The Terminator is a 1984 science-fiction action thriller directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn. Set in a dark, violent version of 1984 Los Angeles, the film follows Sarah Connor, an ordinary young woman suddenly hunted by a cybernetic assassin sent back in time to kill her before her future son can lead humanity’s resistance against the machines. What makes the film so enduring is the way it fuses relentless action with noir atmosphere, urban dread and a stripped-down time-travel premise, all made on a relatively modest budget. It became the film that truly launched Cameron’s career and established the Terminator as one of cinema’s most iconic screen villains.
The film was shot largely on location in Los Angeles, and the city is absolutely essential to its identity rather than just serving as a generic backdrop. Publicly documented locations include Griffith Observatory for the Terminator’s arrival, 720 South Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles for Tech Noir, Carrow’s Restaurant in South Pasadena for the diner where Sarah works, and the Tiki Motel in Huntington Park for the room where Sarah and Kyle briefly find refuge. Other filming also took place around downtown Los Angeles, Pasadena, Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley and industrial areas south of the city, with at least one major sequence tied to the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Vernon. Altogether, these locations give the film its distinctive sense of a sleepless, exposed and slightly decaying Los Angeles, where night streets, cheap motels, diners, clubs and industrial spaces all blend into the film’s cold, hunted atmosphere.
Griffith Observatory
Griffith Observatory appears in Rebel Without a Cause, The Terminator, Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, La La Land, Transformers, and many more.
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