The Terminator is a 1980s L.A. science-fiction film. It has all the necessary elements of the sub-genre: punks, policemen, chases down alleys, tracking shots through the cop shop, an obsession with guns. What raises it above the level of the ordinary is the script and the Bad Man, who gets star billing. The script is credited to James Cameron and Gale Ann Hurd, respectively director and producer. This is a little misleading, since the real source of the story is an old episode of The Outer Limits called ‘Soldier’, the story of an assassin sent back in time to kill someone and change the future. This was written by Harlan Ellison.