Psxjedi76 posted:i'm glad to see that i was not the only one who was disapointed with the movie. Unlike you i will not see this one again till it is out on dvd. there was no real suspence throughout the movie everything was predictable.
Kasey_Kenobi posted:WARNING, THIS POST CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I had remained highly skeptical about “Terminator Salvation” due to McG’s involvement. But a glimmer of hope came about when I heard the names “Christian Bale” and “Jonathan Nolan.” Having amped myself up over the last month re-watching the other films and listening to the music, I was excited to be seeing TS. I became fearful when the opening credits seemed over after the great scroll along like in T1, but thankfully, the title sinks into view with the classic theme blaring strong, and that alone was a rewarding start. Though I will shadow what some others have said, that DE's score seemed to be missing something. Had he weaved in more of the classic themes, I think I would have enjoyed the musical score more throughly. That said, the film does well keeping the great nuances of the earlier films, from specific camera angles during the end confrontation (like showing the close up of the T-800’s feet walking up the stairs) as well as keeping continuity present. Having the faded picture of Sarah Conner had been one of the things I’d been wanting to see but John listening to his mother’s tapes was an added bonus! I’m also glad that they included the line “come with me if you want to live,” said by none other than Kyle Reese who first uttered those words in T1. The only thing I felt missing as far as additions are concerned from the previous films was Dr. Silberman. I was hoping that he would have lived through JD to show up in the resistance, giving psychological aid to the many soldiers surely suffering from it. But alas, he was left out. Ironically, T3 was the complete flip-flop. The film included a fun cameo from the Dr, but it did not include the faded photo nor the classic line. That always bugged me, especially about the latter since there were ample scenes in which that phrase could have been plugged in. Anton Yelchin did fantastic as the teenage Kyle Reese. His voice and mannerisms strongly reminded me of Michael Biehn. The most surprising character though ended up being Marcus Wright, who was played brilliantly by Sam Worthington. As someone previously mentioned, it was clear the writers were trying to exploit the same idea behind T2, exploring what makes a man a man, and a machine a machine. Though my brother made a good point after seeing the film with me, saying that they showed way to much in the trailers. Had the fact that Marcus was a machine been kept more secret, I think that could have added another rewarding layer to the film. However, his surprising addition also raises the question of the most disappointing aspect of the film, the character of John Conner. I couldn’t believe how monosyllabic Christian Bale was in this role. Here we’ve spent three films building up this idea of his importance in future events, essentially labeling him the modern day savior of humanity, and yet the guy is as dull as a rounded stone. He also takes some seriously stupid risks, ones that make you question out loud, “this is who the resistance is hoping will save them?” And while there were plenty of fun nods to the other films concerning his character, the character himself was boring, flat and felt forced. I was never moved by one of his inspirational speeches nor did I truly believe that his role was ever that important. I must say I found it one of the most disappointing performances of Bale to date. While many criticize his raspy Batman voice, I loved him in TDK. And yet here, he almost seems like a mix of Batman and Bruce Wayne, but in no way reminds me of the John Conner of the previous films. His forced response to Kate of "I'll be back" got more than a few chuckles during the show. But the film wasn’t through with fun surprises, bringing in a CGI Arnold, who minus the first real close up on his face, dazzled me with his likeness and made my mouth water simply out of the coolness factor. But then he stabs JC through the chest. Firstly, they should have simply not had this mortal wound occur, thus not only keeping the ridiculous heart transplant sub-plot out, but also allowing them to keep Marcus Wright, who f***ing rocked the boat the entire film. While the idea of “Salvation” being found by MW in giving up his heart is a good thematic and touching idea, it lacked everything that makes it such a great story device. Not only do you run into all the blood type and transplant problems, the whole scene was dull and lacked any emotion. JC gives MW a little nod with his head as if the guy is letting him borrow a stick of gum. I’ve come to the theory that the spoiler concerning JC dying and becoming a machine were quite true and that they did in fact change the ending at the last minute. I thought for sure we were still getting that ending. I was sure that MW was going to take JC’s dying body to the restoration facility he wakes up in before the battle with Arnie and have JC revived with machine parts. My guess is that something like this was filmed and now that I’ve seen the alternative, I’m almost wishing they’d kept it the other way, seeing has how JC was practically a useless character the entire movie. That hurt my enjoyment most. I don’t understand how the writers could take the most mythic and important character of the series and water him down into a mindless action figure. I felt even Nick Stahl’s Conner had more depth and impact that Bale’s, and that’s saying a lot. Another little complaint, I don’t think they once used Katie Brewster’s name the entire film. A bit odd really… A couple curious things I wondered about were when we'll get to see the large rolling HK's and when will they upgrade to 'plasma' rifles and weapons? Perhaps these upgrades are to come in later sequels. Also, with so many T-800's being built at this automated factor having now been destroyed, does that mean all of them are gone? Was that the only factory? If so, I have to admit feeling a bit cheated. While MW does help JC with entry, JC could have practically walked in anyways. Where was all the machine security, guards, HK's? I mean if these T-800's are Skynet's newest big bads, why would it be so f***ing easy to just stroll on in and pussy foot around? Overall the film was a lot of fun and makes me want to see it again, probably a few times. Ironically, the very heart present in the machine of Marcus Wright is the very thing missing from the film. No sequel has yet to capture the emotional side of the story as well as T2. I’m hoping that should McG make his two proposed sequels that he’ll do better in seeing the character of JC fleshed out as well as adding more than just flashy action sequences to the films, but character development as well.
cmdrwillard posted: I thought Christian Bale was way better as John Connor than as Bruce Wayne/Batman. It took me seeing the film twice to realize The actor playing Kyle Reese is also Pavel Chekov in Star Trek. I liked all the story elements that releated to how the war was being fought in 2018 as opposed to how we see it in 2027. I mean the resistance would be using modern military equipment until it was gone. One funny thing is listening to audiences say "I didn't think Arnold was in the film (they think that was really him)". I think they did a really sound job and this movie was better than T3 IMO.
