Terminator Salvation (2009) (1 Viewer)

[Brian Dobbs]

Cameron told his story. McG is telling this one. This new trilogy really is different than the first. Yes, they are based upon the same mythology, but that's about it.

I watched this last night with my Dad. (His favorite movie is T2.) We were both really entertained. This movie is not what audiences were expecting. I believe the people who were disappointed by this movie were expecting Bale's Connor to be more like Craig's Bond or Sutherland's Bauer, where the focus is just on the one main character.

This movie essentially has two main protagonists, with one slightly overshadowing another. I'm sure that doesn't sit right with most. Bale was initially contacted to play Marcus Wright. He turned it down and wanted to play Connor. Why? Who knows. Perhaps he felt passionate enough about the new story and believed in that character more. Perhaps it was because he wants to see the sequels made.

You have to give McG credit here. This movie was just different than the typical summer blockbuster fare. No quick cuts during the action scenes. Jeez, did you see that opening battle scene? Seamless! Long shots! Amazing! They really put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into making this movie.

Sure the movie itself may have had some unnerving transitions. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the extended Blu-Ray.

 

[Scott McGillivray]

I am a HUGE fan of the original Terminator film. I was not expecting a lot from this one, but left feeling that I got my money out of it.

I agree that the story could have been much better. I would have preferred just a great war story of man vs. machine rather than all the crap with the human/terminator hybrid.

Not sure if it was just the theater I was in, but WOW...I really loved the sound effects in this film! The T-600's sounded just great! Not often a films sound effects stand out, but I thought they did in this one.

My wife and I were both so confused in that opening scene. John Conner climbs up out of the hole in the ground, jumps in a chopper, gets shot down, a nuke goes off in the distance and somehow that was to indicate that everyone in the hole died? I did not understand that at all. It seemed like he was only a few hundred feet from where he started, yet the nuke was far enough away not to harm him??? Just did not flow well for me.

I was surprised how good the Arnold model looked. That was some cool special effects! However, I was also surprised how little impact it made seeing him on the screen. I guess because it made no real sense (like a lot of things in this film) that he was hiding in the cells. Why waste a fully-fleshed out Terminator rather than having a dozen endoskeletons there to do the job right?

Oh, and Chuck, you said "She only knows the T800, and barely at that." that is not quite accurrate. She knows all about the T-1000!

Anyway, it was a fun night out. I am disappointed in the story, but thought it looked (and sounded) great.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

True. I was mostly remembering the first film, fresh in my mind

Although she would actually know nothing of previous models, and timeline barely at all (enough to know T-800's in 2018 is years early, I admit).

 

[Diallo B]

what confused me even more was that a nuke went off (obvious by the mushroom cloud and the fallout) and marcus climbs out of the facility where the nuke went off.

sloppy.

 

[Will_B]

5 stars from me. I was actually smiling during the whole film. That good.

Yes, I could tell there were some character moments missing, but I trusted that they'll be back in the film once it arrives on video.

I was so pleased to see Journeyman's Moon Bloodgood in the film -- this means that there was one good thing to come out of the cancellation of that most excellent show: she became available to do Terminator. Yay. Redeemed history. I'd avoided spoilers so I didn't know.

And McCheese or whatever his name turned out to be a great director. Yay. He really knew the Terminator mythos. This was excellent.

And what a great liar Arnie was! He'd been telling Wired and everyone that they weren't sure if his visage would be able to make an appearance, saying it was proving difficult to pull off -- lowering expectations. All a tease, since when he appeared he was picture perfect!

I saw this showing in just standard 35mm but the quality was really good throughout. And I liked that the Terminators were faster on their feet than before, and more poseable.

I'd say the only bum note was Michael Ironsides, since he's too recognizable as a low-budget baddie. Well, for this Highlander fan anyway. But that was a minor nit.

T4 had the best bits of Resident Evil, Mad Max, and Terminator in one.

If I could change one other thing, it would have been to add some kind of audience-cheer moment somewhere in the final couple minutes, since the choppers sailing off into the sunset was kind of weak.

And ooh -- was the gas station they visited supposed to be the same gas station where in T1 Sarah was told "there's a storm coming"? If so, nods-a-plenty to Mayor McCheese again. Good tribute.

 

[Will_B]

Did you miss the opening crawl, where they restated that Skynet's motive was the same as it ever was: it became self-aware, realized that it was endangered by those erratic humans, and nuked them. Nothing in the film contradicted that, either. So what did you feel was new or different?

 

[Diallo B]

will, i see that you are much more forgiving than i am.

about the nuke. given hollywood's pornographic use of them and the added bonus of nuclear fallout i can't see how that was not a nuclear explosion.

mushroom cloud+fallout=nuke.

additionally your statement of marcus being planted makes no sense. it was obvious that marcus was in the facility when the bomb went off as the camera pans across him as the resistance fighters infiltrate the facility. nuke or not, everything in there would have been destroyed. no way he just starts climbing out of the giant hole in the ground.

i am not the type but i could pick this movie apart. it was poor and insulting. if it wasn't for the stellar action scenes no one would be defending it.

i like good sci-fi action. i just don't want my intelligence to be insulted.

 

[Cory S.]

Diallo,

It's not a nuke. Powerful? Yes. But not a nuke. Having just came back from a second viewing, the film works better but there are still problems...most having to do with the editing in the first two acts when it pertains to any character scenes with Connor.

Details wise, Skynet's plan is to kill Connor in the present, hence the reason they didn't kill Kyle Reese. Essentially, lure Connor in and having him take on our new prototype; the T-800.

Given all that, they still should've killed Kyle Reese. Marcus did his job in luring Reese. Skynet really had no use for him once Connor was in combat with the T-800.

