Directed by:
McGCinematography:
Shane HurlbutComposer:
Danny ElfmanCast:
Christian Bale, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Sam Worthington, Common, Bryce Dallas Howard, Helena Bonham Carter, Roland Kickinger, Jane Alexander (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
In the aftermath of Judgment Day and the machine takeover, resistance leader John Connor (Christian Bale) must counter Skynet’s plan to terminate mankind. Rallying his underground street fighters for a last, desperate battle, he realizes that to save the future he must rescue his own father Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). But the most shocking discovery comes with the arrival of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a mysterious loner from the past who challenges Connor with an impossible choice and leads them both on a brutal journey into the heart of the enemy. (Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (13)
This film starts off as the coolest post-apocalyptic action orgasm since Mad Max 2. It takes only the names of the characters from James Cameron, while providing the well-cast Worthington/Yelchin duo with an interesting introduction. Terminator Salvation is engaging with its atmosphere, deadly new T600s and Transformer-like giants emitting sounds reminiscent of Spielberg’s Tripods. It is a great visual experience relishing its B-movie but extremely entertaining and spectacular take on the subgenre. BUT... in the second half, the creator of Charlie’s Angels seems to acquire the unfortunate impression that he can master Cameron’s reason-governed universe and starts to reference and alter it, and all of the enthusiasm for this film gradually evaporates. It seems like McG hasn’t even watched Cameron’s movies. At most, he has seen Scott’s Blade Runner, about which he was intrigued the most by fire lashing out of chimneys. P.S.: Worthington plays a more remarkable and important character than Christian Bale.
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The fourth Terminator is somewhere between the visual purity of T3 and the grandeur and fatefulness of T2. You can almost feel through the TV screen the physical action scenes, which have bombastic sound and precise editing. Similarly, the dirty and uncertain future is portrayed with appropriate dark music and excellent lighting. McG also treats the viewer to several knockouts in the form of brilliantly shot scenes and various camera tricks. But the last act is not good, with a finale that is logically simple, overly terse and in the context of the preceding events, not sufficiently epic. The characters are fine and technically gripping. It’s a pleasant bridge to the next installment, which I can imagine.
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Arnold is back (for a while) Arnold is back (for a while), although in a quite different movie this time. Salvation has little to do with the original trilogy, well… other than being a sequel to it. But the real powerhouse turned out to be Cameron's dark horse Sam Worthington as Marcus. He’s the only one who moves the main storyline forward. The rest is just filler until what's about to happen happens. I also believe that Bale was only given the role of Connor because he comes across good and leader-like and can create a depressing atmosphere with his hoarse voice. By the way, I barely noticed Bryce Dallas Howard. McG shot an impressive action sci-fi (with robots from Sam Winston's mind), but it can’t touch the Terminator saga. Maybe because I realized this from the beginning, I kind of enjoyed this fourth part.
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A little better than the third part, but not by much. McG’s direction is fine, so are the special effects and the performances (Worthington is great and Bale plays second fiddle with his unlikeable Connor), but the script is a shame. There’s a lot that happens without any clear cause or motivation, the characters don’t have a clue about many important things, but they don’t care and carry on. Of course, it’s effective and nice to look at (the scene of the attack on the petrol station is awesome), but the moment they start speaking, things go south. Phrases like "We must protect our future! ... I do it to save all mankind!" today feel like something out of an old B-movie, especially when they are uttered for no other purpose than being uttered, i.e. with no reason or factual logical connection to previous (and subsequent) events. To be clear, though, I’m not that disappointed, Salvation is a solid action flick, but it could’ve been a lot better.
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It's hard to expect anything more than what the trailers showed us. McG serves up (unsurprisingly) a decent summer blockbuster, cheerfully shoving in one quote after another, all in the visual style of Charlie’s Angels. It works, especially in the first half, more than adequately. The atmosphere of the demolished streets draws the viewer right into the middle of any hit game, and the action sequences, in which the heroes are chased by giant robots, have more life in them than all of Transformers. The problem, however, is the writers, who obviously don't care much for sound logic and have to start dissecting characters and relationships just to get to the tear-jerking ending that grabs you (literally) by the heart. In the end, one name comes to mind - Sam Worthington. This guy is going to make a big splash in the ranks of charismatic Hollywood guys. It is he who overrides my seventy percent hesitation to give it a fourth star. It's hard to say what time away and a potential second watch will do to that.
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