Terminator Salvation (2009) User Reviews (1,188)

Stop expecting the greatness of T2......Better then T3 and Genisys

[JERICH9478 · 7/10 · 27 February 2017]

Terminator Salvation gets panned left and right.....but let me first say this is way more better then T3 and Genisys by miles.

Not only is it a serious terminator movie.....its more faithful to the first 2, yes it has plot holes and not die hard terminator violence but what do you expect when companies are trying to make everything PG13 for money.

This is the Terminator movie you get, to throwbacks to Guns n Rose you could be mine to a CGI arnie wreaking havoc, yes it could of been done better but some of it is actually really good, just accept and stop expecting the greatness of T2, that was cameron and this is MCG two different directors.

The acting is good, don't know what everyone is going on about with Bale being a weak connor when he is perfect for the role, yelchin plays a fantastic kyle reese and sam worthington is great as marcus.

Relax, watch and enjoy a good summer action movie with no expectations, the opening helicopter scene is a work of art.

TS - 7/10

A really good sci fi movie

[frequenzangriff · 8/10 · 8 September 2015]

I've seen it three times - in the big screen (2009), somewhen in 2012, and now at 2015 (after seeing genesys) I also really don't understand all the negative comments about this film. I am a fan of the Terminator series (t1, t2 and TV show) and i really think this film stays true to the original idea and actually adds quite a bit to it.

I liked the robot models (mostly the little water bastards and the huge robot at petrol station), the HK's look great, and that t-600 is bloody scary and awesome (bulky, limited movement and a gatling gun).

I liked the whole concept of the movie a lot, and it showing the initial research work and human test subject and all, and showing the fight against machines after judgment day (i wish genesys would show more of this) And there is marcus...god, i loved this flawed terminator model! well, as a sci fi freak i enjoyed Terminator Salvation a lot

The movie might not be great but still watchable and will entertain

[sauravjoshi85 · 7/10 · 18 May 2021]

Terminator Salvation is a Sci-fi action movie directed by McG and stars Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Late Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Jadagrace Berry and Helena Bonham Carter.

The fourth instalment of Terminator brings you the continued fight between humans and the machines. This time the fight is against the new model T-800 that can wipe out humanity from earth.

If you have to enjoy this movie you have to watch the movie with a fresh perspective and without any comparison from it's previously made parts. If you do so you will surely enjoy this movie.

There is nothing new in the plot and the plot is predictable and bit mash up but the execution of the movie is decent, the movie is filled with action scenes, gun fights, chases and some emotion.

Acting is superb and I have to admit that Christian Bale has infused a new life in the character of John Connor, he looks macho, strong and is perfectly effective. Sam Worthington was great and gives a superb support to Christian Bale, he impresses whenever he comes to the screen, rest all of the characters had limited screen space but they will impress.

Screenplay is fast paced and intense and will keep you on the edge of the seat, action scenes are superb and must be appreciated, us of CGI is also effective. Few viewers might complaint that nothing new is been offered and CGI is been used excessively and I also agree to some extent, but still the movie is an all round decent action thriller movie which misses sometimes and sometimes got hit and we can't deny that it's a fun ride.

Competently made, but also self-defeating.

[MovieAddict2016 · 6/10 · 19 May 2009]

Considering that he's part of the dreaded "MTV Generation" of filmmakers, McG is surprisingly old-school when it comes to his framing: no jumpy Michael Bay antics or hypercutting Paul Greengrass mimicries. He is a far more organic director, letting the action sequences play out naturally. It's his execution that's at fault: the action itself. He piles explosions on top of other explosions and machines slamming into other machines, backed by the deafening cues of Danny Elfman's score, and I'm pretty sure Christian Bale had a yelling stipulation written into his contract. Everything's loud, intense, bombastic. You can't accuse McG of copying Jim Cameron's first two flicks — or even Jonathan Mostow's goofy third — but you're left wishing he'd perfected his own style before tackling such an ambitious project and producing, as a result, a frustratingly passable action-thriller.

McG cites Cormac McCarthy's The Road as an influence on his movie, and it shows. The world is bleak and starved and seems to have a post-fallout hue cast over it. Yet somehow the female lead, Moon Bloodgood, always looks like she's just gotten done applying makeup and iron curling her hair. (Not to mention, based on her outfits, she must have found the only mall outlet that hadn't yet been raided by pillagers.)

