Action-Adventure Terminator: Dark Fate

[Zantera]

I don't want to judge T6 yet because we only have a trailer (which I thought was meh) so I'll still give it a fair chance when it comes out. But one thing I thought about is...

Imagine if they gave a good indie director ~10 million dollars in budget and said "make a Terminator movie". Part of me feels this would have almost guaranteed been a better movie than the ~150-200 million dollar Terminator movies we've been getting lately. Instead of getting insane CGI spectacle scenes that looks like cutscenes from Playstation 3 we would be getting more oldschool tricks, practical effects and focus more on "show, not tell".

The first two movies were so great because they felt so practical. T1 was so simple and charming and executed so well. T2 had a big budget but the action setpieces were so damn fantastic and memorable that they still hold up insanely well. I think about the chase scene early on with John on his dirtbike and the T1000 in the truck with Arnie arriving on his bike. That whole sequence felt so real and practical and I've seen videos of how it was filmed and you can tell in the movie when you see it that they went through a lot of hassle to film that and get it right, and thats why it's so great. I imagine if they tried to film that sequence today, it would have been 95% green screen and CGI and it would have looked and felt awful. But then you watch T2 and every time they ram each other or slam into things you can feel the weight of it.

 

[terry78]

The Terminator started out as kind of a scifi horror, but now it's become associated with big budget spectacle. People would accuse them of cheaping out if they did that.

 

[3rdstone]

The first two movies were so great because they felt so practical. T1 was so simple and charming and executed so well. T2 had a big budget but the action setpieces were so damn fantastic and memorable that they still hold up insanely well. I think about the chase scene early on with John on his dirtbike and the T1000 in the truck with Arnie arriving on his bike. That whole sequence felt so real and practical and I've seen videos of how it was filmed and you can tell in the movie when you see it that they went through a lot of hassle to film that and get it right, and thats why it's so great. I imagine if they tried to film that sequence today, it would have been 95% green screen and CGI and it would have looked and felt awful. But then you watch T2 and every time they ram each other or slam into things you can feel the weight of it.

Yeah, the scenes with the motorbikes were truly great. The choices they made with mixing contemporary state of the art CGI for those outlandish transformations of the terminator etc, and spectacular practical action stunts was such a great combination that blowed us away at the cinema back then.

And unfortunately I think you're right about the bolded part.

The Terminator started out as kind of a scifi horror, but now it's become associated with big budget spectacle. People would accuse them of cheaping out if they did that.

Too bad, but you're probably right as well.

 

[OutOfBoose]

 

[MadVillainy]

I'm so gotdamn tired of that line...

 

[Lily Adler]

I'm so gotdamn tired of that line...

That and "come with me if you want to live."

 

[terry78]

The ****ing Dora the explorer movie even uses it. Current pop culture like a mother****er.

 

[Hunter Rider]

It's part of making a big budget blockbuster. Investors are interested in franchises.

The thing was you used to able to have a franchise without each movie connecting one overarching storyline, just individual stories with the characters on a new adventure/case/mission etc......in each movie.

 

[Zantera]

I wish there was some director out there who saw Fury Road and thought "hey this is amazing because a lot of it is practical". Fury Road was proof you can still make great action movies where you feel the impact of things smashing into each other. Cameron deserves a lot of credit for his work on the first two because I feel like he made the action sequences interesting with the setting as well.

What's really mission in the sequels after T2 is the tension as well. I don't feel a need for a new flashy terminator that can toast bread while it morphs into a bus with a rocket launcher on it. The T800 and T1000 were simple in their design and we got a lot of great scenes with characters trying to outrun them. Nothing fancy but it was exciting! When the T1000 goes to the mental asylum to kill Sarah Connor, that whole sequence was fairly nail biting. I wish we could get a movie that returns to the simplicity of the first 2 because they were pretty simplistic IMO and thats part of what made them so great.

 

[Mysteryman]

Mission Impossible Fallout was mostly practical.

 

[henzINNIT]

Imagine if they gave a good indie director ~10 million dollars in budget and said "make a Terminator movie". Part of me feels this would have almost guaranteed been a better movie than the ~150-200 million dollar Terminator movies we've been getting lately. Instead of getting insane CGI spectacle scenes that looks like cutscenes from Playstation 3 we would be getting more oldschool tricks, practical effects and focus more on "show, not tell".

A strong creative can make a killer Terminator film on a small budget. I've been hoping they'd go this road for years. A dated pick now, but District 9 cost $30m.

