In James Cameron’s The Terminator, Sarah Connor is living in Los Angeles when the story begins.
Sarah is introduced as an ordinary young woman in Los Angeles whose name appears in the phone book. A cyborg assassin from the future is sent to kill her because she will become the mother of John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance.
The Los Angeles setting is central to the film’s identity. Familiar streets, nightclubs, police facilities and industrial locations become part of a tense urban pursuit, while the story’s future-war material is revealed through Kyle Reese’s explanations.
The film’s premise is sometimes confused with the later Terminator sequels, which expand the story to other locations and timelines. The original 1984 film establishes Los Angeles as Sarah’s home before the chase begins.