This is topic Terminator 4 ...by McG in forum Film Handlers' Movie Reviews at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-21-2009, 03:31 AM:
 
I am going to make use of Adam's new spoiler tags here.

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Actually there really is nothing to spoil here, because this is the worst movie I've seen in at least a year. I was tremendously leery going into this, but as someone who enjoyed the first 3 Terminator movies, I figured it couldn't be TOO awful. Boy was I wrong!

McG sucks, sucks, sucks!!! McG is not only the stupidest name for a director EVER, but as I was watching this I came to the realization that McG is basically the end result if Michael Bay and Ed Wood were to co-direct a movie. It is either ridiculously flashy and overdone cgi, or godawful performances poorly thrown together into some hint of a movie.

Christian Bale was awful in this. He just doesn't fit the John Connor role. Likewise Chekov had no business playing Kyle Reese. Everyone else sucked McG ass too.

1/2 out of 5 stars and an open letter to McG:
Mr. McG. You suck. You suck really bad. I hate you and your shitty movies. That Charlie's Angels turdfest movie you made a few years ago was bad enough, but this is just taking your lack of talent too far. I hope James Cameron has the decency to hunt you down and make you pay for embarrassing him by shitting on his Terminator movies the way you did on this one. And did I mention you suck? I did? Oh well, it deserves to be said again. You suck!
 
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-21-2009, 03:58 AM:
 
I didn't think it was too bad, much better than Terminator 3 but nowhere near as good as parts 1 and 2. This movie was directed by McDonalds or something. There was some shaky cam but it wasn't too terribly bad (nor great, of course). This movie is in black and white. At least I don't remember seeing any color. I thought Checkov (or Jack Off as we call him) did a reasonably decent vocal impression of Mikey Bein's Kyle Reese.
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The story was a bit discombobulated with no real focus, but it was fairly fun for a free movie.
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It is a roller coaster thrill ride of a summer. Well, maybe not the most exciting roller coaster, but it pissed me off much less than Star Trek did
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but that is another discussion altogether. Also, it seems that
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Terminator 1.

And now to the director. This individual, McG, has absolutely no right to be alive with a name like that. The only way... ONLY WAY I will forgive his existence is if that is the full legal name that he was born with. His name is absolutely unacceptable. I will not tolerate it.

I saw it at an AMC Digiplex (all digital - no film allowed in the building by federal law). After about 12 trailers, the movie started and it missed its lights down cue. But they keep the lights so dim even at full bright it didn't make much of a difference and nobody noticed when they finally did come and turn them down all the way. Why are today's auditoriums so damned dim?
 
Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 05-21-2009, 05:41 AM:
 
I thought it was great. Definitely not in the same league as the original movie, but the best of the three sequels. I think the vast majority of Terminator fans are going to be very happy with the movie.

Really the only thing that bothered me about the movie is the way it ended with relation to John Conner. I think it should have ended about five minutes earlier. But that's a minor complaint.
 
Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-21-2009, 09:20 AM:
 
Only people who make rap/hip hop music should be allowed to use a "MC" handle. It seems like "McG" needs to go back to directing music videos or whatever the hell he was doing before Hollywood producers allowed him to let him direct feature films.

I guess I can see some reasoning why Christian Bale had such a titanic shit fit on the set of T4: Sequel Salivation. Bale may have wanted to strangle his agent for booking him onto such a crappy movie, especially as a followup to The Dark Knight. But the agent wasn't in the same zip code. So he blew up at the cinematographer instead. Maybe this situation is why certain actors become drug addicts and weirdos.

I don't have a review for this movie other than my confused "what the fuck" reaction when I found out they were making a fourth Terminator installment and that it would be directed by some guy calling himself "McG". WTF indeed.

I have never had any desire to see this movie. The crappy word of mouth the show is getting here and at Rotten Tomatoes confirms I'm making a good decision.
 
Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 05-21-2009, 03:56 PM:
 
I am not sure what manner of robot a McG is, but it is clearly not a directing robot. Is this what we have to look forward to in the Skynet dominated future? Bad sequels? (I guess it is not so different from the idiot dominated present.)

This movie could have been worse, but I'm not certain exactly how. I didn't watch the third one, and I would've given this one a pass as well were it not for Batman being in it. He is one of my favorite contemporary actors, so I figured I'd give it a go.

First of all, the casting was bad. Batman was probably the best cast, and I actually do think he was suited to the role, but it was also badly written. Anton Yelchin is just a bad actor, plain and simple, and I am unsure from what his current favor with filmmakers stems. Sam Worthington was extremely robotic, if you'll excuse the pun, and I don't think he should've been. There weren't really any other characters either. I watched it Tuesday night, about 36 hours ago, and I can barely remember anyone else. Not because they were overshadowed, either, but because they were so bad and insignificant.

