Also Check out Chuck’s Opinion!
Just FYI…
I am a fan of Terminator. I owned several T2 toys when I was a kid. I had perfected Arny’s accent before I was out of middle school (I think I have lost it with my old age), I wanted to BE John Connor (I still feel like a have a chance) and I watched all of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, regardless of everything I found wrong with the series. That’s the kind of fan I am.
History
The Terminator
In 1984 James Cameron introduced us to the Terminator universe/time line in the sci-fi thriller: (you guessed it) The Terminator staring Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn and my favorite action hero and present governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Coming off the popular Conan series Arny was launched into super stardom and the first phrase that HAD to be said using a thick Austrian accent became a staple in pop culture. “I’ll be back.”
For seven years fans awaited a sequel while Cameron made a name for himself by pushing the boundaries for special effects and creating some of the best sci-fi action movies ever (Aliens and The Abyss). While working on The Abyss Cameron stumbled upon a new technique in special effects… CGI (Computer Generated Images). These had been used in some previous films but not to the extent that The Abyss demanded and pulled off beautifully! This was one of those movies that dropped audiences jaws around the world and had everyone asking “how did they do that?”
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Finally, in 1991, when I was 9, Cameron, Hamilton and Arny teamed up again to create quite possibly my favorite movie of all time, Terminator 2: Judgment Day (AKA T2). By creating an oh-so-delightful blend of engaging writing, intense acting, amazing special effects, jaw dropping action sequences, explosions out the wazoo and yet another catch phrase that added another element of complexity… “Hasta Lavista, Baby.” Who ever thought a bi-lingual dismissal said in an Austrian accent could be so catchy?
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
In 2003, 19 years after the original, while Cameron was busy rolling around in all the money he made off Titanic a third Terminator movie was released, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The only remnant of the old team was Arny. Although this movie on its own was a pretty sweet action flick with some incredible stunts, the story lacked and it did not live up to the previous installment.
Back Story (spoilers for first 2 Terminator movies ahead)
The Terminator centered around Sarah Connor, a waitress, confronted by a man who claimed to be from the future. He told her that in 1997 an artificial intelligence, known as Skynet, will destroy most of humanity using our own nukes against us in one fellow swoop. But the remaining humans resisted extinction by fighting back against the robots and crafts sent to exterminate them. Lead by John Connor (Sarah’s unborn child) the humans gained the upper hand and in 2029 has all but won the war. Realizing that it has lost the war because of John Connor’s leadership, Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah before John is even conceived. The Terminator (model T-800) is a killing machine disguised with living flesh covering its endoskeleton. John, having learned of this sent back Kyle Reese to protect his mother. A skeptical Sarah is eventually convinced of Kyle’s story after witnessing the power of the T-800, including the massacre of an entire police force. Kyle and Sarah end up getting it on before destroying the Terminator at the cost of Kyle’s life.
Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese from The Terminator
Terminator 2 followed John Connor, who was living in a foster home because his mother was institutionalized, being confronted by a T-800 who tells him that it was sent by future John to protect him from another model that Skynet sent to kill him in his teenage years. This second model is a T-1000 made of some sort of liquid smart metal that can form itself into anything it touches as long as it has no moving internal parts. John and the T-800 break Sarah out of the asylum, blow up Cyberdyne Systems (developers of Skynet) and end up destroying the T-1000 in multen metal. Before the end of the movie John forms a bond with his robot and gets totally bumbed that they have to destroy his T-800 to prevent its microprocessor from falling into the wrong hands.
John Connor and his T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day
I won’t go into Terminator 3’s plot because Terminator Salvation branches off of T2 and is not consistent with T3’s plot.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicals has nothing to do with either storyline, but Summer Glau is pretty darn attractive.
