Terminator Film Blog » Terminator Film Opinion

For Sale: The Terminator Franchise Updated

Cyberdyne — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:49:29 +0000

UPDATE – February 09 2010 – We have a buyer!

Get the inside info from Deadline Hollywood!

What would you do with Terminator?

Firstly, let me say that im aware that this story broke a few weeks back – ive been unable to post for a variety of rather dull reasons that i won’t bore you with here.

Anyway, back to the matter in hand – and it seems that the Terminator franchise is up for sale again. If you have a spare $60m lying around then i would say that it could be a seriously good investment (i could probably stretch to a £100 or so). The maths seem to be relatively simple, even for a dunce like me:

Terminator Salvation -

Total production costs = $200m
Total worldwide gross = $371m
Profit = $171m

Thats before the DVD versions have even been released. Not too shabby im sure you’ll agree.

You can read about all the legal shenanigans behind the rights over at the original LA Times article.

The big question is for the new owners though is – what the chuff do we do with this franchise? It obviously has a huge fanbase, there are literally millions of Terminator devotees out there. But where do we go after Salvation?, which although it had a lukewarm critical reception to say the least, has proved to be a box-office success. We wish any of the new owners luck with their decision – meanwhile i think ill leave the final word to The Guardian who pretty much summed up my feelings on the matter:

Give us a relentless Terminator destroying everything in its path in order to track down and eliminate a hero or heroine we actually care about, and the chances are we’ll flock to see the movie.

What would you do if you controlled the Terminator franchise? Sack McG? Do everything to get Arnie back on board? Bring back Edward Furlong, Linda Hamilton and Robert Patrick? or do a Re-Boot of the Re-Boot? Let us know you’re thoughts. IGN have some pretty interesting thoughts on all this…………

Terminator 5 Movie Rumour Mill Spinning Already

Cyberdyne — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:15:38 +0000

Well, Terminator Salvation has barely finished spinning in the Movie Theatres and the rumours about its sequel, which we will imaginativley refer to as Terminator 5 (T5), have began to come in thick and fast. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the speculation at the moment……..

The studio wants to get Terminator 5 released quickly (according to Variety)
Joseph McGinty Nichol (McG) is returning as director (various sources)
The film may be set in the present day (McG told Filmjournal)
Robert Patrick might be in this one (McGs own words – “I also think he’s going to meet a scientist that’s going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick, talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves.”)
London is a possible location (from Bleeding Cool which means it might have some cred)

What does everyone think? Should McG be given a second shot at the Terminator franchise?, or should the studio go with someone with vitality and imagination? (cough….Neill…..cough…..Blomkamp……cough)……Comments welcome as always!

Terminator Salvation Review

Cyberdyne — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 18:52:32 +0000

Terminator Salvation

Review of Terminator Salvation – in my opinion, the worst film in the series.

This review is a month late so i’ll skip all the plot details and stuff and just cut to the chase here i think:

Terminator Salvation is the worst film in the series.

Yes, this was my conclusion after watching the film this week. Im left wondering what film the positive reviewers from the previous post watched because it certainly couldn’t have been this mess.

I apologise to all the Terminator fans out there who were looking forward to this film (and may even have enjoyed it). You may feel im being a little over-critical, but really, i think we just have to face the fact that this film just isn’t good enough, and this will be bourne out in the passage of time.

Spoilers ahead obviously………

Post-Apocalytic Bore

It’s quite hard to know where to begin. Firstly, the post apocalyptic world was pretty unconvincingly realised. Mad Max managed a more convincing post-nuke environment (utilising the Aussie outback) 30 years ago, with about a 1000th of the budget of Salvation. Despite the starkness of the environments Mad Max was exciting and vibrant, with a real sense of danger – all qualities Salvation sorely lacked (despite the fact the whole place is being run by evil futuristic machines). On the subject of the machines – yes, there was some fairly impressive CGI, but nothing that the original Transformers movie didn’t do three years ago, and certainly nothing as revolutionary as the T1000 from T2. Also – giants, bikes and water terminators – is this the best that Skynet could come up with? I think the machines could do with a ‘reboot’.

Acting without heart

Next, the acting. Christian Bale – what happened to you here? Somehow you managed to turn John Connor, the saviour of mankind and leader of the resistance, into a monosyllabic meathead. Sam Worthington – tried his heart out but was unconvincing and banal. The Terminator series has always had some lighter moments beneath the doom and gloom, but there was none of that here – the film lacked heart and personality. To be fair though, Anton Yelchin put in a decent performace as Kyle Reese (hamstrung by the poor script obviously).

The female characters were essentially a sideshow – Helen-Bonham Carter and a conveniently pregnant Bryce Dallas Howard had nothing to do. For a series that developed one of the strongest female leads of all time in Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), this was unacceptable.

Plot shoehorning – hybrids, ho hum……

Plotwise, the number of holes and ridiculous ‘shoehorning’ in of events echoing the series past was just irritating. ‘You Could Be Mine’, The Scar, the T-800 prototype (horrendous CGI) – give us a break McG!.

Marcus is a hybrid – who saw that coming? – ONLY EVERYONE THAT’S SEEN ANY OF THE TRAILERS! I literally couldn’t beleive what i was watching: this was the big reveal? On the subject of hybrids, why does every sci-fi movie franchise seem to go down the hybrid route? Could it because the writers have ran out of ideas of where to take these movies? (the Aliens Vs Predator series is a classic example of this). It was disappointing to see the Terminator movies take this path.

Also, the entire assault on the Skynet compound was so lame, it made even the worst video games look like works of utter genius.

