Terminator Salvation

Directed By: McG

Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Jadagrace Berry, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Jane Alexander, Michael Ironside

Studio: Warner Year: 2009 Rated: PG-13 Film Length: 115 minutes Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish Release Date: December 1, 2009

The Film **½

Note: Be advised that if you have not seen any of the previous films in the Terminator series, the following synopsis will contain spoilers. Terminator Salvation follows on the heels of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and focuses on the fledgling human resistance movement forming in the aftermath of "Judgment Day", the day the "Skynet" machines took over the Earth and decimated the human population. An adult John Connor (Bale) leads a packet of resistance fighters in California. Due to his unique knowledge gained from the events of the previous films, he is regarded in a near prophetic way by many of the surviving humans which creates mixed feelings in those such as General Ashdown (Ironside) who are the nominal leaders of the global Resistance.  Connor's story is told in parallel with that of Marcus Wright (Worthington), a man whose last memory was donating his body to science as a death row inmate.  Wright wakes up in the harsh post-Judgment Day dystopia, and quickly finds himself on the run from a variety of Skynet built killing machines known as Terminators.  His path intersects with Connor's when he befriends a teenaged Kyle Reese (Yelchin).  Reese is looking to connect with the resistance movement while Connor is in turn looking for Reese, who is near the top of the Skynet "Termination" list since he is fated to become Connor's father via the time-traveling events of the first Terminator film.  At the same time, Connor is charged with the task of testing a newly discovered weakness in the Skynet defenses: a jamming signal that can temporarily disorient/disable the Terminator machines.  If the jamming signal proves successful, these tests will be a prelude to a massive resistance assault on Skynet.

Terminator Salvation starts off on the right foot by electing to take a different path than its immediate predecessor, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines which essentially re-trod the same ground as the first two films (while completely undermining the "No fate but what we make" theme of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but that is the subject of a different review). Setting the action (save for a flashback that opens the film) entirely in the post Judgment Day future keeps the film from feeling like a re-hash.  The parts of the plot centered on Sam Worthington's character take the film in a direction that is new for the series (although old hat for the science fiction genre) and even raise some interesting philosophical issues.  The film seemed to be going in a fresh enough direction that during the early going, I found it easy to dismiss certain obvious but non-fatal flaws such as the lack of anything interesting for Bryce Dallas Howard (as a pregnant Kate Connor) or Jadagrace Berry (as a kid who more or less serves only to remind viewers of better action sci-fi films such as The Road Warrior and Aliens) to do as well as the fact that most of Connor's resistance cell looks like catalog models for a vendor of pre-distressed clothing.  To be fair, despite not exactly looking like a grizzled resistance fighter, Moon Bloodgold handles the action scenes well and gives a pretty good performance.  On the other side of the coin, rapper-turned-actor Common looks more the part, but gives some pretty awkward line-readings in a thankfully minor role.

Unfortunately, my forgiving mood could not be sustained through the film's second half, which regresses substantially and fails to achieve any of the potential suggested by the initial set-up. The film's final act is filled with the expected action set pieces, startling revelations, and high drama. Sadly, it stumbles on all three fronts.

The action, much of it involving a group of protagonists struggling against a Terminator in an attempt to escape from a facility that is more or less Skynet Central, is technically well-executed. The problem is that dramatically, it is laughable that this is all they would have to do to escape from the facility. This is further made ridiculous by the fondness that the ultra-efficient killing machine exhibits for throwing its intended victims across rooms rather than, you know, killing them.

Logic and sense take an even more severe beating via the plot revelations in the final act. Even accepting that the previous films in the series have demonstrated that Skynet's approach to problem solving is less than pragmatic, their methods in Terminator Salvation are so unnecessarily complicated that they come across as almost comical. To say more would involve spoilers.

Finally, the aforementioned miscues in plot logic undermine all of the climactic moments intended to be dramatically significant by making them feel unearned. The viewer feels like the movie is asking them to feel more strongly about pivotal character moments than the filmmakers do. The cherry on top of the disappointment sundae comes after the climactic action sequence with a moment of character sacrifice so blatantly contrived and poorly executed that the viewer may well still be suppressing eye-rolls after the credits roll has finished.

The Video **

After a series of poorly compressed Warner theatrical new release titles on SD DVD, I was pleasantly surprised by the pretty decent looking Four Christmases released a week before this title. Unfortunately, that proved to be an anomaly rather than the start of a trend. The compression on this 16:9 enhanced transfer letterboxed to the film's 2.35:1 theatrical aspect ratio is simply terrible. The presentation is plagued with artifacts that go from annoying to depressing depending on how much detail is in frame and whether or not there is camera movement. Worst of all are artifacts in dark scenes including large regions of pulsing contrast, horizontal banding, and others for which I am not even sure if names have been invented yet. Whether this is the result of careless encoding or willful sabotage, it makes the DVD unpleasant to view on moderate to large sized displays.

The Audio ****½

At least the English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track does not disappoint. It presents the film's extremely active, dynamic, and multi-dimensional surround mix with very good fidelity. When the mix gets especially busy in all 5.1 channels, fidelity is taxed a bit, but overall, it is very satisfying audio presentation. French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dubs are also included.

The Extras ½

Other than the ability to download a Windows Media digital copy, there are no special features on this DVD release. Warner is not even making the Director's Cut of the film available in SD DVD, so this bare bones release (and a separate 4:3 full frame release) are the only viewing options for those not equipped for blu-ray high definition.

When the disc is first inserted into a player, the viewer is greeted with the following series of skippable promos. All are presented in 4:3 video. letterboxed when appropriate, with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound:

• Warner Blu-Ray Promo (16:9 enhanced video - 1:43)
• Sherlock Holmes Theatrical Trailer (2:22)
• Batman: Arkham Asylum Video Game Trailer (1:55)
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season Two BD/DVD Trailer (:32)
• Terminator Salvation Graphic Novel Official Movie Prequel Digital Comic Trailer (:39)
  

Packaging

The single-sided dual-layered DVD-9 disc comes packaged in an Amaray-sized "Eco-Box" case. Inside the case is an insert with a coupon code for downloading a reduced price Windows Media Digital Copy of the film.

Summary **½

Terminator Salvation starts out on the right foot by taking the series into a new but logical direction by dispensing with time travel activities, focusing on the post-Judgment Day dystopia, and introducing an intriguing new character. It then quickly loses its way resulting in a protracted and disappointing conclusion. It is presented on DVD with very poor artifact-riddled video, excellent 5.1 Dolby Digital audio and no extras beyond the ability to download a Windows Media digital copy.