Terminator Salvation

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 2003, Doctor Serena Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) of Cyberdyne Systems convinces death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to sign his body over for medical research following his execution by lethal injection. One year later the Skynet system is activated, perceives humans as a threat to its own existence, and eradicates much of humanity in the event known as “Judgment Day” (as depicted in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines).

In 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale) leads a Resistance attack on a Skynet base. John discovers human prisoners and schematics for a new type of Terminator incorporating living tissue, but he is the only apparent survivor of the attack after the base is destroyed in a nuclear explosion. However, Marcus emerges from the wreckage of the base and proceeds on foot to Los Angeles.

John returns to Resistance headquarters located aboard a nuclear submarine and tells General Ashdown (Michael Ironside), the current leader, of his discovery. Meanwhile, the Resistance has discovered a radio frequency believed to be capable of sending an order to shut down Skynet machines. They plan to launch an offensive against the Skynet base in San Francisco in four days, in response to an intercepted “kill list” indicating that Skynet plans to kill the Resistance’s command staff in a week’s time. John learns that his own name is second on the list, following a civilian named Kyle Reese. The Resistance leaders are unaware of Kyle’s importance, but John knows that it is because Kyle will later become his father (as depicted in The Terminator). John meets with his wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) and his subordinate Barnes (Common), and transmits a radio broadcast to Resistance members and surviving civilians around the world.

Arriving in the ruins of Los Angeles, Marcus is saved from a T-600 Terminator by Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin) and his mute child companion Star (Jadagrace Berry). Kyle informs Marcus about the war between humans and Skynet. Hearing John’s radio broadcast, the three leave Los Angeles in search of the Resistance. They survive an attack, but Kyle, Star, and several other humans are taken prisoner.

Two Resistance A-10 airplanes are shot down when they try to intercept the machine transport and its escorts. Marcus locates downed pilot Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood) and they make their way to John’s base, but Marcus is wounded by a magnetic land mine. Attempting to save his life, the Resistance fighters discover that he is in fact a cyborg, with a mechanical endoskeleton, circuitry, and a partially artificial cerebral cortex. Marcus believes himself to be human, but John thinks that Marcus has been sent to kill him, and orders his destruction. However, Blair helps Marcus escape from the base. During the pursuit, Marcus saves John’s life from Skynet hydrobots, and the two make a bargain: Marcus will enter Skynet’s headquarters and attempt to help John rescue Kyle and the other prisoners.

John pleads with Ashdown to delay the attack, but Ashdown refuses and relieves John of his command. However, the Resistance forces disobey Ashdown’s orders and await John’s signal. Marcus enters the base, interfaces with the computer, and disables the perimeter defenses so that John can infiltrate the cell block and release the human prisoners. Marcus discovers that he was created by Skynet in order to lure John to the base; when the Resistance launches its attack, John will be killed, achieving the goal that Skynet had failed to accomplish so many times. The radio signal that the Resistance’s plan depends on is a ruse. Skynet uses the signal to track down and destroy the command submarine with the Resistance leaders aboard.

Marcus tears out the hardware linking him to Skynet and assists John in battling a new T-800 model 101 Terminator. John is mortally wounded during the fight, but succeeds in destroying the Skynet base by rigging several Terminator fuel cells to explode, detonating them as he, Marcus, Kyle, and Star are airlifted out. Kate attempts to save John’s life, but his heart is too damaged. Marcus offers his own heart for transplant, sacrificing himself to save John. Recovering, John radios to the other Resistance fighters that though this battle has been won, the war is far from over.

REVIEW:

 Following Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, anyone with half a brain just knew that the franchise was done…right? Well, someone decided that there needed to be another one. –rolls eyes–

Terminator Salvation takes us into the future, where John Connor isn’t quite the leader of the resistance and the T-800 Terminator’s are just being created. In other words, with this film, they were hoping they could drag it out and make some serious bank, forcing the studios to do as many as they can until we get John Connor to lead the resistance.

