Terminator Salvation: Review Central

[Cain]

Conners wife has Salon quality hair

LOL can't forget Moon Bloodgood's perfectly pearly white smile.

 

[Tojo]

Well I'm gonna disagree. The first one inspired practically every other sci-fi movie we have today. The idea that we advance so much that we destroy ourselves, and then the things that were going to destroy us, destroy themselves once they become like us is beyond brilliant. Self destructive by human nature even when the human nature is artifical. If the machines hadn't built the time machine to send Reese back there wouldn't have ever been a John Connor anyway. Pure genius. What would you say is the best sci-fi movie of all time? I'd really love to know.

Actually, 2001 was about 20 yrs before T1. Incase you haven't seen it, it features a highly self-aware computer intelligence, which although was created by humans, eventually works against them. But yes T1 was very influential, and that film and it's sequel has a great concept and some very poignant things to say.

However, 2001 is the ultimate sci-fi movie for me.

 

[dude stannis]

Terminator Salvation

There was some good stuff to it. The bleached out look really worked. The lighting worked. All the technical people eanred their keep. Anton Yelchin was how I expected Kyle Reese to be. Sam Worthington wasn't too bad, it's like they intentionally put all his bad scenes in the trailer for some reason. The designs of the machines we'd already seen where beautiful, as well as the T-600's (Though I couldn't see much difference between the T-700's and the T-800's).

Bale was awesome... when he kept his mouth shut. When he started yelling or raspy whispering, it was embarassing to watch. I was thinking they should've brought back Nick Stahl or gotten Bruce Willis, he can do intense and he's actually likeable. The remainder of the cast was either terrible or non existent.

The script was shambles and probably wasn't helped by the bizarre editing. The third act was the prime example, some of the worst editing I've ever seen. One second Bale is getting bodyslamed (More on that in a second) and then the next he's walking down a corridoor looking for Kyle, what's worse is it was intercut with Marcus in the Skynet Central computer where he goes from mangled in combat fatigues to waking up repaired in a hospital gown with no transition whatsoever.

The music was weak. Yes, I thought I was indeed watching The Chronicles of Riddick. If Brad Fiedel didn't want to do it, then Robert Rodriguez should've done the production a favour, because his Planet Terror score was much closer to Fiedel's work than either Bletrami or Elfman got. At least Beltrami produced that wonderful etheral score in the scene where the world blew up in T3, nothing like that here.

PG-13, was definitely a massive detriment to the film. See what happens, when no one listens to me? Why were the Terminators auditioning for WWE? If a Terminator grabs you by the neck, you're freaking dead, not bodyslammed, freaking dead! I think quite a few of the set peices where closer to I, Robot and Transformers and nowhere near what Terminator should be. That rediculous Transforminator thing which somehow managed to sneak up on everyone, despite not being anywhere in the establishing shot was the one thng they actually should've left on the cutting room floor. Totally out of place. Looking at the audience in my theater, everyone was in their 20's and 30's, everyone booed the Harry Potter trailer, everyone cheered the Maxim shot of Megan Fox in the Transformers trailer. Going but what I've heard, that was every theatre playing T4. So it's not like it was even worth *****fying the movie. In the end everyone lost.

The best part was definitely the big men themselves Arnold and Roland. The collective manly roar in the theater when Schwarzenkickenger start making Christian Bale his ***** was quite the experience, as was the laughter they got when they killed the T-600 that could've offed Connor and won the war. But I just wanted him to kill everything in sight, no matter what it was! I must admit, it was quite emotional to see Arnie kicking ass after so long, even if it was a fake CGI Arnie.

Although it does make one wonder, why they didn't make The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Arnie and Roland.

I didn't really hate it. I didn't much like it either. There was just none of the personality or soul that made the first two the stone cold classics that they are and the third one a fun ride to armageddon.

But McG really needs to change his name to NBG (Aussie Construction slang. No Bloody Good)

5/10

 

[B]

Seen Terminator Salvation today, I purposly avoided all reviews of the film as from what I've roughly seen its fairly mixed reviews with some people liking it & some people not..

I'm off the former opinion, I thought the film was quite good.. Bale's Conner was superb, he actually acted how I expected a John Conner who was the byproduct of Terminator 1 & 2, he was intense about what his goals where & that made the film as good as it was for myself. I don't have any complaints about Bale, I felt his performance was one of the best parts of this film.

The Marcus character was good, I enjoyed the character overall & especally interaction with Conner & in the end I'm glad that Conner eventually realised that there are certain exceptions & that some "machines" could be trusted, I felt in an odd way it was a good kind of nod to his previous life experiences..

