Terminator Salvation

[Overdriven]

.... I love lamp

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Gotta agree with Dave here, people lambasting the film for having plot holes, while trying to convince themselves 1, 2 & 3 have none. Hilarity ensues!

 

[MYstIC G]

Nobody's saying 1, 2 & 3 have none.

Anyway, another amusing summary: Terminator: Salvation (If They Left Out The Bullshit) | Cracked.com

 

[old.user4556]

Indeed.

If Kyle Reese had any sense, he'd have gone back a day before and put a crushing machine in the parking lot where the Terminator was due to arrive the next day.

And crushed him on the spot.

But that would have made for a short, shit but cheap film .

 

[MYstIC G]

I'm sorry but that's just stupid, A. it wasn't shown in the movie so it's highly unlikely and B. if they're going to do that why not bring back a few futuristic weapons with them?

Like cannon for an arm in T3 isn't futuristic enough? etc.

 

[00dave]

Indeed.

If Kyle Reese had any sense, he'd have gone back a day before and put a crushing machine in the parking lot where the Terminator was due to arrive the next day.

And crushed him on the spot.

But that would have made for a short, shit but cheap film .

More to the point he would have found himself stuck in the 80's, jesus can you imagine a worse fate?

 

[ramathorn]

Gotta agree with Dave here, people lambasting the film for having plot holes, while trying to convince themselves 1, 2 & 3 have none. Hilarity ensues!

Perhaps you're misconstruing what i meant (if you were refering to me in any way). It wasn't solely the plot holes that annoyed the hell outta me, they just happened take the fore in the conversation. I can forgive mistermeaner's, it's hard to make a film without them, its even harder to make a sci-fi movie with robots, the end of the world and time travel without them. Yes there are some in the earlier film but no where near the level they were in this, not even close. Its like comparing a cold sore to genital herpes. Sure they're basically the same thing but ones a niggling little itch that wont go away, the other is a shameful, dirty mess that once gone you just wanna forgot about. They basically treated the audience like a bunch of unintelligent shmo's imo.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

But the target audience for a Terminator film is unintelligent action wanting masses.

Always has been, always will be. It's not like it's high brow entertainment, so stop treating it like it is. Appreciate it for what it is MEANT to be, not what you THINK it should be.

 

[nath]

But the target audience for a Terminator film is unintelligent action wanting masses.

Always has been, always will be. It's not like it's high brow entertainment, so stop treating it like it is. Appreciate it for what it is MEANT to be, not what you THINK it should be.

Bullshit excuse for a crap film, and it's always the same excuse. If you didn't like it, it's not that it was shit, you just weren't watching it with the right attitude.

Sorry, but the film was poorly written and poorly executed. There's no rule that says good writing is limited to Kubrick movies. Popcorn flicks can be well made too, this one just wasn't.

 

[ramathorn]

ach i give up. i never expected citizen kane or the godfather, i wasn't wanting or hoping for an amazing character study on john connor. wanted a decent sci-fi / action flick in the vain of "serenity". atleast something that looked like some of the people involved gave even one fuck about what they were working on. i'll not post again as it seems im completely pathetic at making my point and end up regurgitating the same shit.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Bullshit excuse for a crap film, and it's always the same excuse. If you didn't like it, it's not that it was shit, you just weren't watching it with the right attitude.

Sorry, but the film was poorly written and poorly executed. There's no rule that says good writing is limited to Kubrick movies. Popcorn flicks can be well made too, this one just wasn't.

But the first one was fairly poorly written, and not much better executed. Same with the second, although the execution was spot on. Third one's plot was mediocre but the rest of the film was mostly gash. So why so hard line on the new one, and so favourable on the others? Nostalgia?

Also, if you are out of the target audience of a film, it will be harder to digest for some.

 

[nath]

I'm not a massive fan of the first tbh, it was decent enough. The second was MUCH better than the lot. Much better writing (though not stellar) and generally just very well executed. The thing is, I was never going to hold up the 4th to the standards 2 set. I was just hoping for quite a fun action movie. It just failed on so many fronts that I couldn't enjoy it though.

I only really have three problems with Salvation, but they're pretty significant ones. The plot was shit, just totally uninteresting. The writing was beyond lame. Finally, and the most important part, the characters were really crap. If you're watching a film and it doesn't manage to make you give a crap about the characters then it's a complete waste of time.

