Terminator Salvation: Review Central

[Gamma Ray]

Maybe Terminator is only good when set in the modern world since we can relate better.

 

[craigdbfan]

Yes, that's highly logical. "The movie is stupid, so let's make it extra stupid!" Come on man, seriously, I find it hard to believe that you endorse that plot point. On the basis of it being a real stupid plot point and the sour taste it would leave in the mouth of the audience.

Once again it would of been more original than the final outcome despite the stupidity you find in the ending.

I find it hard to believe that you are calling that a stupid plot point when John Conner breezes through Skynet HQ and the Terminator's in TS pose no more of a threat than the Putty patrollers from PR.

Connor was always an McGuffin and should have stayed that way. A McGuffin that moved the plot. Creatively it made sense to introduce a new lead with no baggage or ties even if it is not what "all fans wanted". This raises the uncertainty of the character, which makes audience more invested in his future (if developed correctly). But if artists gave fans what they want, we would have a bunch of mary sues and marty stus running around.

Bale's excuse for wanting Connor over Marcus was along the lines of "I can't really remember why" http://www.newsarama.com/film/090519-terminator-christian-bale.html

I think it is pretty simple; the role is more iconic, and looks nice on the resume....

Exactly.

 

[StreetWarrior]

The critics are dead wrong with this one. Sure, the movie won't win any Oscars, but it did its job: It was entertaining. Terminator Salvation was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Sure, it's no T1 or T2, but it was leaps and bounds above T3 and was certainly NOT a bad film. The special effects were amazing, the action was intense, the acting was decent, the story was passable, but the dialogue needed a little work. As a reviewer, I'd give the film a solid 4/5. Here's MY breakdown:

Acting: 3.5/5
Effects: 5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Total Score (Not an average): 4/5

I DO NOT understand the negativity toward this film. It may not quite live up to the impossible hype, but it was leaps and bounds above other films, like the impossibly bad 'Wolverine'.

 

[Darthphere]

Once again it would of been more original than the final outcome despite the stupidity you find in the ending.

I find it hard to believe that you are calling that a stupid plot point when John Conner breezes through Skynet HQ and the Terminator's in TS serve no more of a threat than the Putty patrollers from PR.

More original does not equal better. Having Barney fly down and eat John Connor is more original, still would've been stupid.

While the ending was lame, it's a whole lot better than wrapping some dead dude's skin on a robot.

 

[DeaDheaD]

Once again it would of been more original than the final outcome despite the stupidity you find in the ending.

I find it hard to believe that you are calling that a stupid plot point when John Conner breezes through Skynet HQ and the Terminator's in TS serve no more of a threat than the Putty patrollers from PR.

I thought Skynet wanted Connor to get into it's HQ?

 

[Darthphere]

I thought Skynet wanted Connor to get into it's HQ?

Yeah it did, but you gotta wonder why it would only send one Terminator to kill him. Send 5, 10 even 20.

 

[FCEEVIPER]

The critics are dead wrong with this one. Sure, the movie won't win any Oscars, but it did its job: It was entertaining. Terminator Salvation was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Sure, it's no T1 or T2, but it was leaps and bounds above T3 and was certainly NOT a bad film. The special effects were amazing, the action was intense, the acting was decent, the story was passable, but the dialogue needed a little work. As a reviewer, I'd give the film a solid 4/5. Here's MY breakdown:

Acting: 3.5/5
Effects: 5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Total Score (Not an average): 4/5

I DO NOT understand the negativity toward this film. It may not quite live up to the impossible hype, but it was leaps and bounds above other films, like the impossibly bad 'Wolverine'.

Agreed.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

More original does not equal better. Having Barney fly down and eat John Connor is more original, still would've been stupid.

While the ending was lame, it's a whole lot better than wrapping some dead dude's skin on a robot.

I'm laughing so hard I can't even respond.

 

[Darthphere]

Connor was always an McGuffin and should have stayed that way. A McGuffin that moved the plot. Creatively it made sense to introduce a new lead with no baggage or ties even if it is not what "all fans wanted". This raises the uncertainty of the character, which makes audience more invested in his future (if developed correctly). But if artists gave fans what they want, we would have a bunch of mary sues and marty stus running around.

Bale's excuse for wanting Connor over Marcus was along the lines of "I can't really remember why" http://www.newsarama.com/film/090519-terminator-christian-bale.html

I think it is pretty simple; the role is more iconic, and looks nice on the resume....

Call me naive, but Bale doesn't seem like the pad the resume type.