Overall I liked the film alot, I definatly don't see why this film is getting such average reviews. In fact in some cases worse than T3! Don't get me wrong I liked T3..but this film certainly doesn't warrent a worse review..

Maybe its due to the fact that its a different type of Terminator film than we've seen before ie Its not about a Terminator going back through time to protect or kill someone...and the fact that it lacks Arnold fronting the film..

Spoiler

Oh...The Arnold cameo was absolutely superb, I knew it was him from the second I seen his tree trunk calf muscles t:
I have to say the CGI version of Arnold was flawless, the best shot was when Bale cracked him round the face & he slowly turned his head back. After seeing the cameo I felt kind of saddened that the man that made the Terminator series what it is didn't appear in 1 or 2 more sequals in his more "youthful" state, ie a third Terminator should have been in place within about 3 or 4 years over T2

EDIT - Its not letting me vote...something about an expired token..
Anyway I'd give this 7 out of 10, I thought it was as good as T3... I hope it does as well financially as T3 so theres another film with Bale as Conner

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Domestically it's already lost to T3.

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

Well lets face it, that's only because of Shwartzeneger. If he had been in this one everyone would have flooded to see it. Maybe they should have shown CG Arnold during the trailers, maybe they would have gotten a bigger turn out.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I think different writers and a different director would have saved the day after a weak opening week.

The movie just isn't good enough and niether was T3.

 

[stargazer]

I thought Star Wars was great, but not Epic....To me Salvation had much more Epic qualities.....and to tell the truth.....so did Wolverine.

You mean Star Trek?

And to me Star Trek was without a doubt very Epic. Haven't seen Wolverine or TS so I can't say about those, though.

Fanboys should be banned from using the word epic because they don't know what it means.

Love or hate Wolverine it was so far from being epic that it wasn't even funny. As for Salvation; I just watched T2 for the 100th time last night and it was far more epic than Salvation at it's best could hope to be.

It's action scenes are lightyears ahead of Salvation's and it was made 18 years ago. To be fair T2's action scenes are better than most movies action scenes made now or days and Salvations saving grace is it's action scenes but T2's are still better.

Do you know what the word Epic means in this context, Spidey?

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

You mean Star Trek?

And to me Star Trek was without a doubt very Epic. Haven't seen Wolverine of TS so I can't say about those, though.





Do you know what the word Epic means in this context, Spidey?

Fanboys say that every movie they like is epic. Ofcourse I know what epic means in that context and everyother context.

The only thing Epic about Terminator Salvation and Wolverine was the disappointment factor.

 

[stargazer]

Fanboys say that every movie they like is epic. Ofcourse I know what epic means in that context and everyother context.

The only thing Epic about Terminator Salvation and Wolverine was the disappointment factor.

Can you explain it, please?

 

[Spider-Fan]

Do we really need an English lesson in a review thread

I happen to agree the term "epic" is thrown around like candy today, much like the term "visionary" is, and it cheapens the term when it is used too often, and not reserved for special placing. If this movie was "epic" to someone, then what would you call the widely regarded best film of the series T2? Is this also "epic"? If one is quite a bit more "epic" than the other, but you use the same term for it, how do you differentiate the usage?

This to me, is marginalization of the word.

 

[Octoberist]

'epic', 'realism' and 'overrated' are the most used up words in the fanboy bible.

 

[Octoberist]

You mean Star Trek?

And to me Star Trek was without a doubt very Epic. Haven't seen Wolverine or TS so I can't say about those, though.





Do you know what the word Epic means in this context, Spidey?

The word 'epic' and 'Wolverine' shouldn't be together in one sentence. (oh no..it's the fanboy in me!!! aggh!)

 

[Eric Brooks]

Do we really need an English lesson in a review thread

I happen to agree the term "epic" is thrown around like candy today, much like the term "visionary" is, and it cheapens the term when it is used too often, and not reserved for special placing. If this movie was "epic" to someone, then what would you call the widely regarded best film of the series T2? Is this also "epic"? If one is quite a bit more "epic" than the other, but you use the same term for it, how do you differentiate the usage?

This to me, is marginalization of the word.

truth

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

OMG dude I so totally boned on that post, I meant to say Star Trek not Star Wars. My EXTREME apologies, I guess I just had Star Wars on the brain because of that super mega epic trailer for The Old Republic and accidentally typed Wars instead of Trek. My Uber bad, rocks should be cast at me for even accidentally typing that. I'm a huge SW fan from way back, my apologies.

