Terminator Salvation : The Future Begins

By Rappy
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Neowinian

daterthings1121

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Well just came back and I have to say that the only word that describes this movie was blah. It's such a soul-less flick that they've completely ruined the desire in me to see any other Terminator movies.

Bale doesn't have as much screen time as I expected and for the most part he's either talking on the radio or whining.

The real hero of this movie is Marcus and his whole existence is completely illogical. I had absolutely ZERO emotions for any of the characters and was just kind of "meh" when someone got killed. This is the major problem. There is zero character development.

The movie doesn't even deliver on action. It has 3 major action points in the movie (the gas station, the Marcus running away and Skynet destruction). Let's not even go into the fact that Skynet sequence was a ripoff from Terminator 2 with the whole melting steel. What's even more surprising is that T800 remains operational after that hot steel covers it when in T2 Arnold gets melted away when he goes in it.

Complete disappointment. And WTH at heart operation in the middle of the desert.

I mean I know it's Terminator and there has to be some suspension of belief but this is pretty out there. And let's not even go into the super cheesy and overly done "Come with me if you want to live", "I'll be back" lines and the whole laughable (the whole theater actually laughed their asses off) at CG Arnold.

Sad. They've completely managed to kill this franchise. Terminator 3 was pinnacle of cinematography compared to this B-level flick.

When you get out of watching it, if you go and watch it, you will clearly feel that Bale so half-assed this project and that it was super easy money for him.

Thoroughly disappointing.

Wow, it wasn' t that bad,i love so many franchise movies, but seriously it seems like these fans are just babies. THey constantly whine and complain about movies, and go back to a previous film that was better and compare it, (T2, Empire strikes back, Rocky V..jk)Sure the movie was no T2, it could have been a little better, i'd give it a 7 outta 10. Sam worthington put on a fine performance. anyone who didn't see it, Go check it out, it's worth the money.

Grand Master

Boz

Posted
Posted (edited)
Wow, it wasn' t that bad,i love so many franchise movies, but seriously it seems like these fans are just babies. THey constantly whine and complain about movies, and go back to a previous film that was better and compare it

Who goes on about previous movies.. I was specifically addressing this movie and the flaws.. Most people are right..it's a smoking pile of sh*t. Not only that the movie is boring in so many way and predictable, it has nowhere near the action of any decent action movie little less previous Terminators.

As Harry Knowles from "Ain't it Cool News" says:

Christian Bale looks like he could give a sh*t about all of this. Somewhere while he was holed up in his mountain with his wife he has suddenly developed a slight British accent. Which just doesn't feel right. I never buy that he loves his wife Kate Connor that is played by Bryce Dallas Howard ? whose sole job in the film is to really open her eyes wide. (and I like Bryce, it's just she's given not one solid scene.)

But by incorporating a structure kinda like PEARL HARBOR and all big movies that leave their soul ? to tell a lot of pieces of an overall epic story ? this film doesn't have a main character that we care about. And doesn't develop any of the characters we're left with.

The star of the film is Sam Worthington. He plays a Death Row inmate that is written terribly. His scenes with Helena Bonham Carter are so mind numbingly awful, that you will not be able to not stare with train wreck in your thoughts (especially the latter scenes). She hasn't been this bad since Kenneth Branagh's FRANKENSTEIN. But wow, she's excruciatingly awful here.

And what kind of a movie watcher are you.. This movie is called "TERMINATOR".. it should tie in to previous Terminators and of course it should be compared. It's not some other Terminator. It's the story and it fails at telling one. The theme is completely uninteresting and none of the actors has enough time to really shine. Bale is at his worst.

Cameron's Terminators are simply fantastic. This movie is simply awful. Characters you don't care about, the girl that's just added that to serve no purpose and so many other things.

If you don't get it, it's FINE, just don't tell people who hate the movie that they are whining babies. This is a B-Flick at it's best and the only thing that differentiate it from really horrific B-Flick movies is somewhat few well executed special effects scenes.

What made Terminator 1 and 2 what they are is not mindless and garbage dialog or under-developed characters it was as Harry again says which i completely agree with:

it (Terminator Salvation) feels like children playing with material of which they haven't the slightest grasp of. They can't conceive of what actually made the material great to begin with. To them, it's the props, the hardware, the most rudimentary iconography. Not how the characters were LOVED by their creators. That the first TERMINATOR was a love story first and foremost. That the second TERMINATOR was a story about an overly protective mom and her son. This? This movie is about how he got that scar ? and it isn't Quint's story about the tattoo removal, this is about the time a Terminator scratched my face. Seriously.

