The Official Terminator Thread..?

[finalrelief]

This is for all of the films T1-T4, I saw individual threads about T2/T3/T4 but not for the entire franchise. I wanted to discuss the paradox of the plot of these films...to see if I'm on the right track or not.

Terminator 1's plot, had no one been sent back from the future, would have gone like this...

Terminators take over...John Connor est resistance...saves everyone, wins war. Note-John Connor already existed, meaning he had a different father originally.

But it went like this... Terminators take over, John Connor est resistance, saves everyone, wins war...skynet sends terminator back through time to 1984, Reese is also sent...

Creating a new timeline by altering its history and events to unfold.

Lets fast forward to Salvation and say even further to 2029.

John Connor knows Kyle Reese is his dad in this timeline so he sends reese back to 1984 so he will be able to exist as he does. This creates yet ANOTHER timeline which would completely retcon Terminator 1-3, and change their events/history. So basically it reboots its own franchise after every cycle through the films...It's a paradox that keeps on going, presumably making the plots of each film (in the timeline wise)unstable.

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

In the first Terminator movie, the timeline is supposed to go through a loop. You could theorize that John had a different father, but John himself would be a different person, had Kyle Reese not jumped into 1984. It's genetics. "Kyle + Sarah" does not equal "Random Man + Sarah."

Terminator 2 brings the T1000 and the T800 into the picture, fighting over young John Connor. At the end, Cyberdyne is blown up, signaling a potential end to Skynet. But the road at the end of the movie signals that it could still lead into Judgment Day. You could go either way with the time travel theories here. Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation ultimately decide to break the loop.

 

[finalrelief]

Terminator 3 is regarded as the worst, but i liked the part about the same T850 unit being sent back was used to assassinate john..though that makes another (though much smaller) paradox, If John uses the knowledge he gained in T3 about his own death...would Kate still send the same unit back and in essence randomly find John and keep that timeline going? Or would it also be distorted?

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

Terminator 3 is regarded as the worst, but i liked the part about the same T850 unit being sent back was used to assassinate john..though that makes another (though much smaller) paradox, If John uses the knowledge he gained in T3 about his own death...would Kate still send the same unit back and in essence randomly find John and keep that timeline going? Or would it also be distorted?

The whole 2032 angle shouldn't have been there in the first place. In the novelization, 2029 is regarded as the final year of the future war, and the defeat of Skynet.
T3's characterization of future John Connor is incredibly different from the scarred man we see at the beginning of T2. In T2, the future John is a stoic leader whose focus is solely on the future war. Kate Brewster shouldn't even be there, either.

 

[finalrelief]

interesting... so did you lose interest after T3/Salvation and consider T1-T2 as the Terminator franchise? Just wondering. If James Cameron came back and changed his mind and wanted to do his own Terminator 3 right now, would you be into that? (Most likely a future film) Or is it too late?

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

interesting... so did you lose interest after T3/Salvation and consider T1-T2 as the Terminator franchise? Just wondering. If James Cameron came back and changed his mind and wanted to do his own Terminator 3 right now, would you be into that? (Most likely a future film) Or is it too late?

Yeah. I don't consider T3/Salvation as part of the franchise.
James Cameron made the Terminator franchise, so it would be in good hands if he came back to it.

 

[finalrelief]

Gotcha, I follow everything from movies, to the failed tv show...to some of the comics and books, it seems im the only one lol

The first 2 in no doubt in my mind are the best, i considered 3 a good parody of 2 that added a couple tid bits...4 i was in the evident minority that liked it...

So i put them in order of how good i think they are...

T2, T1, T4, T3

 

[R3M3D1]

The only way a decent Terminator sequel can be made is if Cameron, Arnie and Brad Fiedel returned imo.

One of the things that made the first two so good was the great score by Fiedel.

 

[finalrelief]

The score was pretty good in the 2nd one

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

One of the best tracks from the first Terminator.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHISMsdZbII

 

[Team Andino]

Jumping on this thread because I love the Terminator franchise with a passion.

