A robot from the year 2029, transported through time to 1984 Los Angeles on a mission of death. In the not-too-distant-future, our ever advancing technology has resulted in a nuts-and-bolts revolution. The machines are now in power. Our former slaves are now our masters. The only threat to their world domination comes in the form of rebel leader John Connor, unseen freedom fighter and keeper of the human spirit who stirs the people into fighting back. At the brink of defeat, the machines are forced to play their ace in the hole...and a wicked ace it is. Using time displacement equipment, they send an indestructible cyborg, a robot clothed in human tissue, into the past to murder Connor's mother, Sarah, before he can be conceived! Learning of this plot, Connor sends a warrior of his own, Kyle Reese, after the Terminator in the hope of saving Sarah and assuring a future for mankind.