Bloodgood is a great example of the movie's ill tendencies — sad to say, she personifies them. I've seen her interviewed and she's as likable as could be, but she's an awful actress, and her entire role could have been excluded from Terminator Salvation leaving in its absence a tightened film and less predictable subplot, which is this: the cyborg-who-doesn't-know-he's-a-cyborg, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), falls for her. And she falls for him. And like Sarah Connor at the end of T2, she is forced to confront the spiritual conundrum of what truly separates man from machine.

But here's the thing: isn't that such a cliché? If done well, it could be as touching as T2 was; if done poorly, it can be a disastrous reminder of Short Circuit 2. Unfortunately, McG hasn't a clue how to handle his characters' interactions, and so we get very heavy-handed intermissions featuring Worthington saying some pretty cringe-worthy stuff. One campfire sequence is so unintentionally funny that I truly felt sorry for McG, in the same way you'd feel compassion for a young boy naively attempting to, I don't know, shave or something. At first it's cute, like, Oh, look, he doesn't realize that he's too young to shave. Then it's like, Oh, crap, he just cut his neck.

But I'm under-selling the movie's positive attributes, which are the action sequences. Too loud, maybe, but a whole lot of fun. The special effects on the Terminators are solid, and McG throws in plenty of nods to the older films without all of them seeing too forced (we even find out how the adult Connor from T2 got his scar — a level of detail proving that McG really is a fanboy himself), and Anton Yelchin, who I despised as a precocious kid shrink in 2007's Charlie Bartlett, is fantastic in the role of Kyle Reese, effectively channeling Michael Biehn from the first movie.

Audiences will connect with Marcus because he represents the viewers. We're thrust into this new world just as suddenly as he is, and in his bewilderment and confusion, we find our parallel. With Avatar's release later this year, Worthington will most likely be the Next Big Thing, and is essentially - in this film, anyway - what Heath Ledger was to Christian Bale in The Dark Knight.

And so we arrive at Bale: he plays John Connor. But here's the thing about John Connor: he's really not that interesting. That's an obvious flaw, perhaps: if you woke up every morning knowing you were the saviour of the human species, would you be a fun guy to hang around with? Probably not. In that regard, Bale nails Connor: intense, passionate and dry without an ounce of self-reference or levity. He never steps back and winks at us, and even his brief dialogue retread ("I'll be back") feels legitimate, spared of Arnie's corny delivery from T3. This guy means business. That's what you're left with, but without a compelling enough story, who really cares? Bale will be massacred by overzealous blog culture critics who've been waiting for months to crack jokes about his leaked on-set rant, but he extracts every ounce of potential from the character and - to that extent - gives a fantastic performance. The bottom line is that John Connor as a religious figure in the Terminator universe has no room for expansion, and unless McG were to fundamentally change the dynamics of the character, a post-Judgment Day Connor is not going to connect with audiences. That's precisely why Cameron never envisioned taking the series this far: the impending doom of Judgment Day in the original series always felt far more intimidating than the reality of it. The brief glimpse of nuclear holocaust in the first two movies was eerie and scary because of its fleeting nature; keeping in tune with his religious allegories, Judgment Day was to the Terminator universe what Revelations is to fundamentalists: that big, frightening end for humanity that we must all live in awareness of. Seeing it unfold kind of takes away the charm, you know? So although Terminator Salvation is somewhat competently made and an entertaining enough action spectacle, giving this much away just feels a bit self-defeating. What if the End of Days occurred tomorrow, Jesus revealed himself unto us all and the remaining human beings left on earth were forced into resistance camps? Would anyone still be reading the Bible?

Some nice action but where's the tone? Where's the mood? Where's the atmosphere?

[enjoiskaterguy · 6/10 · 31 May 2009]

The atmosphere that James Cameron and Stan Winston had created for the first 2 films in the franchise is what really hit me and still does to this day. I think that was the key component along with consistency and approach that gave the Terminator film it's unique style and attractiveness. It's metallic-blue overlay, infused with creepy whines of music and heart pounding edge of your seat suspense was what really created this secondary reality if not for only an hour long. It made us have a connection to these characters. A sense of believability in what was really going on. But it was those elements that were able to harness the inner workings of this dark dreamland. In essence the first two Terminators were projected nightmares in a sense, as if you were running and running, but no how fast you ran, the shadowy figure on your toes just keeps closing in. THAT is what made those films so captivating.