This franchise very well should have ended with Terminator 2: Judgement Day, if you ask me. With these last two films, all they seem to have been doing is making a sad attempt to milk the proverbial cow, at the expense of what was once a great group of characters.

That little rant aside, what is this “chapter” about? Well, we are now in the year 2018, and John Connor is fighting with the Resistance. That’s about 90% of the movie, right there. The interesting part, though, is that there is this random guy who we saw killed at the beginning of the film, in 2003, suddenly going around helping people, namely Kyle Reese.

I had avoided this picture, mainly because I think Christian Bale should rot in the deepest pit in hell hanging by the tips of his fingernails while each millimeter of his skin is pulled of slowly. Can you tell I’m not a fan of Bale?

It turns out that aside from being an obvious ploy to milk the franchise that this film wasn’t as bad as I thought. Strangely enough, though, the special effects were better in the original The Terminator, which is quite said when you think about how a film from the early 80s has better effects than something from 2009.

The action here is ok, but it just seems like its something we’ve seen before, especially the climactic battle. Do we really need to see another terminator battle in a factory?!?

I’ve already mention my hatred for Bale, so you can guess how glad I was that he wasn’t really featured as much as one would think John Connor would be.

Sam Worthington, who, up until now, I thought was nothing more than just some random action guy they plucked out of Australia, was quite impressive as Marcus. Not only did he make you belive he didn’t know he was a Terminator, but his emotions toward Blair, and something he does at the end really make endear him to the audience.

Anton Yelchin has really come a long way as an actor since I first saw him in Charlie Bartlett. The guy plays a young Kyle Reese here. It is obvious he did his research on the previous gy to play Kyle. Many of the mannerisms are there, along with his own interpretation of the character.

Bryce Dallas Howard doesn’t really do much here except look pregnant and be a doctor, however, she isn’t a downgrade from Claire Danes. If anything, she may, in fact, be an upgrade.

Moon Bloodgood seems to be the Sarah Connor type, except she actually seems to have feelings, as proven when she releases Marcus. How dare a woman show emotion in this franchise, right?

Helena Bonham Carter is in this weird role as the creator, I guess, of the terminators was odd, bt made sense.

If you’ve ever seen The Matrix: Revolutions, then you know the kind of anticlimactic tone that happens when you see the world that the antagonists have been coming from. That is the kind of vibe this film has.

Sure, its cool to see this word in flashbacks and all, but to have an entire film set in this apocalyptic world just takes something away from what the first two film left us in shock and awe about.

Before I conclude this post, I have to say that there is one really cool effect. We see the beginning of the T-800 model terminators. As you know, this is the model that was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. At the time this was filmed, he was governing California, and let’s face it, he doesn’t have the body he did back in ’85, so the got some actor and CGI Arnold’s face. It really is a cool effect, and I actually got chills when he showed up and they played the Terminator theme. Definitely the highlight of the film.

So, what is the final verdict on Terminator Salvation? Well, if this was supposed to be the salvation of the franchise, it is doomed. While there were terminators abound, it just didn’t have the feel of a Terminator film. I made the comparison to the third Matrix film earlier. That film didn’t feel like a Matrix flick, either. Should you watch this, is the big question? Look, if you’re a Terminator fan, it won’t hurt. It actually isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be, bt don’t expect the greatness of the first two films.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

Following the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, John Connor (Nick Stahl) has been living off-the-grid in Los Angeles. Although Judgment Day did not occur on August 29, 1997, the date given by the Terminator in the previous film, John does not believe that the prophesied war between humans and Skynet has been averted. Unable to locate John, Skynet sends a new model of Terminator, the T-X (Kristanna Loken), back in time to July 24, 2004 to kill his future lieutenants in the human Resistance. A more advanced model than previous Terminators, the T-X has an endoskeleton with built-in weaponry, a liquid metal exterior similar to the T-1000, and the ability to control other machines. The Resistance sends a reprogrammed T-850 model 101 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) back in time to protect the T-X’s targets, including Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) and John. This Terminator reveals that in the future John and Kate are married, and that it successfully killed John in 2032 before being reprogrammed by Kate.

