T4 Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins

TheDoc

I still regard T1 as probably the best science fiction film I've ever seen. T2 was alot more blokcbustery, but was insanely good.

But Arnie as a baddie in T1 is just horrifying.

markopantelic

id love to win that trip to paris for the terminator premier.

seraphimvc

christian bale is the movie,i am expecting a good terminator movie!!!and yes,i didnt bother to watch T3 at all last time :Dstill think i am such a lucky man

honeymonster

im really looking forward to seeing this film. I loved T2 when it first came out wasnt a fan of the 3rd one.

TinCool

Its So Easy wrote: »

I'm really really looking forward to T4, and over the last two days I've rewatched all three previous films. I just finished watching T2 and that film is still amazing.

I've been intending to watch the first 3 again. I haven't watched T1 from beginning to end for a couple of years now so I must dust off my copy and throw it in to the DVD. Then watch T2 and may be just breeze over T3 at 1.5 speed :pac:

ReacherCreature

Re-watched Terminator 2 last night. Awesome...just brilliant.

Simian!

Sad news depending on your inclination: the Sarah Connor Chronicles has been cancelled. Can someone go off and see if there's a conspiracy involving the T4 film-makers/studio not wanting the series to detract from the film?

Guillaume

I am not agree with some users here. T3 was great. First we still got Arnie. Then the stunts and actions scenes were brilliant. Not to forget the female terminator..... :D:D. Regarding T4, I have great expectations but mixed with doubts because of the director McG, director of the sh..... remake of Charlie's angels. So I would give them the benefit of the doubt and will go to see in theatre, except if the revews are all bad.

speedboatchase

25% on Rotten Tomatoes, ugh

nix

25%?!? i knew it ! :P

My prediction is looking accurate so far :P

Richard Dower

Based on how many reviews???....holy crap that's bad!!!!!!!!!!!

Doesn't matter, I can still see it being pretty damned huge.

KerranJast

speedboatchase wrote: »

25% on Rotten Tomatoes, ugh

Film isn't even released yet. :rolleyes:
Edit: Only 8 reviews. 3 top critic ones only one of which is from a big outlet (Variety) which BTW rates it fresh.

BlitzKrieg

Darker, grimmer and more stylistically single-minded than its two relatively giddy predecessors, "Terminator Salvation" boasts the kind of singular vision that distinguished the James Cameron original, the full-throttle kinetics of "Speed" and an old-fashioned regard for human (and humanoid) heroics. Only pic's relentlessly doomsday tone -- accessorized by helmer McG's grimy, gun-metal palette -- might keep auds from flocking like lemmings to the apocalypse. The fourth in the celebrated sci-fi series, "Salvation" opens and closes with humanity at war with the machines. In other words, this thing isn't going to end soon. Nor should it, if it keeps on like this.

McG, whose segue from music vids to movies resulted in two "Charlie's Angels" extravaganzas and the woeful "We Are Marshall," exhibits an unexpected flair for the dreadful, abrupt and awesome. What we get here -- which was perhaps missing on the relatively sunny mental landscapes of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" -- is a sense of real horror: When humans are snatched up like Cheez-Doodles by skyscraper-sized Go-bots, there's no slo-mo relief or stalling. Stuff happens as it might were the world actually overtaken by demonic appliances.

Christian Bale, playing the "prophesized leader of the Resistance" John Connor, may have traded in the Batman body armor for "Road Warrior"-style outerwear, but one thing hasn't changed: He is, once again, a movie star playing second fiddle. Heath Ledger stole "The Dark Knight" away from him and Sam Worthington (who will appear in Cameron's "Avatar" this Christmas) heists "Terminator Salvation" from Bale, for the most ironical of reasons: In a movie that poses man against machine, Worthington's cyborg is the far more human character.

As a steel-beaded logo of Warner Bros. fades away, Marcus (Worthington), on death row for an unexplained crime, gets an 11th-hour visit from Dr. Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter), who wears the headscarf and pallor of a terminal cancer patient. She wants Marcus' body -- literally. She wants to turn him into a cyborg.

Wracked with guilt, resigned to his execution, Marcus agrees to sign the release in exchange for a kiss. "So that's what death tastes like," he says, as she leaves him to his lethal injection.

This is not your governator's "Terminator."

Bale, meanwhile, playing the adult version of the hero-to-be portrayed by Edward Furlong ("Terminator 2) and Nick Stahl ("Terminator 3"), is as purposeful and furious as anyone played by Arnold Schwarzenegger or Robert Patrick. One suspects he's been studying Linda Hamilton in "Terminator 2," although -- let's face it -- this is serious business. It's 2018. Skynet -- the "aware" machine -- has all but accomplished its self-appointed mission of destroying the threat of people.

But pockets of rebellion continue to operate even if, as in the case of a charred and rubble-strewn Los Angeles, the local contingent consists of just two kids: Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and the mute/cute Star (Jadagrace).

