Terminator Salvation: Review Central

[hitmanyr2k]

This movie was pretty damn bad. I never expected an epic experience but I had hoped to at least be entertained. This film never thrilled me once, not once. It's loud and plenty of things blow up but we've seen it all before and done better. The characters (aside from young Kyle Reese) are colossal bores. I mean I didn't feel a thing for one single character. And then when they try to get all emotional in the end it's just laughable. I seriously wanted to laugh but I kept it in to respect the other people in the theater.

And people thumbing their noses at Harry Knowles' review should stop. I had no urge to read his review before I saw the film because I know how he is but I had to read his review after I saw this film and he pretty much hits the nail on the head. I can't believe this movie has me agreeing with that guy. I hate to say it but I think this film seriously killed the Terminator franchise. I think it's that bad. It's like a big budget sci-fi channel world premiere.

 

[Gamma Ray]

Bloody awful...

How was that a story worth telling? It ended without any sense of satisfaction. "Arnold" was pointlessly inserted into the movie, the heart this was ridiculous, the characters were idiotic (a mute girl? a power hungry general?) and the story was, again, not worth seeing or telling.

Terminator 1 set up the story, Terminator 2 furthered it, Terminator 3 at least changed it. Terminator Salvation is just a waste of time.

And the soundtrack sucked. I can't even hum anything because it was that forgettable.

 

[Episode29]

Riiiight,sorry I am not one of the many nuts who expect a movie to be perfect in every way possible. And for the record I don't pay money to see movies at work.

I'd get all bitingly witty and such but, after reading your posts and viewing your profile and seeing how old you are, I'm just going to be nice and move along.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Great movie, everything I hope it'd be. I grew to love Marcus as much as any other character in this series, near perfect visuals, some of the best music Elfman has done in this decade, and alot of heart to go with the adrenaline. I think I was more moved by the ending of this film than by any other installment. Closer to the quality of the first two films than it was to T3.

Probably the best movie of the year so far, and if there's a better summer blockbuster this year, I'll be surprised.

 

[AnorexicBatman]

This is officially the second Watchmen now... mixed reviews.... not much critical acclaim
I doubt someone like Christian Bale who is so dedicated to his work would work in a truly terrible movie unless he did not read the script and agreed at the mere mention of Nolan...

 

[UltimateJustin]

Everything done in TS has been done better in previous Terminators, except for the amped up robot carnage, which was done 1,000 times better in Transformers (with more humanity, too).

Hate to say it, but McG blew it, cause of his horrible ways and inability to make anything good.

 

[Episode29]

This is officially the second Watchmen now... mixed reviews.... not much critical acclaim
I doubt someone like Christian Bale who is so dedicated to his work would work in a truly terrible movie unless he did not read the script and agreed at the mere mention of Nolan...

Do remember though, that he signed on shortly before the WGA strike, at a time when actors were jumping onto random green-lit projects lemmings off a cliff. I question whether he would have become involved in a less frantic time when the options for better (and profital) work were more plentiful.

 

[CELTICPRED]

I gave it an 8.5 or so. As good as T1 or T2? No, but I'll watch it over T3 any day.


As for the score, it hasn't been redeemed in my book. Hell, when the terminator theme popped up in the climax of the film, it was more intrusive than anything. I really didn't like that.

 

[Darthkush]

Great movie, everything I hope it'd be. I grew to love Marcus as much as any other character in this series, near perfect visuals, some of the best music Elfman has done in this decade, and alot of heart to go with the adrenaline. I think I was more moved by the ending of this film than by any other installment. Closer to the quality of the first two films than it was to T3.

Probably the best movie of the year so far, and if there's a better summer blockbuster this year, I'll be surprised.

STAR TREK=10x better(at least)


I wrote a pretty lenghty review and it got eaten up. *****. Bottomline, it's watchable and not much else. Makes T3 look AWESOME.

 

[The Dark Defender]

Everything done in TS has been done better in previous Terminators, except for the amped up robot carnage, which was done 1,000 times better in Transformers (with more humanity, too).

Um...WOW!0_0

Even from somebody that hates this film, reading that almost knocked me out of the chair...

Transformers is a drawn out SNL parody that carries on for 2 and and a half hours with nothing remotely resembling an actual performance and absolutely incompetent editing in every single actual sequence. Regardless of this holds up against the other Terminators, I'm sure the damn outtakes of Salvation have more humanity and are more competently shot, edited, and directed than anything the abomination that was Transformers.

 

[The Dark Defender]

STAR TREK=10x better(at least)

I thought Star Trek was fun, but nowhere near as good as this.

