15 Terrible Mistakes That Almost Ruined Terminator For Everyone

The Terminator franchise might not quite be a box office juggernaut on the level of, say, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's impossible to deny the iconic impact the series has had over the last 30 years, especially the first two movies directed by James Cameron. The latter two movies never managed to live up to the first two, but the series has always been a financial success, hence why a fifth movie, with the horrible title Terminator: Genisys, recently wrapped production and is due for release next year. Though the series made Arnold Schwarzenegger a mega-star overnight and kick-started James Cameron's extremely successful career, the franchise has had its share of ups and downs over the years, be it the painfully low budget of the original movie, or the unfortunate creative license the third and fourth movie took with what came before. As you might notice, Terminator 2 doesn't show up in our list because, well, it's pretty damn perfect. These 15 crucial errors in judgement threatened to derail their respective movies and the franchise as a whole, but of course, the series has endured, though we'll probably have a few more complaints to add to the list once Genisys is out in the wild next summer.

15. Nick Stahl Replaces Edward Furlong As John Connor (Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines)

One of the most successful aspects of Terminator 2 was the chemistry between young future resistance leader John Connor (Edward Furlong) and the T-800 (Schwarzenegger), so when Terminator 3 was finally announced, it was presumed that a now-adult Furlong would be returning to reprise his role. However, the actor's well-documented substance abuse problems resulted in him being recast with Nick Stahl, a talented actor who nevertheless just...isn't Furlong. Despite Stahl doing a fine job as Connor, the switch to a new actor was rather jarring considering Stahl's utter lack of resemblance to Furlong, and the fact that fans were so desperate to see an older Furlong interacting with Arnie once again. The role was of course Furlong's to lose, so he has nobody to blame but himself, but one can only imagine that the film would have been all the better had it built on the relationship between the two actors from the previous film.