Now these elements in one way or another were tried in this newest installment of the franchise. I see it as I've heard before as a "hit and miss" movie in which it got some key features to play out in the film, but lacked that essential tone T1 and T2 romantically portrayed.

I have talked in lengths with individuals on why this film didn't quite hit all of it's projected(we hope) targets and I haven't really heard a clear and analyzed answer. Some say it was the amount of sub-plots that were involved, the lack of plot, the empty character development, the slight cheesy factor, and or the overall weak story and unnecessary additions to the Terminator franchise. Although these all valid arguments to say the least and I would agree on them full heartily, I don't see it as the culprit of the problem here of why this film did not life up to it's expectations.

I think, like I said above in the first paragraph, that it was the direction the film was taken in perspective to it's overall tone and mood. God bless his soul, Stan Winston. For if he were alive I think we would have seen a more polished version of what we have now witnessed. I also think it was a bad part on McG for giving the O.K on the revised Terminator theme by veteran composer Danny Elfman. I don't know why in the hell the screened audiences gave the thumbs up on that one. Another issue of course is that most of the scenes were in broad day-light. I understand that McG wanted to get a different take on the war, but I don't think this was pulled off in any respects to what James Cameron had in mind for the war.(Shouldn't the sky be filled with pollution and dark particle manner from the nuclear explosions creating an ever-dark wasteland?) This was CRUCIAL and they blew it. I don't see why they didn't go with more night scenes. It is one of the strongest representative thematic elements portrayed in the Terminator 1 & 2.(I am not even going to mention T3 because of the ridiculous amount of mistakes made)

The Rating: A main point that needs to be addressed for sure is the film's PG-13 rating. Of course they did this to appeal to a larger demographic of movie-goers, but they did it in expense of the true grit and bones that T1 and T2 had. I don't see why a Terminator film should be even considered for a PG-13 rating. Anything lower than an "R" rating does not do the title justice. The series is called Terminator for a reason...They are killing machines. THAT'S IT. I think that this is one of the biggest insults to the die-hard community of Terminator fans everywhere.

There is no room for Mediocrity in trying to follow up after T2: Judgment Day. Lets hope and pray that us as an online community hold the next bunch of crazies accountable for their creative actions for the next installment of the franchise.

The 80's and the 90's aren't coming back.

[xenazues · 7/10 · 4 June 2018]

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.

I don't understand why people dislike this so much

[beornmatt · 7/10 · 20 January 2020]

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.

I'll Be Back... Now in the Future!!!

[geminiredblue · 9/10 · 9 June 2015]

The first three TERMINATOR movies were all time-traveling capers in their respective eras of 1984, 1997, and 2003. Here, finally, in TERMINATOR SALVATION, we get to see the war between man and machine in the dusty post-apocalyptic year of 2018. John Connor (Christian Bale) is a soldier in the human resistance movement. Not yet the leader, he inevitably takes it upon himself to track down a very young Kyle Reese (the late great Anton Yelchin), who will one day turn out to be his father. Meanwhile, a mysterious man (Sam Worthington) wakes up in an underground facility that the resistance fighters come across. Traveling through the barren wasteland, he soon learns of his origins and purpose. Admittedly, the plot is virtually a shoestring, keeping the events loosely tied together. But that's fine, because the real strong points are the spectacular and epic battles on display here. And yes, fans of the series, Arnold Schwarzenegger DOES make an appearance in this film. While some have felt that this movie was a let-down, I disagree. In fact, this is the movie that TERMINATOR 3 should've been!

Enjoyable ride, not quite there but lots of fun...

[jora_dyn · 7/10 · 21 May 2009]

I was actually rather surprised that this film was as enjoyable as it was. After reading several scathing reviews I was very worried going into this film. Overall I had a good time watching it.

