the sources "The Terminator" 1984 borrowed from

[Kegg]

Harry Harrison's War With The Robots anthology predates Dune by three years, and the stories in it predate Dune by up to nine years...

And there are older ones than that, mainly non-English stories, though.

Karl Capek's Rossum's Universal Robots, aka the Czech play that invented the term 'robot' to refer to an artifical being, has a robot revolution that kills off the human population.

If one is simply looking for precedents rather than influences, then it's definitely one of those.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Was The Living Daylights reference intentional? It's always made me think of the story (I read it at a very young age so even though a lot of the ideas in it had been done to death even by that point elsewhere it got me at just the right time to be genuinely surprising and has always been a favourite) I just assumed it was a coincidence.

It's way too specific to be coincidental, IMO

There was a reference to a PKD story in a James Bond film?

 

[Rarewolf]

There's a 1972 Doctor Who story said to have a few similarities as well - Day Of The Daleks has freedom fighters come back in time to prevent a world war by assassinating a politician blamed for starting it; but it's their bomb that would be the real cause, except the paradox is broken.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Was The Living Daylights reference intentional? It's always made me think of the story (I read it at a very young age so even though a lot of the ideas in it had been done to death even by that point elsewhere it got me at just the right time to be genuinely surprising and has always been a favourite) I just assumed it was a coincidence.

It's way too specific to be coincidental, IMO

There was a reference to a PKD story in a James Bond film?

Yep, a mention of a female assassin skilled in child impersonation, who uses an explosive teddy bear for the kill - exactly what the latest variety of killer droid at the end of Second Variety is.

 

[JRoss]

The unedited interview written by Ellison's friends. If they don't have it on tape, it isn't hard evidence.

 

[Harvey]

It was enough to get Ellison a cash settlement and a screen credit. That makes it rather hard to dismiss.

 

[JRoss]

^I understand that, Harvey, but at the same time he got a settlement because Orion was unwilling to put up the cash for a defense, rather than a judgement in his favor from a trial. Ellison maintains that he received almost no cash, while the highest estimate of his take from the suit is $400,000. If any studio thought that they could get away with such a low payment they would settle immediately. Something about the whole setup has always seemed fishy to me.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

You don't pay for a lawsuit that you're sure you're going to lose. You cut your losses and settle.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It was enough to get Ellison a cash settlement and a screen credit. That makes it rather hard to dismiss.

This is absolutely correct. People speculate a lot about details they know nothing about - such as the size of the settlement - rather than accept the central facts of the case and their clear implications.

When your writer/director goes shooting his mouth off about ripping off a TV show in front of witnesses who can be called in court, you've got a problem.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

The unedited interview written by Ellison's friends. If they don't have it on tape, it isn't hard evidence.

I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Are you saying Starlog Magazine is made up of Ellison's friends? If that's true, can you provide some proof? Because that's where the interview with Cameron was published in edited form and where the unedited interview given to Ellison came from.

As said, it was enough of a smoking gun to make the lawyers for Orion decide to settle and give him a credit on the spot, so it must have meant something significant.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Besides that, what motivation would Tracy Torme have had to make up such an accusation and run to Ellison with it? Some secret grudge against Cameron?

 

[inflatabledalek]

In a less litigations possible homage, does the "There's a storm coming" ending remind anyone else of the end of the Holmes story His Last Bow?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Besides that, what motivation would Tracy Torme have had to make up such an accusation and run to Ellison with it? Some secret grudge against Cameron?

Well, that's what's confusing me about JRoss' responses to my posts. He keeps saying something about "Ellison's friends," which I assumed was referring to the Cameron comment mentioned by Tracy Torme, but the Starlog Magazine thing I posted about was an entirely different incident that as far as I know had nothing to do with Ellison's friends, so I don't get what relevance his response has to what I'm posting. I wish he would make himself more clear if he's insinuating something fraudulent happened.

 

[Thestral]

I wonder if the people who keep trying to dismiss Ellison's influence on The Terminator keep doing so out of some misguided idea that people are saying it makes The Terminator a lesser work?

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I wonder if the people who keep trying to dismiss Ellison's influence on The Terminator keep doing so out of some misguided idea that people are saying it makes The Terminator a lesser work?

I think it's more that they personally dislike Ellison and don't want to see him getting credit for anything.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

ETA: ^^^ Yeah, that too.

I wonder if the people who keep trying to dismiss Ellison's influence on The Terminator keep doing so out of some misguided idea that people are saying it makes The Terminator a lesser work?

Agreed. I personally don't have a problem with Cameron and Terminator is one of my favorite movies, so it's nothing like that for me. I also think it's perfectly natural and that there's nothing wrong with being inspired by someone else's work. But, you know, throw them a bone and give them an acknowledgement in the credits if that's the case. That's all Ellison was initially asking for before Cameron/Hurd tried to cover up what they said. Obviously the vast majority of Terminator's story came from Cameron's own thoughts and hard work, and having a little inspirational assistance doesn't take away from his achievement in the slightest.