Action-Adventure Terminator: Dark Fate

[Tg11]

If Dani is supposed to be the new target...the new leader of the resistance then why doesn't Legion just go after her when she is a child? Or why not go after her parents to stop her from ever being born?

That's the thing that always grinded my gears about Skynet...when it came to the Connors. If Skynet was productive, they would have went after Sarah when she was a little girl or they would have gone after her parents to ever stop her from being born because by doing that you wipe her and John both from existence.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

Watching this tomorrow, can't wait.

 

[HopeOfTheFuture]

That's the thing that always grinded my gears about Skynet...when it came to the Connors. If Skynet was productive, they would have went after Sarah when she was a little girl or they would have gone after her parents to ever stop her from being born because by doing that you wipe her and John both from existence.

This was explained in T1. To quote Kyle:
Most of the records were lost in the war. Skynet knew almost nothing about Connor's mother. Her full name, where she lived. They just knew the city. The Terminator was just being systematic.

That is why they didn't got after Sarah as a child. They only knew about her and in which place she lived in 1984.

 

[Tg11]

With Legion becoming the new Skynet then Legion of course would have more models just like Rev 9...so if Rev 9 is basically the new standard model or Revs are the new Terminator models in this alternate future, then there's no need for T-800, T-1000, T-X or 101 models anymore

 

[Tg11]

I mean as far as sequels go...Terminator Dark Fate is pretty much better than Genisys and that is saying a lot. Hell, it is better than Salvation and T3. However, nothing beats T2. I will say I was skeptical of Dark Fate because of the trailers but I haven't watched it yet. I have read plot leaks more or less but I'm still gonna watch it regardless. But even though it is the same retread when it comes to story parallels with Sarah Connor and Dani Ramos, they more or less make it work. However, Arnie his purpose in this film I thought was very interesting. A Terminator who finishes his objective and then has no purpose for being but then tries to find a purpose afterwards...that's something you don't get in Terminator films. But the strength of the film is not only Grace and even Dani herself but it is the villain, Rev 9. He more or less makes Dark Fate watchable. If I had to compare Luna to any Terminator villain, it would be Robert Patrick's T-1000 in terms of intensity and menace. However, he can also be compared to Loken's TX as well.

 

[Schlosser85]

You said you haven’t watched it yet but then you’re reviewing it and people’s performances and such, so I’m a little confused.

 

[DJD1983]

It is a good thing that this franchise deals with time travel. Because knowing Hollywood this movie could out right flop but they will do another one regardless. It wont be hard having someone go back in time to the T2 timeline & let OG Judgment Day happen. They will say some bull**** that with Legion things get worse & NOW Dani knows about OG Judgment Day & Skynet. She can NOW use that knowledge to send someone back further than protecting Young Dani & LET OG Judgment Day happen / save John & stop Legion from being a thing. Hollywood is very predictable

 

[Schlosser85]

If Dani is supposed to be the new target...the new leader of the resistance then why doesn't Legion just go after her when she is a child? Or why not go after her parents to stop her from ever being born?

That's the thing that always grinded my gears about Skynet...when it came to the Connors. If Skynet was productive, they would have went after Sarah when she was a little girl or they would have gone after her parents to ever stop her from being born because by doing that you wipe her and John both from existence.

In Salvation wasn’t Skynet after Kyle Reese too because they found out somehow that he fathered John? Or were they just after him because he was close with the adult John?

 

[Tg11]

In Salvation wasn’t Skynet after Kyle Reese too because they found out somehow that he fathered John? Or were they just after him because he was close with the adult John?

Obviously Skynet figured out Kyle was John's father hence why they targeted him and with Dani...by targeting her mother or her father, then well it basically makes Dani obsolete

 

[Zantera]

Correct me if i'm wrong but I wanna say there was some explanation that Skynet couldn't just send back a Terminator to whenever in time because the time travel would only go back as many years - though this explanation is something i'm not sure if i heard from one of the movies or if i dreamt it up, it could all just be in my head.

From just a movie perspective the idea of sending back a Terminator even further to kill X Connor to prevent the future birth of Sarah/John could make for some different flavor and you could have a movie set during WW1 or WW2 or even go back further like during the wild west or something. There are creative elements there and you could have fun with certain elements. The two good upsides I can think of other than the movie having a completely different setting would be 1. the terminator would be more menacing because there's less powerful weapons back then so fighting it would be a lot harder, 2. even if you send a protector back, you could still get some freshness with a Connor as a main character who isn't already clued into what's going on. The downside for me would be that we're basically re-telling the same story just changing the packaging.