Camron from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicals
Terminator Salvation: A synopsis without spoilers
Michael Ironside stars as General Ashdown and Christian Bale stars as John Connor
Terminator Salvation is set in the year 2018, well past Judgment Day. John Connor is not the leader of the resistance but more of a captain taking orders from his superiors. Although, he doesn’t have a high rank, his opinions carry a lot a weight. For some, it is because of the prophesy that he would be the one to lead them to victory. The story takes place in the time period where the T-600’s (rubber skin over a bulky endoskeleton) are still fairly new and boy do they look creepy. John finds the future not like he expected, and has trouble coping with details that seem to be missing from his mother’s teachings. He is faced with several difficult choices and hardships throughout the movie… this is one movie that I don’t think that I would enjoy being John Connor that much.
T-600 from Terminator Salvation
There are several other main characters in the story, one of which gets about equal screen time, if not more, than John, but I really wouldn’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll leave my synopsis at that.
The Effects
Insane… just insane. There is a continuous shot that circles around and through a helecopter that would be uber impressive if I didn’t know about CGI… but it was still a really nice surprise from McG. Although CGI played an integral roll in the movie I never found it distracting.
A shot from a pretty sweet action sequence
Spoiler
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The Directing
McG… c’mon couldn’t this guy at least have a first name so I wouldn’t have to refer to him as McG all the time… reminds me of when the artist Prince became a symbol and everyone had to refer to him as “The Artist Formally Known as Prince”… I think a little peace of me dies every time I say McG… you could say that he is killing me softly with his name.
Well, anyways, that guy that I mentioned in the previous paragraph is the one responsible for Charlie’s Angels (the movies that came out not too long ago). Yuk… nuf said. BUT he has also directed some pretty sweet music videos and has produced a ton of TV shows, one of which I really enjoy… Chuck. So when I heard that he was directing this movie I was about neutral… I thought of him as a mixed bag of corny and awesome.
Some might complain about the mechanics of this movie… how it seemed to be a machine set on a course with no dilly dallying… I agree, but I see it as a positive. McG had a lot of story to tell in a very short period of time. I felt the paseing was exciting with little room to breath.
I have no complaints about the directing of Terminator Salvation. There were no excessive slow-mo shots, no shaky-can’t-tell-what-the-F-is-happening shots, and well, nothing about the way that it was composed that bugged me.
The things that could have bugged me (but didn’t).
It is commonly known by most people who watch these types of films that when a nuclear explosion goes off there is an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) that immediatly disables anything that uses electricity in the surrounding area… including helecopters. Needless to say this fact was either overlooked in this movie OR they are using some sort of technology that shields a helecoptors electronics from EMPs. I mean… they had it in Goldeneye and this IS the future (albeit alternate, since Judgement Day happened in 1997).
Helecopter from Goldeneye
As far as congruency goes there is one transition that left me a little confused (I am purposefully being vague here). Upon further investigation (ie io9) I found that they had removed a sex scene that was seen as excessive. There is a strong chance that this scene will be available on the DVD. Let all the nerds rejoice!
Like I said, these two things could have REALLY bugged me but I was so caught up in the movie that I just glossed over them and didn’t really care.
The Bottom Line
I loved this movie. I loved the gritty state of war feeling, the sense that John Connor (all though tragic) is pretty friggen lucky, the congruency with the first two films (YES it is COMPLETELY congruent with the first two! If you have any doubts after watching I will happily defend this statement), and the profecy that eventually technology will be the bane of our existance! I am REALLY looking forward to a sequal!
Wow! You’re review actually makes me want to see this movie. Something that the trailers didn’t. Plus, I feel like I know everything there is to know about Terminator!
I’ll second the positive review here.
I was disappointed by T3. It felt unnecessary, and as is so often the case with sequels*, it seemed determined to undo much of what they worked so hard to accomplish in the previous installments.
Salvation was exactly the Terminator film that we all wanted to see. A seprequel, (or presequel? Time travel is confusing.) that lets us stare in awe at the gritty spectacle of post apocalyptic war that they could only show us glimpses of in the previous films.
