Why The Terminator’s Arm & Chip Recovery Scene Was Deleted

The Terminator producer Gale Ann Hurd explains why a key deleted scene featuring the recovery of the T-800’s arm and chip was cut from the movie. Released in 1984, James Cameron’s sci-fi/action classic introduced an iconic character in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cyborg assassin from the future. With the release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991, Cameron’s creation officially became a franchise, but as hardcore fans realize, the series was actually set up perfectly in a scene deleted from the original movie. In the excised near-ending moment, scientists from Cyberdyne Systems recover parts from the destroyed T-800, setting in motion the chain of events that will eventually lead to the future war between humanity and the machines.