The Terminator saves John and Kate from the T-X’s attack, and the three visit the grave of Sarah Connor, who died of leukemia some years before. Inside the grave they find a weapons cache left by Sarah’s friends as a backup in the event that Judgment Day was not averted. The T-X and police arrive and a battle ensues, but John, Kate, and the Terminator manage to steal a hearse and escape. The Terminator has been programmed to take John and Kate to a safe location so that they may survive Judgment Day, which is to occur in a few hours, but John decides that they should attempt to prevent Skynet from being activated. After the destruction of Cyberdyne Systems in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the United States Air Force took over the Skynet project and it is being headed by Kate’s father, Lieutenant General Robert Brewster (David Andrews). However, the trio arrive too late to stop him from activating Skynet in an attempt to stop the spread of a massive computer virus. Skynet assumes control of the military’s defense network just as the T-X arrives, taking control of various machines including T-1s in an attempt to eliminate John and Kate. John asks the dying General for the location of Skynet’s system core, hoping to still stop Judgment Day, and is instructed to go to Crystal Peak, a military base built into the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Before John and Kate can escape by plane, the T-X takes control of the Terminator and it attacks them. It is able to override its programming and shut itself down just before killing John. As John and Kate arrive at Crystal Peak they are attacked by the T-X, but a rebooted Terminator crashes a helicopter into it. Even with its legs severed the T-X continues to pursue John and Kate, but the Terminator traps it under a blast door and detonates its last remaining hydrogen fuel cell in the T-X’s mouth, destroying them both. John and Kate discover that Crystal Peak does not house Skynet’s core, but is rather a Cold War-era fallout shelter for high-ranking government officials. General Brewster sent them there to protect them from the impending nuclear holocaust initiated by Skynet. Skynet in fact does not have a core but instead exists as software in cyberspace running on computers all over the world, making it effectively impossible to shut down. It begins a series of nuclear attacks on various cities, commencing Judgment Day. Soon after the attacks the equipment at Crystal Peak picks up transmissions from amateur radio operators and Montana’s civil defense, to which John responds.

REVIEW:

 There are many out there who feel this is the demise of the Terminator franchise. I can’t go that far…at least until I see Terminator: Salvation, but I can say that this is a serious drop off from its predecessor, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Of course, given the sheer awesomeness of that film, anything would seem less than spectacular, so it is kind of not fair to compare the two.

Having said that, as a film this picture doesn’t do itself any justice. Before I get off on a tangent, let me touch on the good things.

For me, it just isn’t a Terminator flick without Arnold, so I was glad that he came back for this one (his last role before becoming governor). On top of that, the man is (was) still a specimen of human perfection (ironically playing a robot).

Second, Kristanna Loken…hot, blonde, and wearing leather. Do I need to say more?

The action in this flick seems to be ramped up a bit. So much so that it comes off as a bit…shall we say desperate? Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing stuff blow up and whatnot, but unless this is a Michael Bay movie, or something along the lines of the Crank movies or Shoot ‘Em Up, where stuff is done just for the hell of it and no to further the plot, then there has to be a reason behind it, and there just wasn’t, as far as I could tell.

The story would work if it didn’t seem like this was made to be a cash in on the franchise. On top of that, James Cameron did not return to the director’s chair, and it is obvious. Granted, Cameron’s absence actually gives us a short film, but at the cost of what could very well have been a great picture.

Going back to Kristanna Loken. In my review of The Terminator, I touched on how that there was a mystery about why no one could travel in time with their clothes on (I forgot that this was solved in the first episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). My issue with this is that if you’re going to have a super hot chick like Loken, then for goodness sakes, let he be naked. Let’s face it, most of the viewing public of this film was male, so a hot, naked chick is right up our alley. I’m just saying.

I commented on someone’s blog over the weekend that Arnold’s take on the T-850 this time around seemed a bit chatty, especially for a terminator. At first, he seemed just fine, then somewhere around the time they end up at the mausoleum, he starts getting a bit talkative. This is not the kind of trait one would expect from a terminator. It’s bad enough that in the last film, John Connor told him he couldn’t kill, this time he got all chatty and, even worse, seemed like he had emotions. WTF?!?