John Connor just shouted at everyone, Marcus Wright just looked confused and Moon Bloodgood's character just looked pretty. Total failure at movie making.

Once again, you could say I'm expecting too much but that's such a weak excuse for a crap film. I wasn't expecting much at all, but despite my low expectations it still managed to disappoint. Terminator Salvation is a *bad* film, and I can't help but think you're just being argumentative for the sake of it. I think I'll follow ramathorns lead and leave it there.

 

[Damini]

Watched it today. It was enjoyable, but my god the end annoyed the crap out of me.

Spoiler

"Take my heart".

Seriously?

Dude, that's like YOUR HEART. You need it. That's not being human. Being human is giving someone your last rolo. Perhaps a kidney if you really like them. Handing over your organ to some pregnant doctor and a bloke that's not particularly amicable is retarded. And all these people who have been saying the whole film "If we end up without our humanity we've lost" are just going "oh yes, lets carve this man up. Dibs on the new corneas!"

It would have been a far better film, imo, if instead they had Marcus's character realise that he had a transmitter in his head that he couldn't switch off. So he ended up with free will, but could never hang out with the humans as he would endanger them just by association. Then you would have him all troubled and isolated and cursed, and it would be far better suited to his character than the "I have a spare heart, no, seriously, take it, I was only using it to stay alive." thing.

Also, is it just me that find Christian Bale a bit uncharasmatic? I just don't ever feel emotionally invested in his characters.

I did like the Marcus guy though. I would like to nibble on him, pls kthx.

 

[Chilly]

disliked. Fires everywhere? In the rain?? It just pissed me off. Why, in the middle of a fucking deserted and desolate city would there be fires? *****.

 

[nath]

Try Rescue Dawn, Damini. Christian Bale is quite different in that and is quite charismatic. However, if you want real charisma, check out anything with Chiwetel Ejiofor. He's dreamy.

 

[DaGaffer]

Watched it today. It was enjoyable, but my god the end annoyed the crap out of me.

Spoiler

"Take my heart".

Seriously?

Dude, that's like YOUR HEART. You need it. That's not being human. Being human is giving someone your last rolo. Perhaps a kidney if you really like them. Handing over your organ to some pregnant doctor and a bloke that's not particularly amicable is retarded. And all these people who have been saying the whole film "If we end up without our humanity we've lost" are just going "oh yes, lets carve this man up. Dibs on the new corneas!"

It would have been a far better film, imo, if instead they had Marcus's character realise that he had a transmitter in his head that he couldn't switch off. So he ended up with free will, but could never hang out with the humans as he would endanger them just by association. Then you would have him all troubled and isolated and cursed, and it would be far better suited to his character than the "I have a spare heart, no, seriously, take it, I was only using it to stay alive." thing.

Also, is it just me that find Christian Bale a bit uncharasmatic? I just don't ever feel emotionally invested in his characters.

I did like the Marcus guy though. I would like to nibble on him, pls kthx.

He's in the new James Cameron movie Avatar, which has been "troubled" but I kind of trust James Cameron to deliver the goods.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Terminator Salvation is a *bad* film, and I can't help but think you're just being argumentative for the sake of it. I think I'll follow ramathorns lead and leave it there.

Not at all, just trying to understand why it has received such a poor reaction on internet forums while at the same time receiving decent reviews and the average joe enjoying it very muchly.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Not at all, just trying to understand why it has received such a poor reaction on internet forums while at the same time receiving decent reviews and the average joe enjoying it very muchly.

Rather the same reason why a military officer isn't amazed by a desert eagle blowing up a watermelon, while the forumgoer would be "Oooh that's nice!"

We're nerds here, gamers at least, with movies, comics and movies up our wazoo since we were 5.

Ofcourse some peoples demands are higher as we've seen every damn bit of cgi and every single robot in existance.

So what happens? Those former action nerds and CGI fanatics turn into story chasers and plotline nitpickers.

Next, they call something like "curious case of benjamin button" a masterpiece, while slaughtering anything that is out there for simple explosionentertainmentshooty reasons.

Well...it's a theory.


Disclaimer; If you read that and your first instinct(before reading this) was to post "benjamin button WAS an awesome film!", you're already a lost cause and missed the point like paris hilton misses abstinence meetings

 

[old.user4556]

receiving decent reviews

rly?

