Terminator Salvation

[Eric]

Terminator Salvation

I loved "Terminator 2". Loved it! "The Terminator" is a classic, and I even enjoyed "Rise Of The Machines", but in T3 it started going down a road that I was hoping would be adjusted in T4. I'm sure most of you felt the same, that in T3 it was getting a little repetitive, a little unrealistic and a little too much like a movie and less realistic than the first 2. Part of the reason I enjoyed the first 2 is because it was (marginally) realistic. The Terminator (Ahnold in part 1) acted like a killing machine, the T-1000 (in T2) acted like a killing machine, and Ahnold in T2 acted like a protector. It still felt like they were inserted into our world, and it worked pretty well.

I guess "over the top" would be a good way to describe how T3 and T4 felt to me. Enjoyable, yes, but with so much going on it was hard to call them excellent movies. I think they fell into the same trap that most movies fall into nowadays, where they try so hard to be overly complex and to throw as much into the movie as they can.

There were so many moments where this movie was "Hollywood-ized" that it became distracting.

Here's what I didn't like:

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• Nuke at the beginning kills everyone except Connor, and Marcus Wright.
• Marcus Wright regularly survives things that most wouldn't...but no one is suspicious that he might not be human. They trust him and bring him right to the leader of the resistance. I mean I know that flesh Terminators haven't emerged yet, but they JUST saw a Skynet base showing that Skynet was researching this, and suddenly here's some random stranger...
• Marcus Wright doesn't know anything about the past, and no one is suspicious. I know that Kyle Reese and them didn't know that Terminators could be flesh (yet), but they'd still be a little suspicious.
• They find that Skynet is planning on using human tissue to make new Terminators...but Skynet has already made a much more advanced model in Marcus Wright. I know, he's an R&D model but damn if he doesn't come across as a finished product...
• The whole Kyle Reese, mute kid business was meh. As well as the A-10 pilot/Marcus Wright's chick friend (Bloodmoon)...WTF was that all about??? Seemed forced & unnecessary.
• Stryder's favorite part: resources. Skynet controls the machines, right? Therefore Skyknet controls the robotics in the factories that used to mass produce bullets, weapons, fuel, food, vehicles & aircraft. Also, there are no military training facilities anymore training soldiers. With that in mind, every single casualty is devastating to the resistance. Even more so when they lose aircraft, or when vehicles get destroyed. To lose ~30 soldiers, all their gear, all their weapons and 2 A-10 Thunderbolts on a single mission would be an absolutely crushing blow to the resistance. But they're like "oh damn, well go into the warehouse and get a couple more guns/bullets/soldiers/pilots & a pair of A-10 Warthogs will ya Johnny?"
• Terminator fist fights. Are you kidding me? These things would reach forward and crush your face, then crush your throat for good measure, and then punch their mechanical fist into your chest and rip out your heart just to make sure. No, they would not engage in fisticuffs with the hero (Stryder's 2nd favorite part)
• CGI T-800...ugh.
• Heart transplant...in a dirty, dusty, filthy world, the leader of the resistance gets mortally wounded but they're able to transplant the heart from a robot into him and save him. Heart transplants are kinda tricky things...wouldn't it be sad if John Connor died from an infection from a botched heart transplant? How were they sure that that thing's heart would even work with him? Seriously, WTF was that...

I liked a lot of things in this movie too, but it just felt like it bounced from idea to idea very quickly. Plus it wasn't rated R which to me just seems ridiculous for a Terminator movie.

I liked:

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• The action was excellent, cool battle sequences & good effects
• The A-10's were sweet...there aren't enough movies with those
• The T-motorcycles. I thought it was the dumbest idea but they were really cool.
• The Terminator aircraft were sweet
• The twist at the end with Marcus Wright that he had actually executed his mission to perfection...very cool
• A cameo by a CGI Ahnold...was cheesy and I was pissed that it wasn't him, but it was still cool to see him there

As a whole I can't say I hated it. It was enjoyable and fun, and I know I'm nitpicking many of my complaints...I mean after all it's a movie about mechanical killing machines and computers that took over the world and tried to exterminate the human race. Not bad, not great...

3/5

[Ender]

This one has been a few down on my netflix for a while, but I finally got around to getting it this week and watched it last night. I remember everyone saying that this movie sucked, but I actually enjoyed it. It was still not nearly as good as Terminator 2, which I guess everyone was probably comparing it to, and maybe everyone who thought this one sucked was just wishing Arnold was 20 years younger and in it again with all of his awkward one liners.

But, I did not expect it to be better than Terminator 2, so I did not judge it under those standards, and did not expect it to be similar at all since it is a totally different plot.

Good flick, but not great. I gave it a 3/5 on the poll, but would actually rate it a little higher at 3.5/5 or so.

[Klaus]

I downloaded this on PS3 a couple weeks ago but when I went to play it there was a message that I was unauthorized or something. After a quick google search turns out I would need to sign up for a new PSN account and re download it..... so I said fuck it and deleted it. I guess I still plan to pick it up from Redbox sometime. Glad to see it get another positive review.

[Eric]

*cough*

http://noncompliance.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115

[Klaus]

Merged. That works pretty slick actually.

[Ender]

Damnit! I looked for an existing thread for this movie before I posted my own and couldn't find it.

[Klaus]

Remember Eric has a sub forum just for reviews

[Chadwick]

Remember Eric has a sub forum just for reviews

Yeah but they are ERIC's special reviews....who can keep it straight?

[Eric]

Yeah but they are ERIC's special reviews....who can keep it straight?

LOL pfft, I hold no monopoly on movie reviews. Plus if you're looking to get a review of a movie that's still in the theaters I am NOT the guy for that!

I count on you childless ones for that.

/points at Kyrillian and his 10am Saturday movie escapades

[Kyrillian]

I want to see Kick-Ass this weekend but Arda is afraid to go on opening weekend, N----s always shootin' at the screen!