The other detail that I still don't understand was Marcus' programming. It doesn't really make sense to Skynet's plan. He helps in the capture of Kyle Reese but its definitely not proactive at all. His actions just don't really make sense but I will give Sam Worthington some credit. I didn't really see his performance the first go around. I see it now.

Christian Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard got the short end of the stick. Their scenes are heavily edited. I'm almost positive that there was some good information and character in the stuff that didn't make it. Why they didn't make? I hope to find out on the DVD...because I think Christian is getting a bad rap for something he had no control over.

 

[TravisR]

That was easily my favorite moment of the movie. I generally avoid spoilers but from what I heard, it seemed to me like they were downplaying any possible Schwarzenegger appearance (like maybe you'd see a bunch of inactive Arnies standing there) so I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Will_B]

Yes, he was in there. Planted there, as firmly planted there as the self-destruct mechanism that blew the place. He was probably in a very well fortified part of the facility that wasn't rigged to explode, so that he would emerge from the ruins thinking he'd maybe lost his memory in the blast. Then he'd find other humans, and eventually follow the route (finding and joining the resistance) that they'd programmed him to seek out.

And again, it wasn't a nuke. Electronics still worked after it went off. Besides, for the trick to work, Marcus couldn't have his fleshy bits fall off from radiation poisoning.

It was a set-up.

 

[Will_B]

Because he's just a robot with some human parts integrated.

And Marcus' arc is complete this way. He originally donated his organs as a lark, something to trade for the opportunity to insult the dying scientist (played by Helena Bonham Carter). He even expressed something along the lines of "take every bit of me until every piece is dead" or something.

But now, Marcus-reborn donates his heart consciously, for a purpose he believes is right and good.

That said, it would be nice if it turns out he'll just grow a new heart and be up and running once that happens. He was a good character, and a much better actor than Bale.

For the sake of the story I will pretend that Marcus' heart is made of some kind of ultra-clean, ultra-universal-donor-tissue that will mean that Connor won't be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life. Or that by 2018, or before Judgment Day, the key to transferring tissue from one person to another was found.

 

[Van594]

Eh...I liked T3 even better than this one. At least that one had a little humor and heart in it...the lack of heart I find ironic considering the ending. I didn't really care about any of the characters including John Connor. I love bleak films heck I'm a zombie movie fan but this franchise needs a little more than bleak to be considered a Terminator film. If I hadn't of watched any of the others I would say this was an ok film but just feel they missed out on a chance to do something really special.

 

[Diallo B]

you have a whole lot of "for the sake of" going.

i don't want to get into minutiae but..... nevermind.

 

[Will_B]

The story IS asking us to accept that heart transplants are able to be done easily in 2018. It doesn't say how, but there's at least 2 reasonable ideas there. A film doesn't have to spell out everything. I'm just conjecturing about details.

But your failure to realize that Marcus was being deceived into thinking he was a regular guy is such a fundamental part of the story, I don't know how you could enjoy the film without understanding that.

Oh yeah, you didn't!

 

[Bryan Beckman]

I really liked it. In fact, I was surprised by how absorbed I was by it. I thought it was really well done, and better than T3 by a mile.

But seeing how many folks here really hated it, and are willing to spend lots and lots of time picking it apart, makes me reticent to defend it. I don't have the stamina some of you guys have.

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent guy. I have a couple university degrees. I'm usually quick to notice when a screenplay is being lazy or pandering to the lowest common denominator. I didn't sense that at all with this film.

Just sayin'. Big thumbs up from me.

 

[DavidJ]

Despite the poor reviews and word of mouth, I had a good time with Terminator Salvation. It was a lot better than I was expecting---that's the good thing about low expectations.

I really did think it was better than the buzz surrounding the film. I kept hearing complaints about the editing, but I wasn't bothered by it at all.

I did get the idea that everyone, from McG to Bale to the SFX artists, was trying too hard. They were trying to make a great and profound film. Unfortunately that it is not. And the themes, symbolism, etc. were too obvious and forced, which is a shame because I love the Terminator universe and it is ripe for some higher level discussion.

Still, while it wasn't the greatest film, it was worth the five bucks and two hours.

 

[Vinprakash]

ITS very useful post tnx to share it.....

 

[Diallo B]

actually that is part of the movie i bought.....

 

[Pete-D]

I had low expectations but I thought it was decent.

It's a better movie than something like Transformers. The story is decent at times, and laughably flawed in logic at others ... but so was Star Trek. Not understanding why one gets a pass while the other is hammered for it.

Action wise it is the best action movie of the summer so far. There are some pretty spectacular action sequences.

To my surprise the characters of Marcus and Kyle Reese could've carried this film alone. In fact I thought the movie was at its strongest when Marcus was in the desert and we get a peak into a Mad Max-ian post-apocalyptic group of essentially "human tribes". That part of the film also reminded me the most of Cameron's previous films even if it didn't have the "we're being hunted by a Terminator" plot going on.

Christian Bale surprisingly is the weakest part of the film. His John Connor, whether by design or acting style is completely a one-note Batman-ish character. Worthington's Marcus completely does steal the show.

I thought the first half of the movie was a lot stronger than the second half where it sorta limps to the Skynet HQ ending ... seeing inside a robot factory for whatever reason isn't nearly as cool as it would sound. Terminator 3 I thought also suffered from a weak ending because of this. Salvation gets through, but I thought the better action and more fun was in the 1st half of the film. The second half wasn't terrible, but the story did start to show a lot more cracks.

I loved the nod to Guns N' Roses
from T2 though. If you're on the fence ... go see it. I do think this film is being judged a tad harshly IMO.

 

[PaRaman]

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