The Terminator (1984) filming locations
- Documented locations
- 41
- Year
- 1984
- Directed by
- James Cameron
815 South Fremont Avenue (South Pasadena)
South Pasadena, United States
This Carrows restaurant, at the intersection of Fremont Avenue and Mission Street, is now closed.
The scene : 11 min — Sarah Connor works as a waitress: we see her arrive by rolling onto the sidewalk for the last ordinary day of her life, then continuing her shift in the restaurant's dining room.
14329 Victory Boulevard (Van Nuys)
Los Angeles, United States
It was a real armory until 1985, when the building became a used car dealership. The façade has changed very little, including the numbers and the sign on the post.
The scene : 13 min — The Terminator comes shopping in this armory before shooting the seller played by Dick Miller. Right outside, he stops in a station wagon at a phone booth and flips through the directory in search of all the Sarah Connors in the city.
Miceli's (Hollywood)
Los Angeles, United States
Opened in 1949, Miceli's claims the title of the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood; the dining room has been remodeled since, with the bar being moved back and a staircase added.
The scene : 26 min — Left by her date, Sarah finds herself alone in this pizzeria, seated near the staircase, and it is there that she learns that a second Sarah Connor has just been murdered. The restaurant also lends its walls to the break room of Big Jeff's employees.
Griffith Observatory
Los Angeles, United States
Public observatory in Los Angeles inaugurated in 1935, on the southern slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. Designed by architect John C. Austin in Art Deco style, it is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
The scene : In the heart of the night, a lightning bolt rips through the esplanade of the observatory and the Terminator appears, naked, at the southeast corner of the building. He approaches the wall overlooking Los Angeles, then confronts three punks to take their clothes.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The alley adjacent to 214 West 7th Street serves as the opening shot for Kyle Reese's arrival: the camera glides from the street into the alley, even though Reese himself lands in another one, a block away. The same street corner reappears during the chase when a police officer has his car stolen by the Terminator.
316 West 7th Street (Downtown Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : In this alley, a gust of wind and an electrical discharge pull a homeless man from his stupor: Kyle Reese has just arrived from 2029. The police, alerted, almost immediately rush into the entrance of the alley.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : Reese cuts the barrel of his gun in the alley alongside 219 West 7th Street, and it is there again that he trains Sarah after the shootout at Tech Noir, with police and the Terminator on their tail. In front of the Haas Building, on 7th Street, the two fugitives manage to knock the Terminator off the hood of their car.
731 South Broadway (Downtown Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : Pursued by the police through the alleyways, Reese bursts through the service door at the rear of 731 South Broadway to sneak into the department store. He then exits through the same alley, racing down the fire escape.
445 South Broadway (Downtown Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
At the time of filming, the building housed a J.J. Newberry's store; it later accommodated a Fallas Paredes until its closure in 2020.
The scene : It is inside this Broadway shop that Reese escapes from the police, notably by playing with the escalators, before dressing up anew.
Los Angeles, United States
The house visible behind Arnold Schwarzenegger was demolished in 1998 to enlarge the neighboring parking lot of St Anne's Maternity Hospital, where the uniquely shaped streetlamp seen on screen still remains.
The scene : At the southeast corner of this intersection, the Terminator takes control of a station wagon.
Los Angeles, United States
These studios were called S&A Studios at the time of filming.
The scene : Some of the cutaway shots and inserts of the film were shot in these studios towards the end of the schedule.
14239 Gilmore Street (Van Nuys)
Los Angeles, United States
The house was demolished in 1986 to make way for an apartment building; several houses opposite, visible in the reverse shot, are still standing.
The scene : The Terminator goes to the first Sarah Connor on his list, a namesake he takes out without hesitation; the camera first sweeps over the neighborhood before stopping at the house.
Promenade Towers (Bunker Hill)
Los Angeles, United States
These residential towers of Bunker Hill were still under construction at the time of filming; the Promenade West faces them across Figueroa Street.
The scene : Kyle Reese emerges from his nightmare of the future war in front of this construction site, then starts a car by wiring the connections in front of the entrance to the building under construction.
11844 Hamlin Street (North Hollywood)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The interiors of apartment number 225 that Sarah shares with her roommate Ginger were filmed in this building in North Hollywood.
720 South Hill Street (Downtown Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
The facade has been remodeled several times since 1984; since 2020, the premises house the restaurant Gusto Green.
The scene : Knowing she is being followed, Sarah takes refuge at Tech Noir, a club supposed to open onto Pico Boulevard. It is there that the Terminator finds her and Reese saves her from a hail of bullets, before dragging her away with a "Come with me if you want to live."
712 South Hill Street (Downtown Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : Sarah exits the pizzeria at this address, then walks up Hill Street for a few meters until she reaches Tech Noir.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : Sarah descends South Hill Street feeling followed, and later, the Terminator drives up the street in a stolen police car, in pursuit of Sarah and Reese, crossing 7th Street.
420 South Lafayette Park Place (Westlake)
Los Angeles, United States
The building, today known as The 400 Condominiums, has changed very little since filming.
The scene : The Terminator arrives in front of Sarah's building just as the patrol watching him leaves. The camera follows him to the entrance, on the trail of the last Sarah Connor on his list.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (John Ferraro Building)
Los Angeles, United States
Modernist headquarters of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a glass building in Bunker Hill surrounded by water basins, completed in 1965. Designed by Albert C. Martin & Associates, it is designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
The scene : After the chase, Reese drives the car into the underground parking lot of the headquarters of the Department of Water and Power, through the southwest entrance near 1st Street. Hidden there, he reveals to Sarah what the Terminator is and what the future holds for her, before both of them exit the same way when the machine finds them.