Kyle -- given a slightly geeky and perfectly plausible portrayal by Yelchin ("Star Trek") -- will grow up to father John Connor after being sent into the future to meet Sarah Connor (if you haven't followed the "Terminator" time line, this is no time to be catching up).

Thus, he has to be preserved. So does John, given that it's been predicted since 1984 that he'll be the one to save the world. There's a lot at stake.

McG's direction is always intelligent. (He does seem to have a thing for "The Great Escape," which is referenced several times.) The script by John Brancato and Michael Ferris occasionally goes off the rails. Certainly, their insertion of an existential dilemma for Marcus -- "I need to find out who did this to me," he says, his chrome-plated plumbing having been exposed to the open air -- feels very late-inning.

And the obligatory borrowing from the previous movies ("Come with me if you want to live," "I'll be back ...") tend to upset the mood created within McG's bleached-out world, which is very deliberate and doesn't need the comic relief.

There are great bits though: The thrashing, centipede-like, killer-snake thingie, which has the personality of a wolverine, is a neat invention. So are the biker Terminators, which molt like malignant pinecones off their towering mother ‘bot. A Schwarzenegger lookalike -- it isn't clear whether it's the ex-actor CGI'd or a complete fabrication -- is funny, but in this case apt.

Production values are enormous, especially d.p. Shane Hurlbut's work and the visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic, Asylum, Pacific Title and Art Studio, and Matte World Digital.

variety review

looses a chunk respect by tieing terminator 2 with terminator 3 as *giddy*

Handsome Bob

So people only acknowledge rotten tomatoes when it suits them eh? I remember all you negative bandwagoners dismissing rotten tomatoes and imdb for the scores that The Dark Knight received on both websites. But now that both are seemingly confirming your pre-conceived opinions, you are all ears.

:rolleyes:

BlitzKrieg

LZ5by5 wrote: »

So people only acknowledge rotten tomatoes when it suits them eh? I remember all you negative bandwagoners dismissing rotten tomatoes and imdb for the scores that The Dark Knight received on both websites. But now that both are seemingly confirming your pre-conceived opinions, you are all ears.

:rolleyes:

Am I included in this statement?

I'm not sure I know what your talking about with Dark Knight and I would be subjective on which Rotten Tomatoes reviews I consider. Case in point I read the Variety review and I can only comment that he doesnt fill me with much confidence. Compared to the new york magazine review which brings up more consistent points.

n Terminator Salvation, machines have exterminated most of humankind and run the planet; I think they made the movie, too. This isn’t storytelling, it’s programming—inorganic matter passing for life. James Cameron’s 1984 original and its showy sequel were also mechanical, but their killer ’bots had charm: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s metallic readings and lumpy-jawed bodybuilder arrogance meshed riotously well with the part of a cyborg assassin, and Robert Patrick’s T-1000 was a witty, preternatural blank—with adorably incongruous teacup-handle ears. The fourth time out, the bad machines are steel-skeleton FX, the humans less compelling. It’s not wholly the fault of the director, McG, who decently storyboards the clashes and explosions. As I said, it’s the machines—or, more precisely, the Hollywood Machine that sifts through books and old movies in search of the holy “franchise,” and at strategic intervals generates nonessential sequels.

The Terminator began with a villain and a hero traveling back in time, and the fourth installment isn’t so much an advance of the story as a footnote: This is how we got to where we’ve already been—for 25 years. John Connor (Christian Bale), prophet of the resistance, must defeat the machines and send Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) to 1984 to save his mom and deliver a payload of sperm that will grow up to be John Connor. Of course, every time trip has its perils—just ask the Vulcans in the new Star Trek. Maybe in this time loop the machines will kill John before he can kill them. Maybe Kyle will stand too close to an X-ray machine and become infertile. As Sarah Connor exclaims to her son (via cassette tape): “God, a person can go crazy thinking about this”—a line that must have given everyone on set a good laugh. Onscreen, alas, nothing lightens the mood. With McG’s migraine-inducing jerky-cam and monochromatic palette (livened only by splotches of rust), Terminator Salvation puts the numb in numskull.

Minus a fun new terminator, the movie offers a second protagonist, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), who’s executed by lethal injection in a nineties prologue after signing away his body to whey-faced scientist Helena Bonham Carter—and then mysteriously bounds naked from some wreckage in a post-nuclear-holocaust 2018 looking remarkably buff. No spoilers here: I won’t deprive you of the pleasure of figuring out his secret for yourself about an hour and a half before the Big Reveal. Worthington, an Aussie, has a brief but vivid role as a studly hooligan in Greg Mclean’s delectable killer-croc picture, Rogue, and he manages to suggest a soul in torment with a minimum of inflection. It’s not that he’s all that winning—it’s that the competition never gets out of the gate.