Now I should preface this with the fact that I am a huge fan of the Terminator films/franchise. I think that overall the look was amazing, the action and CG were great and the acting was mostly good. I think the film suffered from not enough character development and I think that McG was on the right track, but needed a tighter script and story to work with. You can tell in the film that he is a fan of the first films... I definitely got a kick out of all the throw backs to the films. Not just the obvious ones like the music choices or one liners, but also subtle things like single handed shotgun cocking or single handed pipe blows, or the choice of settings and shots.

I have to say that Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese did a fantastic job. He was probably my biggest worry in the film as Michael Biehn's, Kyle Reese is probably my favorite character in anything ever, so basically he had big shoes to fill. Well I didn't think it possible, but he actually made me love that character even more. So mad props to him. Again I think this was a very valiant effort by McG, he needs to work out a couple kinks for the next films, which I really he gets the green light on.

Basically there are a few of loopholes and inconsistencies which could bring you down if you linger too long on them, but if you are able to get past that it is definitely worth watching. But those are in all the films, even the second has some. (I'm not saying it's better than, so don't stone me!) In short I had a lot of fun at Terminator Salvation.

Disgraceful

[myjerkygameaddy · 1/10 · 23 May 2009]

WARNING! I will ruin this movie for you

I've seen all of the Terminator movies (all in their respective days) have read most of the comic book adaptions and have snored my way through the recent T.V series. And yes. Some incarnations were obviously better than others (to me) But, this turd of a film could not be further from the mark. And when I actually bothered to look up "McG"s body of work I can't say that I'm surprised. Gap commercials, music videos, Charlie's Angels... At what point did the financiers of this movie say "wow, we have to get this guy to direct the movie" But, I can't put all of the blame on one person. The entire creative staff has obviously gone to the Michael Bay school of film making...and failed. I only have 1000 word to work with...sooo...I shall list my gripes in point form.

1. Within 10 minutes of the title shot, this movie fired off one of THE BIGGEST Clichés IN WESTERN FILM. "It's too quiet in here (dramatic pause) It's like they're waiting for us" Seriously now! Is this the best writing that Hollywood can come up with? If this was an attempt at humour...it failed...just like the rest of this movie.

2. Giant Robots!!! Loud noises!!! Almost all of the battle sequences in this movie played out like a stylized ripoff of Transformers. There were big walking robots, big robot sound effects, big robot guns and aircraft, big robots riding the robot aircraft, motorcycle robots... They even had little stabby robots that swam around in the water. And they all looked like something out of a cheesy mecha flick. All glossy and pointy looking. These are not the cold, machined gun metal designs that set this series apart from all the others.

3. Chase scenes...chase scenes....followed by more chase scenes. #&#$ off with this already! How much time did these people fill with these blown out, CG'ed chase scenes? Foot chases, car chases and even air chases. "How do we transition from our crappy battle scene to our feeble attempt at character development?" Oh! I know!" Yep...you guessed it...

4. Even more clichés... Yep...Just about all of them. I'll have to make sub-points for this.

• The irrelevant love interest cliché.

• The conflicted double agent cliché.

• The antagonist's fatal flaw cliché. "Let's just leave all of our nuclear power cells laying on a big table. They'll be OK"

• The incompetent villain cliché. No, a hydraulically powered mechanical assassin would not simply shoot/crush/eviscerate it's victims. But, would merely toss them around, fire it's weapons erratically and then stand underneath precariously placed heavy objects, blast furnaces etc...

• The (pathetically mangled) hero's sacrifice cliché. "Oh no! John Connor has been impaled through the chest with a ragged piece of metal! And, his heart is just about to fail! Here, take my perfectly good cyborg heart...that has just been crushed repeatedly with a giant metal casting....and then nearly punched out of my chest by another cyborg"

Need I go on?

This movie is big budget Hollywood hackery at it's best. And I still can't believe that it made it off of the script. I hope that the persons responsible for this mockery are ripped apart by wild dogs.

Thank you and good day

Salvation takes itself seriously. Is this so much to ask from future sequels?

[johnnyweston · 8/10 · 10 November 2019]

This would be the third best Terminator film and the closest we have gotten to a realistic take on the future war from the original Terminator films.

What I love about this film is the post apocalyptic setting and the grittiness of it all. No out of character jokes like T3 and the silliness of Genysis.

