Dee B.
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The visual effects were a tad less than those in star trek, but the story line was better. I've followed the sarah connor chronicles and if you like that series, in addition to the original movies, then you'll like this one.
Xou x
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If your a fan of the terminator series then by all means watch it. if not i would skip it. if you thought rise of the machines was horrible. then this one would change your mind. who gave the idea that christian bale is a good choice for john conner. the good thing about this film is the CGI and cinematography that keeps you watching. otherwise skip it. christian bale is horrible, the story is horrible, and keep no connections whatsoever to the original series except the robots taking over the world.
Jonny Boy
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Much better than Terminator 3, but still cannot match Terminator 2. Yes it did kinda use the fact that they were getting help from a terminator from the last two movies, but they did so in a way that seemed more unique I guess.
Joe Morgenstern
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It's a deafening, sometimes boring, occasionally startling and ultimately impressive war movie with a concern for what it is that makes us human.
Owen Gleiberman
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It's basically a zombie movie with machines instead of the walking dead.
Corey H.
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The plot was lacking. There were plenty of corny, meaningless, or unexplained scenes and pointless yelling.
Frank V
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Where's the plot? It seems to have disappeared about halfway through the movie. McG (pretentious a**h*le;who would call himself that to being with w/o a big ego?) creates an incoherent mess. What happened to the secret weapon that 'turns off' the machines? Why does SkyNet HQ look like some dirty steel factory? And why do those stacks belch fire? Pretty hokey--it makes no sense except for some dumb special effects. Why are all those people herded? It isn't really developed. John Connor comes across ans mean and surly--not really a prophet or visionary--something else McG fails to develop. I miss 'Ahnold' as the Terminator. At least those last two movies (T1is by far the best) had a sense of not taking itself too seriously. This movie just feels kind of depressing. No need to do a sequel.
David R
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Brilliant movie, obviously not to everyones liking but in my opinion a damn solid film and worthy of being associated with the previous films. And will everyone please stop dissing T3 - OK there are a few bits that grate (comedy glasses, expanding chest) but its a fine film overall with some great moments (the dropped beer bottle, sinking to the sea floor, lined with skulls, cut back up above the water and into the future war.the final scene of the inevitable judgment day beginning). The T3 appreciation club starts here !!
Adam D
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Generally horrible. A few cool special effects that are not cool enough to redeem the film. Hideous writing: for example, consider this.in each Terminator film, the machines have attempted to kill John Connor on sight. In this film, the machines identify him as John Connor, and conveniently neglect to kill him. Instead they imprison him, which, of course, gives the good guys time to rescue him. Pretty much negates just about everything that happened in the first three films. Jeez.
Bob Mondello
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It all contributes to making the story breathless and nerve-jangling.
J Y
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I went to see TS full of skepticism considering how much I enjoyed T1 and T2, and how disappointing T3 was. But I came out of TS pleasantly surprised just how much I liked it overall. Action was good, one-liners from the first two movies were amusing reminders of the popularity of the series due to James Cameron's past direction. The actor who I thought lent his own weight to the success of the movie was Sam Worthington; his tough yet warm portrayal of the new generation of Terminator who is half man and half machine provided much needed balance to the grim overtone of the movie.
Alvin C
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This film was way under-rated. The 54/100 score stopped me from buying it but I got it as a christmas present and thought it was really good. Hate all these 'art-house' film critics out there who say everything other than some foreign language film is a waste of time. This film was no Terminator 2 but was definately watchable.
ryan j.
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Dark and different with the best action scenes in years.