It could have been interesting if John Connor grew up to be just a normal guy because of the pressure of knowing who he would become and the trauma from T2. (Though this might contradict the rules of the time travel which is sort of a loop i guess) I still enjoyed Dark Fate but I feel like at this point just let this franchise rest for 5-10 years and then try a back-to-basics reboot without any of the actors from the other movies. A low-budget Terminator made by Adam Wingard who made The Guest or Leigh Whannell who made Upgrade or something like that. Keep it a bit more grounded, more practical effects less CGI explosions. Maybe bring back the T-800 as the villain and just a human sent back as the protector. No more crazy new Terminator robots.

 

[DJD1983]

Correct me if i'm wrong but I wanna say there was some explanation that Skynet couldn't just send back a Terminator to whenever in time because the time travel would only go back as many years - though this explanation is something i'm not sure if i heard from one of the movies or if i dreamt it up, it could all just be in my head.

From just a movie perspective the idea of sending back a Terminator even further to kill X Connor to prevent the future birth of Sarah/John could make for some different flavor and you could have a movie set during WW1 or WW2 or even go back further like during the wild west or something. There are creative elements there and you could have fun with certain elements. The two good upsides I can think of other than the movie having a completely different setting would be 1. the terminator would be more menacing because there's less powerful weapons back then so fighting it would be a lot harder, 2. even if you send a protector back, you could still get some freshness with a Connor as a main character who isn't already clued into what's going on. The downside for me would be that we're basically re-telling the same story just changing the packaging.

It could have been interesting if John Connor grew up to be just a normal guy because of the pressure of knowing who he would become and the trauma from T2. (Though this might contradict the rules of the time travel which is sort of a loop i guess) I still enjoyed Dark Fate but I feel like at this point just let this franchise rest for 5-10 years and then try a back-to-basics reboot without any of the actors from the other movies. A low-budget Terminator made by Adam Wingard who made The Guest or Leigh Whannell who made Upgrade or something like that. Keep it a bit more grounded, more practical effects less CGI explosions. Maybe bring back the T-800 as the villain and just a human sent back as the protector. No more crazy new Terminator robots.

They won't wait 10 years they will just un do Legion & let Skynet happen & go back to the status quo lol

 

[Zantera]

They won't wait 10 years they will just un do Legion & let Skynet happen & go back to the status quo lol

Yeah, based on the decisions made for the franchise after T2 I strongly doubt it would happen.

 

[DJD1983]

Yeah, based on the decisions made for the franchise after T2 I strongly doubt it would happen.

Hey if Hollywood wants to keep putting out more flops or severe under performers good for them

 

[Zorro]

It's nice that Dark Fate did things better than T3-Genisys but just realized that there's nothing really new or innovative for the franchise besides the Rev-9 Terminator model!


The Future - Altered in T3 because of T2 as well and a female character was a focus/priority over John Connor.

Carl - A T-800 sent to the past in Genisys completed his mission and stayed in that time as his skin grew older and was named a human name like Pops.

Grace - Marcus in Salvation was a human that got cybernetically enhanced and also a badass type character with an attitude.

Action - An action spectacular movie like T3-Genisys and borrowed elements from not just other Terminator films but like from Mad Max: Fury Road and the Fast & Furious franchise

 

[Spider-Fan]

I am just kind of tired of the plot. Can we think of other plots other than machine goes to past to change future? There just is so little originality with this franchise. It frankly shows me how little range the series has for concepts.

 

[MadVillainy]

Well I'm glad that it's getting decent reviews. I'm still not that interested in seeing it. I'll probably wait until it hits streaming. Or maybe I'll use my Stubs A List. I actually haven't used it enough to make it worth it since I got it.

I am just kind of tired of the plot. Can we think of other plots other than machine goes to past to change future? There just is so little originality with this franchise. It frankly shows me how little range the series has for concepts.

I've said it a few times: Post Apocalyptic Future war was the way to go. They could've done a prequel/sequel trilogy set in the future war with John Connor as the lead. And you could maybe even do a TV show in that setting. Then call it a wrap on this franchise. Instead of letting it crawl and/or limp on

 

[Zorro]

Hate or like the sequels post T2, Dark Fate being a direct sequel to that while retconning the rest was a mistake if they were just going to do what they did here. Only Genisys should have been ignored and a sequel to Salvation could have worked if set 10-20 years after and finally doing a war film.

