Wow MJ, you are preaching to the choir about every film in this series!

If you go back to my original reviews, I liked both TERMINATOR 3 and SALVATION when they opened and I'd stand behind those comments today.

I also find T2 overrated, much in the same way the later films are underrated...too much preachiness from Linda Hamilton (really a grating performance when you get right down to it), and I find the last act to be a disappointment...I like it, but I don't love it, and for me it's not a classic.

The problem with the ending he threw out -- it wasn't well-executed, the make-up was lousy, you're right. But my god, at least it WAS an ENDING. The terrible "down the road of life" reshot ending he used was so cliched and lame by comparison...it would've been nice to see "closure" which at least the original ending provided.

By comparison T3 stripped out Cameron's pretentiousness and for the better -- there's no "no fate but what we make" heavy-handed talk, just a lean, almost B-movie with an A-budget type of approach from Jonathan Mostow (of Breakdown and U571 fame).

And SALVATION is criminally underrated. As a sheer sci-fi popcorn movie, it delivered the goods. I think it's one of those "fanboy" situations where they see McG is directing the film, it has a PG-13 and they simply hate it right from the get-go. The Arnold bit was BRILLIANT, and yet you never see anyone even referencing how well it was handled. Bale was over the top, and he clearly gave a just for the money type of performance -- but it balanced out Worthington's competent but bland leading role. I would've liked to have seen Claire Danes come back from the third film instead of Bryce Dallas Howard (in a role that was basically written out of the film), but the movie is entertaining and fun.

I love the concept for this new movie -- going back "into" the storyline of the first film from a fresh perspective via time travel makes a lot of sense. The cast doesn't impress me a whole lot on the surface, but Arnold's back so I think it has the potential to surprise a lot of people -- the folks who think 3 and 4 are inferior in other words.

AndyDursin wrote:I think it's one of those "fanboy" situations where they see McG is directing the film, it has a PG-13 and they simply hate it right from the get-go.

I must admit, I did initially wince when I saw McG's "name" attached to the film, as I positively detested Charlie's Angels (and deliberately avoided the even worse-looking sequel), but Salvation is absolutely NOTHING like the vapid, bubble-gum style he usually has (see also the flaccid, jokey This Means War)...the action sequences actually follow the laws of physics, the visual effects are superb, and he gets some decent performances out of the supporting cast (I especially liked Moon Bloodgood as the resistance fighter who takes a shine to Worthington's character, and Anton Yelchin's DEAD-ON Michael Biehn impersonation as teenage Kyle Reese). Yeah, there's a bit of Transformers DNA in some of the giant robot designs, but unlike Michael Bay, McG knew how to construct action sequences where you could tell what the hell was going on, and the movie is studded with amusing nods to the previous films (I especially liked Bale using a boom box blaring Guns n' Roses to lure one of the Terminator Cycles). I watched all four movies within a few days a month or so ago, and the latter two are truly underrated. Anyone who disagrees can "Tawk doo dah hahnd".

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=121542


It's done. I dislike the deliberate misspelling of the name but overall this is a reboot I find myself fascinated by.

BTW going back to SALVATION, Moon Bloodgood is great in FALLING SKIES, though that show has seriously gone down the drain since the end of Season 2 (she was also noticeably pregnant throughout Season 3, requiring her to be written out of most of the action). I threw in the towel this year.

She was also in PATHFINDER -- one of those weird "not very good" films that I keep watching every few years, hoping it gets better (it doesn't, but the premise and the cinematography are interesting at least lol).

I agree with you too Eric -- this new movie fascinates me. Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures also has a good track record and they're the ones behind this "reboot" or continuation, or whatever we want to call it, so that also bodes well (that company hasn't gotten behind many "tentpole" popcorn franchises to date -- mostly been involved in Oscar-caliber pics and interesting films like "Lawless"). I'm not as excited about the director of THOR 2 being involved, but who knows, maybe Marvel and/or the script was to blame for that being "less than optimal".

AndyDursin wrote:BTW going back to SALVATION, Moon Bloodgood is great in FALLING SKIES, though that show has seriously gone down the drain since the end of Season 2 (she was also noticeably pregnant throughout Season 3, requiring her to be written out of most of the action). I threw in the towel this year.

I gave up on Falling Skies maybe a third of the way through season two...bland characters, recycled situations, subpar special effects. Then again, pretty much anything on TV "presented" by Steven Spielberg is boring and forgettable...I have no idea why I keep watching Under The Dome, as it has NOTHING to do with Stephen King's novel by this point and is as watered-down and dull as any mid-90's ABC King miniseries you could mention (and I seriously want to smack the lead teenage girl, who's like an even more annoying and autistic version of Chloe O'Brien).