Most of the complaints lodged against it seem petty to me. A certain person whose name I will not print but who was in a band with me for 6 years, is a groomsman at my upcoming wedding, and who writes reviews for this site, (Taken, Fast & Furious, Hanna Montana… oh, forget it. It’s Wallis.) berated the dialog. Seriously? Because “I’ll be back” and “hasta la vista, baby” as delivered by a 1.5 lingual lump of Austrian muscle constituted such eloquent prose… You’ve got to decide what you want in a show beforehand. If I want Shakespeare, I’ll watch King Lear, but if I want gloriously rendered spectacle that scratches a specific nostalgic nerd itch, I might just buy another ticket to Terminator Salvation.
*Vague spoiler warning.
A similar case is that of Alien 3. While the film is great if taken on it’s own due mostly to the genius of David Fincher, taken as a sequel it’s horrible. “And they all lived happily ever after…. until five minutes later when they all died horrible messy deaths.” Seriously Hollywood, show a little respect for your franchises.
Alright, lets do this.
I did not hate the “dialogue” though that to was a bit lame. Arnies one liners were cheesy and James Cameron [a human being] new how to make a film that was both fun and action filled. MCG would not understand human speech if you screamed in his face. The problem here is that this movie contains a storyline that takes all the magic from the first two films and shatters them. Its like watching the Matrix and getting to that awesome ending where Neo flies off and RATMs song busts a nugget of pure YES in your face and then ….wait….I dont really care HOW he defeats the machines….what? ……who cares what Zion looks like? ……THAT is what this film is. This film is Matrix sequels. I dont care that John Connor turns into Christian Bale and YELLS every OTHER word AT the CAMERA like SOMEONE is GETTING in HIS light. I dont want to meet Kyle Reese as a pubescent boy who hangs out with some mute Fro kid who is there only to make the audience go “Aww, how cute:” because the character of Kyle Reese doesnt go beyond basic paint by numbers “I want to be in the Resistance” characterization. Those are some of the things that sucked about this movie. MCG tried, he really did. He was let down by his lack of understanding that Terminator movies need to be fun and interesting and not a MAd MAx remake with robots. Camerons movies moved from action piece to action piece with wit and grace, MCG’s film stomps around from set piece to set piece like a ballet dancing dump truck.
I must at this point backup and say that I thoroughly enjoyed Gabe’s review and loved the Terminator mythos and while we may not agree on THIS Terminator I can safely say that I have found a new appreciation for the franchise. Excellent work.
Jed- [Imagine all of this in a Invader Zim voice] Special Effects are not movies. You and me debating story is like you and me debating special effects. I know my story elements and you know your pixels I fear you and I are damned to repeat this dance over and over until the end of time. Consider yourself on notice…NEMESIS!!!
Sold!
Awwww… snap! This conversation just got REAL!
We’re totally like that guy in the original Star Trek that spends eternity wrestling with his evil twin from a parallel universe… And I’m such a nerd for making that analogy. Me ftw. (Seriously, we’ve been at this for at least ten years now and I wouldn’t have it any other way.)
Yea… I wish that someone would just get the memo and stop trying to cram story into the cracks between my SFX. Honestly, I think that Michael Bay is probably the guy to do it, but MCG is certainly more aptly named for the job. My point is that there are so many different arts in film making, and narrative is just one part of the equation. Brick was pretty awesome, but the effects, frankly, were a bit lackluster.
Now I will admit to being very biased toward SFX. You know that scene in T2 where the liquid metal dude walks out of the wreckage and he’s all reflective and scary looking? I’ve read the algorithms that they used to make that happen. I didn’t understand them, but I tried. I read academic papers published by the various FX studios at Siggraph with the same fervor with which most guys in my demographic watch the Superbowl. (I don’t understand those either, but the pictures are pretty awesome.) The point is that I’m a CGI geek. And yes, special effects are movies just as much as writing, acting, and directing are movies. To steal a phrase from the magnificent Brad Bird, Film is a medium, not a genre.