7301 Santa Fe Avenue (Huntington Park)
Huntington Park, United States
The motel closed between 2013 and 2014 and was converted in 2016 into housing, the Tiki Apartments.
The scene : After hitchhiking, Reese and Sarah are dropped off at this dingy motel and take room 9. They make homemade bombs there, Reese recounts how he volunteered, and John Connor is conceived there. The Terminator eventually breaks down the door, and the chase resumes from the parking lot.
Panama Hotel (Downtown Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The Terminator hides in a room at the back of this hotel. Through the window, the sign of Tai Yick Toys can be seen on Winston Street as he heads back to Sarah's mother's cabin.
Los Angeles, United States
Road tunnel from 1924 connecting Hill Street to Figueroa, with its white tiled walls and reflections making it a highly sought-after filming location in Los Angeles.
The scene : Sarah maneuvers through the traffic of the 2nd Street tunnel while Reese lights homemade bombs and throws them at the Terminator, who dodges them on a motorcycle.
Los Angeles, United States
A wall once closed off the road at this spot; it was demolished to extend the street, and a difference in the color of the ceiling concrete still reveals its location.
The scene : At the end of the underground street, Sarah slams to a stop to avoid the collision; blinded by the shattered windshield, the Terminator is about to crash into a wall, just before the police arrive via the same route.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The chase leaves South Hope Street, which becomes 4th Street, plunging into the lower level of Grand Avenue.
Lower Grand Avenue (Los Angeles)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The underground street hosts a large part of the downtown chase; FilmOblivion also places the fall of the motorcycle Terminator there, followed by the theft of the truck that he takes afterward.
6000 South Boyle Avenue (Vernon)
Vernon, United States
The Bethlehem Steel plant in Vernon closed in 1982; the building and the entire factory were demolished in 1985, and the land has since been redeveloped.
The scene : The police station where Reese and Sarah are interrogated, before the Terminator assaults it, is an office building of Bethlehem Steel. The machine emerges from the back of the building and opens fire on them.
Vernon, United States
The Bethlehem Steel plant in Vernon, closed in 1982, was demolished in 1985.
The scene : The scenes of the future war, featuring Reese on patrol and the survivors' tunnel where a Terminator infiltrates, were filmed in the abandoned steel mill.
Old Los Angeles Zoo tunnel (Griffith Park)
Los Angeles, United States
The tunnel was removed in the second half of the 1980s, along with the section of road that connected the Merry Go Round Lot Two parking lot to Griffith Park Drive.
The scene : Reese and Sarah spend the night hidden in this duct, before emerging at dawn.
Burbank, United States
The scene : The futuristic war scenes with the Hunter Killer miniatures were filmed at this special effects company's premises, as well as the explosion of the tanker truck, which was shot in front of a model of the factory set up in the parking lot.
Santa Clarita, United States
The store has been demolished: only its foundation slab and a stone wall, which enclosed the neighboring drying area, remain on the site. The site also served for the episode of Beverly Hills 90210 where the gang goes camping in Yosemite.
The scene : In a cut scene, Sarah and Reese stop at this roadside café, where Sarah looks up Cyberdyne in the directory with the idea of destroying the company.
C. Erwin Piper Technical Center
Los Angeles, United States
Technical center of the city of Los Angeles with a rooftop helipad, one of the busiest in the United States.
The scene : The entire final scene in the truck takes place around this building: behind the wheel of a stolen semi-truck, the Terminator tracks Sarah and Reese along the ramp and sidewalks, until Reese's bomb ignites the truck. The two fugitives then slip into the factory through the Keller Street door, and a cut scene reveals, on the third level, that it was a Cyberdyne Systems factory.
13000 East Temple Avenue (City of Industry)
City of Industry, United States
The factory was occupied by the company Kern's of California at the time of filming; the building now houses several businesses.
The scene : Reduced to its endoskeleton, the Terminator chases Sarah into this factory, where she ultimately crushes it under a hydraulic press.
37202 90th Street East (Littlerock)
Littlerock, United States
The station, a Super Store 6, has been extensively renovated, even rebuilt, since 1984.
The scene : A few months later, Sarah, pregnant, stops at a gas station meant to be in Mexico, where she has her picture taken: it is this snapshot that will one day end up in Reese's hands.
Palmdale, United States
The scene : On this desert road, Sarah drives away towards mountains that will be added in matte painting.
Los Angeles, United States
Los Angeles City Hall, inaugurated in 1928; long the tallest building in the city and an iconic silhouette of the civic center.
The scene : IMDb links this address, that of the town hall, to a "headquarters" of the Terminator, without further details on the scene.
201 South Olive Street (Bunker Hill)
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : According to IMDb, this address in Bunker Hill served as an abandoned building in the film.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : IMDb lists this downtown address among the filming locations for various shots.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : IMDb mentions this downtown address as the location for various scenes in the film.
Los Angeles, United States
The scene : The car chase begins in front of 752 South Main Street, then passes by the Huntington Hotel, turns from 4th Street into Hill Street, runs alongside the Hotel Clark on 5th Street, and speeds north on Figueroa Street until reaching 1st Street.
Fontana, United States
The scene : Giggster claims that a good portion of the battle scenes in the film were shot in Fontana.
Cudahy, United States
The scene : The Cudahy LatLong table is among the filming locations of the film, without mentioning which scene was shot there.
Filming locations by city
- Filming locations in Los Angeles — 155 movies
- Filming locations in Burbank — 55 movies
Filmed at the same locations
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