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The special effects, while at times very good, are also at times very bad, completely taking you out of the film at several points, if you've managed to get in it. The cinematography at large is pretty poor as well. I don't know what else I was expecting, because crossing the line is one of the most basic sins of cinematography. While many actors on the set may have no idea what is going on with the camera, I believe very deeply that Batman is not one of them, and following the tirade, it should be apparent that despite being in a leading role, he is probably very angry about this movie.

In summary, this is one to skip. Unless you are a huge fan of Terminator or of all of Batman's movies, I would leave it off the Netflix as well.
 
Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 05-21-2009, 07:01 PM:
 
quote: Galen Murphy-Fahlgren
In summary, this is one to skip. Unless you are a huge fan of Terminator
I don't get this at all. I'm a huge fan of The Terminator. It's in my top 10. That makes me want to see a lame Terminator film even LESS.

(Also a huge fan of Star Wars. Never saw Episode III, and wish I hadn't seen I & II)

[Smile]
 
Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 05-21-2009, 07:28 PM:
 
Well, because if you don't see it, you'll wonder for the rest of your life, "Was Galen's slightly rambling and incoherent review accurate? Have I gone through life taking too much of other people's opinions on good faith instead of finding out for myself?" I'm just trying to prevent people coming after me in 50 years because they skipped a movie they very well may have loved and are increasingly bitter about it. That is how supervillains are made, and I won't be party to that. I'm just not equipped to handle that contingency.
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-21-2009, 08:52 PM:
 
quote: Justin Hamaker
Definitely not in the same league as the original movie, but the best of the three sequels.
Did you really just say that this piece of McG-shit movie was better than Terminator 2? You may need some psychiatric help there buddy.
 
Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 05-21-2009, 08:56 PM:
 
I haven't seen the movie, but there's only one thing I can say: "What don't you fucking understand?"

--jhawk
 
Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 05-22-2009, 10:25 AM:
 
Our packed auditorium gave it a standing ovation after our midnight show. It was fun, cheesy, predictable - exactly what a summer movie should be. I too noticed Bale's lame acting. Lots of references to the old ones so see them again before you see this new one. I never saw Terminator 3 but 4 is definitely worse than 1 or 2.
 
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-22-2009, 10:33 AM:
 
quote: Chad Souder
Our packed auditorium gave it a standing ovation after our midnight show.
WTF? It's not a play!
 
Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 05-22-2009, 10:38 AM:
 
I know, right? But yet there they were. Clapping away. It was that great energy you hope for that sells the movie theatre experience.
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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-22-2009, 03:29 PM:
 
But hey, It'll sell well at the Smith's check out stand for $5.99!!! Thats all that really matters with movies any more anyway...
Mark
 
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-22-2009, 05:22 PM:
 
I've seen people clap at the end of films -- at least here in NYC that will happen once in awhile. But that was years ago in the great single screen theatres. I haven't heard that in a long time. And I have never heard it outside of NY.
 
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-22-2009, 06:36 PM:
 
Trust me on this. They were just clapping because they were happy the McShitfest was over.
 
Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-22-2009, 08:17 PM:
 
quote: Chad Souder
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I think you mean
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as it looked pretty fake. Not a peep from my crowd when that came on.
 
Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 05-22-2009, 09:55 PM:
 
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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 05-22-2009, 10:02 PM:
 
quote: Frank Angel
I've seen people clap at the end of films -- at least here in NYC that will happen once in awhile.
I witnessed big applause break out at the end of a screening of Brad's favorite movie of all time: Transformers here in Lawton at the Carmike 8.
[evil]

I think I had the same reaction to that applause that Lyndon B. Johnson had when Forrest Gump showed him the bullet wound on his ass. "Goddamn, Son!"
 
Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 05-23-2009, 06:52 PM:
 
Mid night audiences are usually drugged out and drunk so they can't be used as a gauge.
 
Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 05-23-2009, 09:35 PM:
 
I enjoyed watching it, but it missed the mark as a Terminator film. The Terminator series is mostly about fate with a cybernetic killing machine subplot. This movie was a good killer robot movie, but it lacked the fate theme and as such did not really work as a Terminator movie.
 
Posted by Andy Frodsham (Member # 4061) on 05-24-2009, 02:23 AM:
 
Love him or hate him, this bus ride really belongs to Arnie. The journey just aint the same without him!
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-24-2009, 06:09 PM:
 
Today at Regal 15 in Eugene, #9 in 35mm. Looked good, sounded awesome. Impossible! It's just another average multiplex, run by a big penny-pinching corporation that cares about nothing but short-term profits! Even worse, it has Klipsch speakers! [Eek!]

