Terminator Salvation

This would be the third best Terminator film and the closest we have gotten to a realistic take on the future war from the original Terminator films.

What I love about this film is the post apocalyptic setting and the grittiness of it all. No out of character jokes like T3 and the silliness of Genysis.

There are some amazing scenes, this film trades big budget emotionless action scenes for more personal intense realistic altercations between earlier terminator designs.

The film is not quite a classic but thoroughly enjoyable serious about what it wants to achieve. This is a story arc and setting I would love to see another sequel to.

Hopefully after the bombs of Genysis and Dark Fate we can get back to a story which concentrates on the script and character development. Give us a future war.

Terminator Salvation gets panned left and right.....but let me first say this is way more better then T3 and Genisys by miles.

Not only is it a serious terminator movie.....its more faithful to the first 2, yes it has plot holes and not die hard terminator violence but what do you expect when companies are trying to make everything PG13 for money.

This is the Terminator movie you get, to throwbacks to Guns n Rose you could be mine to a CGI arnie wreaking havoc, yes it could of been done better but some of it is actually really good, just accept and stop expecting the greatness of T2, that was cameron and this is MCG two different directors.

The acting is good, don't know what everyone is going on about with Bale being a weak connor when he is perfect for the role, yelchin plays a fantastic kyle reese and sam worthington is great as marcus.

Relax, watch and enjoy a good summer action movie with no expectations, the opening helicopter scene is a work of art.

TS - 7/10

Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California in 2003, the same year that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. This is relevant because of course a fourth Terminator film was made and released in 2009 while he was still in office so he was unable to be in the film. Terminator Salvation had a troubled production but was eventually released. This is notably the first PG-13 Terminator film but there is supposedly an R-rated Director's Cut of which I have not seen. The film was directed by McG (known for directing a lot of music videos and Charlie's Angel: Full Throttle). The film stars Christian Bale (Batman movies), Sam Worthington (Avatar), and Anton Yelchin (Star Trek reboot movies). The film was a box office bomb even though it made back over $300 million (it's budget was $200 million) and was not a critical success and plans for sequels were cancelled.

It is the future in 2018 and the resistance is battling the machines. John Connor is the leader (kind of) and he has to find Kyle Reese so he can send him back to 1984. But Connor may need the help from a mysterious stranger.

Let me set the scene of my very first experience with this film. I was about 7 or 8 years old. This movie came in the mail via Netflix's mail service. I was pretty excited because I liked the previous two Terminator films (had not seen the first film yet) and was hoping for a good film. I was majorly disappointed with the film and found it to be really boring and forgettable. Fast forward to the year 2021 and I rewatched the film for the very first time since my first viewing. I had low expectations and was later surprised at how underrated this film ends up being. Terminator Salvation is an interesting film. Not great, but interesting enough to keep my interest. Terminator Salvation is something different and I enjoy that. I was tired of seeing the same old time travel story over and over again. This time we get a really dirty and gritty war story without all of the time travel and more of a Transformer vibe in a sense. But, the film still has it's problems but not enough to make it a bad film. It is one of those films that if you turn off your brain and forget about the other films, you will most likely find some value within. I will just get the negatives out of the way. First, is the big "twist". While it is not really much of a twist as it is revealed in the opening scene, it is played up as a twist later in the film and it is not very surprising. Though on the flipside, the idea is rather interesting and it makes the character even more interesting. Next, is the characters. Now, the majority of the characters are not that exciting save for maybe two characters. John Connor in this film is not that interesting but the film makes up for that with the other main character. Next complaint is the callbacks to the previous films. Some of these callbacks do not feel earned and some do. Hit or miss. Next, is the portrayal of the future. Now, in previous Terminator films, the future was always in the year 2029. This time around it is 2018. I am sure this is a prequel to the events that occur in 2029 but there is also evidence to say otherwise. Also, it is really gritty and dirty. What ever happened to the dark and cold future of the previous three films? Now it is not a huge complaint as I think that this future is portrayed fine but I do have a preference here. Those are all of my negatives for this film. My positives of the film include the acting which is surprisingly good. Anton Yelchin has a believeable performance as Reese. The use of mostly practical effects is really fun to see especially with the Terminators which look great. That is the bipedal Terminators...... There are some good action scenes but nothing that really compares to the first three films.

Terminator Salvation is something different. Perhaps people wanted the same story over and over again. It may not have the same charm that the first two films had, but it is definitely better than Terminator 3 in my opinion.

