[andrewingram]

My take on Terminator is that the portrayal of a bleak late 80s / early 90s LA was a key component of what made the first two movies work. Bringing the Terminator antagonist into a setting in which there's already very little optimism about the future was a key part of the vibe. Subsequent movies have generally taken place in slightly brighter versions of the world, and have never felt right.

[cm2012]

In real life by the 80s, crime had been rising steadily every decade since the 50s in the US to a murder high that is 10x today's. The world really is different today.