 

[MadVillainy]

A strong creative can make a killer Terminator film on a small budget. I've been hoping they'd go this road for years. A dated pick now, but District 9 cost $30m.

OT: I was just thinking the other day about Neill Blomkamp and District 9. I remember liking it a lot when it came out but I never saw it other than that one time. I remember everyone hailing it as a classic and how it'll be this huge thing for years to come.
But almost 10 years later, I barely hear anyone talking about it. I still think people like it, but the way people were acting 10 years ago I thought it'd have more staying power

 

[Zantera]

I recall Cameron talking about when he wrote the original that he came up with the story of the Terminator and the backstory with Skynet and sending the machine back through time was kinda something last minute that wasn't really that important but was there for the story to make sense. And I think the problem with the sequels post-T2 is that the "lore" that was hinted at in the first two movies became a whole mythos on its own and they keep recycle and build off those things because a new Terminator movie has to have: 1. new bad terminator 2. skynet 3. judgment day 4. "no fate but what we make" 5. call backs (come with me if you want to live, i'll be back) so on so on.

If I tried imagine a new Terminator movie made as a lo-fi cheap indie movie, you could do something great without having to shove those elements in. I don't know if anyone here saw the movie Upgrade but I feel like the tone of that movie and something about it just gave me a few Terminator feels. You could even M Night Shyamalan it and make a movie where a protagonist is stalked by a seemingly unkillable man and you get the twist in the final 10 mins when the man gets his face burnt off that it's a terminator. Might be hard with how things work today with branding and name recognition, or the title of the movie, but whatever. I'd take a low budget Terminator movie where big parts of the movie are tension filled chases with a terminator walking slowly through dark halls chasing a character who fears for their life. Nowadays everything has to be so high paced and crazy and overblown, I enjoyed the movie It Follows because it showed how scary something chasing you slowly could be. Something that doesn't give up and it keeps coming.

Oh well I'm just rambling. I hope Dark Fate ends up being good. I feel we're all skeptical after the trailer, which wasn't very good, but I still hope this has something the last 3 movies didn't.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Has anyone ever asked Cameron if he stands by his praise of Genisys?

They did, but those people are no longer 'with us'.

 

[henzINNIT]

OT: I was just thinking the other day about Neill Blomkamp and District 9. I remember liking it a lot when it came out but I never saw it other than that one time. I remember everyone hailing it as a classic and how it'll be this huge thing for years to come.
But almost 10 years later, I barely hear anyone talking about it. I still think people like it, but the way people were acting 10 years ago I thought it'd have more staying power

Yeah I know what you mean. It felt like a much bigger deal at the time. I remember thinking how much more impactful it felt than Avatar did for a fraction of the budget. If you'd have asked me then I'd probably be quite surprised there's not even much talk of a sequel these days.
I think it has a lot to do with Blomkamp's career since tbh. He seems more famous recently for the things he couldn't make (Halo/Alien 5) rather than anything he's done.

 

[MadVillainy]

Yeah I know what you mean. It felt like a much bigger deal at the time. I remember thinking how much more impactful it felt than Avatar did for a fraction of the budget. If you'd have asked me then I'd probably be quite surprised there's not even much talk of a sequel these days.
I think it has a lot to do with Blomkamp's career since tbh. He seems more famous recently for the things he couldn't make (Halo/Alien 5) rather than anything he's done.

Yeah I think that's what it is too. Elysium put me to sleep and I heard Chappie was dreadful.
Real shame because I for sure thought Blomkamp and Duncan Jones would really push sci-fi forward

 

[MaceB]

T2 was a special movie... no doubt about it. It still holds up, and 50 years from now, it'll hold up then too. T2 was so good, that it gave us a closed story, totally satisfying in itself. It doesn't need sequels. In fact... to make sequels is actually to cheapen T2.

At this point, they should full on remake the series if they want a franchise so bad. Get Arnold out of there. He's great, but it's just past the point of ridiculous now. We're in this sorry state where we're deleting the old movies we don't like, and assuming multiple dimensions to make it all stick together... it's enough.

I hope this movie does well, truly. But if this one doesn't recreate the lightning in the bottle that is T2, then it's time they finally stop. 5 or 6 efforts or whatever... is enough.

 

[Pennywise]

Exclusive: ‘Dark Fate’ Details Reveal Big Changes To Terminator Universe

Spoiler

According to multiple sources, Skydance held a test screening for Dark Fatethis week and the reactions were very positive. Spoilers ahead!