 

[Cosmic]

Ok, I just saw this a few hours ago. I give it a 6/10. Haven't read any reviews, yet. There's a ton of action, and it's done quite well. I loved the special effects. But these things alone don't make for a great movie. The rebel assault in the beginning was like something out of Star Wars. It looked real. It was breathtaking. The part where Batman gets into the helicopter to chase after the HK had me on the edge of my seat. The camera is looking over his shoulder, thru the windows of the cockpit, as the vehicle spins out of control. Most or all in one long shot. But after that, we start meeting the supporting cast, and now we're watching just another standard action/adventure flick/video game made with the latest technology.

The raw intensity of that first helicopter sequence never quite made it back into the film. Everything that followed felt all-too-familiar. Most of all (worst of all) was the score. Although, since it was basically a "cookie-cutter" movie, I guess the bland, tired, rehashed, "cookie-cutter" choice of that same old style of inspirational, dramatic action music does sort of make sense.

I feel like they tried too hard to inject some "heart" (pardon the pun) into what was basically a standard action movie, and it just didn't work. It was very superficial, predictable, and cheesy as hell. I didn't hate it...I just felt like they played it safe, and made something based on what people were already familiar with, instead of taking it to another level. If they would've maintained that same sense of realism and just random suspense that they conveyed with the rebel ambush and the helicopter crash scene, then it really would've been something to remember.

 

[Darthkush]

Take 2

This movie defines mediocrity. As much as people dumped on Wolverine and as bad as that ended up being, at least there Jackman was giving it all he had and there was a genuine effort that felt more like Fox was messing things up behind the scenes than anything.

Bale is full of *****, when he said he made sure this was a good script. He smelled paycheck and couldn't back away. And he clearly doesn't care that much about the film either as his performance is all over the place(at times he even uses his Batman voice which is woefully out of place here).

The only GOOD performance is Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese who(during his first scene in the film) seems to even be impersonating Michael Biehn a bit, and although this homage doesn't continue, Yelchin still brings his A game. Also fairing not too badly was Moon Bloodgood. She was saddled with a farfetched and just plain lame semi-love story subplot but she really sells it the best she can. Kudos to her. Bryce Dallas Howard and Common don't do much but either look angry or say perfunctory plot moving dialogue, nothing more. Why was Michael Ironside there? Totally wasted and a walking cliche of a character at that.

Sam Worthington as Marcus is probably the biggest dissapointment for me performance wise(especially since all these various filmmakers had him being the next big thing). First of all, his big "secret" isn't one if you've seen any trailer, tv spot or hell, even walked down the toy ailse at K-mart. For that his big storyline is kinda boring. However, even if I hadn't known his secret, it's still be boring because Worthington is a boring actor who barely emotes and spits out crappy tough guy dialogue while trying to decide if he's gonna talk with American or his natural Aussie accent(he never really picks one instead floating in and out of both. McG should've done something about that and the fact that he didn't is lazy directing.)

The action scenes(save for the final one) are all just big, loud, and pretty but they carry no real suspense or drama or any emotional weight of any kind. Very few people actually visibly die in this film and the terminators barely even terminate anything. Instead they horde people around like cattle for...some reason(which is never explained).

As I said, the final action scene is kinda neat. Schwarzennegger(or his image rather) shows up and fights John Connor and Marcus for a bit. It's a pretty cool fight but it's really only cool because Arnold is the only Terminator in the movie that doesn't die easily. I mean, it's really kind of ridiculous. Three Terminator movies where they're hard as f*** to kill and in this one, one or two rifle shots and they're done? CRAP.

McG has learned NOTHING new(and that's coming from someone who dug the Charlie's Angels movies he did) and he was the wrong person to direct this movie.

I didn't hate the movie, I really didn't. But it's just so damn mediocre and it has no right to be. Wolverine was micromanged to hell by Fox execs and the valient efforts of those involved weren't enough to fix it. Here McG and the writers seem to have been given free reign and and great expensive effects to work with and yet...it doesn't work. I wanted to like it but it's just a big, dumb, loud action movie that makes the first two look even greater than they already are and even makes T3 look better in comparison.

 

[Octoberist]

wow, this is getting dissapointing.

 

[hitmanyr2k]

The action scenes(save for the final one) are all just big, loud, and pretty but they carry no real suspense or drama or any emotional weight of any kind. Very few people actually visibly die in this film and the terminators barely even terminate anything. Instead they horde people around like cattle for...some reason(which is never explained).

As I said, the final action scene is kinda neat. Schwarzennegger(or his image rather) shows up and fights John Connor and Marcus for a bit. It's a pretty cool fight but it's really only cool because Arnold is the only Terminator in the movie that doesn't die easily. I mean, it's really kind of ridiculous. Three Terminator movies where they're hard as f*** to kill and in this one, one or two rifle shots and they're done? CRAP.