The atmosphere that James Cameron and Stan Winston had created for the first 2 films in the franchise is what really hit me and still does to this day. I think that was the key component along with consistency and approach that gave the Terminator film it's unique style and attractiveness. It's metallic-blue overlay, infused with creepy whines of music and heart pounding edge of your seat suspense was what really created this secondary reality if not for only an hour long. It made us have a connection to these characters. A sense of believability in what was really going on. But it was those elements that were able to harness the inner workings of this dark dreamland. In essence the first two Terminators were projected nightmares in a sense, as if you were running and running, but no how fast you ran, the shadowy figure on your toes just keeps closing in. THAT is what made those films so captivating.

Now these elements in one way or another were tried in this newest installment of the franchise. I see it as I've heard before as a "hit and miss" movie in which it got some key features to play out in the film, but lacked that essential tone T1 and T2 romantically portrayed.

I have talked in lengths with individuals on why this film didn't quite hit all of it's projected(we hope) targets and I haven't really heard a clear and analyzed answer. Some say it was the amount of sub-plots that were involved, the lack of plot, the empty character development, the slight cheesy factor, and or the overall weak story and unnecessary additions to the Terminator franchise. Although these all valid arguments to say the least and I would agree on them full heartily, I don't see it as the culprit of the problem here of why this film did not life up to it's expectations.

I think, like I said above in the first paragraph, that it was the direction the film was taken in perspective to it's overall tone and mood. God bless his soul, Stan Winston. For if he were alive I think we would have seen a more polished version of what we have now witnessed. I also think it was a bad part on McG for giving the O.K on the revised Terminator theme by veteran composer Danny Elfman. I don't know why in the hell the screened audiences gave the thumbs up on that one. Another issue of course is that most of the scenes were in broad day-light. I understand that McG wanted to get a different take on the war, but I don't think this was pulled off in any respects to what James Cameron had in mind for the war.(Shouldn't the sky be filled with pollution and dark particle manner from the nuclear explosions creating an ever-dark wasteland?) This was CRUCIAL and they blew it. I don't see why they didn't go with more night scenes. It is one of the strongest representative thematic elements portrayed in the Terminator 1 & 2.(I am not even going to mention T3 because of the ridiculous amount of mistakes made)

The Rating: A main point that needs to be addressed for sure is the film's PG-13 rating. Of course they did this to appeal to a larger demographic of movie-goers, but they did it in expense of the true grit and bones that T1 and T2 had. I don't see why a Terminator film should be even considered for a PG-13 rating. Anything lower than an "R" rating does not do the title justice. The series is called Terminator for a reason...They are killing machines. THAT'S IT. I think that this is one of the biggest insults to the die-hard community of Terminator fans everywhere.

There is no room for Mediocrity in trying to follow up after T2: Judgment Day. Lets hope and pray that us as an online community hold the next bunch of crazies accountable for their creative actions for the next installment of the franchise.

I had doubts about this film when it was released but despite all the negative feedback that it has received, I really liked it.

John Connor, for once, is portrayed as a strong albeit reluctant hero and leader instead of a whiny kid afraid of his future and Christian Bale portrays him very well, capturing the desperation and tortured emotions of a man who has to fulfil a destiny that he is starting to doubt. However, the main focus of this film is given to Marcus Wright, a mystery man portrayed by Sam Worthington who awakens in a post apocalyptic future and tries to figure out how he ended up there. The emotions that the character goes through as he discovers startling revelations about himself are all shown convincingly by Worthington, who brings a tough but also remorseful and vulnerable appeal to Marcus's plight.

The third important character in the movie is Kyle Reese, the paradoxical father of John Connor who at this point is only a teenager and portrayed by Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the recent Star Trek movie. Reese is shown to be a hero worshipper of the resistance, especially Connor and is compelled to join him, showing traits that would be associated with the character when played by Michael Biehn back in 1984.

The story of the film mostly revolves around Connor trying to find Reese but also about Marcus figuring out how he arrived in the wartorn future, and the story works pretty well. The camera style is mostly hand held, which adds a more natural and first hand look to the film and makes it feel more like the audience is in a warzone. Instead of the shiny Terminators from James Cameron's movies, the machines in Salvation are dark, sinister and have a more industrial look to them and there aren't any laser rifles, the only energy weapons in existence are employed by the huge Skynet machines so generally, bullets and missiles are still the favoured artillery of the resistance.

Salvation does have its flaws, but for the first Terminator movie to be set entirely in the future, it does a good job of continuing the franchise and making it distinct from the Schwarzenegger-dominated past. While 'Ar-Nulhd' made this franchise a household name, it is refreshing to see new blood taking it in a different direction and the one thing I didn't like about the earlier films was how there was always an epic fight at the beginning of the film before they turned into a long and drawn out chase before another fight at the end. Salvation isn't a chase movie, it's a war movie and it's not ashamed to be different from its predecessors.

It could have been better but it is still a good movie, ideal for sci-fi and action fans and on a personal note, it's also fun to guess which scene Christian Bale was doing when he exploded in the now infamous rant against the lighting technician.