As for Salvation being like the Matrix sequels, I beg to differ. The problem with those was that they completely undid what they established with the ending of the first film. I wanted very much to see Zion looks like. The war with the machines was great. It was the butchering of themes and characters from the first film that I took issue with. (Come to think of it, those are movies that would have been way better without story. Just kung foo and giant robots for hours on end? awesome.) That’s exactly what Salvation didn’t do. It didn’t retcon any of the cannon from the first two movies, and it basically ignored the retconing that I took issue with in the third. Sure, the story was just an excuse for action scenes, but that’s exactly what I wanted. MCG directs music videos primarily, and this film had a lot in common with a good music video: pictures and noises that make Jed happy.
“(Come to think of it, those are movies that would have been way better without story. Just kung foo and giant robots for hours on end? awesome.”
Those movies ARE nothing but Kung Phooey and giant robots. THIS Terminator WAS nothing but giant explosions and douchnozzle robots…OH and GIANT plot holes. When there is a plot point made early in the film , ie “You cant get to Skynet the machines will catch you” , you have to stick to that or make it some sort of struggle, instead 30 minutes later in the film John Connor rides the LOUDEST FUCKING MOTOR BIKE EVER right into the heart of Skynet without so much as a blink by ANY security. That is BAD film making. SFX be damned.
You cannot have a film without a story. A film is a story ALWAYS. You can have a film without CGI. For proof of this see Casablanca , Citizen Kane, and most of the rest of the Golden Age of Hollywood. BOOSH. Take that ,alternate reality evil twin.
Mad Max with Robots….FAIL.
Nerd Knowledge: Re: EMP: Military electronics still feature vacuum tubes for that very reason.
OK, this is from Petty Officer Griffith. (yes I went there)
All of the aircraft in the movie are designed to with stand electronic attack, what I wondered is how they could hide a whole hanger from Skynet. You can’t maintain a jet engine with out test firing it on a very regular basis, and that is done on the ground. But the way they were hiding Command was awesome! And I have never seen a Vacuum tube on an aircraft (though that does not mean they don’t use them).
But In my opinion that is really a big deal, I liked the movie. Nuff’ said. Gabe great Review!
Here’s the thing…
Casablanca? Fantastic film. (Citizen Kane? meh.) It’s totally possible to have a great film sans SFX, (unless you believe, as I do, that film it’s self is a special effect.) But I have $708.2 million in box office tickets to Transformers in ‘07 that says that you can have a film without story. Critics be damned, the public has spoken!
(On a side note, I found this gem of a quote from Michel Bay while I was looking up the box office figure above:
“By adding more doo-dads and stuff on the robots, more car parts, you can just make it more real.”
doo-dads. The man is a genius.)
this is why i suck at movie reviews, and why i would probably love this movie if i get a chance to see it. Rather then analyze a movie, i EXPERIENCE it, i loose myself it and usually don’t get bothered by the petty things.
of course, i know brian gets off on ripping movies apart, he enjoys that more then the actual movie, its why he watches them. And in process always writes hilarious reviews tearing the crap out of them.
I typically enjoy the movie, and i enjoy watching my friends tear the crap out of them. do i win?
Yup. you win.
Doo dad. I want a t shirt with that quote and Bay’s name. I will grant you that a film like Jurrasic Park can be both CGI full and well done story wise. And i suppose that King Kong could have been the Transformers of its day. There were special effects back then that people used ALOT. Excuse me….doo dads that they used.
Ideally a film should have both good writing and good FX. I’m just saying that you can’t write a film off for the lack of good writing anymore than I can write a film off for lack of good spectacle. (That doesn’t mean I have to watch your boring giant-robotless talkfests anymore than you have to watch Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen.)
Every once in a great while a film will come about that gives us the best of both worlds… Pan’s Labyrinth comes to mind. Let’s hope that that becomes a trend, eh?
Hey if it’s better than the game I will have to check it out. Oh I got a recommendation for a tag line if you decide to review the game. “It’s Loadtastic!”
Just saw most of this on Bluray and it was to clean and smooth for it’s own good. It felt like I was watching cutsceens from a video game. Too bad, I might have enjoyed it otherwise.