Skip to main content
  • TotalFilm
  • Edge
  • Newsarama
  • Retrogamer
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby walking in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Crime Movies Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ending explained: does Tommy Shelby die and will there be a new season?
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
Adventure Games The 25 best video game stories of all-time
Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man
Crime Movies Cillian Murphy says Netflix's Peaky Blinders movie is the "natural conclusion" for Tommy Shelby
PS3 photo taken by Future Studios
Games The 25 best PS3 games of all time
A close-up of Grace talking with someone through glass in Resident Evil Requiem
Resident Evil Resident Evil Requiem review: "A soaring piece of survival horror theater"
Cillian Murphy as Tommy in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Movies The 25 best movies on Netflix to watch right now
Alan Ritchson as 81 in War Machine
Sci-Fi Movies War Machine director says practical FX was "paramount" to make the sci-fi action movie feel as real as possible
(L to R) Steven Yeun as Detective Mike Ro, Matt Damon as Lieutenant Dane Dumars, Ben Affleck as Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne, and Kyle Chandler as DEA Agent Mateo 'Matty' Nix in The Rip.
Action Movies The 25 best Netflix action movies to watch right now
The Lion King is undoubtedly one of the best movies on Disney Plus
Movies The 30 best movies on Disney Plus to watch right now
Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone in The Godfather.
Streaming Services The 20 best movies on Paramount Plus to watch right now
Walton Goggins as the Ghoul in Fallout season 2
TV The 25 best shows on Amazon Prime Video to watch right now
Best anime movies: Chihiro and No-Face sitting in a train carriage during Spirited Away.
Anime Movies The 30 best anime movies to watch right now
A screenshot of Red Dead Redemption protagonist John Marston.
Red Dead After 16 years, Red Dead Redemption's John Marston actor completes Rockstar's epic Western, and breaks down crying
Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things season 5 volume 2
Sci-Fi Shows Stranger Things season 5 finale review: “Shows off both the best and the worst of Hawkins”
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles in Sonic 3
Amazon Prime Video The 25 best movies on Prime Video to watch right now
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

The 30 greatest Terminator moments

Features
By Gem Seddon published 4 December 2013

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Get the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Subscribe to our newsletter

1. The T-800 Must Be Destroyed - Terminator 2: Judgment Day

The Terminator Moment: In the wake of the T-1000s destruction, one chip remains inside the reprogrammed T-800. To ensure Skynet is never built, it too must be destroyed. Sarah shakes the machines hand, and mans the controls to lower him into the steel. With tear-stained cheeks, John pounds his fists on the Terminators chest, ordering him not to go - but its no good.

Why Its Great: After two hours spent watching a robot learn the value of human life to quote Sarah Connor, no-one wants it to die. Not John, heck, maybe not Sarah but certainly not the audience. The haunting strains of Brad Fiedels score sum up the mood better than any dialogue could, as the Terminator willingly descends to its demise. Its final message to John, a thumbs-up seconds later swallowed by the molten steel, pretty much guarantees theres not a dry eye in the house.

Memorable Quote: I know now why you cry, but that is something that I can never do.

You may like
  • The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time: pictures of Alien, Arrival, Terminator, Brazil and 2001. The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time
  • Terminator anime Terminator Zero Netflix anime series was quietly canceled because "not nearly enough people watched it"
  • Movie fans are debating the otherwise bad films saved by amazing endings, and you bet Terminator 3 is on the list 
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

Current page: Page 4

Prev Page Page 3
Gem Seddon
Gem Seddon
Social Links Navigation
Freelance Writer

Gem Seddon is a freelance writer working to keep all of you updated on all of the latest and greatest movies and shows on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Outside of entertainment journalism, Gem can frequently be found writing about the alternative health and wellness industry, and obsessing over all things Aliens and Terminator on Twitter.

Read more
The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time: pictures of Alien, Arrival, Terminator, Brazil and 2001.
The 30 best sci-fi movies of all time
 
 
Terminator anime
Terminator Zero Netflix anime series was quietly canceled because "not nearly enough people watched it"
 
 
Movie fans are debating the otherwise bad films saved by amazing endings, and you bet Terminator 3 is on the list 
 
 
Terminator: Survivors screenshot showing a Terminator: Survivors screenshot showing a T-800 emerging through flame without its human skin suit
Terminator Survivors: Everything we know so far
 
 
Lee Jung-jae as Player 456 in Squid Game season 3
Squid Game season 3 only needed two words to deliver the most moving line of dialogue of 2025
 
 
Year in Review: The Best of 2025 main listing image for Best Movies of 2025 featuring images from Weapons, Superman, Sinners, and The Long Walk
The 25 Best Movies of 2025
 
 
Latest in Movies
An apparently dead person wearing a matted fur bunny suit
Severance star Adam Scott's new horror movie Hokum just got an intensely creepy first trailer
 
 
Don Lee in The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil
James Wan is set to direct his first movie since the Aquaman sequel, and it's a remake of a hit Korean crime thriller
 
 
Kate Winslet at the 2023 BAFTA Television Awards
Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum casts Kate Winslet as female lead
 
 
Grogu saluting in The Mandalorian and Grogu
New Mandalorian and Grogu TV spot doesn't give much away about the movie, but it does show Baby Yoda sneezing everywhere
 
 
Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Wars fans are discussing why two major characters barely interacted, but I think it makes total sense
 
 
Ghostface in Scream 7
Scream 7's Ghostface star doesn't know who she kills in the new sequel: "I'm going to leave that up to the audience"
 
 
Latest in Features
In Pokemon Pokopia, the transformed Ditto trainer takes a selfie looking aghast in front of a glowing piece of land where a relic is buried
I've spent 20 hours in Pokemon Pokopia obsessing over its mysterious world and what it hides beneath the surface
 
 
BG3
The future of RPGs is isometric
 
 
Photo of a Mario nendoroid figure holding a microSD Express card with a Turtle Beach Switch 2 case in the background.
These Mario Day-inspired Switch 2 accessories will power up your console more than a super star
 
 
Underside of Alienware 16 Area-51 gaming laptop with glass viewing window and RGB fans
We could get a shock when 2026 gaming laptop prices are unveiled, here's what you need to know about buying this year
 
 
Emily Rudd as Nami and Iñaki Godoy as Monkey D. Luffy in Netflix's One Piece
One Piece season 2 ending explained: Who is Mr. Zero? Who dies? Will there be a season 3?
 
 
In Hitman World of Assassination, Agent 47 sits at the departure gate in an airport during the loading screen
After weeks spent locked into Hitman's Freelancer mode, I realize there's one vital thing 007 First Light needs to learn
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Steam logo from Valve
    1
    Valve peels back the curtain in rare Steam presentation: "More games are finding success" than ever, and nearly 6,000 made over $100,000 last year
  2. 2
    Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man director explains how the Netflix movie differs from the show: "Inherently, it is more cinematic in its conception"
  3. 3
    The Dispatch leads had "a mix of arrogance and stupidity" as they faced down publishers telling them single-player narrative games were "niche, or worse, dead"
  4. 4
    Xbox lead thinks "we have been in a golden age for indies" since 2008, and it's "a fantastic time to be a developer" if you ignore all the smoke: "The present is awesome"
  5. 5
    The Future Games Show returns this week - here's how to watch

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...