Anyway, thank you to the local Regal staff for an excellent presentation, in spite of all those handicaps. [beer] [Wink]

This movie is ok. It's neither great nor sucky. Christian Bale was probably not the best choice to play John Connor but he was ok. Anton Yelchin's performance is above ok, in fact it might be the best in the movie.

I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars, plus a bonus half-star for the sound mix, so 3 stars. It will fade from theaters quickly though.

Play it LOUD. [thumbsup]
 
Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-25-2009, 06:34 AM:
 
I agree with Chris. It was a pretty good action summer popcorn killer robot movie. But it lacked not only the "fate" theme, but also the "a-killer-cyborg-from-the-future-is-trying-to-kill-us" theme. I enjoyed it.

The sound was pretty loud - but at times it was beyond silly. I mean geeze, when John lit those flares, they sounded like car explosions.
 
Posted by Joe Elliott (Member # 4006) on 05-25-2009, 11:01 AM:
 
I think the series is already getting old. They need something to revitalize it. They should do what they did with the Aliens and Predator series and merge it with the Matrix. The more they go back and change it, the more they move the future towards the matrix. Maybe that's why this time around the Terminators were taking human prisoners.
 
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 05-25-2009, 05:55 PM:
 
quote: Joe Elliott
They should do what they did with the Aliens and Predator series and merge it with the Matrix.
It's funny...you say that like it was a good idea.
 
Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 05-25-2009, 06:44 PM:
 
I put up with the green color in the first Matrix.
I got angry with the blue of Underworld!
Terminator Salvation has the color sucked right out!?

I think having watched The Sara Conner Cronicles helped me enjoy parts of this film but i knew deep down that it sucked just like the color.
 
Posted by Phil Blake (Member # 2012) on 05-28-2009, 05:22 AM:
 
quote: Brad Miller
Actually there really is nothing to spoil here, because this is the worst movie I've seen in at least a year.
I thought so! I had a bad feeling on thjis one. we open this "masterpiece" [Frown] next week. T2 was good, t3 terrible and it looks like it just gets worse. they should have stopped at 2 and according it IMDB Brads favorite director is planning T5 [Eek!]
 
Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 05-28-2009, 10:29 PM:
 
quote: Phil Blake
Brads favorite director is planning T5
Paul Greengrass????

I enjoyed this much more than I was expecting, and I had a similar experience as David S. about the sound, I too saw it in an auditorium which just shouldn't have sounded as good as it did. I'd put the series as 2, 1, 4, 3 in terms of my enjoyment.

quote: Joe Redifer
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Aside from You Could Be Mine by Guns N' Roses?
 
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-28-2009, 10:35 PM:
 
A short excerpt from My Favorite T4 Review

quote:
There’s not a single character at all convincing in Terminator Salvation — even the Terminators, which have donned head scarves, look like refugees from Pirates of the Caribbean — largely because character, along with logic and intelligence, is wholly dispensed with. There isn’t room here to discuss its limitless failings in music, set design, casting or screenplay, but it wouldn’t be fair to ignore the “direction” provided by McG. There will be books written about this film someday, about the laboratory-grade narcissism of McG, who is more interested in how people die than what makes them want to live. No wonder Christian Bale went berserk on set: He’s a conspirator in one of the most expensive jokes ever played on film audiences [$200M].

 
Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 05-30-2009, 07:54 AM:
 
As Phil said, this doesn't start here until next week so I haven't seen it but I can't help but wonder what the point of this movie is. I mean, the story has been told already over the duration of 3 previous movies! Why would we want to see a just-in-case-you-missed-it-here's-what-happened precis of a prior story?
 
Posted by Patrick de Groot (Member # 858) on 05-31-2009, 05:03 PM:
 
I wasn't expecting much, but it came out to be a fun movie. Not a real terminator film since the theme "terminator from the future tries to kill you" doesn't exist. T2 is my favorite action film. The story of T4 doesn't make much sense if you think about it at the end, but it's a good ride. The action scenes are nicely filmed. No stupid shacky cams everywhere in here. And the FX fits nicely. Some here are overreacting or something. Go see it if you want spectacle. I was more frustated with what they did to Star Trek. The Kyle actor did a nice job. Christain Bale has monotone voice and facial expressions. Next time cast him as bad guy. The sound was good in this one.
 
Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 06-01-2009, 01:08 AM:
 
Cinemark Movies 14, Mishawaka, IN
Auditorium 12, Dolby Digital
Presentation: [thumbsup]

Ok, so I saw Terminator so long ago that when Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese start to make John, mom told me to close my eyes.

T2 introduced me to LaserDisc and home theatre. It's one of my favorite films.

T3 was loud, fast, and for the most part fun. A typical Terminator film.