Millions have viewed via YouTube Bale’s abusive tantrum on the set of this film, and he’s virtually the same on-camera: Chewing out an insensitive cinematographer or snarling at a fellow fighter, he’s equally unpleasant. Bale is a Method guy who tries to become his roles, and in principle that’s fine. I’m in the minority in liking his Batman: His humorlessness resonates with Bruce Wayne. But as the hero of an outlandish sci-fi thriller, he lacks imagination and dash. John’s mission is the apogee of nuttiness: to find his dad, a teenager, and keep him alive to impregnate mom and save the world from an army of titanium-girded Austrian musclemen. But Bale is such a dour prig you wonder why he just doesn’t abort himself in spite.

A big issue seems to be that Bale is not very good as John Connor.

Handsome Bob

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

Am I included in this statement?

I'm not sure I know what your talking about with Dark Knight and I would be subjective on which Rotten Tomatoes reviews I consider. Case in point I read the Variety review and I can only comment that he doesnt fill me with much confidence. Compared to the new york magazine review which brings up more consistent points.

I wasn't referring to you Blitzkrieg.:)

nix

TDK got 94%, big difference between that and 25% o_O

I'll still go see it in the cinema cause im an idiot, but i just cant see it delivering storywise. And as those reviews have confirmed so far, heavy on the effects not so much on the story =/

Otacon

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

variety review

looses a chunk respect by tieing terminator 2 with terminator 3 as *giddy*

I think he was referring to the tone of the films.

T2 and T3 were lighter in tone to T1 in fairness. I think he is implying that this new film is a lot darker than its predecessors (It being a 12 film, I assume darker in tone, not gore).

BlitzKrieg

I have no issue with t3 being seen as light (those bloody glassess), it was in a lot of ways. But I still consider terminator 2 very dark in many places (the mental asylum, the sequence with Dyson, the dream sequences)

Linguo

I'm going to see tomorrow, can't wait! Didn't really enjoy the last one but I think this one could be pretty good!:D

KerranJast

nix wrote: »

TDK got 94%, big difference between that and 25% o_O

I'll still go see it in the cinema cause im an idiot, but i just cant see it delivering storywise. And as those reviews have confirmed so far, heavy on the effects not so much on the story =/

If it's 24% a week after release THEN I'll worry. I don't pay a blind bit of difference to anything on RT until its been out for a while. Early reviews are usually people fawning over a film having been thrown a sweetener by the studio or overly critical because they weren't.

speedboatchase

22% now and reading a lot more on various message boards from people who seen advanced screenings; here's what I predict - big opening weekend but horrible word of mouth, which will severely hinder sequel chances. Between the disappointing Wolverine, rubbish A&D, the delay of Up, the utter same-ness of the TF2 trailer and early reviews for the new HP (quite a while ago, mind), I'm wondering if there's going to be any satisfying big-budget films this summer beside Star Trek. And ya, I deliberately left out GI Joe there

Richard Dower

27% now.

Savman

Some people taking this movie business far too seriously. It has Christian Bale. It has Terminators. Lotsa blowing sh*t up. Grab your popcorn and indulge unless you have something far more worthwhile to do for those 2hrs of your live.

It'll probably be a train wreck, I'm still gonna go see it because at the end of the day everyone loves a train wreck and at the very least it'll be pure 'scoff at the silliness of it all' mindless fun.

Richard Dower

I'm gonna see it....it's not like there's much else on at the flicks.

ReacherCreature

Savman wrote: »

Some people taking this movie business far too seriously. It has Christian Bale. It has Terminators. Lotsa blowing sh*t up. Grab your popcorn and indulge unless you have something far more worthwhile to do for those 2hrs of your live.

It'll probably be a train wreck, I'm still gonna go see it because at the end of the day everyone loves a train wreck and at the very least it'll be pure 'scoff at the silliness of it all' mindless fun.

Is it even two hours? I read somewhere that it's just an hour and a half.
I prefer longer movies.

Linguo

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Is it even two hours? I read somewhere that it's just an hour and a half.
I prefer longer movies.

It's 115 minutes, will let you guys know what it's like when I see it tonight, has to be good fun!

nix

Whats the rating on it over here btw anybody know? PG im guessing :P

speedboatchase

Savman wrote: »

Some people taking this movie business far too seriously. It has Christian Bale. It has Terminators. Lotsa blowing sh*t up. Grab your popcorn and indulge unless you have something far more worthwhile to do for those 2hrs of your live.

It'll probably be a train wreck, I'm still gonna go see it because at the end of the day everyone loves a train wreck and at the very least it'll be pure 'scoff at the silliness of it all' mindless fun.

1. I love Bale but apparently he's rubbish in this
2. I like Terminators but I like good Terminator films, I didn't consider T3 "mindless fun", I thought it was a rubbish entry into the franchise

Terminator deserves a lot more than to be reduced to a mindless trainwreck where things go bang; T1 and 2 both have 100% ratings on RT and are modern classics. If you can't even go near that quality don't bother until you can get Cameron back.

This is just like the Alien franchise, two incredible entries to begin with and then diluted with the law of diminishing returns after that