war between the remnants of humanity and its common enemy, butEdge of Tomorrowdid.Tom Cruise stars as a soldier stuck in a time loop, reliving the day he died fighting aliens on a battlefield over and over again.
Like the very bestTerminatormovies, Edge of Tomorrow is a pitch-perfect blend of thought-provoking science fiction and high-octane action spectacle.
Likethe very bestTerminatormovies,Edge of Tomorrowis a pitch-perfect blend of thought-provoking science fiction and high-octane action spectacle. It’s a war movie full of alien invaders, but it’s also an interesting exploration of the inherent paradoxes of time travel.
Roland Emmerich’s military sci-fi actionerUniversal Soldierstars Jean-Claude Van Dammeas a Vietnam War veteran who’s brought back to life decades later and manufactured to be the perfect killing machine. Matters get complicated when the soldier starts recalling memories from his previous existence.
When it was released,Universal Soldierwas dismissed as aTerminator 2rip-off, since it borrowsT2’s dynamic of a feud across time between two killing machines. It may not be as thoughtful or profound asT2, but it’s another exhilarating blockbuster that has plenty of fun with its high-concept premise.
Alex Garland’s directorial debut isboth a nail-biting thriller and a sharp meditation on A.I., just like theTerminatormovies.Ex Machinasees a low-level computer programmer being invited to his reclusive boss’ remote home, only to learn that he’s been selected to carry out a Turing test on a beautiful android.
Ex Machinahas a 92% rating onRotten Tomatoes.
As he falls in love with the android, the programmer’s loyalty to his boss is tested.Ex Machinais a fascinating three-hander about the tensions between three characters each trying to figure each other out, and Garland masterfully ratchets up the suspense throughout the movie.
Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi noirMinority Reporttakes place ina future in which the police have a gadget that allows them to predict crimesbefore they’re even committed. Tom Cruise plays a police chief who has to go on the run and clear his name when he’s accused of the imminent murder of a man he’s never met.
He has to stay on the move while trying to figure out why he will inevitably end this man’s life. Much like theTerminatormovies,Minority Reportis a pulse-pounding thriller that uses a speculative futuristic technology to drive its action.
Like theTerminatorseries,Dreddputs its social commentary in the backseat to focus on ultraviolent action. Karl Urban plays the titular2000 A.D.antihero, who ends up trapped in a massive high-rise contending with a ruthless drug lord and her goons.
Dreddsuccessfully translates the comics’ satire of authoritarianism and police brutality onto the screen without ever slowing down the action. The film’s fictional time-slowing drug “Slo-Mo” is used to deliver some jaw-dropping super-slow-motion shootouts, while Dredd’s role as a reluctant mentor to a rookie judge gives the movie an endearing emotional core.
In between the first and secondTerminatorfilms, Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in a different sci-fi actioner.Total Recalldoesn’t just share theTerminatorfranchise’s headlining star; it also shares its mind-bending storytelling and gruesome violence.
It’s about a blue-collar joe in the distant future who has memories of a spy mission on Mars implanted in his mind in lieu of a vacation and awakens to a mysterious conspiracy that suggests those memories could actually be real.Total Recallhas all the explosive funofa Schwarzenegger action vehiclelikeTerminator 2, but it’s also a surreal head trip.
A couple of years before Cameron solidifiedthe tech-noir subgenrewithThe Terminator, Ridley Scott pioneered it withBlade Runner.Blade Runnerrevolves arounda detective searching a sprawling futuristic metropolis for sentient androidsthat have assimilated into human society.
10 Best Sci-Fi Movies Like Blade Runner
From the cerebral Ex Machina to the neon-soaked Ghost in the Shell, there are plenty of great sci-fi movies like Blade Runner for fans to enjoy.
Much like theTerminatorfranchise,Blade Runnerexplores the dangers of artificial intelligence through an action-packed story of cyborgs fighting back. The satirical irony of the story is that, in hunting down and killing all the androids lurking in Los Angeles, Rick Deckard slowly loses his own humanity and becomes more of a robot than they are.
Much like theTerminatorfranchise,RoboCopuses sci-fi action spectacle as a great vehicle for timely social commentary— albeit with a more overtly comedic bent.RoboCoptakes place in a dystopian near-future Detroit, overrun with crime and on the brink of socioeconomic collapse. Peter Weller stars as a police officer who’s shot to pieces by a gang and resurrected as a weapon by an unscrupulous mega-corporation.
As the real world becomes more and more dystopian,RoboCopfeels less and less like science fiction.
Whereas most stories about robots at the time, includingThe Terminator, dealt with cold, emotionless robotic characters,RoboCopexplores the psychological effects of the loss of Alex Murphy’s humanity. The tone ofRoboCopis decidedly more absurdist and exaggerated than theTerminatormovies, but it’s just as effective in its dystopian satire.
RoboCopuses the extreme scenario of a crooked corporation turning a cop into a cybernetic killer and selling him back to the police force to lampoon capitalism, Reaganomics, corporate greed, and the privatization of public services. As the real world becomes more and more dystopian,RoboCopfeels less and less like science fiction.