Conclusion – rudderless

So, there we go. I think it’s safe to say that i didn’t enjoy Terminator Salvation very much. The box office for the film has not exactly been stellar – in it’s third week of release the film has grossed $113m, Star Trek had brought in $191m by this point (it’s now up to $231m) (source: IMDB), proving that an intelligently managed ‘reboot’ of a series can be successful.

Sadly, i was left with the nagging feeling that the Terminator franchise is largely rudderless and irrelevant without its guiding light on board, James Cameron (just as the Alien films without Ridley Scott). I doubt that even Cameron could resurrect this series now.

Will we even see another Terminator movie after this debacle?…let me know what you think. Also, feel free to tell me how wrong i am about Salvation if you wish…………………

Written by: Terminator Film Blog

Terminator Salvation Movie

Date published: 06/20/2009

3 / 10 stars

Terminator Salvation Reviews Start to Appear

Cyberdyne — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:48:25 +0000

Well, here at Terminator Film Blog we have to wait along with all the ‘normal’ people out there to catch Terminator Salvation when it is released next week. Obviously when we do our review will be the definitive opinion on the movie (stop laughing at the back). However, The American trade press have been lucky enough to see early screenings of the movie and their reviews have been published. The news is well…………you’ll just have to read for yourselves!

Here are a selection of the first Terminator Salvation reviews to appear, beware of some major spoilers obviously:

10 Coolest Scenes in Terminator

Cyberdyne — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:31:46 +0000

There are so many amazing scenes in the Terminator series that it’s hard to narrow it down to 10, never mind put them in any sort of order – but what the hell, i thought id give it a go.

Check out the Gallery for some images which capture these moments :

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

10) Kyle Reese acquires an instantly cool wardrobe in Terminator

After John Connor blasts him back to the past to save his mother, Kyle arrives (as all the time-travellers in Terminator do, why?) butt naked. He stumbles his way around LA for a few minutes trying to avoid the cops, but fails. In need of a disguise quick, he jumps into a local clothing emporium where he picks off the shelf a totally awesome three-quarter length grey trenchcoat and a pair of super-cool Nike Vandal Supreme High boots – instantly transforming him into one of the most iconic action-movie figures of our time. Ive been trying to perfect this look for years, but still come off looking like a tramp.

9) Arnie helps himself to some cool shades in Terminator 2

Well, this scene speaks for itself. You really feel like the poor bar owner has had it when he tries to stop Arnie from stealing the bike – but no, a quick dip of the pocket and out come the Ray-Bans – cue George Thorogood and ‘Bad to the Bone’. Brilliant.

Rise of the Machines Truck Chase

Look, T3 definitely has its flaws, but theres no doubt that there were some excellent scenes in this movie. The truck chase was classic Terminator. There’s John Connor and Partner escaping from the cops, the Terminator chasing them down to protect them and the T-X chasing the T800 down. There is some truly awesome destruction and general chaos here (T800 swinging off the crane is great!) making it one of my favourite Terminator scenes.

7) Sarah Connor – Pescadero State Hospital breakout

A great sequence for many reasons – principally though it was great to have the synchronicity in disbelief from Sarah Connor (that the T800 was here to rescue her), and the overly-cynical Dr Silberman (Earl Boen) that all the mad stories that Sarah Connor had been telling him for years were true. The fag hanging out his mouth as the T1000 walks through the barred door is priceles.

6) T800 Cyberdyne Shootout Sequence

The Ultimate edition DVD has a great little section on the making of this scene. As they are preparing to shoot a crew member (may even be Cameron himself) can be heard saying, ‘Arnold is going to enjoy this!’. This comes across as the T800 lets his chain gun rip through the assembled mass of LAs finest without actually killing any of them. Great stuff.

5) The end of ‘Rise of the Machines’

As we have mentioned in number 7, T3 had its poor moments. Luckily, with this surprisingly bold and downbeat ending it virtually erased all the memories of what had gone before. For once, our heroes were too late and Skynet had taken over, paving the way for the anticipated War-Movie stylings of ‘Terminator Salvation‘.

4) The last ten minutes of ‘Terminator’

The last desperate stand of Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor against the relentless Terminator has all the hallmarks of a classic horror movie ending. The deserted factory offers the perfect environment for shocks and surprises, and adds to the already tension filled atmosphere superbly. Obviously, respect is due to Stan Winstons amazing special effects work on the Terminator, a truly terrifying monster.

3) John Connor Rescue in Terminator 2

After escaping from the Terminators at the Shopping Mall, John Connor attempts to get away on his cool but massively underpowered motorcycle. Cue an amazing chase through the Los Angeles sewerage system, with the T800 on his Harley and the T1000 in command of a massive truck. The sense of speed and imminent danger in this sequence is quite superb – a thrilling ride of a movie chase sequence.

2) T800 destroys the Police Station in ‘Terminator’

This brutal and kinetically directed action sequence almost takes my top spot. This gave us an insight into what the Terminator was truly capable of, it would not stop for anything or anyone. From the instant that he ram-raids into the reception area you know that this aint going to be pretty. He then proceeds to take out the entire division of cops at the station with clinical ease (not even Lance Henrikson can stop him). A classic Terminator scene.

1) T1000 emerging from the flames

Well, as i have mentioned – it is almost impossible to choose a favourite, but in the end i had to plump for this. Just think back to the first time you saw this scene………a tyre rolls out from the burning wreck of the truck, Arnie holds out his Shotgun, but nothing happens……..then the familiar drone of the music come in and the chrome figure of the T1000 emerges from the flames, then morphs into Robert Patrick. A truly jaw dropping moment that defined an entore generation of special effects and still looks as amazing today almost 18 years later.

There you go, these are ten of my favourites scenes from the Terminator movies. Fell free to tell me how wrong i am by letting me know yours!………………