Terminator Salvation: Review Central

[dark_b]

The original script may have been better in its own way than what we got, but the Project ANGEL plan was stupid and it's hard to imagine Terminator fans being happy with a John who's been "relegated to the shadows for most of the film." Turning John into Marcus with John's face was a bold move but I suspect fans would've hated it, maybe not as much as they hated TS. This movie should not have been made until a good script featuring John, Marcus, Kyle, and ditching ANGEL had been written.

yeah skynet making hybrids and saving the humans would be really strange.

 

[dark_b]

My thoughts exactly. All the rewrites really did was make John feel like an intruder in Marcus's storyline and make the ending underwhelming. As soon as Bale signed on as Connor, they should have made a new script.

i read about the original leaked ending when it was on SHH. and the whole movie i was thinking '' whait a minute. they filmed the original ending with connor dying'' . because it was marcus movie.hes story. connors screntime was forced . and him finding kyle was also forced IMO. when the teminator gets him at the end i was 100% sure that it would happen. the last 5 minutes really shows how little was changed .

 

[Eric Brooks]

This is a plot hole TS should have filled in. Presumably some records of Kyle Reese, perhaps Sarah's testimony from the mental institution, survived JD. We do know that by changing the past the Connors have changed the future, so it's possible.

this is what I've been trying to explain to people, some refuse to believe that's possible. To me it's the only pluasible explanation, so I'm running with it and enjoying the movie

 

[Alonsovich]

This is a plot hole TS should have filled in. Presumably some records of Kyle Reese, perhaps Sarah's testimony from the mental institution, survived JD. We do know that by changing the past the Connors have changed the future, so it's possible.

It was filled in... one of the deleted scenes is of Ashdown taking down Connor's speech about the human prisoners as experiments for the t-800 in the sub that was seen in the clips... in that part he tells Connor that he had seen his mother's tapes from the mental institution and thought she was insane...

The Sarah Connor tapes from Pescadero were going to be known to the resistance leaders (which means Skynet would know 100% sure...)... it just got cut without reason...

 

[Eric Brooks]

It was filled in... one of the deleted scenes is of Ashdown taking down Connor's speech about the human prisoners as experiments for the t-800 in the sub that was seen in the clips... in that part he tells Connor that he had seen his mother's tapes from the mental institution and thought she was insane...

The Sarah Connor tapes from Pescadero were going to be known to the resistance leaders (which means Skynet would know 100% sure...)... it just got cut without reason...

well there you go

at least there was an explanation written and filmed

 

[dark_b]

did she told in the hospital everything?

 

[Alonsovich]

did she told in the hospital everything?

I have to rewatch T2... but I think so...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Well, I guess its all about expectations, because, going in with low ones, I thoroughly enjoyed Terminator Salvation. Its a movie that also re-affirmed one other thing to me, Empire and Total Film are THE most reliable critics for me, while most critics were bashing the hell out of this, they both gave it 4/5 stars, and once again, I totally agree with them.

The movie was a thrill ride, first and foremost, and yeah it doesnt hold a candle to the first 2, but it had more character moments than I was expecting, and the Marcus storyline was very intriguing, and kept the surprises going throughout the movie. I thought Sam Worthington and Christian Bale in their respective roles were superb, and both kept me hooked throughout, as well as Anton Yelchin, who was superb as the character I have loved from early childhood, Kyle Reese. And the Arnold cameo was just pure gold.

I do have criticisms, for me, the T-600's just werent done right, they are meant to be infiltration units, they couldnt infiltrate anything, but this is a gripe I have had from the start, also there were a few too many daytime scene's, especially after Kyle stated in T1 that the humans stay down by day. Another criticism is you can tell it was heavily cut, but if there is a directors cut awaiting us on DVD I for one cant wait. Like T3, I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, and hope, through what needs to be some sort of miracle now, that they are able to make a follow-up.

7.5/10 for me.

