Great Scott! I’ll be back!
What connects a murderous cyborg, a teenage skateboarder and a time-travelling DeLorean?
The answer is 26 October — a date linking two of cinema’s greatest science-fiction adventures.
26 October 1984 — The Terminator
James Cameron’s The Terminator arrives in American cinemas, introducing Arnold Schwarzenegger as an almost indestructible cyborg sent backwards through time.
Its mission? Kill Sarah Connor before she can give birth to John Connor, the future leader of humanity’s resistance against the machines.
The year is 1984. The enemy comes from 2029. The future of humanity hangs in the balance.
26 October 1985 — Back to the Future
Exactly one year later, in the fictional world of Hill Valley, Doc Brown unveils his extraordinary invention: a time machine built from a DeLorean.
At precisely 1:20 am, his dog Einstein becomes the world’s first time traveller, jumping one minute into the future.
Shortly afterwards, Marty McFly escapes danger in the DeLorean. At 88 mph, he inadvertently travels thirty years backwards, arriving on 5 November 1955.
Two films. One date. Two very different futures.
Both stories explore the consequences of travelling through time.
In The Terminator, a machine deliberately travels into the past to prevent a future from happening.
In Back to the Future, a teenager accidentally changes the past and threatens his own existence.
One is a terrifying struggle for humanity’s survival. The other is a comedy adventure about family, destiny and growing up.
And the wonderful coincidence? The Terminator’s real-world release date and Back to the Future’s fictional time-travel date are both 26 October, exactly one year apart.
That’s today’s Link Salad: a connection between cinema history and cinematic fiction.
Now imagine the Terminator arriving in Hill Valley. Could Marty reach 88 mph before the machine caught him?