Schwarzenegger also resisted playing the machine as a conventional showy villain. The Terminator does not celebrate its victories or explain its motives. Even the lines that later became famous are delivered with little emotional emphasis. “I’ll be back” became one of cinema’s most recognizable lines; AFI later placed it among its celebrated American movie quotations. (AFI Catalog)
His accent also worked differently in this role. In a conventional American soldier part, Schwarzenegger’s Austrian voice might have required explanation. As the Terminator, it made the character sound unlike everyone around it. A quality that could have distracted from Kyle Reese helped separate the cyborg from ordinary people.
The lunch had therefore inverted the original concerns. Schwarzenegger’s physique made him wrong for Reese but formidable as the Terminator. His accent complicated the human hero but strengthened the machine’s otherness. His worry about having little dialogue became an advantage because silence made the character harder to humanize.
The film opened in the United States on October 26, 1984. AFI records a release in 1,012 theaters and about $9.8 million in ticket sales during its first ten days. By February 1985, reported receipts were around $40 million. For a production made for roughly $6.5 million, the result was substantial and helped establish Cameron as a filmmaker capable of delivering ambitious science fiction with limited resources. (AFI Catalog)
Schwarzenegger’s career changed with it. Conan had already made him famous, but The Terminator created a screen identity that became inseparable from him. His imposing body, unusual voice, controlled movement, and deadpan delivery became qualities filmmakers could build around rather than obstacles they needed to hide.