As for Moon Bloodgood, she's lovely and a fine actress (also good -- pun intended -- in Disney's Eight Below)...I just wish she'd get cast in more that I actually want to watch.

I gave up on Falling Skies maybe a third of the way through season two...bland characters, recycled situations, subpar special effects. Then again, pretty much anything on TV "presented" by Steven Spielberg is boring and forgettable...I have no idea why I keep watching Under The Dome, as it has NOTHING to do with Stephen King's novel by this point and is as watered-down and dull as any mid-90's ABC King miniseries you could mention (and I seriously want to smack the lead teenage girl, who's like an even more annoying and autistic version of Chloe O'Brien).

We finally gave up on UNDER THE DOME the other night when Joanne asked "why are we still watching this?" LOL. Seriously, Season 1 wasn't very good but it's even duller this year -- I think we were a couple of episodes back too because we were just catching up on the DVR. Guess we finally reached our breaking point. Course it doesn't help that most of the cast is boring and even the character names are ridiculous ("Big Jim"? "Barbie" LOL). Surprising that it's had as much success as it has.

I didn't even bother watching EXTANT, which is being burned off before the fall even starts. CBS can't get rid of it fast enough

FALLING SKIES was a shame because it started off well. I actually liked the characters, and felt the production values were very high. The real problem is there was no continuity from one season to the next. Each year starts off on its own storyline, but they've totally given up on major plot elements like the kids who were possessed by the aliens, or the other aliens who came down to help fight the bad guys -- they treated the latter like "oh, it's no big deal". I finally gave up this year when they started off with Noah Wylie's "alien enhanced, growing faster than anticipated" kid being the focal point -- a hoary old cliche that dates back to V!

AndyDursin wrote: We finally gave up on UNDER THE DOME the other night when Joanne asked "why are we still watching this?" LOL. Seriously, Season 1 wasn't very good but it's even duller this year -- I think we were a couple of episodes back too because we were just catching up on the DVR. Guess we finally reached our breaking point. Course it doesn't help that most of the cast is boring and even the character names are ridiculous ("Big Jim"? "Barbie" LOL). Surprising that it's had as much success as it has.

Were it not airing during the summer doldrums, I doubt it would have survived past season one. I don't even know why they bothered buying the rights to King's novel, because it has N O T H I N G to do with it at this point except some character names and the basic premise. At least Walking Dead occasionally throws a bone to those who have read the comics by including scraps of storylines from it.

I didn't even bother watching EXTANT, which is being burned off before the fall even starts. CBS can't get rid of it fast enough

I watched the pilot, and literally have the last FOUR episodes clogging up my DVR. Nice to see that Halle Berry hasn't aged in the last 20 years, but other than that, nothing impressed me whatsoever of what little I watched. I should seriously dump the accumulated episodes, because I have little desire to watch them.

FALLING SKIES was a shame because it started off well. I actually liked the characters, and felt the production values were very high. The real problem is there was no continuity from one season to the next. Each year starts off on its own storyline, but they've totally given up on major plot elements like the kids who were possessed by the aliens, or the other aliens who came down to help fight the bad guys -- they treated the latter like "oh, it's no big deal". I finally gave up this year when they started off with Noah Wylie's "alien enhanced, growing faster than anticipated" kid being the focal point -- a hoary old cliche that dates back to V!

Sounds like I bailed out in the nick of time. Were it not for The Strain (gory, suspenseful, and actually FOLLOWS THE BOOK SERIES on which it's based! ) and Legend Of Korra (recently banished to the Nickelodeon website to burn off the remaining four episodes...and this after Nick dumped it in a summer death slot and scheduled two episodes every Friday night! ), there would be NOTHING worth watching on TV at all right now. As I can't afford the premium stations, I have never seen buzzy shows like Game Of Thrones (not that I need to at this point, as every major character death to date has been spoiled in every entertainment magazine and website ), and thus there's very little television I actually watch, unless it's on Blu-Ray (almost finished with The Twilight Zone now).

I watched the pilot, and literally have the last FOUR episodes clogging up my DVR. Nice to see that Halle Berry hasn't aged in the last 20 years, but other than that, nothing impressed me whatsoever of what little I watched. I should seriously dump the accumulated episodes, because I have little desire to watch them.

To be honest, I pretty much lost interest when Camryn Manheim showed up. lol. I've basically never liked anything she's ever appeared in. I guess Renee Walker from 24 appeared in a guest capacity...but that wasn't enough to keep me from turning the pilot off after 15 minutes.