 

[Alonsovich]

Well, I guess its all about expectations, because, going in with low ones, I thoroughly enjoyed Terminator Salvation. Its a movie that also re-affirmed one other thing to me, Empire and Total Film are THE most reliable critics for me, while most critics were bashing the hell out of this, they both gave it 4/5 stars, and once again, I totally agree with them.

The movie was a thrill ride, first and foremost, and yeah it doesnt hold a candle to the first 2, but it had more character moments than I was expecting, and the Marcus storyline was very intriguing, and kept the surprises going throughout the movie. I thought Sam Worthington and Christian Bale in their respective roles were superb, and both kept me hooked throughout, as well as Anton Yelchin, who was superb as the character I have loved from early childhood, Kyle Reese. And the Arnold cameo was just pure gold.

I do have criticisms, for me, the T-600's just werent done right, they are meant to be infiltration units, they couldnt infiltrate anything, but this is a gripe I have had from the start, also there were a few too many daytime scene's, especially after Kyle stated in T1 that the humans stay down by day. Another criticism is you can tell it was heavily cut, but if there is a directors cut awaiting us on DVD I for one cant wait. Like T3, I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would, and hope, through what needs to be some sort of miracle now, that they are able to make a follow-up.

7.5/10 for me.

I agree with everything except the T-600 bit... they're supposed to be easy to spot... Reese says so to Sarah Connor in T1... "rubber skin... they were easy to spot..."

 

[Scarlet Spider]

did she told in the hospital everything?

She told them a lot. About Judgment Day (the exact date), Skynet's previous attempt to kill her, as well as the father of her child was a soldier from the future, sent back to protect her. It was also known that she tried to previously blow up Cyberdyne, which is what got her sent to Pescadero.

Also, when Reese was interrogated in T1, he also told Silberman (the same doctor that treated Sarah in T2) everything as well.

The thing is, when Reese was asked why the other Sarah Connor's were killed, he said that because Skynet knew almost nothing about Connor's mother because most of the records were lost during the war. It only knew her name and the city she lived in.

 

[DACMAN]

skynet shouldn't know about john conner let alone kyle.

Exactly.

 

[Alonsovich]

She told them a lot. About Judgment Day (the exact date), Skynet's previous attempt to kill her, as well as the father of her child was a soldier from the future, sent back to protect her. It was also known that she tried to previously blow up Cyberdyne, which is what got her sent to Pescadero.

Also, when Reese was interrogated in T1, he also told Silberman (the same doctor that treated Sarah in T2) everything as well.

The thing is, when Reese was asked why the other Sarah Connor's were killed, he said that because Skynet knew almost nothing about Connor's mother because most of the records were lost during the war. It only knew her name and the city she lived in.

Which would lead to an altered future since after that, there are records of Reese and Sarah available speaking of the same thing... another thing that got cut out of TS... "this is not the future my mother warned me about"...

 

[Alonsovich]

Exactly.

Fail. The changes in the future made by the previous movies brought them in the spotlight... police records and hospital records in the era of digitalized info and you're telling me a super-computer capable of making a nuclear holocaust wouldn't have access to them? Now THAT would be a plot hole...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I agree with everything except the T-600 bit... they're supposed to be easy to spot... Reese says so to Sarah Connor in T1... "rubber skin... they were easy to spot..."

Actually, he says "The 600 series had rubber skin, we spotted them easy...." They were supposed to be easy to spot because of their rubber skin, not being 9 feet tall and having mini-guns attached to their arms. They were the predessor to the T-800, they should have have least tried to make them remotely human looking.

 

[Alonsovich]

Actually, he says "The 600 series had rubber skin, we spotted them easy...." They were supposed to be easy to spot because of their rubber skin, not being 9 feet tall and having mini-guns attached to their arms. They were the predessor to the T-800, they should have have least tried to make them remotely human looking.

Fair enough... I still think they weren't meant for infiltration though...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Fair enough... I still think they weren't meant for infiltration though...