Heroic Hollywood has learned that in Terminator: Dark Fate, Skynet is no more. Legion has become the new Skynet in an alternate future timeline post Terminator 2. Legion sends a Terminator to kill John Connor in 1998 and in his place a new savior rises in the future — Dani. So, an augmented human called Grace is sent to protect Dani and Sarah Connor joins in on the fight to help protect the child.

Seems plausible.

 

[Alien Anal]

I recall Cameron talking about when he wrote the original that he came up with the story of the Terminator and the backstory with Skynet and sending the machine back through time was kinda something last minute that wasn't really that important but was there for the story to make sense. And I think the problem with the sequels post-T2 is that the "lore" that was hinted at in the first two movies became a whole mythos on its own and they keep recycle and build off those things because a new Terminator movie has to have: 1. new bad terminator 2. skynet 3. judgment day 4. "no fate but what we make" 5. call backs (come with me if you want to live, i'll be back) so on so on.

If I tried imagine a new Terminator movie made as a lo-fi cheap indie movie, you could do something great without having to shove those elements in. I don't know if anyone here saw the movie Upgrade but I feel like the tone of that movie and something about it just gave me a few Terminator feels. You could even M Night Shyamalan it and make a movie where a protagonist is stalked by a seemingly unkillable man and you get the twist in the final 10 mins when the man gets his face burnt off that it's a terminator. Might be hard with how things work today with branding and name recognition, or the title of the movie, but whatever. I'd take a low budget Terminator movie where big parts of the movie are tension filled chases with a terminator walking slowly through dark halls chasing a character who fears for their life. Nowadays everything has to be so high paced and crazy and overblown, I enjoyed the movie It Follows because it showed how scary something chasing you slowly could be. Something that doesn't give up and it keeps coming.

Oh well I'm just rambling. I hope Dark Fate ends up being good. I feel we're all skeptical after the trailer, which wasn't very good, but I still hope this has something the last 3 movies didn't.

Totaly. Have you seen The Guest? That also is another film that is basically terminator minus the future war stuff. I like to consider The Guest as T1 and It Follows as T2 and both star Mica Monroe.

 

[Sithborg]

Any sequel is extraneous until it is not.

SCC said that there is potential for further stories.

 

[uirate]

Exclusive: ‘Dark Fate’ Details Reveal Big Changes To Terminator Universe

Spoiler

According to multiple sources, Skydance held a test screening for Dark Fatethis week and the reactions were very positive. Spoilers ahead!

Heroic Hollywood has learned that in Terminator: Dark Fate, Skynet is no more. Legion has become the new Skynet in an alternate future timeline post Terminator 2. Legion sends a Terminator to kill John Connor in 1998 and in his place a new savior rises in the future — Dani. So, an augmented human called Grace is sent to protect Dani and Sarah Connor joins in on the fight to help protect the child.

Seems plausible.

Pretty sure they've misinterpreted the spoiler. The original leakers say otherwise on this

 

[samsnee]

Exclusive: ‘Dark Fate’ Details Reveal Big Changes To Terminator Universe

Spoiler

According to multiple sources, Skydance held a test screening for Dark Fatethis week and the reactions were very positive. Spoilers ahead!

Heroic Hollywood has learned that in Terminator: Dark Fate, Skynet is no more. Legion has become the new Skynet in an alternate future timeline post Terminator 2. Legion sends a Terminator to kill John Connor in 1998 and in his place a new savior rises in the future — Dani. So, an augmented human called Grace is sent to protect Dani and Sarah Connor joins in on the fight to help protect the child.

Seems plausible.

You can slap a new name and coat of paint on it, but it still sounds like the same movie as all the others.

 

[Karelia]

Just curious, does Dark Fate connect to Genisys any or no? I did not watch that one.

I've always preferred the first Terminator film over the second one.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Yes it does. It also connects to There Will Be Blood that apparently will be explained through a post credits sequence.

 

[henzINNIT]

Yeah I think that's what it is too. Elysium put me to sleep and I heard Chappie was dreadful.
Real shame because I for sure thought Blomkamp and Duncan Jones would really push sci-fi forward

I thought Elysium was okay. Chappie was awful. He still has a good eye for visuals, rooting for a return to form one day.
Yeah Jones sunk down a similar rabbit hole too. Miller may well be following suit.