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Anyone ever see the F--- You, ---hole video? Pretty groovy electronic track.

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

The only way a decent Terminator sequel can be made is if Cameron, Arnie and Brad Fiedel returned imo.

One of the things that made the first two so good was the great score by Fiedel.

From what I've heard, Fiedel has retired.
Plus, nowadays, Cameron's moved on with Horner, and the computer-generated score Fiedel made is not really what Hollywood is looking for. It's sad; the only one who could really do it justice is Fiedel.

And Stan Winston; I can only see a drastic change in the appearance of the machines without Winston there.

 

[finalrelief]

True, he passed away during salvation

 

[Carnotaur3]

And Stan Winston; I can only see a drastic change in the appearance of the machines without Winston there.

Winston passed away while they were shooting.

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

Winston passed away while they were shooting.

Yeah, I know. Nice to see a fellow Terminator Files user here

 

[MrMaooz]

bump

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Bumpity Bump, yeah Come with me if you want to live.

 

[TX85]

I posted this in the T5 thread and now it makes sense to post it here..

I liked T3 and Salvation just fine,Nowhere near the level of T1 and especially T2 so they are the weakest of the franchise but overall I don't think they're that horrible,I have all of them in my dvd collection and still watch all of them during Terminator marathons..Although I do prefer watching the first two much more

Overall the whole Terminator franchise is one of my favorite film franchises of all-time,When it comes to robot movies the Terminator films are the cream of the crop to me!

 

[StarLord]

I have so much love for T2.

It's definitely in my top 20 movies of all time.

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

I would actually have to say T2 is in my top 10 favorite of all time, and the first Terminator is certainly in my top 20 I love them both very very much and if it weren't for those two films I wouldn't have gotten into the genre nearly as much as I did when I was younger.

 

[TX85]

Agreed,T1 is awesome but T2 is just very special

 

[OcStat]

Bringing this back from the past.

Watched the original Terminator for the first time in I can't remember how long. Was thoroughly impressed. Always enjoyed it but it's a very intense visceral movie with small nuances that kind of went over my head watching it when I was younger. It doesn't glorify violence for the sake of it but seems to me to show how terrifying gun violence can be/is. Maybe it's just looking at it in light of recent events. The idea of a killing machine that will never ever stop until it's mission is successful is horrifying in a way I never really grasped before.

These are regarding as action movies but I wonder how it was marketed back in the day? I mean the T-101 is way scarier than Jason or any other slasher monster... And the film has more than a few moments taken from a horror movie playback.

Michael Biehn is really the star of the show in my retrospective opinion. He delivers his lines with such an intensity that makes you believe every word his character says, you can see the gears turning in Sarah's head as Reese relays all this information on her before she knows he is telling the truth, in the parking garage. And the lead Detective portrays his skepticism well while paying close attention to a story that has to be fiction but adds up to the chain of events he has seen throughout his day. The love scene is a little sappy from Reese's end but believeable from Sarah's sympathetic perspective. I hate to even bring up the latest film in here but it is the all encompassing Terminator thread, after watching the first film with fresh eyes the new characterization of Reese really is a slap in the face to a great performance.

Wish I could've seen this back in the day on the big screen like some had the privilege to.

 

[titansupes]

I really love the confidence in this thread title.

 

[I'm Venom]

Do you know what I'd like? A movie in the future like it looks in T1, about a soldier that isn't Connor, being stalked by a T100 because he's retrieved information that could destroy Skynet. The whole movie is just the soldier trying to get home while traversing the ruins of LA, chased by a T100.

Directed by Winding Refn, rated R, done on a budget like $30 million. Soundtrack by CHVRCHES.

Basically, a game of cat and mouse.

Basically it would take place in 2025, and it'd be like Enemy at the Gates where they're hunting an infamous scout.

Minimalistic cast. You have the squad, and that's it. No romance, if there's a female soldier. Do some world building about the state of the world, like Mad Max by showing us, not telling us outright: what they do to feed themselves, how water is acquired, power is created, equipment and vehicles maintained. Show training facilities of how the Resistance is trained.