What phrase does the Terminator famously say in James Cameron’s The Terminator?

In James Cameron’s The Terminator, the machine famously says, “I’ll be back.”

The line is spoken by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator during a scene at a police station. After being told that he cannot enter to see Sarah Connor, the character calmly promises to return and then crashes a car through the building. The moment became one of the film’s most recognizable scenes.

“I’ll be back” became closely associated with Schwarzenegger and was repeatedly referenced in later films, television, advertising, and popular culture. It is one of the clearest examples of a short line becoming a defining part of a movie character’s identity.

A frequent mix-up is assigning “Hasta la vista, baby” to the first Terminator film. That phrase belongs prominently to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, not the original 1984 movie. The two lines are both linked to Schwarzenegger’s machine character but come from different films.