To me, Wolverine, even though I was hugely dissapointed with was a better movie than T4. And that's a really awful thing to say.

I saw Terminator 1 when I was 10 or 11. Then T2 came about 10 years later that topped the first part. T3 was ok, nothing to write home about but it rounded the story nicely. This.. I don't know what this is. We don't really know what the story is. It doesn't really progress the story. It talks about Marcus Wright that you saw in the trailers he was a machine which was another idiotic thing to do. At least they could've played the card and surprised us. We start watching the movie and we know he's a machine.

I mean one thing after another was just awful. The biggest problem is that you have ZERO emotional connection to any of the characters. This is humanity they are fighting for in there. This future is at the period where it's human holocaust. We should feel despair and the glimpse of light that John Connor is. We get none of that.

Again, I have no idea, but to me MCG should keep doing TV shows and let someone who is a REAL director do movies. He completely destroyed what could've been a fantastic reboot that we've waited for so long and hoped it would show us dark and mercless future where the only hope is John Connor leading the resistence. Here, Bale turned out to be a whiny bitch that was not even around the center of the story.

Just so disappointing.

I'd advise everyone to skip it and just rent it when it comes out on DVD or do yourself a favor and watch T1 and T2 and hell even T3 instead.

If you want to see great characters and how it's properly done in recent movies I'd suggest you watch Taken or (of course Star Trek). That's something to talk about in a positive manner.

Edited by Boz
Grand Master

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Sure plenty will disagree, but this is perhaps the worse summer movie I have ever seen. Nothing but a quick cash in on the name of an already established series. Which that is what makes it even worse, as I personally thought it had the potential to be at least really good. I thought it was claiming to be "serious," and I believed perhaps they somehow made the whole man vs machine underlying tone relevant to society today. LOL What was I thinking...

Acting. Script. Editing. Cheesy Characters. The List Goes On. Whatever it was, it was all done poorly.

I honestly believe the special effects were way, way better n Terminator 2 which was done how many years ago now?

One or two amusing action scenes, then the rest just played second fiddle to what was just an unbelievably corny plot. I just could not overlook that fact so it became painful sitting through the second half of the movie.

As I said, I am sure plenty will disagree with me and will find enjoyment and love the movie, just not my type of movie at all. To me it is a classic example of a "Summer Blockbuster," all style and no substance. Meaning no story at all and all effects, which sometimes I can actually stomach, but I just thought the acting was that poor and obvious.

I actually now believe the infamous Christian Bale flip out tapes with him yelling at the guy were a result of the fact he does consider himself such a serious actor. Rightfully so I may add as he was brilliant in American Psycho and The Machinist, but I honestly and truly think he had to know how bad the acting was, so he lashed out on that guy out of the sheer frustration of coming to the realization he sold out big time and was giving the worse performance of his career.

Well just came back and I have to say that the only word that describes this movie was blah. It's such a soul-less flick that they've completely ruined the desire in me to see any other Terminator movies.

Bale doesn't have as much screen time as I expected and for the most part he's either talking on the radio or whining.

The real hero of this movie is Marcus and his whole existence is completely illogical. I had absolutely ZERO emotions for any of the characters and was just kind of "meh" when someone got killed. This is the major problem. There is zero character development.

The movie doesn't even deliver on action. It has 3 major action points in the movie (the gas station, the Marcus running away and Skynet destruction). Let's not even go into the fact that Skynet sequence was a ripoff from Terminator 2 with the whole melting steel. What's even more surprising is that T800 remains operational after that hot steel covers it when in T2 Arnold gets melted away when he goes in it.

Complete disappointment. And WTH at heart operation in the middle of the desert.

I mean I know it's Terminator and there has to be some suspension of belief but this is pretty out there. And let's not even go into the super cheesy and overly done "Come with me if you want to live", "I'll be back" lines and the whole laughable (the whole theater actually laughed their asses off) at CG Arnold.

Sad. They've completely managed to kill this franchise. Terminator 3 was pinnacle of cinematography compared to this B-level flick.

When you get out of watching it, if you go and watch it, you will clearly feel that Bale so half-assed this project and that it was super easy money for him.

Thoroughly disappointing.

Who goes on about previous movies.. I was specifically addressing this movie and the flaws.. Most people are right..it's a smoking pile of sh*t. Not only that the movie is boring in so many way and predictable, it has nowhere near the action of any decent action movie little less previous Terminators.

