[cerveza_fiesta]

Oh man, here we go with everybody on the "well it wasn't technically in line with the previous movies" and the "I felt the acting was a bit weak" comments.

It was a terminator movie for godsakes. And a damn good one. Not some oscar contendor.

Splodey from start to finish, 10 cheesily delivered lines and some SERIOUSLY cool robotic deathmatches.

Spoiler

Stuff that was awesome:

--Bale's lines. There were 10. Not so many that the splodey bits were seriously interrupted
--Underwater submarine explosion
--Giant terminator harvester bot that rides a giant fucking spaceship like a motorcycle and shoots smaller motorcycle mini-terminators out of its fucking legs. Favourite scene in the movie bar-none.
--No complicated plot to distract me from the beautiful beautiful CGI and amazing action.
--A near perfect CGI half-terminator face when buddy gets half of it burned off in an explosion. It even had moving hydraulics controlling his face and shit.
--Terminator water snakes.
--Near perfect CGI half-terminator body with moving parts (when they have him chained up)
--A-10 thunderbolt fighter jets. Coolest looking planes around.
--Complete disregard for obvious temporal paradoxes like "well how can he send back a terminator if he has no reason to save his own life?"...cause I hate when nerds argue on the paradox point.
--Terminator T-800 takes 3 explosive rounds and a vat of molten steel to the face and keeps on ticking.
--Nice plot by Skynet by planting the false deactivation code.
--Well done ending where the humanized machine gives his life to save the protagonist a la Terminator 2 & 3....thus enabling another movie to be made since connor aint dead yet!

Bad stuff

--......

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 26 May 2009 - 07:38 PM

[Mentalist]

meh
I have learned my lesson a while ago (don't remember what movie it was)

ALWAYS set your expectations to "low"

if you hype up the movie for yourself, you will not like it.

On its own, as CF says it was an entertaining movie. Not Epic, not Ground-breaking, but decent. Lots of cool stuff

Spoiler

John stealing a bike-terminator was cool, imho

, and FFS, it's a Terminator movie. if there are terminators in it, it should justify expectations.

in regard to the

Spoiler

molten stel not killing Arnie--there wasn't enough, I don't think. both steel and gas were the nod to the Second movie--in the fiirst one, Arnie got crushed by some heavy machinery

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Ok, I'm not arguing, if you guys enjoyed it more power to you. But, here are some of the things that, in my opinion, made this movie worthless.

Spoiler

You're right, the molten steel was in the second, not the first. Still, it killed him. I liked the motorcycle better when it came off of the Batmobile. The whole idea of Marcus having a heart was silly and contrived. There was no reason for him to have it, other than to give it to John Conner at the end. Which was lame, expecially with the "slow look and nod to each other" scene right before the surgury. All it was missing was someone starting a slow clap for him. Lame! Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!

The thing is, I went into this with low expectations. It still failed to meet them, on every level.

HEre's another complaint. Why did the machines not use poison gas? Why did they not use nukes again? How could they possibly have territory they did not go to because of the resistance? Send one or two of those stupid giant man-grabbers against where they knew the resistance was located. End of story. Why didn't they execute Reese as soon as he was identified at Skynet? End of story, end of war. No, they locked him up like some stupid Bond villain. Why introduce the character of John Conner's wife and then not develop her into a real character? Why was Marcus not built with safeguards to prevent him from switching sides as he did, safe guards that couldn't be ripped out of the back of his neck? How the hell could he swim, and not only swim but float? Why in God's name, when Marcus got killed by the blow to the heart (which by the way, I imagine Skynet would be smart enough to PUT A FREAKING METAL PLATE OVER IT SO THAT COULDN'T HAPPEN) did they have to do the same cheesy scene from countless other crappy movies/medical dramas, where JC was pounding on his chest going "live! live", followed by him shocking him to restart the heart, which we knew was going to happen becasue that's how that scene always plays out? Why are the terminators invincible in some scenes, more so than previously established, and giant pussies in others?

The list goes on and on. That's all I feel like typing for now though. If I were to watch that movie again though, I could probably point out something shitty about it about every 30 seconds.

[cerveza_fiesta]

@RLY

but why bother pointing out something shitty every 30 seconds?

