8 titles · 6 films · 2 series & specials

Terminator Watch Order

Two great films and four incompatible attempts to continue them.

The complete Terminator watch order — all six films plus the television series, and a plain explanation of which sequels erase which, and what you can safely skip.

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8 titles across 4 branchs

The Cameron Films

1984 – 1991 · The Trunk · The two everyone agrees on.

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The Terminator

26 Oct 1984

A machine is sent back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor. Lean, cheap and near-perfect.

EssentialMovie

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

3 Jul 1991

The best of them, and the point every later film tries to continue from.

EssentialMovie

The Continuations

2003 – 2009 · Branch A · Two sequels Dark Fate later discarded.

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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

2 Jul 2003

Argues Judgment Day was delayed rather than prevented. Later discarded by Dark Fate.

Movie

Terminator Salvation

21 May 2009

The future war itself, in 2018. Also discarded by Dark Fate.

Movie

The Reboots

2015 – 2019 · Branch B · Two films that restart the timeline.

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Terminator Genisys

1 Jul 2015

Rewrites the events of the 1984 original into a new timeline. Its own dead end.

Movie

Terminator: Dark Fate

1 Nov 2019

A direct sequel to Judgment Day that ignores everything between. The only continuation Cameron endorsed.

EssentialMovie

Television

2008 – 2024 · Branch C · Separate again, and better than expected.

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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

13 Jan 2008

Picks up after Judgment Day on its own branch. Two seasons, and much better than it needed to be.

Series

Terminator Zero

29 Aug 2024

An anime set in 1997 Tokyo, on a separate track from every film.

Series