There are some amazing scenes, this film trades big budget emotionless action scenes for more personal intense realistic altercations between earlier terminator designs.

The film is not quite a classic but thoroughly enjoyable serious about what it wants to achieve. This is a story arc and setting I would love to see another sequel to.

Hopefully after the bombs of Genysis and Dark Fate we can get back to a story which concentrates on the script and character development. Give us a future war.

A dark and gritty view of the future

[Tyson14 · 7/10 · 24 July 2015]

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.

Definitely nothing worth yelling at Shane Hurlbut over.

[Critomaton · 1/10 · 25 May 2009]

Alternate titles for this review:

1) A great sequel... to some other movie franchise.

2) The new terminator has a heart. The movie doesn't.

3) Go in expecting to be disappointed. You'll still be disappointed.

Wow, was this bad.

I stopped caring about anything that happened in this movie about 1 hour and 10 minutes in. I guess it was the second Huey helicopter crash with John Connor as both pilot and sole passenger that did it for me (it seems the U.S. army hasn't surplused any twin-engined Hueys yet, because Hollywood is still flying leftovers from "Apocalypse Now", even in the future).

I also zoned out during the drawn-out battle with the Schwarzenator near the end, because I really didn't care about John Connor (or his cute, perky wife, though she was never in danger the entire movie - another dramatic mistake).

This movie fails miserably in both aspects where the new Star Trek film shines: staying true to the original while making the new characterizations and situations compelling on their own merit.

Even Sarah Connor's recorded voice didn't sound right. I'm pretty sure it was neither Linda Hamilton nor Lena Headey - either one would have been better. And while this movie needed to have a big-name celebrity like Christian Bale to have a chance at success without Ah-nold in the main role, it couldn't have been any worse if Nick Stahl and Claire Danes had been brought back. In fact, Thomas Dekker would have been more interesting to watch.

I cared more about the people who got snatched up by the Martians in Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" than I did about anybody in this flick. There was zero character development. The girl who's a combination of Newt from "Aliens" and the Feral Kid from "The Road Warrior" managed to be annoying without saying a word but, like Jaden Smith in "The Day the Earth Stood Still", you can't blame her for it, only the script non-writers.

This film is practically shot in monochrome, except for the flames. We get it. To quote George Costanza: "When you're bleak, you're bleak".

This movie reminded me of lots of other movies: "The Road Warrior", "Aliens", "Transformers", and even "Resident Evil: Extinction". Just not "The Terminator".

Yeah, maybe it doesn't seem fair to give Star Trek's time-travel pretzel plot a pass and nitpick "Terminator Salvation" but I mean, there were two huge plot holes in this one that just plain insulted the whole series storyline:

1) SkyNet went through this complicated plot to lure John Connor in with its infiltrator, instead of just killing him with the infiltrator. Ditto with Kyle Reese. It made absolutely no sense, and that's even *without* any time travel.

2) For some reason, John Connor was (a) unable to trust a terminator even though he found out in part 2 that they can be trusted if programmed correctly and (b) totally stunned to find out that a terminator had flesh and blood and organs, even though that's the first type he ever encountered. What's that all about? Oh, was it supposed to be a big deal that the terminator didn't know it was a terminator? Like that's really hard to program... (and can you say "Total Recall"?).

Then there's the whole confusion/inconsistency about exactly what type of damage will or won't stop a terminator.

The movie tries really hard to create a sense of urgency with the rescue of the prisoners from SkyNet headquarters. It just doesn't work.

OK, so Sam Worthington's and Anton Yelchin's performances aren't as wooden (or metallic) as those of the other actors. This minor fact alone does not a summer blockbuster (or a worthy sequel) make.

I kept looking for some big, intense, dramatic scene that could have possibly made Christian Bale go ballistic on the director of photography. I must have missed it, and I won't be watching this turkey again to try and find it.

"Terminator Salvation" fails miserably as a Terminator sequel. As a standalone, post-apocalyptic sci-fi vision it doesn't really fare much better.

A film I am sure will be referred to as underrated in the future

[theresarichard-25765 · 19 June 2018]

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.

