The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, written by Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, and produced by Hurd. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate Sarah Connor, whose not-yet-conceived son will one day save mankind from extinction by Skynet, a hostile artificial intelligence, in a post-apocalyptic future. Kyle Reese is a soldier sent back in time to protect Sarah.