Action-Adventure Terminator: Dark Fate

[Sawyer]

 

[Arnold Rimmer]

Just a reminder for those disgruntled with the post T2 stuff, Cameron gave us an out years ago.



We of course also have this:

 

[Spider-Fan]

He did give us an out. It was called T2

 

[Mysteryman]

Just a reminder for those disgruntled with the post T2 stuff, Cameron gave us an out years ago.



We of course also have this:

The alternate ending NEVER worked for me.

 

[Arnold Rimmer]

He did give us an out. It was called T2

That’s what’s I just used

 

[henzINNIT]

The alternate ending NEVER worked for me.

Yeah, I get the temptation to adopt this out of protest over the sequels, but this ending is naff. That old age make-up is awful too.

Is it good? I thought about picking it up.

It's a budget game. Don't expect a mind blowing gaming experience. As a Terminator experience though it is a lot of fun and really scratches that 'future war' itch the films never fully deliver on. Worth a play, especially if/when it is on offer.

 

[Spider-Fan]

That’s what’s I just used

No, I mean no alternate endings required. Just T2. Only ending we ever needed

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

Just a reminder for those disgruntled with the post T2 stuff, Cameron gave us an out years ago.

In my head canon, the true ending of the franchise.

 

[Drizzle]

I love how even with the idea of going as the T-800 as a possibility, the dad still opted to go as John.

 

[elgaz]

No, I mean no alternate endings required. Just T2. Only ending we ever needed

I concur, T2 ended it pretty perfectly tbh. I mean, you could theoretically have sequels going on forever and get into a whole rabbit hole of why Skynet doesn't just send 50 terminators back to kill John, or go back and kill Sarah's great great grandfather when he was a baby, etc. But assuming Skynet has limitations on what it can do with time travel, then the 2 original films pretty much tie up the story neatly with a big bow just the way they are and ends on an optimistic note that fate is not set in stone.

That optimistic note is what made the start of Dark Fate so hard to swallow. All that stuff in T2 about making our own fate, and then the events of that film are quickly and violently undone as a different Terminator ends up killing young John anyway somewhere else. Essentially stating that he can't escape his fate.

 

[Arnold Rimmer]

I concur, T2 ended it pretty perfectly tbh. I mean, you could theoretically have sequels going on forever and get into a whole rabbit hole of why Skynet doesn't just send 50 terminators back to kill John, or go back and kill Sarah's great great grandfather when he was a baby, etc. But assuming Skynet has limitations on what it can do with time travel, then the 2 original films pretty much tie up the story neatly with a big bow just the way they are and ends on an optimistic note that fate is not set in stone.

That optimistic note is what made the start of Dark Fate so hard to swallow. All that stuff in T2 about making our own fate, and then the events of that film are quickly and violently undone as a different Terminator ends up killing young John anyway somewhere else. Essentially stating that he can't escape his fate.

Funny you mention that. I remember a rumor for T5 that the plot at one point was going to be Arnold playing a Resistance member this time instead of a Terminator who's sent back to protect Sarah Conner's grandparents and face off against a new Terminator sent to kill them. The ensuing conflict would've then given Skynet the idea to model the T-800 off of Arnold's character (this was gonna be set pre original movie apparently). WAY better idea that what we actually got.

 

[Dave McFly]

that reminds me of a book called T2 Infiltrator where skynet sent back a human but with brain with computer stuff in it so she was way more 'human' than any past terminator. and while on the run from the law for well blowing up cyberdyne sarah and john are in south america and they meet an austrian former government agent who looks JUST like the model 101 apparently in the future skynet would use his likeness along with other similar people as the templates for the various series 800 terminators.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

In the original film, Kyle says Skynet knew almost nothing about Sarah other than her name and the city she lived in. Most of the records were lost during the war. That's why Arnie was killing the other Sarah Connor's before he got to the right one. Going back further and trying to kill her ancestors would have been futile.

 

[Black Narcissus]

The Terminator animated series was great. Something like that on live action would’ve been great.