You could do that for the first one, the second one, the third one, this one, all 4 Xmen flicks, all 3 spiderman flicks, Transformers (and its eventual sequels) all the Riddick flicks, all 6 rocky flicks.

In fact you could point out something shitty every 30 seconds for about 95% of all action movies ever made.

Why can't everybody just understand that its about the action. Action movies aren't and never have been about people or the plot, or the symbolism, or the inevitably awkward lines...its about watching surreal fights and awesome robots and spaceships and supersoldiers or whatever duke it out for supremacy.

Take it for what it is and quit complaining about silly heart-restart scenes. That silly scene was bracketed perfectly by two totally awesome robot fights! YESSSSS!

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 28 May 2009 - 11:43 AM

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

cerveza_fiesta, on May 28 2009, 04:42 AM, said:

@RLY

but why bother pointing out something shitty every 30 seconds?

You could do that for the first one, the second one, the third one, this one, all 4 Xmen flicks, all 3 spiderman flicks, Transformers (and its eventual sequels) all the Riddick flicks, all 6 rocky flicks.

In fact you could point out something shitty every 30 seconds for about 95% of all action movies ever made.

Why can't everybody just understand that its about the action. Action movies aren't and never have been about people or the plot, or the symbolism, or the inevitably awkward lines...its about watching surreal fights and awesome robots and spaceships and supersoldiers or whatever duke it out for supremacy.

Take it for what it is and quit complaining about silly heart-restart scenes. That silly scene was bracketed perfectly by two totally awesome robot fights! YESSSSS!

It's not like I went into the movie wanting to pick it apart. I really wanted this to be good. As the movie progressed though, I just kept seeing things that were poorly done, and it got to be so many things that it was constantly pulling me out of my concentration on the movie, and making me think "wow, that sucked.)

I understand it is all about the action. I love good action movie, and am able to take a good action movie for exactly what is. Take Transformers as an example. That movie, boiled down, is nothing more than robots fighting, shit blowing up, and Megan Fox being smoking hot. And it is great! It has flaws, sure, but it's well done, and a lot of fun to watch. Making an action movie doesn't give you the right to make a bad movie. OUt of the movies you listed, I've seen all but one of the Riddick movies and spiderman 3, they in my opinion are all better than Salvation.

The action scenes were not that well done either, to me. There were a few cool scenes, but the rest of the movie was such crap I didn't even care. Think of a movie you believe is terrible. Now imagine they come out with a special edition DVD that has a robot fight inserted into it. Is it all of the sudden less than a crappy movie? No, it still sucks, it just happens to contain a robot fight, and you certainly won't be willing to sit through the whole thing just for that.

This post has been edited by Raymond Luxury Yacht: 28 May 2009 - 03:34 PM

[cerveza_fiesta]

@rly

Yeah. Valid opinion for sure. Just stirring the pot in my previous post.

But I don't think you understand how big of a fan of robot fights I truly am.

As in I had a really hard time not shitting my pants during the scene with the giant harvester robot. Way too cool. I can forgive a LOT of cruddiness in a movie if you give me a robot fight scene. I used to play mechwarrior on the compy a lot, so I guess that's where it comes from.

I gotta disagree with you on the salvation being worse than all those others above. I actually liked salvation a lot more than any of the spiderman movies or transformers or any of the xmen flicks (except the first xmen...that one was rad).

But then we're getting into personal taste and it becomes an futile argument.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Yeah, all a matter of taste. Here's a mock script of the movie that is quite funny and sums up a lot of my problems with it. Spoilers abound.
http://www.cracked.com/article_17454_termi...t-bullshit.html

[Obdigore]

massive spoilers for the movie

Spoiler

I heard that the script was written, the end was that Connor died, and the medical team took his face and used it to replace the Marcus Fenix's face. They then called in all the 'locals' to see that Connor was ok, and Fenix sat up and said hello in Connors voice, then his eyes turned red and he gunned them all down.

Such a better ending, imo.

[Yellow]

Off to see this tonight. Wish me luck!

[Mezla PigDog]

Yellow, on Jun 7 2009, 06:16 PM, said:

Off to see this tonight. Wish me luck!