r lloyd
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He represents everything that disgusts me. Obviousness! Unoriginal, macho energy! Yeah, a Barfly quote pretty much somes it up. Where do you start with this mess? The casting, the dialogue, the music, the huge leaps in logic already mentioned by Vilhelm B (well done, btw) or just the extreme disappointment in what "could have been"? Let's start with the casting. Imagine the movie without the mute girl, or better yet, what was the point of her character? To add an "aww cute" factor? To remind the survivors that they have something to fight for? To bluntly tell the audience that humanity still exists in this apocalyptic world? Cute mute is a cheap plot device at best, an anchor around the movies' neck at worst. Again, imagine how this movie flows better without her character. Also, if McG fought so hard to get Christain Bale, then why not do that for the rest of the cast. Michael Ironside as one of the "tough talking" resistance leaders? Really, wow, never seen Ironside in that role before. Not Starship Troopers, Not V; Ironside has played the "tough" resistance leader ad nauseum. How about if you need a silent and hard black man? I know, GET A RAPPER!!! McG and the makers of Terminator could have worked harder on casting, instead they went for cheap easy cardboard cutouts. Maybe the thought was that with all the explosions and robots, no one would notice. You do notice the great action movies when they go the extra mile in this regard. We ALL remember Bill Paxton and Lance Henriksen in Aliens (speaking of which, note how "cute girl" was brilliantly used in this movie). How about Tina Turner in Mad Max Beyond Thunder? No one saw that coming and it made the movie. But McG and crew want to go the easy route. Nothing is more apparent than the banal dialogue. When the "I'll be back" line was used in the first Terminator, it meant something, it led to something: utter destruction. That phrase has never meant the same since. When Christian Bale uses it in Salvation, it means NOTHING. It's an obvious, and again, cheap and unnecessary way to try to tickle the audience. So obvious, it falls completely flat when he says it. The unoriginal lines don't stop there. In any movie where it's man v technology or man v the apocalypse/black hole/all hell has broken loose there is usually a question of whether or not man can keep his humanity intact. It's a given. It's kind of the UNSPOKEN point of the movie that you don't ever need to verbally remind the audience about. That is, unless your name happens to be McG and you are Captain Obvious and can't help yourself. More than once the Terminator characters have to make speeches about how human they are or need to be. "That's what separated us from the machines, we're human". Really, i would have never guessed! Being human is what the Terminator series is ALL about, we all get it by now. We build things that we can't control and can kill us, then struggle to control and overcome them. We've seen this in the Terminator series three times, we don't need the characters to verbally tell us over and over again a fourth time. But McG takes the brain eating zombie route and has to bludgeon us with speeches and overt physical cues about humanity up to the bitter end when cute mute girl compassionately holds human robot hand because, you know, THAT'S WHAT HUMANS DO. Less talking and more brooding, or maybe have one character that spouts off about humanity and is blown to bits by a terminator. McG is devoid of such irony. He just hammers away at the audience with explosions and moral statements. Nothing is more apparent in his approach than his use of music. Granted, the music is the last thing anyone should complain about in an action movie, but that's because great action movies don't usually need music and the great action movies that do use it, use it wisely. But again, McG can't help himself. Silence in desolate situations has a chilling effect. You can see feel and HEAR the loneliness of the character. Remember There Will Be Blood or the brilliant first 20 minutes of Once Upon a Time in the West? We are never allowed to be alone in Terminator Salvation. We are never allowed to experience those solitary, despondent moments. McG won't allow us to, he has to fill these moments with a Michael Baywatch type of sound. The soaring "oooh, hear the plight of my protagonist" music in these key scenes comes from a director too insecure to let well enough alone. The same director that had to remind us in print why he wouldn't screw up Terminator because everything he's touched, Sugar Ray, Charlie's Angels, the OC, has been a monumental success. Truly successful people don't remind people of their accolades. Their accolades speak for them. Similarly, a good action movie doesn't need to make a lot of hollow noise. The action will speak for itself.
David D
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I am a HUGE Terminator fan. Loved the first 3! I went into this with low expectations since so many people were so-so about it. I came out liking it. Personally, I do see what all the complaining is all about with the plot holes in the last 1/3 of the movie. I did wish they did that a little different and that is why I am giving this a 8. The one thing I don't understand is why people are ragging on the acting. I thought for the most part everyone did a great job.
Tyler H.
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Again, the critics are all trying to get attention it seems by giving there negative 2 cents. This was a very good movie, but not perfect with its flaws. I was entertained, visuals were excellent, as was Bale as usual. There were some plot holes, but it didn't destroy the movie for me. It seems like a 5th movie may come forth, if for the only reason to truly tie together everything and attempt to put an end to the war. Definately worth seeing, if you don't expect a masterpiece that will leave you jizzing your pants everywhere, you'll be fine. Its a very good movie.