 

[Kane52630]

My 4K copy for The Terminator came through and granted I only skimmed through it, it looks amazing.

I'm sure there's some AI f**kery going on for the smaller background details but it's an incredible transfer and the color grading is the same.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

I got the 4k steelbook of the original film and the transfer looks amazing.

Can't believe it's been 40 years. Still holds up. It's a masterpiece.

 

[Shinobi Shaw]

The Terminator is STILL the best movie in the entire franchise.

Not up for debate either.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

My 4K copy for The Terminator came through and granted I only skimmed through it, it looks amazing.

I'm sure there's some AI f**kery going on for the smaller background details but it's an incredible transfer and the color grading is the same.

View attachment 112438

I got the 4k steelbook of the original film and the transfer looks amazing.

Can't believe it's been 40 years. Still holds up. It's a masterpiece.

Got mine earlier in the week good news on the transfer. One of my favourite movies of all time

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Sawyer]

Oh ****!

 

[OnLeatherWings]

For me, the series ended at T2.

No shade if you like the films after, though. I know the series did in fact continue, but in my head, that's where it ended.

I think I just know when something is 'enough' for me and I've had all I need to, and Terminator hit that at two films.

I think if the ending to T2 hadn't been so definitive, I'd have been more open to T3+ (and if Cameron had directed).

 

[Zantera]

The ending of T3 wasn't that bad but the rest of the movie suffers from the recasting of John Connor, no Linda Hamilton and just overall feeling like a big budget B-movie. But yeah the first 2 are really the only ones you need.

 

[DyeLorean]

T2 is simply on another level. All sequels tried to top it but they couldn't. There are good parts in all of them, I think, but as a whole movie, none of them worked. If Dark Fate had been the real third part after all those years it could've been something. But it reused stuff from previous films, it just wasn't surprising anymore.

 

[Zantera]

I think a lot of the best action movies of all time are around that timeframe (late 80s into late 90s) because you couldn't just do everything with a computer yet and that's a big reason a lot of those action scenes hold up because effort was put into it to make it look real and it feels real. Aside from something like Fury Road (which is more of an anomaly than anything else) a lot of modern action movies (including the Terminator sequels) just aren't nearly as good in that department. The action feels fake, it's not really shot particularly interesting and something that could be 10/10 "wow" is just 7/10 "thats fine".

 

[Still Wynning]

For me, the series ended at T2.

No shade if you like the films after, though. I know the series did in fact continue, but in my head, that's where it ended.

I think I just know when something is 'enough' for me and I've had all I need to, and Terminator hit that at two films.

I think if the ending to T2 hadn't been so definitive, I'd have been more open to T3+ (and if Cameron had directed).

That’s why I think the recent Terminator Zero anime is probably the best thing we’ve gotten out of the franchise since the first two films.

Completely separating and unshackling itself from the original continuity by setting it in an alternate timeline is probably the one of the smartest and best things that it could’ve done because it has the freedom to take a lot of those core concepts and just run with them and explore different avenues, while also going back to the series’ roots. It takes the horror and dread of The Terminator and the action and existentialism of T2, along with a heaping helping of Second Renaissance from the Animatrix, welds them together and forges them into something familiar yet different. It’s Terminator as we know it, but through a more nuanced, multifaceted Japanese view of AI and technology and humanity’s relationship with it.

Also, it’s probably one of the better utilizations in recent media I’ve seen of the multiverse concept within its narrative as a tool that supports its characters and story instead of being a just cameo machine haphazardly throwing in old favorites from previous entries for temporary and fleeting excitement and engagement from fans constantly pointing at the screen like the infamous Leonardo DiCaprio meme.

Honestly, if this franchise is to continue in some form, giving it to other accomplished, modern filmmakers with some fresh takes on well-worn material and letting them do their own take completely diverged from well trodden ground, whether it’s in a lower budget film, an animated and/or live action series and/or audio drama, is probably the way to go. Instead of just rehashing what came before, give some new and fresh blood the opportunity try new things if there’s something really interesting they want to bring to the table that we haven’t seen in this series before.