-
Website
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/ -
Original page
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/discuss-what-did-you-think-of-terminator-salvation.php -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
If you're going in to this movie expecting Cameron's terminators, then you'll be disappointed. McG surprised me. Bale is Bale. You either like him or you don't. He's a great Connor.
However, I thought some scenes were ridiculous and quite silly, especially the exposition-heavy scene in which Skynet basically tells Marcus its ENTIRE plan to kill John Connor and Kyle Reese near the end of the film.
I didn't think Bale's performance was bad, although it was one-note. There was a noteworthy scene in which Connor, over the radio, begs the resistance to stand down. I thought Bale was great in that one scene and was the only one in which he wasn't yelling or whispering with his raspy voice.
Some CGI was obvious, agreed. But they are portraying a completely different world, with human looking machines, giant robots, nuclear war/fallout, and explosions galore. It's bound to not LOOK ENTIRELY REALISTIC with our nit-picking eyes.
Bale was a great John Conner, although somewhat "one-note." John Conner is a leader, and a soldier, there isn't much character in that. He's been hardened by war throughout his entire life, he's not going to break down and cry. And the final call to the Resistence was indeed his best scene in the movie. I totally bought it.
Overall, its got some plot gaps, and some CGI problems at parts, but seriously, which Terminator didn't?
The movie was captivating, enthralling, action-packed and VERY well done, from start to finish end of story.
But it was perhaps one of the least involving, least engaging movies I've seen in a long time. I just didn't care about what was going on. I had no idea a movie with so many explosions could be so dull.
Gonna have to agree with the Rejects' review - what a colossal letdown.
my main issues were with Will Smith's daughter, her character really didn't need to be there....the ending was put together haphazardly because of the leak...we really didn't get to see enough fighting between the Resistance and Skynet...whatever people or critics say this movie is a massive improvement on T3
I'd like to see more of McG's vision of Terminator I just hope they've learned from their mistakes and spend the extra time coming up with a strong story before jumping into production...I expect new writers for the next film.. also not to cop-out and bring back the gore and violence...it's not the second coming of Cameron but it made up for Wolverine and Angels & Demons
granted I hated the opening scene with Worthington and Carter...along with it having the worst title sequence I think I've ever seen in a theater...it looked like it was fanmade...the action scenes made up for all it's flaws
@B. Shet I think I would go even lower to a 6.5
Christian Bale did a good job with John Connor. I could sense a progression in Connor from T2 to now where he started as a wise-cracking brat, and as the films went on, he started to shed that bratty attitude. And we get to now, and I believe we've gotten a pretty accurate character depiction of that iconic shot in T2 of John Connor with the scar.
Sam Worthington's character was obviously the main character, and I thought this was pretty cool, because I wasn't expecting it. It made the point that John Connor wasn't alone in the resistance, and that was something I was scared they weren't going to do, seeing as they cast a huge star like Bale in the Connor role.
The action was spot-on. There were some obvious Children of Men influences in the "one-take" helicopter crash as well as other places, and while they were well-done, they felt tacked on. Other than those few scenes, I loved the action, as well as the spectacular Special Effects.
And, I gotta be honest, when Connor turned on the boombox, and it was You Could Be Mine by Guns n' Roses, directly from Terminator 2, I geeked out. That was great, even better than the Arnie cameo in my opinion.
This movie isn't better than Terminator 2. I don't think it was trying to be. There was honesty to this picture that I don't see very often in big summer action sequels.
I'd give it a B+.
The only redeeming part imo, is Kyle Reese's character.
Why does Cyberdyne exist in 2003. Wasn't it destroyed in 1995?
The Marcus Wright stuff was a little fucked up and I got lost. How does this play with time travel?
If Cyberdyne had the means to create such a sophisticated Terminator (Marcus) to begin with, why did Skynet bother to even produce bulky T-600s or even T-800s?
Yadda yadda yadaa. There's so much to bring up.
