Sorry to all the readers out there who are desperately waiting for my review of Terminator Salvation (and some fresh blog posts), but im afraid that my pesky ‘real life’ has taken over in the last couple of weeks and i haven’t managed to see it yet. Im intending to hit my local cinema this weekend. I was hoping to catch an IMAX screening but it appears that my local (Glasgow Science Centre) is showing Star Trek, with Harry Potter and Transformers 2 on the horizon – so it looks like Terminator may not appear so theres no point waiting!

Anyway, in the meantime ive been scanning cyberspace looking at the various Terminator Salvation reviews that have been coming in, and they are a mixed bag to say the least. Here are some examples of the basic camps that each review is falling into…….

It was great!

• Empire Online gave the movie a healthy 4/5 – “McG has sparked a moribund franchise back to life”.
• NME like it alot – “Salvation’ can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other movies in the series“
• Miami Herald were also keen – “Terminator Salvation belongs to Australian actor Sam Worthington“

It wasn’t that bad – but not great either

• LOUDREAMS thought it was OK – “a great deal of action and stunning visual effects“
• Sky Movies also had a lukewarm review – “Salvation undoubtedly has more to offer than 2003’s makeweight third chapter“
• Total Film though it was alright – “The Terminator story recharges with a post-apocalyptic jolt of energy“
• Adrian James liked it a bit – “Its far from perfect, but its not the horrible film people have made it out to be“
• SciFi Now gave it 3/5 – “…..with only a few compromises made, Terminator Salvation wins the battle to meet expectation“

It’s possibly one of the worst films ever made!

• Screenhead weren’t convinced – “Big Budget fan fiction“
• Time Out were also pretty offended – “a disappointment of ‘Phantom Menace’ proportions” – oh dear.
• The Guardian‘s Peter Bradshaw gave it 1/5 – “It couldn’t be worse than this” – ouch,
• …and last but not least, BBC critic Mark Kermode (whom im a big fan of), ripped into it on his blog………

Blimey!

Anyway, the upshot of all this is that i don’t really know what to expect. Guess ill just have to see for myself. My Terminator Salvation Review will be up as soon as possible (promise).

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

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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!………………

• It’s back – Why the Terminator is Unstoppable – A neat explination of why we all love the Terminator universe so much, plus a bonus column on why “Rise of the Machines” isn’t actually all that bad!
• Terminator creator James Cameron on the origins of Terminator – In a move that has sickened us here at the Terminator Film Blog, Wired have nabbed an exclusive from under our noses (ha!), and managed to talk to the main man himself, James Cameron about the initial conception of the Terminator franchise, interesting stuff.
• The Evolution of a killer franchise – The Terminator (1984-????) – does what it says on the tin – a look back at the major events in the history of the series from 1984 to the future.
• The Terminator as a metaphor for life – Sarah Connor Chronicles creator Josh Friedman explains his thoughts and motivations on Terminator.

There we go, plently of reading material for sure. Enjoy. Now im off to work on some original ideas for posts – Thanks Wired!

Wait a sec..they’re making another Terminator movie? – surely you jest!  >>>>>>>  McG is the director! – surely you jest! >>>>>> Christian Bale is John Connor? – hmmmmm…..interesting >>>>>> The first trailer – woah! – that was actually pretty good! Now we are in a strange stasis situation, where the final trailer has hit (see previous post), it still looks great, could McG, against all the odds, have pulled this thing off?

Anyway, enough! you say – show me the latest images of Terminator Salvation to hit the web. No probs, here we go!

Skull crushed, halved in two, no arms - but still alive!

Post-apocalytpic action

Future wastelands

A pensive Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese

Head over to Apple Trailers for the HD and iPod versions.