But yes as I was saying Star TREK was good, but not as Epic as Terminator Salvation.

Just to make sure everyone is clear, I did try to clear this up last page.

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

^ Chew on THAT post English lesson discussion!

 

[super85]

Saw it yesterday, it opened here in my part of the world on wednesday. I liked parts of it, and thought the action scenes were really good. But like many other people, I think The Terminator and T2 are far better movies. I prefer this to T3, but it still wasn't nearly as good as it could be.The script particulary could have used a lot more work, especially Kate Connor,man that was a thin character, Barnes,Williams, etc all needed to be more fleshed out. But nope.

Thought it was an ok film, but it not becoming a huge hit isn't a surprise to me.Like pointed out, The Terminator franchise is quite popular around the world and It probably will do fairly well here.

 

[Eric Brooks]

Question for fans of the tv show:

Did the tv show ALSO (much like T3) screw up the timeline? If I recall correctly in season 1 (the first episode took place in 1999, the second scene after the opening credits have Sarah and John talking about how it's only been 2 years since the Cyberdyne incident) which would make that 97 (when in T2 they describe the apacalypse taking place in 97) while the events in the movie took place in 93

or am I mistaken?

 

[BestGirl]

Thought it was an ok film, but it not becoming a huge hit isn't a surprise to me.Like pointed out, The Terminator franchise is quite popular around the world and It probably will do fairly well here.

How did TSCC do abroad? Does anyone know?

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Oh I'm not going to awnswer that question MP because it's such and obvious answer and this isn't the dictionary thread.

It's no big deal though.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Let's start at the beginning, a new take on the theme for the new trilogy but same notes used and same tempo. Elfman's new score was AMAZING! Besides the way the credits appeared, the title crawl was amazing and beautiful to watch. A nice modern update to the original TERMINATOR pan. Then we get the three five-note thump sequences and the movie begins.

The original Terminator movies started with glimpses of the future whereas this one started with a flashback and I thought that was an awesome way to contrast the new trilogy.

John Connor has really grown and the decisions he makes really lead him to becoming the great leader he ultimately becomes. Nice to see him be this icon that eventually gains total control over the resistance in the end of the film.

Kyle Reese: Also a beautiful way to introduce him. He looked and sounded a lot like how I would imagine he should, and he was one of the first teenage movie heroes I would call baddass. I'd like to learn more about his past in the next one.

Marcus: Ok, Marcus was a very interesting character, and the use of him actually added some symbolism in an allegorical sense and significance to the plot. Also he acted as the key to dealing the first fatal blow to Skynet. He really reached his salvation when he sacrificed himself for John. I really hope McG doesn't end up bringing him back for the next two. His character served his purpose and now the next movie should focus on someone else.

The tidbits: "I'll be back" "Come with me if you want to live" "Terminated, you son of a *****!" ARNOLD!!!!!!!!!!!! (T-800) The radio itself, Marcus taking the clothes off of a dead body to wear himself and the three five-beat thumps. There was more I can't remember right now. One being the rope attached to the shotgun as well and the fact that Reese enters with a shotgun like he does in Terminator.

The things that bugged me: The cinematography and lack of a slight colour tint and the fact that the whole film was desaturated too much. Also, the posters and ads were bad. Some of the best music of the movie is missing from the Soundtrack as well.

What I would like to See next: The next one should be about Kyle. This should take place 11 years later. Skynet has built a secret weapon and throughout the movie Kyle becomes tougher and then John has to say goodbye to his own father without his father knowing the truth and the true importance of the mission. Common's and Bryce's characters should become more important so that in the end, Common dies in the arms of John, and Bryce's character is captured. John has captured a T-800 using the code and he is left alone as everyone is gone. The movie ends with an inner monologue of how he still needs to stop the first judgment day from ever happening. The final shot could be of T-1000s being molded.

The next one starts with John going to Skynet with the T-800 to free his wife and send the T-800 back in time, and when they enter the time-travel room, they see a bunch of T-1000s entering too. The T-800 fights off the T-1000 and then jumps into the time warp after the T-1000. John and his wife have to kill the other one/two T-1000s using a newer weapon that John develops. Eventually you find out that the T-1000s were only prototypes for the ultimate weapon, the T-X. The T-X starts killing off the T-800's under the resistance's control, but in a last desperate attempt to take the world back, the resistance launches an attack on the main Skynet facility for the planet and a war between men and machines (T-800s) takes place as John and his wife enter the building. In the building, they fight off a bunch of T-800s and then just as John goes to deal the final blow to the mainframe, he is killed by a T-800. John's wife fights it off as long as she can and then she activates the code to get him to stall. She's about to take down the mainframe and realizes she needs more time as the T-X is coming. She boots the T-800's and tells him to go after the T-X. The Terminator's meet by the Time Warp Room and John's wife launches the self destruct. In a last attempt to save skynet, the T-X goes back in time to try and kill John, his wife and all of his generals with the T-800 following her. John's wife escapes just in the nick of time and the movie ends with the humans winning the battle for earth.