Salvation was set in 2017 I believe. A sequel could have been in 2029 like the first two films. Tweaked future but could still have John Connor as a hardened general and leader. Think what you want about how Salvation turned out but a sequel could have been salvaged with a new cast and crew or even same cast but new director and writers. Salvation ended with Marcus dying and John surviving, new director or writers could have John as a major role in a sequel. Salvation's problem was the story and not timeline setting!

I like Dark Fate's ending but personally, I think enjoyed T3 and Salvation's more. Can't remember the Genisys ending

 

[DJD1983]

If they do another one & do some more retconning & or ignore Dark Fate. Perhaps somehow include the Battle Across Time story line ? You know with John & a T800 actually heading into the future. Im not entirely sure how that would work though but could be an idea. That would be fun again seeing on a Big Screen

 

[Kane52630]

James Cameron Says ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ Editing Was a Bloodbath of Creative Differences

 

[Spider-Fan]

Sounds like he is disowning the movie and excusing disaster.

 

[TheVileOne]

Hate or like the sequels post T2, Dark Fate being a direct sequel to that while retconning the rest was a mistake if they were just going to do what they did here. Only Genisys should have been ignored and a sequel to Salvation could have worked if set 10-20 years after and finally doing a war film.

Salvation was set in 2017 I believe. A sequel could have been in 2029 like the first two films. Tweaked future but could still have John Connor as a hardened general and leader. Think what you want about how Salvation turned out but a sequel could have been salvaged with a new cast and crew or even same cast but new director and writers. Salvation ended with Marcus dying and John surviving, new director or writers could have John as a major role in a sequel. Salvation's problem was the story and not timeline setting!

I like Dark Fate's ending but personally, I think enjoyed T3 and Salvation's more. Can't remember the Genisys ending

I kind of agree. I always felt like the last place you could go was the Future War premise, and then Salvation sort of screwed the pooch with that.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

Great Linda interview.

 

[TheVileOne]

Well I'm glad that it's getting decent reviews. I'm still not that interested in seeing it. I'll probably wait until it hits streaming. Or maybe I'll use my Stubs A List. I actually haven't used it enough to make it worth it since I got it.

I've said it a few times: Post Apocalyptic Future war was the way to go. They could've done a prequel/sequel trilogy set in the future war with John Connor as the lead. And you could maybe even do a TV show in that setting. Then call it a wrap on this franchise. Instead of letting it crawl and/or limp on

Yup. I was genuinely excited about Salvation for a while. Unfortunately McG was ill equipped to handle that type of film.

I just feel like even this movie hasn't taken it out of limp status. I don't even get why Cameron sort of got involved.

 

[Willi Berg]

I saw the movie. Overall I liked it, but felt it could've been better. A main problem was the familiarity of the Terminator chase, no matter what new things they add around it. But I was impressed with the scale of the action. They stepped it up and it did feel like Cameron's influence created that. That's maybe partly why people are saying it's the best since T2- because there was something about the scale of the action that was the best since T2.

Arnie and Linda were good. There was something nice about seeing their characters. Nostalgia of course, and seeing them after so long added some poignancy. The new characters were ok. There wasn't much time to develop them. The movie had to service the old characters as well as the new characters. So you try to service both but then both sides get a bit shortchanged.

Spoiler

Dani and Grace had a good relationship, but I wanted more especially about Dani. Just little character things and more about her life and world. Grace was ok, kind of the cliched unemotional action hero. She was quite cold towards Sarah and that didn't shift much throughout the movie.

The opening scene with John Connor does put a lot to rest. It does leave it all behind to start something new. T1 and T2 are their own separate thing after that (even T3 and Salvation, if you want to include them.) So there's something sad about the true loss of John Connor after all that happened and all that Sarah did and sacrificed. And so there's something sad about Sarah here, which makes her more of an interesting character. Arnie has an interesting story too. Some of the scientific explanations as to how he helped her were a bit "Okay then..."

So the battles were big, though ultimately familiar. There's a lot of current issues about Mexico and immigration included, as well as women's rights, though not really greatly delved into. But just having Dani as a future leader is of course a big statement, since she is female and Mexican.

Afterwards I wasn't sure how I felt about it but then it did stay with me and I am glad I saw it.

 

[psylockolussus]

The movie was okay. The best thing about the film is the action sequences. I really liked the first chase scene. However, the acting was so so and a lot of dialogue didn't sound good. Dani was miscast, in my opinion and her story was just so generic, there's nothing really great about her to play such an important role.

Also, they are just repeating stuff again from the previous films. They've introduced new characters but the movie just lacks in originality.

the blonde girl was fierce though, she would have been awesome as Domino.