Terminator Salvation: Review Central

[sithgoblin]

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.

The first two movies said that sending the Terminator's back was a desperate last attempt, and that time travel was so difficult that's all they were able to do.

No such reason in Salvation.

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.

But we all knew Marcus would intervene, didn't we? That's such a cliche at this point I'm surprised they went there. The only way you would not know that Marcus was going to save the day was if you'd never seen a movie before.

But most advanced model aside, Skynet is supposed to be desperate to kill Connor. Kill Connor, end the war. That's the whole point of these movies. Why would it only send one Terminator after him, even if it was its best, when it would have had thousands if not millions standing by? I would think an army of Terminators lead by a T-800 would be far more effective than just one.

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.

That's pretty stupid of Skynet isn't it? Leaving a big hole in its defenses like that? You'd think it would keep production of them going untill the T-800s are ready to replace them.

But that's just wild speculation on your part. They said nothing in the movie to support that. But even if, on the off chance that that is the case, that still makes Skynet stupid, which is my problem with it in the first place. Villains can not be stupid, or they are no threat and cannot be taken seriously.

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

That's not what I wanted at all. I wanted Connor to survive by using his BRAINS. Not through fire power and not through Marcus coming to rescue him, which as I already said is such a cliche I'm embarrassed they went there.

A scene where Connor uses his brains, maybe pulls a MacGyver and rigs something that can defeat the Terminators would be a start. That scene where he reprogrammed the bikes had potential, I wanted to see more of that.

 

[dark_b]

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..."

they erased the rubber skin. so they are not any more '' rubber skin... they were easy to spot''.

they are in TS bulky robots with a machine gun. no rubber skin. so they changed it.

 

[dark_b]

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...

if they dont show it in the movie then we dont know.

again finding kyle was an importan mission to Connor in TS. just saying that kyle is number one target for skynet is wrong IMO. it was not supposed to be left to the imagination why they want him.

so yeah someone f... up the script.

but respect opinions that skynet knew it from the past because they talked about it.

 

[dark_b]

Why the hell did it send ONE Terminator after John Connor?

no. the biggest question is why didnt the T-800 killed him? thats the biggest question. why did he play with him like a cat playing with a ball?

 

[dark_b]

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.

IMO the director and writter was never stupid.

ohhh its both james cameron.

 

[dark_b]

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

IMO it feels to much like Back to the future. time travel had some mistery IMO . i think it would be wrong to make it an epic action sequence and jumping around in time.

 

[Etienne]

IMO the director and writter was never stupid.

ohhh its both james cameron.

No, Cameron is just a *****ebag.

 

[dark_b]

No, Cameron is just a *****ebag.

he can f... my GF i he wants to.but if he can make a good terminator movie i am good i am all good.

 

[Alonsovich]

they erased the rubber skin. so they are not any more '' rubber skin... they were easy to spot''.

they are in TS bulky robots with a machine gun. no rubber skin. so they changed it.

The t-600 on the prison camp had still the rubber skin...

 

[dark_b]

i also missed a ''hero'' theme for connor or even marcus. something heroic.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I decided to avoid this thread until I saw the movie for myself and today I did. Personally I enjoyed it, the movie has some fine moments and some of the best action sequences captured in a long while.

There is without a doubt a pacing flaw that prevents enough development of key characters. Marcus is the highlight and feels the fullest, his scenes with Kyle being the film's strongest point. Blair's interactions with Marcus are too hurried and render a key choice she makes unrealistic.

Connor.......ah John Connor, clearly the movie was not written as a John Connor movie and no matter how much tinkering Jonah Nolan did it was quite clear that certain scenes were added in once Bale took the part, the total lack of development between him and his men and his wife was evidence of this, despite him cutting a great figure as a badass leader and warrior.

The story itself, which was really the story of Marcus, was good and the twist with him and arc he went through were well executed, although we could have done with a bit more clarity on his past.

Action-wise the film is colossal with epic set pieces, none more so than the bravado chase sequence at the gas station, although the smaller sequences such as Connor battling an endo at the beginning were also excellent. As a huge fan of action I place the movies sequences at the upper echelon. The design of the future was also superb, melding elements from several inspirations effectively. The SFX were first class all the way through although I don't think the "Arnie cameo" worked all that well.

The movies acting ranged from solid to good. Much has been made of Bale doing his whispery badass thing but the writing of Connor was the reason the character was so basic, Bale's acting was fine and he is a convincing figure as a leader and intense fighter. Moon Bloodgood did a decent job as a the tough and spunky pilot Blair but Bryce Dallas Howard was pretty much wasted as the mother of the resistance.

The stand outs though were Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin. The former doing what Chris Pine did in Star Trek by announcing himself as a new leading man with his powerhouse portrayal of Marcus, the guy just exudes screen presence. Yelchin's Kyle Reese was a really well executed piece of acting, creating a totally convincing younger version of a classic movie hero without ever slipping into mimicry.

Overall 30 more minutes could have made this something truly special, as it stands it is still an exciting and well made sci fi action film that underachieves.

7.8/10

 

[Eggyman]

Here's the review I've been waiting for. I'm gonna take the missus tonight and she will like it with her mouth closed.

The film lol

 

[Dark Donnie]

Your review pretty much states exactly how I felt about the film

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

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.

It was a bit stupid, but really, Skynet knew John Connor was alone, and didnt expect Marcus to come to his rescue, Marcus really did save John's ass in that scene. Not to mention, Skynet may only have had the capacity to make one T-800 at that point.

The only reason I can think for them keeping Kyle alive was to lure Marcus back to Skynet.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

See, that I didn't get.

It could have killed Kyle Reese and Marcus and John would have come to Skynet based on the belief that he was alive.