A mainstream tangent

[eric-fulcher · 7/10 · 11 June 2009]

T1 and T2 are classics because James Cameron successfully blended in special effects with real props, solidifying a great story with unique characters. The gritty action and emotional acting by Biehn, Hamilton and Arnold made the first two movies memorable.

T3 always gets a bad rap but come on: that car chase is freaking sweet, the ending is appropriate and it gives way to T4.

"Terminator Salvation" isn't as original as people make it off to be. It doesn't follow the previous model of the first three installments exactly. Rather, it adds a twist on the old storyline.

While director McG did a great job with camera angles, explosions and the overall lasting affect on us audience members, the acting, CGI and permeable story.

T1, T2 and also T3 used real props, though T3 did use more CGI than props. T4 relies solely on CGI for it's gigantic space craft, motorcycle robots and other technological items.

T4's story is weak and seems virtually impossible. How can Connor and his men still have all these weapons and aircraft? Wouldn't the machines simply locate them and destroy. They did it once, why not again? And the worst part is the acting. Sam Worthington emerges from an obliterated crater and into a devastated planet, only to immediately accept the idea of Judgment Day. Kind of weak. Bale does a good job but with the minimal use of Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor the movie lacks the emotional balance between the hatred of people versus machines the understanding human nature common with woman.

I don't know. It was an all right movie, but I'll stick with the first three. Maybe T5 will make better sense.

Better than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

[kingofdanerds · 6/10 · 29 March 2021]

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.

This was actually a decent film!

[siderite · 7/10 · 17 July 2009]

Enough with the copycat comments! Everybody is so keen to criticize this film, while completely ignoring its good parts. Was there some plot weirdness? Well, yeah, we are talking humans winning versus machines here. But most of it was decent.

In this film you get to see more machine types, more character ambivalence (do you even remember the first Terminator? it was machine fascism!), more hints to the previous movies and, most of all, hints of the direction of the Terminator concept. I don't want to spoil it for you, but you must be blind not to see it is a good thing.

Other good things in this movie: Moon Bloodgood, the Oh-girl; Michael Ironside, just as fun as ever, even if having some scenes. And there is Sam Worthington, who is actually the main character and more like Help from BSG, but twice as cool, NOT Christian Bale aka John Connor.

I am surprised to see that both Terminator the series and the new Terminator are bringing some modernism to the old age concept of machine war. They are obviously not without flaw, but considering the alternatives and, even more, my expectations, I would say that saying this film was bad must be just some fashionable thing to say right now.

Bottom line: I liked it!

Fair action movie

[aheaven2005 · 7/10 · 21 March 2021]

Once you manage to settle back in the series timeline, the movie is actually a fair dystopian action entertainment. Bale offers a strange grunting Connor, but it actually works in the end.

Under-rated!!

[zedfreak · 8/10 · 12 April 2020]

This movie is incredible, and I don't say that very often. The story was interesting and had a surprising twist. The post-apocalyptic world was well portrayed. The Terminators were frightening (the T-600s). The CGI was well done and purposeful (not just special effects to carry a movie with a weak plot). DONT watch the trailor because it spoils the movie. And don't listen to the critics. Go watch it.

Fantastic action and effects, but check your disbelief at the door...

[phalanx256 · 7/10 · 26 May 2009]

TS is a film that will wow your eyes and ears. It will be a standard for demonstrating the latest high-end home theater systems for several years. Do not, however, go to this film to stimulate the imagination. The plot has many holes patched with barely-there plot devices. I'm reminded of the film Thank You For Smoking when the character Jeff Mengall spoke of Hollywood plot holes getting filled with lines like "Thank God we invented the... you know, whatever device." In previous Terminator films, you could always assume that sending anything back in time took a lot of energy and resources - that's why you could accept that there was only one Terminator instead of 2+ working together. In this film, we are made to believe that fighting Skynet is like out-maneuvering a herd of angry elephants with laser beams on their heads.

In all, I gave this film a 7 because it does what a good futuristic action film should do: wows the eyes and ears. Just don't forget to check your disbelief at the door.

Dumbest Robots

[jrkdany · 1/10 · 17 February 2022]

This movie had the dumbest robots/machines we have ever seen. I am a big fan of the previous three movies. I think I should not have seen this movie. Now I lost the respect I had for those machines because John Connor breaks into Skynets facility like a petty thief will rob an unguarded house. He hides himself like he is hiding from some human beings and also the robots are doing sentry job and they cant detect a hacked door open ajar. The way they disable robots using some signal through USB cable was laughable.