As Harry Knowles from "Ain't it Cool News" says:

Christian Bale looks like he could give a sh*t about all of this. Somewhere while he was holed up in his mountain with his wife he has suddenly developed a slight British accent. Which just doesn't feel right. I never buy that he loves his wife Kate Connor that is played by Bryce Dallas Howard ? whose sole job in the film is to really open her eyes wide. (and I like Bryce, it's just she's given not one solid scene.)

But by incorporating a structure kinda like PEARL HARBOR and all big movies that leave their soul ? to tell a lot of pieces of an overall epic story ? this film doesn't have a main character that we care about. And doesn't develop any of the characters we're left with.

The star of the film is Sam Worthington. He plays a Death Row inmate that is written terribly. His scenes with Helena Bonham Carter are so mind numbingly awful, that you will not be able to not stare with train wreck in your thoughts (especially the latter scenes). She hasn't been this bad since Kenneth Branagh's FRANKENSTEIN. But wow, she's excruciatingly awful here.

And what kind of a movie watcher are you.. This movie is called "TERMINATOR".. it should tie in to previous Terminators and of course it should be compared. It's not some other Terminator. It's the story and it fails at telling one. The theme is completely uninteresting and none of the actors has enough time to really shine. Bale is at his worst.

Cameron's Terminators are simply fantastic. This movie is simply awful. Characters you don't care about, the girl that's just added that to serve no purpose and so many other things.

If you don't get it, it's FINE, just don't tell people who hate the movie that they are whining babies. This is a B-Flick at it's best and the only thing that differentiate it from really horrific B-Flick movies is somewhat few well executed special effects scenes.

What made Terminator 1 and 2 what they are is not mindless and garbage dialog or under-developed characters it was as Harry again says which i completely agree with:

To me, Wolverine, even though I was hugely dissapointed with was a better movie than T4. And that's a really awful thing to say.

I saw Terminator 1 when I was 10 or 11. Then T2 came about 10 years later that topped the first part. T3 was ok, nothing to write home about but it rounded the story nicely. This.. I don't know what this is. We don't really know what the story is. It doesn't really progress the story. It talks about Marcus Wright that you saw in the trailers he was a machine which was another idiotic thing to do. At least they could've played the card and surprised us. We start watching the movie and we know he's a machine.

I mean one thing after another was just awful. The biggest problem is that you have ZERO emotional connection to any of the characters. This is humanity they are fighting for in there. This future is at the period where it's human holocaust. We should feel despair and the glimpse of light that John Connor is. We get none of that.

Again, I have no idea, but to me MCG should keep doing TV shows and let someone who is a REAL director do movies. He completely destroyed what could've been a fantastic reboot that we've waited for so long and hoped it would show us dark and mercless future where the only hope is John Connor leading the resistence. Here, Bale turned out to be a whiny bitch that was not even around the center of the story.

Just so disappointing.

I'd advise everyone to skip it and just rent it when it comes out on DVD or do yourself a favor and watch T1 and T2 and hell even T3 instead.

If you want to see great characters and how it's properly done in recent movies I'd suggest you watch Taken or (of course Star Trek). That's something to talk about in a positive manner.

Thanks you've saved me money.

I had a feeling this would tank, even although I tried to be netural during my PG-13 rants, I just knew it.

Grand Master

Xero

Posted
Posted (edited)

While it could have been a lot better it wasn't nearly as bad as some of you are making it out to be. Definitely shows where they reviewers are torn down the middle. What I agree on, weak dialog, some were good most were pretty mediocre. The main stars were pretty good but practically no one got time to build character. Kyle Reese could have used more but I was satisfied with how they portrayed him. Marcus they did a really good job on, I quite liked how they used parts from The T2 novels Now comes Bale. Why he wasn't nearly as emotional or as diverse as the previous Connors, you gotta think about the era he's living in. His character is supposed to be war hardened, relatively emotionless and just hell bent on killing those machines and surviving. That being said he played it quite well. You can't expect the same level of emotion from the previous films, those were set in the present before everything went to ****. Kinda hard to be making jokes and cracking smiles when everything you know has been destroyed. Similar to how people felt after Batman, criticizing his voice. There was a reason it was done the way it was, not that it wasn't a little annoying but he didn't do it just for kicks, that's who he was supposed to portray and I think he did it well. Now other characters like Blair, Kate, whoever Common was and the current leader. They were given next to no screen time and very little dialog which was a poor decision as those character never really went anywhere. It seemed like they were trying to squeeze so much into it. It could have been better if it were a 3 hour movie as there were a surprising amount of scenes in the trailers/clips that were cut completely out of the film. You could definitely notice the cut for Blair's topless scene. While it wasn't required it would have flowed a lot better had it not been cut, when you see it, or if you've seen it. You know what I'm talking about. I think the part that hurt it the most was there was no true villain. Sure the machines are, but the machines don't talk. It's hard to get a connection with that. In the other's they were more sophisticated, hopefully we get to see that in the next.

