Hasta la vista, baby became a world-famous catchphrase when it was used in the 1991 film Terminator 2, which was written by James Cameron and William Wisher Jr. The phrase features in an exchange between the film's characters John Connor (Edward Furlong) and the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger):
John Connor: No, no, no, no. You gotta listen to the way people talk. You don't say "affirmative," or some shit like that. You say "no problemo." And if someone comes on to you with an attitude you say "eat me." And if you want to shine them on it's "hasta la vista, baby."
The Terminator: Hasta la vista, baby.
John Connor: Yeah but later, dickwad. And if someone gets upset you say, "chill out"! Or you can do combinations.
The Terminator: Chill out, dickwad.
John Connor: Great! See, you're getting it!
The Terminator: No problemo.
The Terminator says the phrase again prior to shattering the frozen T-1000 with a gunshot:
The Terminator: Hasta la vista, baby.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as Terminator from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
The bolded line is ranked #76 in the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema.