Amph Come with me if you want to live: The Terminator Thread

I've always thought the perfect ending to the Terminator movie franchise in the final movie would be having John Connor and his forces takeover the Time-Machine or whatever it is as Arnold's 1st Terminator goes back, followed by them sending Kyle back.

 

Was kidding about Biehn in general, but apparently, he ALMOST snagged the role that Stephen Lang ended up with in James Cameron's Avatar. I guess Lang had a better take on it, though.

Still, it's good to know that Cameron still wants to work with Biehn, especially now that Jim seems to plan on staying back in the filmmaking business. (Maybe Michael can snag a role in Cameron's Battle Angel?)

That, and he should make damn sure he ends up as a part of the regular stable of Rodriguez/Tarantino actors for their films, and the ones that they produce. If it ever gets made, he's make an excellent addition to Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards.

 

I was watching T2 the other day and it still holds up. I don't just mean technically, either -- though it's still visually brilliant. The Cameron flicks are great. I don't think they're necessarily the most artful films of all time, but they have an intricacy and cleverness, even a scope, that's extremely arresting. A lot of people seem to prefer the sequel, and I can see why. However, I'm the guy that says the first is superior. In T2, Cameron dicks around with his creation (e.g. "Bad to the Bone"), though it's still immensely involving. But there is an unremitting bleakness to the first. Every moment seems as desperate as the last. Can a toned but scrawny human like Kyle really protect Sarah, and, in a way, humanity, from this seemingly unstoppable hulk of a machine? With Arnie on the good guys' side in the second one, it seems like more of a foregone conclusion. But again, there is a strong case for the sequel. Aside from the second film's slickness, I think it has one massively substantial thing in its favour over its predecessor: the relationship between John and the Terminator. This is something that's done so well you almost take it for granted. It's only really at the very end that it hits you -- and the ending becomes even more powerful as a result. Last time I watched, I found The Terminator's sacrifice, or the way it was done, truly operatic. I can see how Cameron built his skills up there to then go and make "Titanic" another technical and emotional powerhouse, on an even greater level (controversial backlash aside).

By comparison, T3 is a joke -- at least in this guy's subjective opinion. For me, only two things really work: 1) Doctor Silberman's cameo. 2) The ending. And even the second thing is a distortion (if not an outright contradiction) of Cameron's final message at the close of T2. Maybe this wouldn't be such a problem if there was more intelligence behind the film in the first place; the polemical ending seems too sophisticated and too undeserved. I mean, I truly object to just about everything in T3, from the story, to the characterisations, the acting, the dialogue, the music, the photography ... everything. For me, T3 lacks all of the dark humour and ballsy conflicts of the Cameron films, and this soft-soaped approach affects every facet of the movie. On a superficial "masculine" level: There's not a single fight as cool as the T-1000 and Arnie's Terminator (T-800 or whatever) duking it out in the steel plant. Nor is there anything as visually cool, or musically weird, as the T-1000 jumping onto the helicopter and pouring through the glass. Nor does Arnie use a weapon as cool as the grenade launcher or minigun. On a slightly less "masculine" level, the sound design just isn't there, either. On a story and visceral level, the Terminatrix (ugh!) is a major step back from the T-1000, even if she can remotely control vehicles. Arnie's Terminator also remembers John, which destroys the beauty of their unique relationship in T2 and that Terminator's sacrifice, if watching T3 as a proper sequel. The humour is way too broad. Kristanna Loken is pathetic next to Robert Patrick. The music has no menace. The setpieces are badly edited and lack tension, bite, atmosphere. John Connor and his girlfriend have no presence. Bla bla bla.

On the other hand, I do like the ridiculous "Zucker Bros" humour in places. Maybe I'm just a sucker for visual humour, but when Arnie goes into that gas station and starts aggressively swiping things off the shelves and smacking them into his shopping basket, I am laughing my ass off. You could put that scene on loop and I'd be happy. Of course, the punchline of the entire scene is, "Talk to the hand!" .... but the funniest part for me is the last part of Arnie swiping stuff, where he walks up to the counter and slams entire candy displays into his basket -- what's great is they even included foley work for some of the sweets falling out and rolling on the floor. LMAO! It's more like something you might see in "Jackass" or a movie like "Be Kind: Rewind", but maybe th

 

Sounds like T4 is going to be rated...PG-13.

 

McG is probably being told to deliver a "PG-13" cut; I don't think it's his idea. Not that I'm defending him or anything, but I don't think he deserves too much heat on this one. Let that come with the finished product.

I never expected this to be anything but a "PG-13." It's pretty much in a different genre than the previous entries in the franchise. The first one was, for all intents and purposes, a horror movie (and the only one really worth an "R" rating). The next two were action movies, and I still don't see what gave T3 an "R"-rating. Even T2 is pretty tame, if you think about it.

This one's a skiFfy war movie. And the bad guys aren't even flesh and blood.

To boot, the TV series frequently managed to deliver up intense stuff rivalling the "R"-rated Jim Cameron flicks (the blood-filled bathtub scene comes immediately to mind), so at the very minimum, we'll be getting that on the big screen for T4, with a budget several times that of the series. Yesterday's "R" is today's "PG-13."

Shoehorning in a Die Hard complaint:

I got about 20 minutes into Live Free or Die Hard before ALMOST walking out of the theater, and this had nothing to do with its "PG-13" rating. I can't decide which killed it for me -- was the terribly lame hacker stuff, or was it the tragic "Bruce is such a crazy, overbearing father!" boyfriend-scene that looked like it was lifted from a Verizon commercial?

Though it's a bummer when established "R"-franchises get watered down just to make some extra coin with the 'tweener brats who are probably spending their money on Epic Movie 2 or Step Up 2 The Str33tz: 4 Tha Luv of Tha Hood.

 

I have a bad feeling about this film.

 

Dammit, for a second there, I almost thought this was going to be about some wet-dream fanboy casting: William Shatner in Transformers 2!

Common's actually in the process of recording a new album right now ("The Believer"), which is set with a tentative release date at the end of the year. Which is good news.

Paul Haggis rewrote Brancato and Ferris on this film?

Very interesting. Hadn't heard about that.

 

McG and a PG 13 rating are to movie geeks as holy water is to demons.

 

Really? He just put one out less than a year ago. The man likes to stay busy.

 

New Terminator 4: The Return of the Terminator plot-info released at AICN.

Kate Brewster's back. Played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, of all things. Most of the casting for this movie is oddball.

Although, "Terminator: The Guy From Avatar (Which Hasn't Come Out Yet) and Batman Fight Killer Robots" gets my title-vote. Or maybe "Terminator Tech-Noir: The '80s Clubbing Begins."

"Terminator: The Return Of The Terminator: Termination: Full Throttle." Saying "Terminator" so many times makes it lose its meaning.

Terminator.

 

CinemaSpy - Terminator Salvation Concept Art Arrives!

Concept Art

Official Website

 

Charlotte Gainsbourg out as Kate Brewster...Bryce Dallas Howard in.

Interesting. Apparently, the T4 shooting-window conflicted with some arty, frou-frou French film Gainsbourg was scheduled to do.

 

That's fine with me, I like BDH better anyway.

 

Well the casting is great so far, but I'm still nervous about this McG Character directing. I've seen the semise of the SW legacy, Indie, Spidey, and I really can't take another blow to a classic.

D_M_S_L

 

OMG!

The franchise is to be ruined!

Warning ... potential spoilers:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36947

 

First, Let me just say that I agree with almost all of what Moriarty is sayin'.

Second, if that spoiler is true, then I want nothing to do with the new Terminator series.

D_M_S_L

 

Apparantly chud.com have also heard this and are saying its true.

I've not seen T3 or the TV series, and I dont think I'm going to see this either

 

I'm hoping that this is misdirection.

 

Consider me teased. And pleased that they've ditched the whole gormless "The Future Begins" sub-subtitle, and stripped it down to one word.

The fact that we're getting out of the whole "junkyard" look for "the ruined future," and broadening the scope of the shooting-palatte a bit has my curiosity piqued for this. Could McGinty actually pull this thing off?

By the way, if you pick at the footage, you can see the T-600 with the minigun. ****ing creepy.

 

I think that's an awesome plot point! Fans complain about sameness and cliches, then when filmmakers finally do something new, everyone says they hate it and how they're going to boycott the franchise. Good heavens, people, it's science fiction. Let the coolest, most challenging ideas prevail! This one is a winner.