 

[BestGirl]

Let's start at the beginning, a new take on the theme for the new trilogy but same notes used and same tempo. Elfman's new score was AMAZING! Besides the way the credits appeared, the title crawl was amazing and beautiful to watch. A nice modern update to the original TERMINATOR pan. Then we get the three five-note thump sequences and the movie begins.

The original Terminator movies started with glimpses of the future whereas this one started with a flashback and I thought that was an awesome way to contrast the new trilogy.

John Connor has really grown and the decisions he makes really lead him to becoming the great leader he ultimately becomes. Nice to see him be this icon that eventually gains total control over the resistance in the end of the film.

Kyle Reese: Also a beautiful way to introduce him. He looked and sounded a lot like how I would imagine he should, and he was one of the first teenage movie heroes I would call baddass. I'd like to learn more about his past in the next one.

Marcus: Ok, Marcus was a very interesting character, and the use of him actually added some symbolism in an allegorical sense and significance to the plot. Also he acted as the key to dealing the first fatal blow to Skynet. He really reached his salvation when he sacrificed himself for John. I really hope McG doesn't end up bringing him back for the next two. His character served his purpose and now the next movie should focus on someone else.

The tidbits: "I'll be back" "Come with me if you want to live" "Terminated, you son of a *****!" ARNOLD!!!!!!!!!!!! (T-800) The radio itself, Marcus taking the clothes off of a dead body to wear himself and the three five-beat thumps. There was more I can't remember right now. One being the rope attached to the shotgun as well and the fact that Reese enters with a shotgun like he does in Terminator.

The things that bugged me: The cinematography and lack of a slight colour tint and the fact that the whole film was desaturated too much. Also, the posters and ads were bad. Some of the best music of the movie is missing from the Soundtrack as well.

What I would like to See next: The next one should be about Kyle. This should take place 11 years later. Skynet has built a secret weapon and throughout the movie Kyle becomes tougher and then John has to say goodbye to his own father without his father knowing the truth and the true importance of the mission. Common's and Bryce's characters should become more important so that in the end, Common dies in the arms of John, and Bryce's character is captured. John has captured a T-800 using the code and he is left alone as everyone is gone. The movie ends with an inner monologue of how he still needs to stop the first judgment day from ever happening. The final shot could be of T-1000s being molded.

The next one starts with John going to Skynet with the T-800 to free his wife and send the T-800 back in time, and when they enter the time-travel room, they see a bunch of T-1000s entering too. The T-800 fights off the T-1000 and then jumps into the time warp after the T-1000. John and his wife have to kill the other one/two T-1000s using a newer weapon that John develops. Eventually you find out that the T-1000s were only prototypes for the ultimate weapon, the T-X. The T-X starts killing off the T-800's under the resistance's control, but in a last desperate attempt to take the world back, the resistance launches an attack on the main Skynet facility for the planet and a war between men and machines (T-800s) takes place as John and his wife enter the building. In the building, they fight off a bunch of T-800s and then just as John goes to deal the final blow to the mainframe, he is killed by a T-800. John's wife fights it off as long as she can and then she activates the code to get him to stall. She's about to take down the mainframe and realizes she needs more time as the T-X is coming. She boots the T-800's and tells him to go after the T-X. The Terminator's meet by the Time Warp Room and John's wife launches the self destruct. In a last attempt to save skynet, the T-X goes back in time to try and kill John, his wife and all of his generals with the T-800 following her. John's wife escapes just in the nick of time and the movie ends with the humans winning the battle for earth.

If McG somehow were to manage to bring Marcus back it would negate his sacrifice for John, which was the only significant emotional event to take place in the film. That would just be a terrible idea, I agree.

 

[bullets]

i agree. marcus is gone , i liked the character but it wouldn't make sense to bring him back.

 

[vanson]

can somebody explain me why

Spoiler

marcus has a human heart ??

that makes no sense at all, for me

 

[AnorexicBatman]

The Wizard of Oz gave it too him...