In 2029, machines control the world, bent on the extermination of mankind, and they have sent back someone from the future to May 12, 1984. This mysterious musclebound man begins to hunt all of the Sarah Connors in the phone book, successfully killing two of the three listed. When he attempts to kill the last, he is stopped by another time traveler, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), sent back to protect her. While hiding in a parking garage, he explains to her that the man after her is actually a Terminator, a machine and assassin. These Terminators were invented by Skynet, an artificially intelligent computer that, in the near future, takes over all military hardware and launches a nuclear war against humanity. John Connor, Sarah's son, leads a human resistance against the machines. In a last ditch effort, Skynet sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah before John is born, preventing the resistance from ever being founded, allowing the machines to win by default. John sends Reese back in time to protect her, allowing him to be born. 
The Terminator feels no pain and will stop at nothing to accomplish its mission. Time travel can only send living tissue back, preventing Reese from bringing any advanced weaponry, and 20th century small arms are not enough to destroy the Terminator's hard metal skeleton. With its disguise of real living tissue over the metal, it is indistinguishable from normal humans, so no one will believe Reese's story.
After finishing his story, they are attacked by the Terminator again, resulting in a chase that leads to their arrest. At the West Highland Police Station, Sarah is looked after by Lieutenant Traxler (Paul Winfield) and Detective Vukovich (Lance Henriksen) while Reese is questioned by a criminal psychologist, Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen). He concludes that Reese's story is a delusion, constructed in a such a way that it requires no evidence, preventing anyone from refuting it.
The Terminator arrives at the police station, uttering his catch phrase "I'll be back", before going on a rampage through the building, killing everyone it sees, including 17 police officers[1]. Reese manages to escape and rescue Sarah. They hide out in a motel, where Reese makes pipe bombs, teaching Sarah how to make the explosive from household supplies. Sarah asks Reese if she measures up to the stories about her and if he's ever been in love. While replying no to both questions, he confesses that he is in love with her. At first, Reese thinks he has made a fool of himself, but Sarah feels the same way, and they make love.
Later that night, the Terminator tracks them down and shoots Reese, wounding him. Sarah manages to knock the Terminator off its motorcycle, running over it. The Terminator commandeers a tanker truck and drives it at them. They use one of their last bombs to blow the truck, seeing the Terminator collapse in a burnt heap.
They believe that it has been destroyed, but its bare metal skeleton is still functional and pursues them into a factory. In the ensuing battle, Reese jams a pipe bomb into the Terminator's abdomen, blowing its legs off, but also killing himself. The Terminator, still partially functional, drags itself by its hands to pursue Sarah, until she finally crushes it in a hydraulic press, destroying it.
The end of the film shows Sarah traveling in Mexico, several months pregnant. She records audio tapes which she intends to play to the child, John, at some point in his life. She reveals that Reese is John's father, conceiving him in their one night at the motel. While Sarah's gas tank is being filled, a young Mexican boy takes a picture of her, the same picture John will give to Reese in the future. Then Sarah pulls out of the gas station and drives into the distance where storms are approaching over the mountains. Thus the end credits start to roll as her jeep disappears.
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