They were the predecessor to the T-800, if they weren infiltrators, why even try making them look human at all? If they didnt fail as infiltrators because of their rubber skin, why did Skynet develop the T-800? Dude, of course they were meant to be infiltrators .

 

[Alonsovich]

They were the predecessor to the T-800, if they weren infiltrators, why even try making them look human at all? If they didnt fail as infiltrators because of their rubber skin, why did Skynet develop the T-800? Dude, of course they were meant to be infiltrators .

Well... that's why the T-800 is called T-RIP in TS...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Well... that's why the T-800 is called T-RIP in TS...

Er......what? Are you saying the T-800 is dead? When they can make millions of them?

 

[Alonsovich]

Er......what? Are you saying the T-800 is dead? When they can make millions of them?

RIP = Resistance Infiltrator Prototype...

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

RIP = Resistance Infiltrator Prototype...

Wasnt that Marcus? The T-800 was clearly referenced several times in the movie, the Arnold model was meant to be a t-800.

 

[Alonsovich]

Wasnt that Marcus? The T-800 was clearly referenced several times in the movie, the Arnold model was meant to be a t-800.

I don't think so... the merchandising stuff put the T-RIP and T-800 as the same model...wait... must look...

 

[sithgoblin]

The biggest problem for me was that Skynet was stupid.

Why didn't it kill Kyle as soon as it found him, thereby negating John's existence in the first place? No, seriously.

But let's just say for a moment that for some reason Kyle escaped, or Skynet had a legitimate reason for not killing him (which it didn't). Why the hell did it send ONE Terminator after John Connor?

John was in Skynet Central. Capitol City. We saw all the Terminators guarding the prisoners. And Skynet knew he was there, because it showed his location to Marcus.

So why on earth did it only send ONE Terminator after him? It was f**king stupid and made no sense, and this is the big failing of the movie for me. Skynet should not be stupid. As soon as it does something stupid, it loses all credibility as a villain.

The Terminators of the previous films were never stupid. They were logical and ruthless and every action they took drove them towards their target. I expect no less from Skynet. It should have sent 500 Arnies after John Connor. THAT would have upped the stakes. And surviving THAT would have been impressive.

Unfortunately, it was predictable and stupid.

 

[Legion]

^
In what other Terminator movie did skynet send more than one Terminator after their target? It's kind of a recurring theme for our hero to survive against a single indestructible robot.

Besides the T-800 was the most advanced model, it should have been more than enough to handle Connor and it would have been had Marcus not intervened.

The T-600 are obsolete, they probably aren't building any new ones. Whatever is left is guarding the prisoners, fighting off the resistance, or wandering the waste land.

Sounds like some people expected Connor to be this super human ant-Terminator, just blasting robots away.

 

[Spider-Fan]

But that's because they only sent 1 back in time. Here, Connor was in a Skynet stronghold, filled with many Terminator units. Having only 1 prototype T-800 I can see, but why not use other Terminator models too? Clearly they're around, and why risk Connor beating your prototype? It makes no sense, and makes Skynet look stupid...which is done many times in this particular film.

 

[BestGirl]

yeah skynet making hybrids and saving the humans would be really strange.

And doesn't make much sense. They plan to "save" humans by detonating nukes, making Earth nearly uninhabitable, and turning the survivors into cyborgs?

The only things about the original script I liked were:

-Skynet doesn't know who Kyle Reese is. Plot hole avoided.

-Marcus and John don't meet face-to-face until the end of the movie so I wouldn't have to wonder when I was watching TS why Skynet didn't program Marcus to blow up when he came into contact with Connor.

-John doesn't enter Skynet Central until after Marcus has dealt with the Terminator threat. At least then we wouldn't have to answer the question why Skynet sent only one Terminator after John when he was surrounded by Terminators.

-Marcus going back in time to save Kyle sounds interesting.

-The quiet moments between Marcus and Kyle and Marcus and Blair.