The special effects are pretty cool. Of course, after the groundbreaking T-1000, they better not have been subpar. Having said that, I was a little disappointed in the T-X. Not that there was anything wrong with her, but she looked like an actual robot, similar to Arnold, and not the liquid metal that she is. Maybe it’s just me, but something seemed a bit odd to me about that.

The casting in this film left me  scratching my head. I’ve already talked about the terminators, but where was Linda Hamilton? Apparently, she was supposed to have been in the film, but killed off in the first half of the film. So, she opted not to reprise her character. This led them to have her die of leukemia…LEUKEMIA?!?

I don’t know about you, but there is just something anti-climactic about this. Sarah became a great warrior, and while it isn’t beyond the scope of the norm for her to die of cancer, but I just picture her dying in battle, or at least a car wreck.

Edward Furlong was having legal problems when this was being filmed, so he couldn’t reprise his role as John Connor. Instead, they replaced him with Nick Stahl. You may know him as that yellow guy from Sin City. The problem with him is that he just doesn’t seem the right fit. To me, he seemed like a square peg trying to be shoved in a round hole.

Along those same lines, Claire Danes, who wasn’t half as bad, didn’t fit either. At least with her, though, she actually has the talent to make it seem like she was supposed to be there.

I can’t belive this how they wanted to end the franchise! After the near perfection of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines does nothing more than come off as one of those film novels that tells what happened after or before. Only this time, they just chose to bring it to the big screen. Did we really need this film? I think not. Having said that, though, I can’t say it is as bad as everyone seems to believe. I still wouldn’t recommend this, though. If you must watch it, just catch it on TV. Whatever parts are edited won’t hurt your view of the film, I assure you. If you’re in a terminator mood, though, best guess is to go for T2.

3 out of 5 stars

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In 1995, eleven years after the events of The Terminator, John Connor (Edward Furlong) is ten years old and living in Los Angeles with foster parents. His mother Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) had been preparing him throughout his childhood for his future role as the leader of the human Resistance against Skynet, but she was arrested after attempting to bomb a computer factory and remanded to a hospital for the criminally insane under the supervision of Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen). Skynet sends a new Terminator, a T-1000 (Robert Patrick), back in time to 1995 to kill John. A more advanced prototype than the Terminator that was sent after Sarah, the T-1000 is composed of “a mimetic polyalloy”, a liquid metal that allows it to take the shape and appearance of anyone or anything it touches. Though it cannot mimic complex machines such as guns or bombs, it can shape parts of itself into knives and stabbing weapons and can mimic the voice and appearance of humans. It assumes the identity of a police officer and goes in pursuit of John. Meanwhile, the future John Connor has sent back a reprogrammed T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), identical to the one that attacked Sarah, to protect his younger self.

The Terminator and the T-1000 converge on John in a shopping mall, and a chase ensues in which John and the Terminator escape by motorcycle. The Terminator explains that he has been programmed to protect and obey John. Fearing that the T-1000 will kill Sarah in order to get to him, John orders the Terminator to help free her. They encounter Sarah in the midst of her own escape attempt, and she is initially terrified by the Terminator but accepts his assistance after he helps them to escape the T-1000. The Terminator informs John and Sarah about Skynet, the artificial intelligence that will initiate a nuclear holocaust on “Judgment Day” and go on to create the machines that will hunt the remnants of humanity. Sarah learns that the man most directly responsible for Skynet’s creation is Miles Dyson (Joe Morton), a Cyberdyne Systems engineer working on a revolutionary new microprocessor that will form the basis for Skynet.