Anyway, I find it funny that a lot of movies have too much exposition, but I needed more in this one. A movie that is part of a broader mythology needs that.
Somewhere, deep inside, Terminator Salvation may be a good film. But it's so unabashedly Hollywood, such a construct of too many artistic styles, storylines, unrealistic physics, chase scenes, contracts and heavy-handed metaphors—not to mention terrible script writing—that it may have simply forgotten how to be good. Quite simply, it's just too busy being a movie to be entertaining.
T3 was a lousy film, but at least its fatalistic ending stuck with you. At the end of Terminator Salvation, I left the theater gagging on the world's most expensive Hallmark card, questioning why I was supposed to give a damn in the first place.
The film has major problems, it was ok, but not epic. The writng was comic book level.
Warning: do not buy the Terminator Salvation video game! Its a total piece of crp !!!!
Anyone else have any theories on that?
Of course John Connor's emotion is "one-track." He has one thing on his mind and has had one thing on his mind his whole life: SURVIVAL. If you think he is going to be chasing ass, crying because he broke a girl's heart and realized he loves her and feels bad, or is going to hi-five everyone when they blow up Skynet's presence in San Fran - wake up.
This film took the theme "There is no fate but what we make" and took it to a whole new level. It's the same thing that makes me feel sorry for all you naysayers. You get out of life what you want, and if you don't want something good...what's the point?
Just because people ask for their "summer blockbusters" to have more than visual eye candy, it doesn't mean they are asking for some Oscar worthy life altering script. Terminator 2, IronMan, TDK, The Bourne Films, proved that an action film does NOT have to be all action.
This film is none of the above. As someone who derives much joy from watching things blow up on screen, I can say with certainty that this film was not fun. It was just a series of action sequences (framed with mediocre camera work) that was strung together with minimal character work. I've never seen a film with a more bland and boring set of action sequences. Big time disappointment.
This movie needed to be taut and on point for this to be really good. Instead it opted for alot of notable faces. They served no purpose except fluff. The Sam Worthington, Christian Bale of course, and Anton Yelchin characters were necessary. Everyone else was interchangeable, and because they were, you could have put unknowns so you were not distracted by characters you thought were going to do something and then.......... Have nothing happen. I give this movie a 6 out of 10. Could have been a 9 but they failed on so many other levels but those were my main grips with this movie.
As a well written film it bombed. Bale was wasted-bad dialogue, not enough to do, and he looked completely uninterested. Sam Worthington did an ok job but he suffered from bad writing as well and the whole storyline involving a love interest felt forced. Do they assume action films need to be balanced by love stories to be taken seriously? Regardless, a better plotline and less bland dialogue would have made this the franchise reboot people expected it to be after that last film.
but those are just nitpicks, i think it was a good movie, 8/10
What the hell was the point of the little kid in the movie?
The whole snuggle scene between the chick and the terminator was absolutely ridiculous.
Did they even show any humans really die in this aside from explosions?
How insanely obvious or corny was it when Marcus gave his heart to Conner? Besides, how easy is it to do a fucking heart transplant from a terminator to a human in the middle of a desert just after Conner had a huge pipe that ripped through his body?
How come every time a hunter killer or one of those huge machines was close by they never heard it until it was right above them?
Why was Marcus such a prick and what was the storyline behind him being in prison?
Why is it so damn hard for the terminators to kill John Conner when they have far superior technology? every time there is an explosion or anything they seem to be a minute away. Yet they cant find one dude? Hell, one half terminator was able to escape their base with ease.
I actually did enjoy it, I just think there is way to many holes in this film. They had an opportunity to put together a VERY good move and aside from a few action scenes and special effects they really dropped the ball imo.
This movie had no real direction, just a bunch of random ideas and random acts, in which none of it was thought out.
terminator salvation sucked.
if u wnat terminator done right, u will have to just get james cameron to do it. no one does terminator like james