Sounds like I bailed out in the nick of time. Were it not for The Strain (gory, suspenseful, and actually FOLLOWS THE BOOK SERIES on which it's based! ) and Legend Of Korra (recently banished to the Nickelodeon website to burn off the remaining four episodes...and this after Nick dumped it in a summer death slot and scheduled two episodes every Friday night! ), there would be NOTHING worth watching on TV at all right now. As I can't afford the premium stations, I have never seen buzzy shows like Game Of Thrones (not that I need to at this point, as every major character death to date has been spoiled in every entertainment magazine and website ), and thus there's very little television I actually watch, unless it's on Blu-Ray (almost finished with The Twilight Zone now).

I have THE STRAIN recorded but haven't watched it yet.

There are a bunch of shows I like -- THE AMERICANS is just phenomenal. Can't recommend it highly enough. I still like HOMELAND but it's not on the level of "The Americans". TURN was good on AMC from what I've sampled (I noticed Rupert Wyatt directed the pilot and Marco Beltrami scored it). TYRANT is quite promising so far. I'm halfway through FARGO and loving it, though its funny how the characters seem to be more intensely unlikeable than their rough film equivalents (whereas William H. Macy was a sympathetic misguided fool, Martin Freeman's character is almost totally unsympathetic). It certainly has a harder edge than the Coen movie which is interesting.

I don't do the HBO shows typically. FX has a lot of series I like right now.

Sequels now have release dates -- all planned before this company loses the rights and they revert back to Cameron in 2019 (if he wants them, I'd imagine).

The studio today slated Terminator 2 for May 19, 2017, and ParamountLogo_newTerminator 3 will follow on June 29, 2018.

http://deadline.com/2014/09/terminator- ... et-830260/

It's probably going to be a hit but I can't help but chuckle at the presumptuousness of this kind of far out date setting and planning.

They all do it now...Disney, Warner Bros. Etc. I think it's ridiculous but I guess the merchandising angle requires that kind of lead time for most of these movies.

Eric W. wrote:It's probably going to be a hit but I can't help but chuckle at the presumptuousness of this kind of far out date setting and planning.

I'm reminded of something David Fincher said about Fox's attitude towards Alien 3, to the effect of, "They wanted to make a release date, not a movie."

Hopefully these films are being written together and the sequels shot simultaneously so we avoid the disaster of the POTC follow ups where....like LOST....they ended up painting themselves into a corner.

AndyDursin wrote:Hopefully these films are being written together and the sequels shot simultaneously so we avoid the disaster of the POTC follow ups where....like LOST....they ended up painting themselves into a corner.

Wait, what? Shooting both POTC sequels simultaneously is WHY they were so bad, bloating what should have been a simple series of adventure movies into an EPIC TRILOGY with Johnny Depp as the billionth variation on "The One". When a series of movies concentrates more on laying pipe for future installments than telling a coherent -- and more important stand-alone -- story in the here and now, it just deflates them entirely, like Iron Man 2 or Amazing Spider-Man 2. I miss the days when a new sequel offered up nothing more than a completely stand-alone adventure with a cinematic hero you've grown fond of, a la James Bond, Dirty Harry, the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard movies, ect.

I don't think shooting back-to-back made those films suck necessarily -- it was the lousy writing first and foremost, then made worse by the shooting schedule.

I miss the days when a new sequel offered up nothing more than a completely stand-alone adventure with a cinematic hero you've grown fond of, a la James Bond, Dirty Harry, the Lethal Weapon and Die Hard movies, ect.

While I agree with you generally, I don't think the Terminator as a concept really would work well in that regard. The time travel element begs for "interconnectivity" so to speak, so what I hope we see is something that really plays with time -- what we've seen in the past films, what we'll see in the future, etc. They have a lot of possibilities there to play with the franchise's legacy, multiple time frames and such.

And shooting back to back worked just fine on BACK TO THE FUTURE II & III -- but then, Zemeckis and Gale knew what they were doing and had a coherent set of scripts that flowed right into each other. They also felt like separate movies as well.

What I hope they have is a real concept of a story that's going to be told and an endgame that works. That's what was missing from AT WORLD'S END, making you think they didn't know what they were doing. If they know where everything is going, then this could work. If they're going to make it up as they go and they're rushing into production with release dates and no scripts, then it's going to be a bust just like POTC (though the BILLION-plus dollars they made there would probably have them arguing with me that they were a "bust" lol).

But there's no open-endedness to this in terms of what this trilogy is trying to achieve. They have 3 movies to tell a story, and then the rights are gone -- so it's a unique and interesting set of circumstances involved with these pictures. I hope they can pull it off, but as we've written before, I've actually enjoyed every sequel in this series -- what's held it back, I think, from being something truly "great" and cohesive are the gaps between the sequels and the people making them (the writing staff from 3 and 4 being the exception). Here they've got a clear shot at turning out a big story told across multiple installments from the same team -- and here's hoping they're up to it.