John B
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A decent movie but hindered by it's inability to consider that some people may not know the first 3 movies by heart. Amusing and action packed, I'd suggest waiting for the DVD with the hopes that some included deleted scenes may provide some much needed depth and background story.
Trevor R
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The computer animation was very impressive, and most of the action sequences were well done, but the plot was really weak. It was hard to follow, and it was not until 3/4 the way through the film that one is able to fully understand what is going on. McG did not strike me as the most suitable director for this type of film, and it showed. Bale as not in the film nearly as much as I thought he would be. The film could be have been much better.
Tarun K
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The action was good, and the movie kept you guessing what was going to happen in the next scene. A truly entertaining experience. on the story side, this move kind of acts like a filler for the next terminator movie (like matrix reloaded was)
Cyn D
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Just saw it today and enjoyed it - am looking forward to the DVD release and hope that the deleted scenes will be integrated as an option for viewing (such as what the T2 DVD can do). I agree with what some people have said regarding editing and dialogue - I also think that some scenes could have been expounded upon and it would have helped somewhat with the overall flow. Loved the end, where a special appearance was made. That was awesome and so well done. Kudos to them for including something like that.
Mike H.
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Saw it today, took my kids and my mother(seemed fair to take moms too considering she took me to see 1 and 2 as a kid, and she loves the franchise too) We loved it, awesome movie. I only noticed one really bad editing spot, where the scenes had no fluid transition. It was right after Marcus was asked to round up stuff for a fire. There was no legit transition from that scene to the chick versus hick rape fest. Other then that, just a awesome movie, completely. This is coming from a big fan of the first 2 films, having the films on both Laserdisc and DVD, along with T3 on dvd, figures, ect. For me this movie delivered completely. I cant even imagine how awesome a dir. cut home release will be.
Joe Stass
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Nice action and great effects, but too many moments that left me going "What?" due to plot holes or useless plot devices or just plain dumb occurrences. Rent if you like the series. Skip otherwise.
John C
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First, if robots in the future have become so self aware as to try to destroy their creators, then they should probably have invented a better technology than USB. CHRISTIAN BALE HACKED A WRECKED TERMINATOR BY PLUGGING IN HIS LITTLE I PHONE INTO A USB 2.0 PORT. Second, the words decrypt and override would have had to have been programmed by the programmer or skynet to "over ride" and "decrypt". Simply typing in these commands DO NOT decrypt or override whatever is trying to be overridden. NO SELF AWARE MACHINE WOULD BE STUPID ENOUGH TO HAVE THAT SUBROUTINE PROGRAMMED IN THERE!!!. And these are just some of the qualms I had with the film. From plot holes to poor character development and simply "yeah right" moments, the film falls flat of its former "tongue in cheek" vibe. T1 and T2 were great films, not only because of their stories, but because they didn't take themselves too seriously. The message in the first one lined up cyberdyne systems to protect humanity from any threat, and the message what that while humanity exists, they are in essence, threats to themselves, and therefore must be eliminated. In this film, robots have been relinquished to the evil plotting of taking over the world. In all, while I was mildly entertained, the film did not meet my expectations.
Sean E.
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Great action from start to finish. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Visual effects are stunning and you'd swear it was real! Looking forward to more from this post-apocalyptic world. Let's finally see how the war ends!
Enzo P.
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Terminator Salvation is action packed with some awesome butt kicking. But in the movie Christian Bale acts so bad and he still has is deep batman voice on. Also the plot seems like a 4th grader thought of it.
Chris B.
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Not what i expected for this movie but its still good, do yourself a fav, don't go by film geeks reviews. go see it, its worth it.
Thomas V
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While the script in itself was ok, it's those little things that ruined it for me. The makers misunderstand skynet completely: you can't enter skynetville with a vaio even if Marcus opened the gates.The idea of skynet luring Connor is ok (albeit biggest clich ever), but at least do it in a believable way, so the viewer keeps thinking Connor is genuinely trying. The T-600 ignoring the open door? Ridiculous. Basically, Skynet is an evil supercomputer that hates humans. Why the clean white cells, why doors with buttons? Why tables, keyboards and GUIs? And why isn't the T800 killing Connor outright, instead of throwing him around? Stupid. Bale's acting was bad, but it's most apparent in the scenes together with Kate, although I have to say her acting was quite numb as well. Reese, Marcus and the A10 pilot were great.