The ending was tops it off as the most pathetic scene.

The movie doesn't stir any kind of emotions with us.

I don't even want to talk about the Kyle Reese portion.

This is right along the lines of what I wanted to see,,,

[reddiemurf81 · 8/10 · 5 July 2020]

I'll never for the life of me understand why this movie didn't do well at the box office.

I give it at least an 8 rating. Was the movie without flaws,, well no. How many movies are without flaws? Not many. There were several spots I thought could've been done a lil better. A few scenes kind of transitioned weirdly,, and when Marcus came out of the pit, covered in mud and yelled up to the sky,,, that was kind of laughable,,, but It's forgivable (after all,, I'm not a filmmaker).

Other than that,,, I don't get what the problem was.

After the ending of T3,, this setting is pretty much where I saw the story going. I was overjoyed to hear that Christian Bale was taking on the role of John Connor (this was after Batman Begins, and TDK). I think he brought a great amount of energy and intensity to the role. I liked Howard getting cast as his wife. She's always great. Most of the remaining cast was fairly unknown to me. I didn't know what to think of Sam Worthington playing a Cyborg/Terminator who thinks he's human,, however after seeing it in the theater, and now again (11 yrs later),, I think his character brought a lot to the story. (Spoiler alert!!) He has no clue that he's part machine until he's involved in an explosion, and loses some skin. Even when John Connor is interrogating him, Marcus swears he has no clue of how he got this way (and he's telling the truth! He was killed by lethal injection in 2003,, then he wakes up in 2018,, that's enough to make anyone lose their minds). Anyways,,,

Without giving everything away,, I'll say a lil of what I thought was great about the moive -

THE SETTING - the atmosphere is very dystopian like.

TERMINATORS - I liked the fact that we see lots of Terminators (several different kinds) and there's no guessing what they are. Close to the end, we do see the T-800 in Arnold covering,, but until then the Terminators are all metal.

The Resistance - John Connor is part of the Resistance,, but he's not in charge of it all. He has a command of a unit of troops,, and when he's not out fighting he reviews tapes his mother made for him.

Like I've said,, this movie is what I wanted to see. I wish they had made at least 1 more following this one (of course,, 2 would've been preferable) with Bale as Connor. I think McG did a great job,,, too bad others didn't.

If you're going to watch this one,, I suggest you watch Terminators 1, 2, and 3 before this. I think Terminator Salvation follows those 3 perfectly. Do not bother viewing Genisys or Dark Fate at the same time (not that they are bad,, they just don't belong with these other movies,,, at least not in the order I just said. If you're going to watch Dark Fate,, then view T1, T2,, then Dark Fate).

Anyways,,, give this movie a chance,,, it really has gotten a bum rap.

SkyNet war movie more complicated than it needs to be

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 29 September 2013]

In 2003 Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) is on death row, and donates his body to research. Years later after Skynet has taken over, John Connor (Christian Bale) is just one of the fighters against the machines. When he attacks a Skynet facility, he finds that Skynet is developing the powerful new model T-800. He seems to be the sole survivor, but unbeknownst to him, a naked Marcus emerges.

This is the war movie that everybody expected after the first Terminator movie came out. We all thought about the apocalyptic world of battling Skynet. The movies have always been pre-Judgement day. This is the first movie post-Judgement day.

The CG has finally caught up to the vision. The action is dark, and big as it should be. The story is too complicated for it's own good. The Marcus character is too complicated when a simple underdog character is all that's required. And the complications just add to the messy ending.

Should have been titled Mad Max Salvation

[BadCash · 5/10 · 3 June 2022]

I was expecting a Terminator movie, but all I got was a rehash of Mad Max cliches. Not much about this movie is good - the acting in some scenes is laughable, the dialogue is copy-paste from various movies, the story is predictable and has been repeated in other movies many times, Christian Bale is trying to sound "macho" but ends up sounding like he's got tonsillitis, the only surprise about the "fighter pilot takes off her helmet and turns out to be a sexy female surprise scene" was that someone thought it was a good idea to include it...