Kyle was #1 on the hit list but all of a sudden this is all about getting John Connor again.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I decided to avoid this thread until I saw the movie for myself and today I did. Personally I enjoyed it, the movie has some fine moments and some of the best action sequences captured in a long while.

There is without a doubt a pacing flaw that prevents enough development of key characters. Marcus is the highlight and feels the fullest, his scenes with Kyle being the film's strongest point. Blair's interactions with Marcus are too hurried and render a key choice she makes unrealistic.

Connor.......ah John Connor, clearly the movie was not written as a John Connor movie and no matter how much tinkering Jonah Nolan did it was quite clear that certain scenes were added in once Bale took the part, the total lack of development between him and his men and his wife was evidence of this, despite him cutting a great figure as a badass leader and warrior.

The story itself, which was really the story of Marcus, was good and the twist with him and arc he went through were well executed, although we could have done with a bit more clarity on his past.

Action-wise the film is colossal with epic set pieces, none more so than the bravado chase sequence at the gas station, although the smaller sequences such as Connor battling an endo at the beginning were also excellent. As a huge fan of action I place the movies sequences at the upper echelon. The design of the future was also superb, melding elements from several inspirations effectively. The SFX were first class all the way through although I don't think the "Arnie cameo" worked all that well.

The movies acting ranged from solid to good. Much has been made of Bale doing his whispery badass thing but the writing of Connor was the reason the character was so basic, Bale's acting was fine and he is a convincing figure as a leader and intense fighter. Moon Bloodgood did a decent job as a the tough and spunky pilot Blair but Bryce Dallas Howard was pretty much wasted as the mother of the resistance.

The stand outs though were Sam Worthington and Anton Yelchin. The former doing what Chris Pine did in Star Trek by announcing himself as a new leading man with his powerhouse portrayal of Marcus, the guy just exudes screen presence. Yelchin's Kyle Reese was a really well executed piece of acting, creating a totally convincing younger version of a classic movie hero without ever slipping into mimicry.

Overall 30 more minutes could have made this something truly special, as it stands it is still an exciting and well made sci fi action film that underachieves.

7.8/10

Good review HR, this pretty much totally sums up my feelings on the movie also, I done se the harsh criticisms some people and the critics level at it, but I do see flaws in the movie, and the script. Overall though, like you, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I figured they needed to keep Kyle alive so he appeared on that tracking thing they were using, and they never intended to kill Marcus, they just didn't anticipate him turning on them, they failed to calculate the human factor.

Here's the review I've been waiting for. I'm gonna take the missus tonight and she will like it with her mouth closed.

The film lol

Heh! Hope you enjoy it Eggy.

Your review pretty much states exactly how I felt about the film

I'd still like to see a 5th and see where things could go.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

See, that I didn't get.

It could have killed Kyle Reese and Marcus and John would have come to Skynet based on the belief that he was alive.

Kyle was #1 on the hit list but all of a sudden this is all about getting John Connor again.

Well, the thing is, in the first movie, Skynet killing John in the future wouldnt have made any difference as in 2029 the humans had won. This was 2018 and John hadnt become leader of the resistance yet, so it was not urgent that Skynet kill Kyle now and wipe out John's existence. They could take their time, kill John now, before he rallies the humans, then when he is out of the equation, they can kill Kyle, wiping out Connor's existence.

Its all about the different timeline really.

 

[kane9321]

I just wanna punch somebody in the mouth!

 

[Hunter Rider]

Good review HR, this pretty much totally sums up my feelings on the movie also, I done se the harsh criticisms some people and the critics level at it, but I do see flaws in the movie, and the script. Overall though, like you, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Cheers AVE. Is there any confirmation that there will be a director's cut ?

 

[Cain]

I just wanna punch somebody in the mouth!

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Well, the thing is, in the first movie, Skynet killing John in the future wouldnt have made any difference as in 2029 the humans had won. This was 2018 and John hadnt become leader of the resistance yet, so it was not urgent that Skynet kill Kyle now and wipe out John's existence. They could take their time, kill John now, before he rallies the humans, then when he is out of the equation, they can kill Kyle, wiping out Connor's existence.

Its all about the different timeline really.

Sounds like Bond villain reasoning to me.

I figured they needed to keep Kyle alive so he appeared on that tracking thing they were using, and they never intended to kill Marcus, they just didn't anticipate him turning on them, they failed to calculate the human factor.

Kill Kyle and they're still going to show up. It could feed Marcus false information and data if it really needed him to believe Kyle was alive.

And the idea that they created a sleeper agent with free will and NO WAY of shutting him down is ludicrous. Its past the point of sloppy planning for the supposedly calculating Skynet.

 

[Cain]

Sounds like Bond villain reasoning to me.





Kill Kyle and they're still going to show up. It could feed Marcus false information and data if it really needed him to believe Kyle was alive.

And the idea that they created a sleeper agent with free will and NO WAY of shutting him down is ludicrous. Its past the point of sloppy planning for the supposedly calculating Skynet.

SKYNET was about as competent in this movie as Curly from the 3 Stooges.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Kill Kyle and they're still going to show up. It could feed Marcus false information and data if it really needed him to believe Kyle was alive.

And the idea that they created a sleeper agent with free will and NO WAY of shutting him down is ludicrous. Its past the point of sloppy planning for the supposedly calculating Skynet.

Wasn't the machine detecting his heartbeat and body heat ?

It's more a case of them learning and evolving, they underestimated humanity and free will.

 

[dark_b]

Cheers AVE. Is there any confirmation that there will be a director's cut ?

MCG said in an video interview there will be 30-40 minutes of deleted scenes.

but he is a liar so we dont know what will happen. ohhh and yeah he did lie