I had a huge problem with the Terminators in this movie. I can't even really call them Terminators. They're more like Throw-a-nators. Just about every single time a Terminator got his hand on Connor in this film they simply threw him away. Even the T-800 did this during the last action scene. Gets his hand on John a few times and he has 10 different ways to kill him but he simply tosses him. Live up to your f**kin name and kill the guy already. It wasn't like I was invested in Connor's character or anything. He bored the sh** out of me.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

wow, this is getting dissapointing.

Yeah, it's like watching Terminator Salvation....oh..wait. lol

 

[Octoberist]

I remember the 2007 Writer's Strike and how it could affect the movies of 2009; I guess this is one of those victims (along with Quantum of Solace, despite being an okay movie)

 

[The Dark Defender]

They were horded around to be used as slaves, I'd assume (didn't Kyle mention humans being enslaved by the machines in the first film)?

I was invested in Blair's survival on the mine field after seeing her help Marcus, in the little bit of time before the machine starts snatching people before the first big action sequence the old woman that was snatched the start the scene was very warm and likeable.

I don't remember any Terminator dying by rifle shots, repeated blasts to the face at point blank range with huge machine guns are a bit stronger than rifles.

I thought Worthington's performance was outstanding, especially in the scene where skynet tells them their intentions for him and when he first realizes that he's not fully human. He's performance if full of conflict, confusion, and raw emotion, and the theme of the contrast between humanity and the machines is handled with atleast as much substance through him as it was in T2 through the John and T-800 relationship.

 

[Charlie The Red]

I walked out. Never done that before. Felt liberating.

Watched T2 and now I feel completely cleansed.

 

[Octoberist]

damn. was the movie that hallow and brainless?

 

[Darthkush]

I had a huge problem with the Terminators in this movie. I can't even really call them Terminators. They're more like Throw-a-nators. Just about every single time a Terminator got his hand on Connor in this film they simply threw him away. Even the T-800 did this during the last action scene. Gets his hand on John a few times and he has 10 different ways to kill him but he simply tosses him. Live up to your f**kin name and kill the guy already. It wasn't like I was invested in Connor's character or anything. He bored the sh** out of me.

Agreed. I didn't really care about the Pg-13 rating...until I saw the film. Even if it meant a lot of offscreen death, it just didn't make sense for them to be throwing people around like that instead of TERMINATING.

 

[Octoberist]

at least T2 had some grusome deaths.

 

[Poetic Chaos]

Worst midnight screening ever. I was directly behind two ********s who talked the entire movie and were told by two different people to shut the **** up. Awful.

And the movie was okay. Some of the acting was pretty bad and a lot of unnecessary yelling. Would've been nice if they had Brian Austin Green and Summer Glau as one of the resistance groups listening to Connor on the radio.

 

[Ace of Knaves]

Wow a lot of hate for this movie.

I can't judge yet because I haven't seen it. But I'm getting the feeling a lot of people are having such high expectations that when they are not met, it's the end of the world or something.

 

[Darthkush]

They were horded around to be used as slaves, I'd assume (didn't Kyle mention humans being enslaved by the machines in the first film)?

I was invested in Blair's survival on the mine field after seeing her help Marcus, in the little bit of time before the machine starts snatching people before the first big action sequence the old woman that was snatched the start the scene was very warm and likeable.

I don't remember any Terminator dying by rifle shots, repeated blasts to the face at point blank range with huge machine guns are a bit stronger than rifles.

I thought Worthington's performance was outstanding, especially in the scene where skynet tells them their intentions for him and when he first realizes that he's not fully human. He's performance if full of conflict, confusion, and raw emotion, and the theme of the contrast between humanity and the machines is handled with atleast as much substance through him as it was in T2 through the John and T-800 relationship.

Why do Terminator's need slaves? For what? They're advanced and efficient cybornetic lifeforms. Humans are imperfect and flawed to them. They can just do the work themselves.

I like Blair but her choices are questionable. She knows Marcus for what..less than a day and she finds out he's an machine but she's just so sure he's a good guy. ? I'm not buying that. I mean, she was throwing it at this dude she JUST MET(which isn't that weird I suppose. A little fast but not weird) but once she knows he's a machine, she just says,"He's a good man. He saved me. " crap.

I should've been more specific about the rifle shots. I'm not good at categorizing weapons. Rifles, semi automatics, whatever. The point is, an handful of gunshots, shouldn't kill these things so quick.

I don't have an response about Worthington other than to say he did nothing for me.