Terminator: Die Erlösung

This movie has a...um...different ending? Yeah, it's different but despite all that I really don't get all the hate. It's an enjoyable action flick that builds on the Terminator franchise in a satisfying way. I dig it.

Arnold Schwarzenegger became the governor of California in 2003, the same year that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. This is relevant because of course a fourth Terminator film was made and released in 2009 while he was still in office so he was unable to be in the film. Terminator Salvation had a troubled production but was eventually released. This is notably the first PG-13 Terminator film but there is supposedly an R-rated Director's Cut of which I have not seen. The film was directed by McG (known for directing a lot of music videos and Charlie's Angel: Full Throttle). The film stars Christian Bale (Batman movies), Sam Worthington (Avatar), and Anton Yelchin (Star Trek reboot movies). The film was a box office bomb even though it made back over $300 million (it's budget was $200 million) and was not a critical success and plans for sequels were cancelled.

It is the future in 2018 and the resistance is battling the machines. John Connor is the leader (kind of) and he has to find Kyle Reese so he can send him back to 1984. But Connor may need the help from a mysterious stranger.

Let me set the scene of my very first experience with this film. I was about 7 or 8 years old. This movie came in the mail via Netflix's mail service. I was pretty excited because I liked the previous two Terminator films (had not seen the first film yet) and was hoping for a good film. I was majorly disappointed with the film and found it to be really boring and forgettable. Fast forward to the year 2021 and I rewatched the film for the very first time since my first viewing. I had low expectations and was later surprised at how underrated this film ends up being. Terminator Salvation is an interesting film. Not great, but interesting enough to keep my interest. Terminator Salvation is something different and I enjoy that. I was tired of seeing the same old time travel story over and over again. This time we get a really dirty and gritty war story without all of the time travel and more of a Transformer vibe in a sense. But, the film still has it's problems but not enough to make it a bad film. It is one of those films that if you turn off your brain and forget about the other films, you will most likely find some value within. I will just get the negatives out of the way. First, is the big "twist". While it is not really much of a twist as it is revealed in the opening scene, it is played up as a twist later in the film and it is not very surprising. Though on the flipside, the idea is rather interesting and it makes the character even more interesting. Next, is the characters. Now, the majority of the characters are not that exciting save for maybe two characters. John Connor in this film is not that interesting but the film makes up for that with the other main character. Next complaint is the callbacks to the previous films. Some of these callbacks do not feel earned and some do. Hit or miss. Next, is the portrayal of the future. Now, in previous Terminator films, the future was always in the year 2029. This time around it is 2018. I am sure this is a prequel to the events that occur in 2029 but there is also evidence to say otherwise. Also, it is really gritty and dirty. What ever happened to the dark and cold future of the previous three films? Now it is not a huge complaint as I think that this future is portrayed fine but I do have a preference here. Those are all of my negatives for this film. My positives of the film include the acting which is surprisingly good. Anton Yelchin has a believeable performance as Reese. The use of mostly practical effects is really fun to see especially with the Terminators which look great. That is the bipedal Terminators...... There are some good action scenes but nothing that really compares to the first three films.

Terminator Salvation is something different. Perhaps people wanted the same story over and over again. It may not have the same charm that the first two films had, but it is definitely better than Terminator 3 in my opinion.

I have seen a lot of reviews on here, more than I usually read. And it is way too many 1's. This movie is no where near a one rating. I've been watching a lot of movies since I was a little kid. From cheesy 80's flicks, to straight to TV. This is no where near a 1. This movie sits at a 7 for me. Would have got an 8 but I'm super hard on the female acting in these new generation of movies.

This movie by now is 9 years old so nothing would be giving it away. But with that said Linda Hamilton in the first one was 19 years old. And she can act. Which is why 7 or 8 years later in Terminator 2 her acting was polished the movie was even better. It is not a secret if the female character can act you are going to have a good movie. The female acting in this movie was decent which is why it got a 7 from me.

But I can see why people gave this a one. The first Terminators were scary. The machine just kept going. You also had the awesome 80's music, along with the clothes. I mean seriously Sarah O conner was riding an 80's scoter and listening to head phones. And going to the club. Just a lot of vintage stuff in that movie which brought it back to the 80's. The 90's was even better in T2, crazy hair cuts, dirt bikes and the graphics in that at the time were unique.

But they did try to incorporate some of the old ideas. John Conner goes "come with me if you want to live", the motor cycle scene still is exciting as it was almost 30 years ago. The naked terminator. Normally during these remakes I get bored or fall asleep. It was action through the whole movie. I don't know if it was christian bale. Or who it was. But I felt entertained.

If people came here looking at this review thinking they are get a play by play of the movie. I'm not doing that with this one. You have to watch and please don't listen to these negative reviews. They want to live in the past on something that has already been done.

Once again don't try to watch this thinking this is going to be like the fist 2. It is not. Its just going to be great acting and simply a plot that action. Nothing over the top where its mind blowing. Expecting this movie to be like the first 1 where they were on to something new, and the second one where they had some super special effects is asking too much. It was well written movie. And its great to have all the Terminators. Cause I do.

Wow, this is a decent film- I was thoroughly entertained and this despite going in with low expectations. McG manages a great color palette and the action sequences are awesome. Sure, this isn't as great as The Terminator or Terminator 2 but it is surely better than T3 and a lot better than the other works in the cannon. Both Bale and Worthington are fantastic. Go watch Terminator salvation now.

I had doubts about this film when it was released but despite all the negative feedback that it has received, I really liked it.

John Connor, for once, is portrayed as a strong albeit reluctant hero and leader instead of a whiny kid afraid of his future and Christian Bale portrays him very well, capturing the desperation and tortured emotions of a man who has to fulfil a destiny that he is starting to doubt. However, the main focus of this film is given to Marcus Wright, a mystery man portrayed by Sam Worthington who awakens in a post apocalyptic future and tries to figure out how he ended up there. The emotions that the character goes through as he discovers startling revelations about himself are all shown convincingly by Worthington, who brings a tough but also remorseful and vulnerable appeal to Marcus's plight.

The third important character in the movie is Kyle Reese, the paradoxical father of John Connor who at this point is only a teenager and portrayed by Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the recent Star Trek movie. Reese is shown to be a hero worshipper of the resistance, especially Connor and is compelled to join him, showing traits that would be associated with the character when played by Michael Biehn back in 1984.

The story of the film mostly revolves around Connor trying to find Reese but also about Marcus figuring out how he arrived in the wartorn future, and the story works pretty well. The camera style is mostly hand held, which adds a more natural and first hand look to the film and makes it feel more like the audience is in a warzone. Instead of the shiny Terminators from James Cameron's movies, the machines in Salvation are dark, sinister and have a more industrial look to them and there aren't any laser rifles, the only energy weapons in existence are employed by the huge Skynet machines so generally, bullets and missiles are still the favoured artillery of the resistance.

Salvation does have its flaws, but for the first Terminator movie to be set entirely in the future, it does a good job of continuing the franchise and making it distinct from the Schwarzenegger-dominated past. While 'Ar-Nulhd' made this franchise a household name, it is refreshing to see new blood taking it in a different direction and the one thing I didn't like about the earlier films was how there was always an epic fight at the beginning of the film before they turned into a long and drawn out chase before another fight at the end. Salvation isn't a chase movie, it's a war movie and it's not ashamed to be different from its predecessors.

It could have been better but it is still a good movie, ideal for sci-fi and action fans and on a personal note, it's also fun to guess which scene Christian Bale was doing when he exploded in the now infamous rant against the lighting technician.