 

[LostSon88]

Maybe because I never had a problem with that ending and have preferred it ever since the information was leaked.

Your acting as if I viciously struck down that ending before and now I'm praising it for just the heck of it. When I've done no such thing.

Why you choose to generalize is beyond me.

You make it sound as if their was a clear divide when it came to the reaction to that ending. I'm sure that if I did a poll on these boards the general consensus would be that that ending is a complete slap in the face to the terminator franchise.

Why I generalize? Because I went with the overall consensus...and the consensus of when that original ending came out was that it was stupid.

But hey, you're a member of a very small minority so, props. I didn't know they existed.

We have people now embracing JJ. Abrams Superman too. It's just the fickleness of the messageboard nerds hard at work. Nothing to see here folks move along!

Indeed.

 

[DeaDheaD]

Yeah it did, but you gotta wonder why it would only send one Terminator to kill him. Send 5, 10 even 20.

I was wondering why they wouldnt have the T-800 standing there with a machine gun and just start opening fire.....but if it's one thing I've learned from watching 4 Terminator movies now, is the only skynet is good at is nuking the planet.

 

[DeaDheaD]

Call me naive, but Bale doesn't seem like the pad the resume type.

Once you've got a billion dollar lead role on your resume, I'm not sure how much more padding you can do.

 

[WVsax27]

yeah, Terminators have never really been good at their job if you think about it...

 

[LostSon88]

Yeah it did, but you gotta wonder why it would only send one Terminator to kill him. Send 5, 10 even 20.

I always took it as Skynet feeling, its a T-800...Connor doesn't stand a chance against our most advanced, powerful machine.

And technically, in the end...

Spoiler

The T-800 did defeat Connor when he impaled him.

He was just lucky Marcus was there.

 

[Paradoxium]

Call me naive, but Bale doesn't seem like the pad the resume type.

The only pragmatic alternative I can think of is he wants to make more money out of that role in subsequent films. Although I don't see anything wrong with padding resume and money.

 

[StreetWarrior]

Also, to those criticizing the film's story/plot or lack-thereof, Terminator Salvation's plot made Wolverine's plot look as complex as an episode of Sesame Street.

 

[DeaDheaD]

They should have just blown the place themselves one they knew both Connor and Reese were close to the nukes.

 

[Darthphere]

The only pragmatic alternative I can think of is he wants to make more money out of that role in subsequent films. Although I don't see anything either wrong with padding resume and money.

Maybe you're right actually. It's like having the choice of playing Batman or Robin, everyone wants to be Batman.

 

[Paradoxium]

Maybe you're right actually. It's like having the choice of playing Batman or Robin, everyone wants to be Batman.

This is probably a better way of putting it.

 

[The Dark Defender]

TF was ridiculous to fit the ridiculous concept, you can't take the property too seriously or it would be pretentious, so they went for fun adventure. Nothing in TF's story was as forced, unlikely or stupid as that chick rescuing Marcus. It was like watching words on the screen reading "we must push the story further now somehow, please excuse us."

Ever since Charlie's Angels people have stuck up for McG like he is going to get around to being a good director someday, but I don't know why. Just cause he directed the Illusions video for Cypress Hill? He sucks as bad as Michael Bay except clearly worse.

The Transformers were actual characters with personalities like any other characters in their source material, the story had a heart and a brain...they just discarded all of that and turned it into a ****** after school special loaded with mind-numbingly bad editing for all their "visually stunning" action sequences in a movie so damn stupid it's almost bad enough to downgrade my opinion of cinema in general.

And there was nothing stupid about the woman rescuing Marcus, she brought 10x the emotion to the film that Transformers ever came close to...which was zero emotion...and saying "you can't take it too seriously because it's about big giant robots fighting so it had to be moronic, pointless, and loaded with unfunny comedy bits" is no better than making the same claim about Terminator. "Oh it's just some silly story about humans fighting cyborgs and you can't take it too seriously..." yes you can, the story is capable of having heart, and you may not have felt that this film did but atleast it tried to and imo it was successful.

Transformers turned terrific source material into an intentionally stupid brain cell killer. It's what I've always said it was, a comedy sketch that's 2 and a half hours too long with some of the worst editing in the history of mainstream action cinema. It's such a bad film that even those that support it basically admitt how stupid it was, and just try to justify it by saying it had to be though because the story shouldn't be taken seriously or having characters...or anything remotely resembling a brain.
Atleast those that like this film appreciated the heart of it, and you can actually follow wtf is going on during the action sequences as opposed to "um...which one turns into the truck again? uh...who the hell just flew past the screen, was that a good guy or a bad guy? What are they fighting for in the first place agai...ah screw it! This **** looks cool!" which is all those that defend that piece of overgrown **** have to say about it. No it did not have to be stupid, the animated version wasn't, why should the live action one have to be? It was stupid because it was made by hacks, not because the story called for stupidity. The story certainly didn't call for one unfunny comedy routine after another that interrupts the flow of the story in an absolutely pathetic at attempt at being "fun."