Gathering weapons from an old friend, Sarah plans to flee with John to Mexico. However, after having a horrific nightmare of a nuclear explosion she awakens with strengthened resolve and sets out to kill Miles Dyson. She wounds him at his home but finds herself unable to kill him in front of his family. Deducing her plan, John and the Terminator arrive and inform Miles of the consequences of his work. They learn that much of his research has been reverse engineered from the CPU and arm of the previous Terminator sent after Sarah. Convincing him that these items and his designs must be destroyed, they break into the Cyberdyne building and retrieve the CPU and arm. The police arrive and Miles is mortally wounded, but stays behind to trigger the detonator that will destroy his research.

The T-1000 pursues John, Sarah, and the Terminator, catching up to them in a steel mill. In a climactic battle, the Terminator fires a grenade into the T-1000 and it falls into a vat of molten steel where it is destroyed. John throws the pieces of the first Terminator into the steel as well. The Terminator then sacrifices himself, asking Sarah to lower him into the steel so that his technology cannot be used to create Skynet. Sarah looks to the future with hope, believing that if a Terminator can learn the value of human life, then perhaps humanity is not doomed to self-destruction

REVIEW:

This was actually the first film of this franchise that I saw, and it blew my mind. Now, years later, I still get that feeling of wonder everytime I watch Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

The film picks up years after The Terminator left off. Now, there is a Terminator after John Connor, and one reprogrammed and sent back to protect John and Sarah. Before these two Terminators come to blows, there is this little thing about a certain microchip from the original Terminator that is responsible for the launch of Skynet, which in turn, is responsible for the rampant death and destruction that goes on in the future.

The thing that sets this film apart from its predecessor is the special effects. The liquid Terminator was cutting edge stuff at the time of this picture’s release. Of course, nowadays, it seems just as common as CGI-ing in a crowd of people or something.

However, back in 1991, this hadn’t been seen before, so it was a big thing and blew audiences away. In turn, it made James Cameron look like a genius, much the same way Avatar did last year.

 Despite the lengthy runtime of this film, it does keep one’s attention almost the entire time. This is, of course, excluding the middle section where they end up in Mexico. That whole part nearly brings the picture to complete stop.

It isn’t helped that the scene following it doesn’t exactly start things back up. The whole cybernetic microchip explanation thing serves as nothing more than a way to make the plot convoluted and complicated.

Luckily, the climax isn’t far behind this boring hour or so that could have easily been taken out and not hurt the film at all.

I won’t dwell too much on the acting here, except for to say that Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor seems to be a completely different woman that she was in the first film. I mean, she was more or less your damsel in distress in that one, but here she looks like she could go jump in a WWE ring. Look at the guns she’s sporting and you’ll know what I’m talking about. I’m not sure if I care for the change in character or not, but that is some good acting on her part to make the change believable.

Robert Patrick and Arnold Schwarzenegger are great as the Terminators showing no humanity and staying stone faced and monotone the entire time. Patrick does have a little more freedom to move with his character, as he is an upgraded, newer model.

Edward Furlong seems to tiny riding on that bike with Schwarzenegger. For this being his first major film role, the kid didn’t do half bad. Shame his popularity didn’t stave off the apparent child actor curse, but hey, at least he’s still working and alive. I hear he’s in The Green Hornet.

I hear time and time again about how this film or that film doesn’t stand the test of time. My response to those that say such things is so what. The retro vice of some pictures is what makes them charming and memorable. Having said that, I believe that Terminator 2: Judgement Day does a good job of still standing after 20 years..yes I said 20 years!!!! I rank this up there as one of my all time favorite sci-fi flicks, along with the holy trilogy. This is for sure a must see before you die film.

5 out of 5 stars

The Terminator

PLOT (spoiler alert!!!):

In a post-apocalyptic 2029, artificially intelligent machines seek to exterminate what is left of the human race. Two beings from this era travel back in time to 1984 Los Angeles: one is a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a cyborg assassin programmed to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). The other is Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a human resistance fighter sent to protect her. After killing two other Sarah Connors listed in the telephone directory, the Terminator tracks its target to a nightclub. Kyle saves Sarah from the Terminator’s attack and the two make an escape.