This one, however, was a little bit of a mess. It kind of falls apart because it does not follow the traditional formula of Skynet sending back a Terminator in time to kill someone. Sure, the plot is a twist on it but a little too far fetched and ridiculous. I kept feeling that they were trying too hard to make another sequel, down to the casting of poor Michael Ironside.

Worst part of the film: casting Christian Bale.

He just did not work in the role of John. In fact, John felt more like Sarah Connor from T2: crazy and suspicious of everything. I also felt like I was listening to Batman talk in several scenes.

There were some great cinematographic moments for sure, and I felt the sound design was excellent, but overall not a good movie. Fun, sure.

Some of the sounds the machines made were downright frightening actually. Turn your faders up!

AJG
 
Posted by David Alexander B (Member # 4862) on 06-04-2009, 02:55 AM:
 
hi
saw it yesterday
Kinepolis Belgium
no digital 3DLP [Roll Eyes] (not one digital show in the country for TERMINATOR SALVATION !!!)
sound: amazing. and it was likely at best DTS.
the QSC JBL surely were not overkill to handle the mix!
movie: you can feel the editing proving there's cut scenes.(perhaps on blu ray director's cut ?)
except for the very ending and some editing or script issues (new ext version might help on this), this was quite good.
this will serve also as demo stuff at home (but I have pitty for the masses of people with typical consumers systems at home if they listen at reference level...)
8/10. (in the genre).
Markus and the A10 lady pilot were interesting.
 
Posted by Stu Jamieson (Member # 4626) on 06-06-2009, 08:38 PM:
 
If there's one word to describe Terminator Salvation it's "redundant". One wonders why this film was made. We know the story already as it's been fleshed out over the course of three previous films (including full pictorial flash forwards) so what is the point of relaying this story again? The logical pick up point for a fresh Terminator franchise would be what happens in the future war after the T-KristannaLoken is sent back in time to take out John Connor vers.Nick.Stahl. The result is that Terminator Salvation looks like a video game spin off; it's good fun but it adds nothing to the mythos of the story and has little replay value.

Like the make up job on Sam Worthington's exposed Terminator face, the film as a whole is patchy at best. Though there are plentiful nods to the previous films which will keep some diehard fans happy, some of the references (like recurrent sound bites, for instance) are laugh-out-loud cheesy. Abundant cheddar is also evident in the adoption of styles, shots and sequences which unashamedly resonate other (notably better) films: Aliens, Transformers, Mad Max (there's even a weird, mute kid - shall we call her "Newt"?), Mission Impossible, The Great Escape. No doubt others will have spotted likewise examples.

Some of John Connor's actions and reactions are highly perplexing. For instance, what does he hope to achieve by going after a fixed wing aircraft in a helicopter? And is it any surprise when he's subsequently shot down? (Though it does make for a spectacularly choreographed helicopter crash sequence!) And despite all that Connor has been through in the previous three films, it's incredible that he still seems surprised at much of what the machines throw at him. Take, for example, the discovery of captive humans in a suspiciously abandoned Skynet facility, it never seems to occur to him that any (or all) may be prototype fleshy terminators. And when met with such a beast he seems gobsmacked that their first incarnation would be a human/machine hybrid.

The film has no use for Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg would have been sufficient to play this freedom fighter, saviour of humanity and accomplished 'copter crasher. Well done to Aussie Sam Worthington for scoring this gig, however. He has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking this role and turns in what is easily the best performance of the piece - ironic considering the very next version, the Arnie model, is a huge backward step in terms of humanistic, unmachine-like terminators.....but let's not dwell on Schwarzenegger's limited acting prowess. This being a thick slab of sci-fi cheese, naturally Michael Ironside is in it and he delivers his usual entertaining shtick.

It is worth noting that there is a central deceit in the trailer for this film. The trailer includes a monologue which is not present in the final cut. The monologue warns that this is not the future that Connor expected, not that which "his mother warned him about" and that (regardless) the war will "end tonight". None of this plays out in the actual film! There is nothing here which is inconsistent with existing canon. But this is a fallacy which has purveyed the entire series. The franchise has always preached that the future is not fixed (hence the inherent peril in the story), yet events inevitably conspire to prove otherwise. Despite the movies' mantra, we are all bound by fate.

Despite all of these misgivings, there are actually some things to enjoy here. The soundtrack is absolutely awesome, there's some great machinery design and the action sequences are nicely riveting. Shame that the implementation (and the choosing) of the storyline is such a let down.

6.5 out of 10.
 
Posted by David Alexander B (Member # 4862) on 06-24-2009, 05:24 AM:
 
McG said there's about 30min cut that will be part of the blu ray.
the sound again was AMAZING. reference.
the real star is Sam W and the lady pilot [Smile]
 




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