Whether someone enjoys Transformers more than this film or not, accusing this film of having less heart than that is absurd beyond description; and my idea of "fun adventure" isn't bad action movies riddled with horrendous comedy sketches and teeny bopper cliches I could just as easily see done better everytime I flick on Nickelodeon or the Disney channel.

 

[craigdbfan]

You make it sound as if their was a clear divide when it came to the reaction to that ending. I'm sure that if I did a poll on these boards the general consensus would be that that ending is a complete slap in the face to the terminator franchise.

Why I generalize? Because I went with the overall consensus...and the consensus of when that original ending came out was that it was stupid.

But hey, you're a member of a very small minority so, props. I didn't know they existed.

Oh look I can do that same thing you did:

"I went with the overall consensus...and the consensus was that Terminator: Salvation was a stupid movie. "

I guess we aren't to different. You seem to forget that your in the "small minority" when it comes to this movie.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Come on now boys, play nice.

 

[Cosmic]

ITS AN ACTION FILM!

SIGOURNEY WEAVER GOT AN OSCAR NOMINATION FOR ALIENS! Please give me a freaking break.

Its not about oscar caliber acting, but some solid decent acting. Heath Ledger is in your avatar. Heath Ledger got an oscar for a role in a comic book super hero action movie.

Sam Worthington couldn't even decide if he was American or Australian. It was worse than Angelina Jolie in Alexander and Tomb Raider.

The moments where his Aussie accent slips thru are more than a little jarring.

I don't blame the actors for stuff like Barnes's reaction to learning about his brother, or Blair's character in general. I hold the writers and director responsible for these things.

I'm so f**king curious to see this movie now. The bad buzz is making in more enticing to me but then I still haven't decided if I'm going to see it yet because I don't know if I want to pay money for a movie that pisses all over the Terminator franchise.

I you absolutely love Terminator and have been dying to see a sequel, then go see it. If you go crazy over special effects, or big explosions, or elaborate action sequences and chase scenes with wild stunts, then go see it. If you're one of those who are just content to drool over one of the film's stars, then you can do that as well.

As for the story, there's not much to say. You'll be able to predict what happens at the start of, if not before, every scene. Very early in the film, when Connor visits the high command, I realized that I was just riding along in another by-the-numbers summer popcorn flick. I still enjoyed it, but on a very superficial level. It could have been much better than this.

Precise question to those who've seen it already: is Bale really bland in this or not ???


I'm having a hard time figuring out Bale being dull in a movie

The plot and dialogue are dull, not Bale.

 

[TheVileOne]

The moments where his Aussie accent slips thru are more than a little jarring.

I don't blame the actors for stuff like Barnes's reaction to learning about his brother, or Blair's character in general. I hold the writers and director responsible for these things.

Why can't you blame the actors at all? I think you can blame all of them.

The plot and dialogue are dull, not Bale.

I don't get what Bale was tapping into here. There were times where he sounded like Batman. I get this is a very grim and serious and f'ed up time, but he was just really off here. He couldn't show anything besides I'm going to whisper and sound really serious and angry. He didn't really sell any connection with Bryce at all. I didn't buy them as a couple.

 

[Cunning Stunts]

The critics are dead wrong with this one. Sure, the movie won't win any Oscars, but it did its job: It was entertaining. Terminator Salvation was one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Sure, it's no T1 or T2, but it was leaps and bounds above T3 and was certainly NOT a bad film. The special effects were amazing, the action was intense, the acting was decent, the story was passable, but the dialogue needed a little work. As a reviewer, I'd give the film a solid 4/5. Here's MY breakdown:

Acting: 3.5/5
Effects: 5/5
Story: 2.5/5
Total Score (Not an average): 4/5

I DO NOT understand the negativity toward this film. It may not quite live up to the impossible hype, but it was leaps and bounds above other films, like the impossibly bad 'Wolverine'.

I'd have to agree here. Terminator Salvation is not deserving of the bad reviews it's getting. It has its weak points, but it was still a thrilling movie. In my opinion, it took the route that Transformers did, but did it in a much better fashion.