Now the action was really good, especially the first quarter of it. CGI was exceptional as well, even Arnold was well done. It was a shame he didn't speak but it didn't look bad. The part that makes it obvious is he looks like he did 20 years ago so that alone makes it obvious. However one part that really ****ed me off was when Connor saw him for the first time he didn't even blink. You'd think seeing him in the future when he's had so much experience with him in the past he'd drop and f bomb and at least blink. He didn't seem surprised at all to see him, that ****ed me off Thankfully the ending didn't end in a cliff hanger or anything. I can see where they could have used that leaked, I hope fake ending from a few months back. I was worried they might though, when Connor got stabbed I was like oh ****, they better not kill him I did really love how Connor managed to get his infamous scar, I was really looking forward to that scene and they delivered.

The best part of all this is the foundation for the next films is pretty solid. McG did a great job at directing, dialog/acting/story aside, the camera work was really nice and the overall flow of the film was good even though it seemed like 3 hours squished into 2. Most of the reviews bash the same things which is nice at the least. For the next that will be the part they focus most on. Part that annoys me with comparing to the older films is this is a war movie, the previous one's weren't. They are different genres while you can compare them still, the old one's had comic relief in them, they were more upbeat. This wasn't supposed to be that kind of movie so saying it was crappy because it wasn't like the old ones isn't justified. It's like comparing a movie to its musical counterpart, sure they are based on the same ideas but they are meant to be different. While on the subject of music I wasn't a big fan of the score. I would rather they used more of the original music although the title sequence (animation) was a nice homage to the original, they should have used the original music with it. And for anyone interesting, they pretty much skip over T3 in this. They acknowledge Judgement Day happened, but that's pretty much it. No references to things that happened in it, just stuff from T1/T2.

Overall I'd give it a 7.5/8 out of 10. I liked it a lot, it had room for improvement for sure but it was still an enjoyable movie, I'd like to see it again. For the record I liked it better than T3. For the reasons I stated above, both were good for different reasons but this one was very different then the first 3 and for that, I liked it more. I'm really anxious to see the next one, possibly set in the past (err present) and explaining how the T-1000 came to be and possibly what led to Marcus being created, and they will obviously address the complaints people have about this one.

Edited by Xero
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kaotic

Posted
Posted
I dunno I would've like to have seen Reese being sent by Conner to hack into Arnold, and send them both back in time. That at least completes the story a little bit.

I'm sure it will happen at the end of T5, or during T6. The only thing I would like to see is Derek Reese (Brian Austin Green) in T5, or T6. But I really like Terminator 4 and the people that don't like it are just crazy in the head. It wasn't T2, but it wasn't supposed to be- Which is why I find it funny when people compare it to that movie.

Grand Master

Ayepecks

Posted
Posted

@ Audioboxer: I'll be perfectly honest -- the PG-13 rating isn't what made it bad. But I'll be the first to admit it is obviously a PG-13 movie. What made it bad was the horrible storyline.

It just doesn't feel like the movie was any purpose to me. It was boring, plain and simple. You would think there'd be a lot of action scenes (a la Transformers or Taken) from the trailer and the fact that it's supposed to be a summer blockbuster, but it really doesn't have any good ones.

I was actually surprised that McG did a fairly good job directing. It's just the script is stupid. The acting was alright (Bale honestly did not do a good job in this movie, however... he only got on my nerves, which he never did in any of his other movies). I loved the introductory scenes, but it slowly went downhill from there.

Sam Worthington did a good job, but nowhere near as good as a lot of people make it out to be. He's no Heath Ledger as some people insisted. But he did a good job for the script he was given. I look forward to seeing him in Avatar for sure.

As I said in the review thread, I should mention I saw it in a small theater (few people, I mean), so there wasn't much crowd interaction. Maybe that would've changed it. But Boz, I think people were laughing because they didn't think Arnold would be in it at all and it caught them off guard. The CGI was well implemented.

Proficient

kaotic

Posted
Posted
As I said in the review thread, I should mention I saw it in a small theater (few people, I mean), so there wasn't much crowd interaction. Maybe that would've changed it. But Boz, I think people were laughing because they didn't think Arnold would be in it at all and it caught them off guard. The CGI was well implemented.