 

[nath]

Terminator Salvation (2009): Reviews

Not sure where you're getting "decent reviews" from, but metacritic gives it 52 based on 35 reviews. That's pretty damn weak.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Oh don't worry, you don't have to explain the 'insecure nerds nitpicking at everything' thing to me, I've been around long enough to know these things. Just wanted to hear some more stuff on how this Terminator is so awfully bad at fitting in with the franchise. It sounds like it doesn't, to me.

My personal theory is that it's not so much expectations, but that people want to provide the perception that they are a level above everyone else: that they're so great, clever and observant that they have to detail every possible mistake/inconsistency/bad thing.

After all, people (in general) crave acceptance of some kind, and everyone likes to be thought of as intelligent. It seems many people think the best way of appearing intelligent is to be critical. If they think that, they are welcome to continue.

(Gone a bit off topic, sorry!)

 

[nath]

My personal theory is that it's not so much expectations, but that people want to provide the perception that they are a level above everyone else: that they're so great, clever and observant that they have to detail every possible mistake/inconsistency/bad thing.

After all, people (in general) crave acceptance of some kind, and everyone likes to be thought of as intelligent. It seems many people think the best way of appearing intelligent is to be critical. If they think that, they are welcome to continue.

I'm sorry I can't eat all that irony, I'm going to have to put some aside for another day. Got any tupperware?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I have plenty, although the air seals aren't so good any more as they've been around since 2004.

 

[MYstIC G]

It really was just bad Wazzer, without any expectations going in to see it, I was yawning before it was half way done.

 

[ramathorn]

Oh don't worry, you don't have to explain the 'insecure nerds nitpicking at everything' thing to me, I've been around long enough to know these things. Just wanted to hear some more stuff on how this Terminator is so awfully bad at fitting in with the franchise. It sounds like it doesn't, to me.

My personal theory is that it's not so much expectations, but that people want to provide the perception that they are a level above everyone else: that they're so great, clever and observant that they have to detail every possible mistake/inconsistency/bad thing.

After all, people (in general) crave acceptance of some kind, and everyone likes to be thought of as intelligent. It seems many people think the best way of appearing intelligent is to be critical. If they think that, they are welcome to continue.

(Gone a bit off topic, sorry!)

oh fucking please less of the freud. people dont want to feel superior to anyone in any way. the film stunk, no one i personally know liked it, obviously a lot of people on the net didnt like it, no need for the over analysis.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

oh fucking please less of the freud. people dont want to feel superior to anyone in any way. the film stunk, no one i personally know liked it, obviously a lot of people on the net didnt like it, no need for the over analysis.

There's no over analysis (I did state that was off-topic), I was trying to find out why some people on forums have such differing views from those in the film critic's eyes - no terrible reviews, mostly decent/average, some good - and the public's mixed opinion. It is easier to find out why people on forums didn't like it as there is plenty of time for discussion and debate. I want to hear why people hate it so much before I see it, just like why I'd want to hear why some people thought it was pretty damn fine entertainment.

In semi-conclusion, it seems some people are overreacting in their disgust as it sounds like an average, unspectacular and slight let down. What makes this different from 3 is beyond me, and yet it seems to be getting treated much harsher than 3 is atm (although, interesting, about the same level of hate as when 3 first came out). Perhaps, like 3, it's a bit of a grower.

Still undecided on cinema for this, was going to go tomorrow but the football is on. Might go the week after.

 

[nath]

Again, still not sure what critics you're referring to. Metacritic gives it 52 and rottentomatos gives it 33. Both of those sites pool together reviews to form the number.

I think it's pretty safe to say from those two sites that reviews were generally pretty unfavourable to really quite bad.

 

[Wij]

TIME TRAVELLER FROM THE FUTURE WARNS OF TERMINATOR SEQUELS - The Daily Mash

 

[Calaen]

Just watched it and I thought it was fucking gash.

By the end I was actually laughing at the events that were unfolding on the screen in front of me. It's not a touch on Sarah Connor chronicles.

Bale has gone way down in my estimation!!!

 

[00dave]

Bale has gone way down in my estimation!!!

Yeah he probably can't hold a tune anymore either

YouTube - Empire of the Sun (Suo Gan)

(Yes I am aware it isn't actually him singing)

YouTube - P-51 Cadillac of the skies!

Hard to believe it's the same guy. Amazing movie though.