I could go on and on, but the gist of it is that this entire movie is a cliché of various Mad Max and "terminator-ish" movies. Unless you've never seen a Mad Max movie, you can skip this one.

I am completely let down . . .

[giftofgodoflove · 23 May 2009]

James Camerson made the Terminator franchise something special. As you were watching, you knew you were watching classics. You just have that feeling . . .

I've forgotten T3. Will TS resurrect the franchise? Nope.

First, who the heck is McG? No one knows. He directs TV series, and one other movie. For God's sake, give this movie to a talented director, someone with experience!!! Why was this given to McG? Why?

Second, the Script was awful. "We may have won the battle, but we still have to win the war." I think I heard that line from Power Rangers or Thunder Cats. Christian Bale must have called himself John Connor 30 times. Okay, he's John Connor. Got it! Bale must have called his army The Resistance 50 times. His inspiring speech over the radio was lackluster. People hover around the radio 'feeling' inspired because of that? I felt like I was watching Independence Day.

Third, I don't blame Bale for his performance. He did the best with what he had. His voice was annoying again. He had brief passion during some 'yelling parts'. That's it. But his whole personality had zero charisma.

Fourth, the NUMBER 1 rule for sequels is that they have to stand on their own: T2, Godfather 2, Empire Strikes Back, Aliens. You can't put a part in the sequel that 'hints' at the 1st movie - at least, overtly. Exp: In T3, after Arnold gets the clothes from the gay guy, he puts on 'star sunglasses', which 'hints' at T2, when he put on regular classes. No! No! No! Dumb! Stupid! Examples in TS: In T2, girl slaps Arnold in face, face cocks to the right, glasses break, and he looks back at her slowly. That scene was re-played 3 or 4 times in TS. Why!?!?! Further, Bale says, "I'll be back." Why?!!?! It's so self-conscious! It screams, "Remember how Arnold is famous for saying this. Okay, let's make Bale say it too!". Yuck! Kyle Reece says, "Come with me if you want to live." Why? Let's move on! It's 2009. Let's evolve. Stop with the T1/2 allusions already!

Fifth, Cameron's brief vision of 2029 in T2 was on to something. T-800's w/ guns on battlefield fighting soldiers on ground, gun battles, your occasional flying craft, etc . . . TS had 2 T-600's that I could count, flying crafts, and 1 huge T-1,000,000. Where's the freaking battles!?!? Something along the lines of the gun battles of "Heat", or the beach landings in "Saving Private Ryan". Something! Where's a There Will be Blood-like self-brooding or introspection by John Connor? It's like I was watching a video-game-turned-movie kind of movie, like Doom or Resident Evil. Awful!!!!!

Sixth, zero character development. I don't care about any characters. The movie doesn't develop them. They're wooden, cardboard cut-outs. In T1/2, we cared; that was part of why they're classics. TS is an action movie; that's it, with some name-dropping. What a shame. When you add 'no-character-development' w/ 'bad-script', you get 'lame-movie'. I felt like I was watching a movie made for TV on Spike or TnT.

Seventh, the movie was self-consciously PC, the independent-self-sufficient female character, not needing help from white male, pearlly white teeth, beautiful-clean-fluffy hair, breasts partially exposed, blah blah blah. It's like McG thought, "What can I put in the movie that young mindless idiots will like, so it can make more money?" It had a couple good action sequences. That's it. And that does not a good movie make. The set-design was also horrible. We had a couple cool 'waste-land' scenes, a couple cool 'abandoned city' shots that reminded me of 'I Am Legend', but some scenes looked like they were put together in my back yard with spray-painted card-board boxes, and a fake background.

Eighth, this movie should be R, not PG-13, period. It's a dark, in-your-face, gritty, bloody, graphic, adult-oriented, movie. Imagine Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, and other classics if they were toned down to PG-13. Exactly. Unbelievable, that Hollywood is filled with such dunces or greed, just wanting to make a cash-cow.

The only character I was drawn to was Marcus. The CGI Arnold is gratuitous, and poorly executed. It just looks like a laughable cartoon. McG made this for 10-17 year olds.

Bottom line: I'm furious. The franchise has been gutted by amateur directing, producing, and writing.

It's a shame.