Kyle explains that in the near future an artificial intelligence network called Skynet will become self-aware and initiate a nuclear holocaust of mankind. Sarah’s yet-unborn son John will rally the survivors and lead a resistance movement against Skynet and its army of machines. With the Resistance on the verge of victory, Skynet has sent a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah before John can be born, as a last-ditch effort to avert the formation of the Resistance. The Terminator is an emotionless and efficient killing machine with a powerful metal endoskeleton, but with an external layer of living tissue so that it resembles a human being.

Kyle and Sarah are again attacked by the Terminator, leading to a car chase and their arrest. Lieutenant Ed Traxler (Paul Winfield) and Detective Hal Vukovich (Lance Henriksen) tell Sarah that Kyle is insane. Kyle is questioned by psychologist Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen), who concludes that he is paranoid and delusional. The Terminator attacks the police station and kills many police officers in its attempt to locate Sarah, but she and Kyle escape and seek refuge in a motel. Kyle confesses that he has long been in love with Sarah, having been given a photograph of her by her son John. Sarah reciprocates Kyle’s feelings and they have sex.

The Terminator tracks them to the motel and wounds Kyle. In the ensuing chase the Terminator is caught in the blast of an exploding gasoline tank truck. With its external flesh burned away, it pursues Sarah and Kyle into a factory. Kyle jams a pipe bomb into its abdomen, blowing off its legs and one of its arms, but Kyle himself is killed. Still partially functional, the Terminator drags itself toward Sarah by its remaining arm. She leads it into a hydraulic press, which she uses to crush it, causing it to deactivate.

Later, a pregnant Sarah is traveling through Mexico. Along the way she records audio tapes which she intends to pass on to her unborn son John. She debates whether to tell him that Kyle is his father. A young Mexican boy takes a photograph of her which she purchases — it is the photograph that John will later give to Kyle. She drives on towards approaching storm clouds

REVIEW:

You know, when The Terminator was released, I wasn’t anywhere near old enough to go see it in theaters. Thing about it, though, is that I don’t even remember hearing anything about this film until T2: Judgement Day was released. Of course, this was back in the early 80s, and folks weren’t over saturated with advertisements for everything everywhere you turn.

Chances are, you already know the plot. A killing machine from the future goes back in time to kill the mother of the man who would lead the remaining humans against them. Yeah, that is the plot, not much else to it…at least worth mentioning.

First thing I have to question about this flick is why is it they travel naked? Was this just so female viewers could get all hot and bothered by the sight of Schwarzenegger naked? Now, the chick in Terminator 3…she needs to wear as little clothing as possible! Hey, I’m a guy, leave me be!

So, if your name is Sarah Connor and all of a sudden you hear about someone going around killing Sarah Connors, why would you even think of going back to your house? Well, this chick did and nearly got herself killed.

On top of that, is two strangers are trying to kill each other over you and one says “Come with me, if you want to live”, I’d go with him. Sure, it isn’t safe, but would you rather take your chance with the giant guy with all the guns who wants to kill you?

Seems to be this just common sense, y’know?

Enough about that. I bet you’re wondering how is the action? Well, back in the 80s, action flicks concentrated on the action, and it shows! There are some truly bad ass scenes in here, especially or the time this was released.

Amongst all the gn shots and the scenes where we John Connor conceived, there is actual acting. Not very good acting, but it is there…barely.

The special effects are ok for their time. You can say they are dated, but I won’t go that far. These are actually cutting edge for 1984, and still hold up pretty well today.

The Terminator is one of the iconic characters of cinema from the 80s, yet some have said that this film is not as good as the hype/legend. I can see where that is coming from, but I don’t agree. Sure, there is a bit of illusion in one’s mind, but that is more because of the sequel. Fact is, most people, myself included, saw T2 before watching this, which cases this to be a bit of a letdown.

So, what do I actually think of this picture? Well, it has tons of action and big guns. I cold do with some more eye candy, but that’s not a slight against this flick, as much as it is a personal complaint. This is one of those films that everyone should see before dying. Having said that, don’t go thinking it is in the same class as say, Gone With the Wind, but it is worth the watch. I highly recommend it, especially to 80s action fans.

4 out of 5 stars