I thought the CGI was also very well done with Arnold, and he looks like himself in T1 which was awesome.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

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Posted

I have decided to wait for it to hit DVD....sadly I think people around me have turned me off...I know the faithful on here are saying its good if your a fan which I am but dunno don't want to waste money I could use to go see something else :rofl:

Grand Master

guru

Posted
Posted
ouch

bloated exercise in CGI overload. With awful dialogue, a ridiculous plot, and mostly uninspired performances, the interesting human element has been drained from the franchise. The machines have won.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181852/news#ni0794933

damn! was hoping for something on the interesting as T2.

Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

Posted
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Posted
I have decided to wait for it to hit DVD....sadly I think people around me have turned me off...I know the faithful on here are saying its good if your a fan which I am but dunno don't want to waste money I could use to go see something else :rofl:

No! Forget all the naysayers here. It was a great movie. Go out and watch it now, Rappy. I demand it! :yes:

Grand Master

Xero

Posted
Posted

There were a lot of moments I really liked that definitely were homages to the original, incase people think it's a spoiler I'll tag it all but it's not really.

Kyle's talking about how he's never driven before and being generally pretty bad, similar to Michael Bien in T1 who was all over the road crashing into cars and slamming into walls.

When Marcus teaches Kyle about tying the rope around the gun to keep it to his arm like he did in T1.

Even though it was kinda silly in the context of this film, Connor hacking the panel like he did at the ATM in T2.

Obviously John listening to the recordings Sarah made for John at the end of T1.

John getting his scar was probably my favorite, not just because it was a sweet scene and I was anxious to see how it happened, but how it actually happened, the Terminator reaching its arm as far as it can just coming in reach of his face like Sarah at the end of T1. The molten metal and then freezing him with nitrogen, very nice homage to T2.

Showing the fuel cells for the T-800 that was shown in T3.

Connor beating the Terminator with metal pipe like Kyle did in T1.

Lastly Connor jacking the mototerminator, he does like his bikes :)

I'm sure theres more I missed but those were the one's that stand out right now.

Grand Master

Ayepecks

Posted
Posted
I have decided to wait for it to hit DVD....sadly I think people around me have turned me off...I know the faithful on here are saying its good if your a fan which I am but dunno don't want to waste money I could use to go see something else :rofl:

I'm a fan, and it's worth seeing for $4 (which is what I paid to see it). For $10 or $15 like most theaters... nah.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

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Posted
I'm a fan, and it's worth seeing for $4 (which is what I paid to see it). For $10 or $15 like most theaters... nah.

That's like ?2 here...I wish it were that cheap!...it's like ?7 here...so that's $14

Grand Master

Xero

Posted
Posted

I waited for a bit just cuz I was making a post on here, I don't think there's anything I wouldn't waste your time. Although its usually a bitch getting out when everyone's leaving so maybe waiting is a good idea.

And Rappy, just grow a pair and sneak into that mawf.

Grand Master

SuperJediMedia

Posted
Posted

Saw the movie!

While it's not like the other Terminator movies, it's really not that bad of movie.

The ending made me think would John die? Would John or Kate send Kyle back to the future/past? Like they talked about in old Terminator movies. But I am not saying the plot is really smart or anything.

Loved the "You could be Mine" Cameo :)

No, NO interesting stuff after the credits, at all. I think there will be sequel!

p.s: This movie reminds me a lot of Fallout 3! :p

Grand Master

SuperJediMedia

Posted
Posted (edited)
I think the part that hurt it the most was there was no true villain. Sure the machines are, but the machines don't talk. It's hard to get a connection with that. In the other's they were more sophisticated, hopefully we get to see that in the next.

Now the action was really good, especially the first quarter of it. CGI was exceptional as well, even Arnold was well done. It was a shame he didn't speak but it didn't look bad.

Agreed!! T-1000 and T-X are one of the biggest reasons I love Terminator movies! Lack of A main Villian in this movie is really it's biggest problem!

And for anyone interesting, they pretty much skip over T3 in this. They acknowledge Judgement Day happened, but that's pretty much it. No references to things that happened in it, just stuff from T1/T2.

Not just that, when Terminator told John he was dead, it was actually Kate who send him back in T3. I thought about that... When John seem almost dead in the end of the movie. I mean it's NOT actually what happened, but it's what came to my mind instantly.

Edited by JediXAngel
Grand Master

Budious

Posted
Posted
Not just that, when Terminator told John he was dead, it was Kate who send him back in T3. I thought about that!

But by that note, informing yourself of the future events that led to your own death would make one more cautious to avoid those circumstances. Since the warning was rather detailed in T3, you could assume just by mentioning it to John would change the timeline.

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