I just got back from seeing it. I actually really liked it! It is nowhere near 1 and 2 but it was pretty good. All out action the whole way, can't complain. The biggest let down was John Conner really. He was John Conner by numbers. Kyle Reese was pretty good and Marcus Wright was alright but a bit predictable. Most of the bits I really loved were homages to the first 2, so that says a lot for the originality. Most of the fight moves were rip offs from 1 or 2. The hot/cold metal thing, gah!

So, I loved

Spoiler

Marcus teaching Kyle the rope on the shotgun thing!
John Conner catching a Moto Terminator with You Could Be Mine.
Moto Terminator's!! And all the other Terminators. The HKs were just right and the T-600s were pleasantly gruesome. I liked Kyle and Marcus killing the first one and he stamped on a skull.
John Conner's electrical wizardry that was slightly more hi-tech than nicking money from an ATM.

I hated them changing Sarah Conner's tape. Just to spell it out for the morons.
As if Helena Bonham Carter isn't annoying enough, she's fucking Skynet!
John Conner getting a new heart....I thought it would have been brilliant if they gave him some machine parts, the irony would have been sweeeeet. So now he's having a transplant and is going to be all immuno-suppressed for the next movie. He will die of an infection! Although I suppose it could be a non-incompatible heart due to Cyberdyne Genetic Divisions tinkering......Hmmm.
The mute kid holding Marcus' robot hand at the end, PUKE.

Anyway, not exactly original but not a bad set up for the next couple of movies. Clearly they are going to end in Kyle Reese going through the Time Displacement Equipment.

EDIT
I suppose the biggest disappointment was that the future wasn't as bleak as it was in the flash forwards of 1 and 2. Humanity seemed to be doing a little too well. You can't really envisage the future that Kyle Reese dreams about in 1 when there are kids catching rats and stuff. I hope they fuck the world up a bit more in the next films but I suppose that won't really be explodey enough for the ADHD generation (or McG).

This post has been edited by Mezla PigDog: 07 June 2009 - 11:06 PM

[frookenhauer]

Saw it last night and was thankfully pleased. Thank you guys for bringing my expectations right down to a decent level so I could ignore they hype and just get on with enjoying a decent action flick very similar to Transformers. Shallow but ultimately satisfying. And has quite succinctly washed away the bad taste left in my mouth by Terminator *spits* 3

Spoiler

It was good to see John Connor becoming the leader of the resistance, Fucking A!
I thought the cute little girl to be frivolous.
The harvester ship and all its gizmos and extra craft was terrific.
The interrupt signal was devastatingly obvious.
The T600 bargain basement thicko bot was okay, nice guns.
The not Arnie was a nice touch
Its funny how much effort Mr Bale puts into his words. Reminds me of the friends episode where a drunk Gary Oldman and Joey do a shoot together and spit at each other for the duration of the filming, funny as.

Yup, I liked it overall. But if they put in a little more effort....nah, sod it. They were never going to beat the first couple.

[Yellow]

I agree with the two posts above. I was expecting a complete dog, and I actually enjoyed it.

Spoiler

The heart transplant at the end was completely ridiculous and pointless.... it actually might have been better if Connor had died and Wright took over, even though that would screw with everything completely

CGI Arnie was fantastic! I almost laughed out loud when they scanned up past his feet, his sexy legs, his knees, his CONVENIENT WAFT OF SMOKE, his amazing abs...

They should have stopped after the first two, but at least this one makes up a little for the third one.

edit - holy fuck, just realised the kid that played Kyle Reese was the guy from Star Trek. He was actually pretty good.

This post has been edited by Yellow: 08 June 2009 - 06:17 AM

[Yellow]

Just thinking that if they hadn't ruined the whole thing about Wright being a cyborg in the trailer, I would have completely hated that. I guess their Expectation Management department actually did a good job this time.

[Mezla PigDog]

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on May 28 2009, 02:17 AM, said:

Ok, I'm not arguing, if you guys enjoyed it more power to you. But, here are some of the things that, in my opinion, made this movie worthless.

Spoiler

The whole idea of Marcus having a heart was silly and contrived. There was no reason for him to have it, other than to give it to John Conner at the end. Which was lame, expecially with the "slow look and nod to each other" scene right before the surgury.

I think you are being a little too hard on it.

