TERMINATOR SALVATION

"I'll be back!"

2018, the Resistance is finally starting to make headway in their war against the machines with General Ashdown (Ironside) revealing that they have a weapon that could turn the tide and allow them to take the fight to Skynet. John Connor (Bale) is noticing something different however, something that his mother never warned him about. The machines are taking human prisoners and the new T-800 model is coming online much faster than he expected. With Resistance command pushing for an attack, John discovers something that could change everything, a man called Marcus Wright (Worthington).

After the lacklustre reception for the third movie, 'Charlie's Angels' director McG tries to step into the rather large shoes left by James Cameron but can he make them fit for a new Terminator adventure?

With 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' disappointing with the exception of the finale and the TV series 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' axed after two seasons, the story of cybernetic killing machines from the future trying to kill future human resistance leader John Connor might have seemed to have run its course. With young John and his mother Sarah's tale having come to a logical end, it is the story of what happens after Judgement Day that was the next logical step for the saga.

Only ever seen in dream sequences or flashbacks, the future in the Terminator films and TV series was a place of war and a story of the human resistance fighting for survival against Skynet and its army of machines. Here we had seen flying hunter/killers and armies of T-600 and T-800 robots killing anything that dare fight them. One man brought the human race together, organising and coordinating the fight, taking the war to the machines and winning. As we know, the artificial intelligence that started the war, Skynet, knew it was losing and sent a Terminator back through time to kill John mother's Sarah. Failing it tried again, with a young John as the target but when that didn't work it sent back a Terminator to kill John and all of his generals. Each time, a protector was sent back, once a human, Kyle Reese and twice a reprogrammed T-800, who foiled Skynet plan and kept the future of a human victory on track. For the fourth film in the series we see the results of this fighting to keep John Connor alive and see him become the leader he was destined to become, but this is not the future Sarah Connor warned her son about.

For the fourth film in the franchise, executive producer Mario Kassar has employed 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' writers John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris to take us into the future, past Judgement Day and onto 2018 for the start of a new, proposed trilogy that will show how John Connor brought the war to the Machines and victory. We know this happens because Kyle Reese and the two T-800s that were sent back to protect Sarah and John told us so but things are happening a lot faster than they predicted and differently. Here we see John as a platoon commander, talking to the surviving humans via short wave radio, rallying them to fight but at the same time answering to a command structure that coordinates the resistance around the world. This time played by Christian Bale with his 'Batman' gruff voice, John Connor is a soldier, leader and the hope of the human race we are taken to a desolate West Coast of America were John leads strikes and recon raids against Skynet to discover what the machines are up to. When Skynet starts taking human prisoners and John's squad discovers that the T-800 is about to come online and that Skynet has Kyle Reese at the top of their termination list, he realises that something different is happening to what his mother told him in her tape diaries. The biggest change comes from the arrival of Marcus Wright, a man out of time but it is he who will change the future forever.

While the premise is sound, the execution is one that will split fans and critics alike right down the middle and this is all due to the involvement of director McG. The man who is best known for directing the 'Charlie's Angels' movies and as the producer of hit TV shows 'Supernatural', 'The O.C.' and 'Chuck', was never a fans favourite to take over the franchise, especially with James Cameron's rather large shadow hovering over the production. He must have known that previous director Jonathan Mostow couldn't cope with it and no one expected McG to rise to the challenge but in some elements he has excelled. The action sequences and the visual effects are superb, his working with Christian Bale and the screenwriter to make John Connor's role larger improves the story, casting relative newcomer Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright and how brilliant an actor Anton Yelchin is becoming as the young Kyle Reese, are what make the movie a welcome addition to the franchise but there are problems. There are still big, unanswered questions in the script and ones that really mess with the established timeline. How does Skynet know whom Kyle Reese is in 2018, why are things accelerating faster than Kyle, Sarah and the Terminator's told John about? Whether these questions will be answers in further movies is a question we will have to wait for but it does make the movie not as self-contained as you would have liked. Also many of the supporting cast have hardly anything to do and are completely wasted. Bryce Dallas Howard as does nothing but be pregnant and look shocked, Moon Bloodgood is nothing but stunning eye candy, Common's Barnes does absolutely nothing and Helena Bonham Carter and the always-excellent Michael Ironside are seriously underused.

'Terminator Salvation' is a visual feast for the eyes and it will act as a stepping-stone to much larger things for director McG. While fans will still be hoping that he doesn't have anything else to do with the series, this is a step forward from 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' but still not meeting the heady heights of the two James Cameron creations. This does serve as an interesting introduction to the Human/Machine war and creates a world that Terminator fans will want to see more of.

PICTURE & SOUND

The Blu-Ray disc presents the movie in High Definition wide screen 2:40 up to 1080p, with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound.

BONUS FEATURES

Maximum Movie Mode
Watch the movie is in a whole new way. With walk-ons by director McG for him to explain key scenes, focus points, picture-in-picture, storyboard comparisons, still gallery and Terminator mythology timeline, this shows how Blu-Ray differs from DVD, and shows how inventive studios can now be with their releases.

Cinechat
Watch the movie and IM your friends at the same time

BD Live
Insert the Blu-Ray into an internet connected player or PS3 and gain access to more exclusive content.

Reforging the Future (19.01 mins/HD)
Director McG, producers Victor Kudicek, Derek Anderson, Jeffery Silver and Steve Gaub, executive producer Jeanne Allgood and stars Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Moon Bloodgood and Anton Yelchin talk about taking the Terminator franchise into the future, after Judgement Day and creating a future were the human race is just trying to survive.

The Moto-Terminators (8.33 mins/HD)
Director McG takes you behind the scenes of the creation of the motorcycle terminators and the involvement of Ducati in the process.

Focus Points (29.47 mins/HD)
Entitled ‘Digital Destruction’, ‘Enlisting the Air Force’, ‘Molten Metal and the Science of Simulation’, ‘Building the Gas Station’, ‘Creating the VLA attack’, ‘Exploring Serena’s Lab in miniature’, ‘Hydrobots’, ‘An Icon returns’, ‘Terminator Factory’, ‘Stan Winston Shop’ and ‘Napalm Blast’, these are the focus point including in the Maximum Movie Mode, available to watch individually.

Trailer
A preview of ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’

OVERALL

The Blu-Ray treatment of ‘Terminator Salvation’ is very good. The Maximum Movie Mode is superb and the supporting featurettes are also very good. This makes the Blu-Ray version a must by for fans.

BLU-RAY

The Terminator

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

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2009