The Terminator (Discussion for all films in the series)

[obscurejude]

Yeah, I'm becoming a bit of a critic and I don't like that about myself. Another bad side effect of being in grad school.

[turtlex]

<-- would listen to Ryan before I'd believe some paid critic, for sure!

I won't be able to see it until saturday afternoon, but really, can't wait.

[obscurejude]

Thanks

I think you'll like it Pam. And I also think you'll like Chekov. He does a good Kyle Reese, although I don't understand his importance as I've mentioned in the spoiler tags of my previous post.

[obscurejude]

Yeah, MCG did a good job with the visuals, but there wasn't enough story at all. That was one of the things that made T2 so epic, the intensely human moments combined with the threat of annihilation. There was no information on how the resistance came to be and little connection at all to previous installments in the franchise.

But the visuals were really well done. The terminators were downright terrifying. Especially the Harvester and the T 600's. The post apocalyptic LA was also freaky. I know the idea has almost become cliche in modern cinema, but this took it to another level for me. Every frame was monochrome, everything was on fire, and there was so much silence that every gun or human expression sounded unbelievably amplified. I loved the way that John Conner's M4 Carbine sounded...

I have a few specific issues with the movies:

Spoiler:

Why did Marcus Wright give his heart to John Conner? I mean, I understand that he's our hero, but within the internal logic of the movie, wouldn't Wright be more of an asset to the resistance than Connor? This is another one of my issues. We get very little detail about John's involvement in the resistance which is lame compared to all the foreshadowing in the previous films. Why were people referring to him as a prophet, etc? He wasn't even head of command...

Spoiler:

Why did Kyle Reese need to be saved in order for John Connor to live? I understand that he's John's father, but is this implying that if he died before going back in time that John would somehow disappear or something due to a lapse in the space time continuum? I thought that one of the moteifs of the movies was that you make your own fate and thus alternate realities were possible with the audacity of the human spirit. The writing for this film just wasn't up for the task of following something as epic as the benchmark T2: Judgment Day in my opinion.

I'm bumping this, not because I'm arrogant, but because I'd like some help on figuring this stuff out and I didn't want it to be overlooked.

[obscurejude]

Alright, I watched this again tonight. I'm dying to talk about some of this stuff. Come on people. Talk Terminator specifics.

[candy]

peeks through fingers. just seeing if i can read this yet? cant watch for another two weeks goddamn it!!!!!!

i'll be back

[Matt]

I probably won't see it until it comes out on DVD, but I don't mind reading all the great member reviews.

[Odetta]

I'M GOING TONITE!!!!!!!

[obscurejude]

Look forward to hearing your thoughts O.

[turtlex]

My girlfriend and I tried three different theaters this afternoon, and couldn't get in to any of them....

.... we shall try again tomorrow!

[candy]

I'M GOING TONITE!!!!!!!

not jealous at all
sigh, ok i so am

My girlfriend and I tried three different theaters this afternoon, and couldn't get in to any of them....

.... we shall try again tomorrow!

wow!!! thats bad, hopefully i can prebook mine

[turtlex]

If you're going this weekend... it might be a good idea to pre-order your tickets, for sure. We were doing drive-bys.

[Brice]

If you're going this weekend... it might be a good idea to pre-order your tickets, for sure. We were doing drive-bys.

Pam???



*flashes gang sign*

[candy]

[turtlex]

Oh, yeah, I'm a huge gang person... lifelong member of the MovieGoing BloodCrips.

We are especially hard on those in our enemy gang... the TalkThroughTheMovieAssholes.

Our weapon of choice is a JuJubes candy. They have some weight to them, and carry a distance when thrown at the offenders.

[Brice]

[Odetta]

OK, my 2 cents on the movie...
In general, I liked the movie... nowhere near as good as 1 or 2, but better than 3.
The machines are pretty scary... the Harvester was just downright nasty.

They did a neat job of tying in little bits from John Connor's past... Guns 'n' Roses blasting, for one example.
I liked how we know how he gets his scar.

I think they did a good job with Reese... he had a lot of Reese's facial expressions and the way he talked was close. I was worried about the Reese role.

Things I had a problem with...

I had a hard time not thinking that John Connor sounded like Batman...
I still have yet to see Mr. Bale as a true lead actor. Between this movie and Batman, just doesn't feel like a lead actor for me.
Also...

Spoiler:

A heart transplant on the field??? give me a frickin' break. They should have left that out... leave out the metal rod through Connor's chest and let Marcus redeem himself by fighting off the Terminator....

but, all in all, I enjoyed it... I really don't want these movies to just become war-type movies, however. This one was getting kind of close to that.

[obscurejude]

Bump for Mordred.

[Mordred Deschain]

I saw it today. I thought it was good.

[obscurejude]

I would not have gone to the trouble of bumping it and sending you a profile message if that's all you were going to say. geez.

[SigTauGimp]

Watched it the other day, and agree with what most others have been saying...good, but definitely no T2. I did kinda giggle at

Spoiler

how even the writers couldn't come up with a loophole in connectivity for Marcus...all John Connor could say was how he didn't hear about him before...I mean, if the guy gave you a friggin' heart, you'd think to mention it to someone.

I think my favorite scene was

Awesomeness

the "human cattle drive" part...the herding pens and everything was just sooo creepy...and the T-600s looked even scarier than normal.

[Mordred Deschain]

I would not have gone to the trouble of bumping it and sending you a profile message if that's all you were going to say. geez.

LOL. THANK YOU!!!!

it was late and we were drinking after words for 5 or 6 hours, then playing wii in my buddies garage. My mind was shut off. but thanks for the bump!

Spoiler:

I actually think it was good! I mean other than Christian Bale looked older than he should, in my opinion. The only thing I kind of have a problem with is the time frame. When the one guy donated his body at the beginning it was 2005 correct? And the movie is 2018 (right?) Well, this isn't a actual time frame thing, but when he stumbled on Reese and that girl, did that city suffer a nuclear explosion like we always saw in the other movies? If so, what is the half-life of the radiation from one of those babies? Also, I think this movie would have been perfect as T3. Because John keeps listening to the tapes his mom left him, which is really cool because it really leads off the first movie, but it confused me when he was reviewing the tapes looking for an answer to the "new" terminator with a heart and half a brain, because don't they figure out in T3 that they can't stop the war, and basically Skynet improves itself after every attempt? Then why would he be perplexed about the info not being on the tapes. I mean he was alive for the other 2 attempts on his life.
And I know they need John as their inspiration, but fuck, keep the human terminator for doing some real damage!

[obscurejude]

I would not have gone to the trouble of bumping it and sending you a profile message if that's all you were going to say. geez.

LOL. THANK YOU!!!!

it was late and we were drinking after words for 5 or 6 hours, then playing wii in my buddies garage. My mind was shut off. but thanks for the bump!

Spoiler:

I actually think it was good! I mean other than Christian Bale looked older than he should, in my opinion. The only thing I kind of have a problem with is the time frame. When the one guy donated his body at the beginning it was 2005 correct? And the movie is 2018 (right?) Well, this isn't a actual time frame thing, but when he stumbled on Reese and that girl, did that city suffer a nuclear explosion like we always saw in the other movies? If so, what is the half-life of the radiation from one of those babies? Also, I think this movie would have been perfect as T3. Because John keeps listening to the tapes his mom left him, which is really cool because it really leads off the first movie, but it confused me when he was reviewing the tapes looking for an answer to the "new" terminator with a heart and half a brain, because don't they figure out in T3 that they can't stop the war, and basically Skynet improves itself after every attempt? Then why would he be perplexed about the info not being on the tapes. I mean he was alive for the other 2 attempts on his life.
And I know they need John as their inspiration, but fuck, keep the human terminator for doing some real damage!

Spoiler:

The opening montage takes place in 2003 actually, though I don't think that makes much difference. Marcus Wright was unexpected because he wasn't originally a product of Skynet. Its difficult to make sense of, but in the fragmented snippets we see of Marcus' back story, it seems that he was cryogenically frozen and his body was donated to the military for advance weapon experimentation. Once Skynet became self aware, they simply advanced the study and re programmed him to lead John Conner back to them. I'm thinking the robots decided to do it this way because their previous attempts with the t-800 and t-1000 failed. Remember, "you were able to do for us what we have failed to do over and over...kill John Connor." Marcus denouncement of his dualistic robotic nature was unanticipated and Skynet is once again foiled by the human spirit.

I don't know what to say about Marcus sacrificing his heart. I already complained about it in my previous post which seems to be invisible since no one has responded. Within the internal logic of the movie, Marcus is definitely presented as more of an asset. I'm hoping the next movie will go into more back story on the Resistance and convey to the audience why John Connor is important.

There's a paradoxical tension with the time travel motifs of the franchise because it seems to support and challenge alternate realities simultaneously. Wright must be part of an alternate reality because John would have remembered him somehow as well as Kyle. Judgment day happened inevitably as chronicled in T-3 but it was different than originally forecast. I can only assume that Wright is a product of the new reality while Skynet's appropriation of him is somehow based on the failures of the original time line.

[flaggwalkstheline]

I haven't seen the new terminator but I'm rather weary of it since nothing screams sellout to me more than a pg13 film in a series that has otherwise been all R rated

[obscurejude]

I haven't seen the new terminator but I'm rather weary of it since nothing screams sellout to me more than a pg13 film in a series that has otherwise been all R rated

Yeah, it doesn't have the independent studio feel of T-2. I'm glad James Cameron was never in the big leagues.