S plicer
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The 3rd best terminator movie.Where was the grim future shown in T1 and T2?Whoever decided McG would direct should be terminated.
Roger Ebert
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Most of the running time is occupied by action sequences, chase sequences, motorcycle sequences, plow-truck sequences, helicopter sequences, fighter-plane sequences, towering android sequences and fistfights. It gives you all the pleasure of a video game without the bother of having to play it.
Andy G.
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Clich after clich abound here - deeply stupid enemies turn this into a farce, and the malicious nature of most of the remaining humans (ridiculous in-fighting, attempted rape) bring into question the worthiness of what's being fought for. "And why isn't the T800 killing Connor outright, instead of throwing him around?" Couldn't agree more - saved him on two occasions in this film. Acting was fine. They just had tripe to work with. Brainless.
Sylvain R
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Very weak scenario, bad acting by Bale, frankly, the Terminator saga is not the same when Cameron is not behind the camera.
Dan
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It was pretty good, wouldn't read to much into the score on metacritic seeing how bad a score T2 actually got. For a Terminator fan this is a must see.
[Anonymous]
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A soulless, scifi channel original.
John Anderson
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Darker, grimmer and more stylistically single-minded than its two relatively giddy predecessors, Terminator Salvation boasts the kind of singular vision that distinguished the James Cameron original, the full-throttle kinetics of "Speed" and an old-fashioned regard for human (and humanoid) heroics.
Paul M.
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This was about as good of a "Terminator" follow-up as I could envision being made. The storyline was never completely solid to begin with, but T4 aligns with the past narrative nicely while adding a few new twists. The end was a bit too canned, but I never once found myself wondering when it would end. Looking forward to T5.
Nate H.
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Too many plot holes. The movie had no point in being, other than to milk the franchise for more money. It takes the plot absolutely no where. [**SPOILERS**] First, if the machines are looking for Kyle Reese, why dont they kill him when they did in fact find him? Using him as bait for John is pointless, because its already been established that killing him would mean John doesnt exist. Remember in the first movie, the terminator went looking for Sara and instantly blew peoples heads off when he asked them their name. But in this one its suddenly different? Next to notice, is when the terminator gets covered in molten ore. That clearly killed him in the second movie. But suddenly the same model of terminator can be covered in it and not melt a single bit. only get sorta slowed down and then make the metal "shatter" off him by moving. Makes no sense at all. Movies dont need to make sense with reality, but they should make sense in the reality they create within themselves. Lets also talk about this new human/terminator/bad-australlian-actor guy. If he was made before skynet was self aware, then why was he a plan from skynet to infiltrate the rebels? Skynet wasnt trying to exterminate humans before it was self aware. Was the lady that had him sign the paper sent back to have that done? That would explain things somewhat. except for the fact that the machines wouldnt send back a "human" since humans are really on their side. And if she was a robot, then why bother making some random guy into a half-human/cyborg thing. just send one back in the first place. I'm getting nitpicky yes. But there is no plot in the movie to follow, they start at point A and end at point A. It cant be good when one of the ending lines is, "We may have won the battle, but we havent wont the war. etc".
Amanda C
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This movie was amazing! Given the reviews, I almost skipped it and I'm so glad I didn't. It was a beautifully shot film, the characters were down to earth and the action was non-stop. I loved the raw post-apocalyptic feel. I think this movie was probably too art house for most of the traditional Terminator dweebs. This is not a generic movie. These days, most of the action movies throw in a lot of really bad jokes and innocuous and pedestrian story lines. Sure, it had some problems but the overall product was stellar. Neither Mad Max nor Blade Runner were received well at first. I think Terminator Salvation is also destined to become a cult classic. It does't have "heart". It has "spine"!
Tyler B.
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I did not walk into the movie expecting a lot. This was probably a good thing. I feel that because of this the movie surprised me and I was pleased. Sure, its not a terminator without Arnold, but this is still a decent flick, even if just an escape from summer boredom. There are a lot of tributes to past films, and I LOVE how they chose to use models instead of CG whenever possible
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