Spoiler

Marcus needed to display human attributes in order to properly infiltrate and to not know he was a machine before his insides were on display. Plus, that pilot woman had to snuggle up to him! For the body heat, yeah right! She'd just built a massive fire.

Still, not a problem that Worthington is supposedly the next big thing in the action department. Insert 'action' and 'big thing' pun here. Yessiree.

Quote

Spoiler

Why didn't they execute Reese as soon as he was identified at Skynet? End of story, end of war. No, they locked him up like some stupid Bond villain.

Spoiler

Reese had to be alive for Marcus to show Conner the way to his cell. It had to be true for Marcus to believe it for his programming to work. Arnie was all set to spring the trap and ba-da-bing, Conner and Reese would be dead. Skynet displaying over-confidence in its own abilities.

Quote

Spoiler

Why was Marcus not built with safeguards to prevent him from switching sides as he did, safe guards that couldn't be ripped out of the back of his neck?

Spoiler

That was Skynet underestimating the power of the human condition! Cheesy but what the whole movie franchise is built on, the difference between man and machine.

Bloody spoiler tags! People shouldn't be reading this thread now if they don't want the movie ruined.

[dktorode]

Ive been desperately trying to stay out of this thread...i suppose i will go watch it soon...it IS terminator afterall.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Mezla PigDog, on Jun 8 2009, 01:54 AM, said:

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on May 28 2009, 02:17 AM, said:

Ok, I'm not arguing, if you guys enjoyed it more power to you. But, here are some of the things that, in my opinion, made this movie worthless.

Spoiler

The whole idea of Marcus having a heart was silly and contrived. There was no reason for him to have it, other than to give it to John Conner at the end. Which was lame, expecially with the "slow look and nod to each other" scene right before the surgury.

I think you are being a little too hard on it.

Spoiler

Marcus needed to display human attributes in order to properly infiltrate and to not know he was a machine before his insides were on display. Plus, that pilot woman had to snuggle up to him! For the body heat, yeah right! She'd just built a massive fire.

Still, not a problem that Worthington is supposedly the next big thing in the action department. Insert 'action' and 'big thing' pun here. Yessiree.

Spoiler

The physical heart was not needed for any of this. In fact, I would guess that having a beating heart that people could hear from across the room might make it more difficult to blend in as a human

Quote

Spoiler

Why didn't they execute Reese as soon as he was identified at Skynet? End of story, end of war. No, they locked him up like some stupid Bond villain.

Spoiler

Reese had to be alive for Marcus to show Conner the way to his cell. It had to be true for Marcus to believe it for his programming to work. Arnie was all set to spring the trap and ba-da-bing, Conner and Reese would be dead. Skynet displaying over-confidence in its own abilities.

Spoiler

If they killed Reese the war is over, JC is automatically gone, robots win, there's no need for any traps

Quote

Spoiler

Why was Marcus not built with safeguards to prevent him from switching sides as he did, safe guards that couldn't be ripped out of the back of his neck?

Spoiler

That was Skynet underestimating the power of the human condition! Cheesy but what the whole movie franchise is built on, the difference between man and machine.

Bloody spoiler tags! People shouldn't be reading this thread now if they don't want the movie ruined.

new comments in bold, and spoilered. This is getting confusing.

[Mezla PigDog]

Quote

Spoiler

If they killed Reese the war is over, JC is automatically gone, robots win, there's no need for any traps

That wouldn't have worked for the current timeline though!

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

The timeline is buggered anyways.

[dktorode]

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on Jun 9 2009, 10:16 AM, said:

The timeline is buggered anyways.

haha

look at this tidbit i found

Quote

We'd already heard the film's concept could well involve future Skynet mech rolling into our time, and that Robert Patrick might appear in the film as a doctor/scientist whose work is ultimately perverted into the mercury-like/shape-shifting tech later utilized by Terminators.

So, where might all of this go down?

Quote

...the sequel to Terminator: Salvation, will be set in London in the year 2011, with a time-travelling John Connor (Christian Bale).

try that for timelines sake!!!

This post has been edited by dktorode: 10 June 2009 - 08:28 AM

[Morgoth]

I enjoyed it as an action movie, but it was unbelievably stupid all around. Skynet obviously evolved from a pocket calculator considering how ridiculosuly dumb it was.