Which James Cameron film was the first to use the phrase “I’ll be back”?

The Terminator was the first James Cameron film to use the phrase “I’ll be back.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger says the line as the Terminator while speaking to a police-desk officer who refuses to let him enter the station. The brief sentence became one of the most recognizable quotations in film history and became strongly associated with Schwarzenegger’s screen persona.

The phrase appears in the 1984 film, before related variations were used in later Terminator movies and other Schwarzenegger performances. It is often remembered as a promise made immediately before a dramatic return, although the original scene is notably understated.

People sometimes attribute the quotation to Terminator 2: Judgment Day because that sequel also contains memorable callbacks to the first film. However, the line’s original appearance is in Cameron’s first Terminator movie, where the character is pursuing Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese.