*Update*
The official Sony Pictures site has just posted a rather cool “motion poster” for the upcoming Terminator film. Check it out here!
Sorry 790, I had to do it. As much as you may despise this film, as much as I may agree with you on this, it is time. For as many T4 haters, there will be as many (quite possibly more) fans of the upcoming man vs metal flick. And this post, 790, is for them. Now that I have dispensed the necessary apologies, on to the news T4 fans!
The Internet has been buzzing about McG’s upcoming “Terminator: Salvation” in recent weeks. There has been footage of the film leaked onto the web, which we would have loved to bring to you if not for studios demanding the footage be pulled from most sites. If you have not seen it, I will say that it is still out there if you look hard enough. I have seen it in a couple of places, and it is surprisingly cool. If you are a fan and you’re looking forward to the new movie, I recommend you hit up Google and search for the clip. Basically, it’s a brief rundown of some of the concepts of the movie, it shows several terminators in action. The footage reveals some terminators being created for the movie, including a gigantic “harvester” which apparently rips open remaining buildings and “harvests” humans (there are rumors out there that the plot will center around Skynet’s attempt to harvest humans to get DNA for future terminator models). The footage also shows an early model terminator, the T-600. The 600 series is supposed to have a “nasty soviet” look. In addition to these terminators in the footage, there is also some pretty official looking concept art out there which shows the harvester, the T-600, a snake-like terminator as well as “moto-terminators.” These “moto-terminators” are basically motorcycle/terminator hybrids. No, I’m not kidding. Again, these pics are still out there on the web, waiting for the savvy T4 fan to find them. Unfortunately, I can’t post the pics either, but please find them and check them out.
Another story generating quite a bit of buzz in the world of terminators is the man himself, the original terminator, Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger. Recently photo’s have surfaced of Arnold on the set of T4. What was he doing there? If you remember, when Schwarzenegger was last asked about the movie, he said he found it “confusing.” So why go to the set, Mr Governator? Well, according to McG himself, the T-800 model apparently plays a pretty big role in this film. Arnold would not have time film the movie, what with all his governating going on. So maybe he was there for a little motion capture session? Any terminator film without Arnold probably wouldn’t feel like a terminator film. So could we see Arnold appear as a CGI T-800? Seems probable to me, but I can’t confirm this. Here is what McG had to say on the T-800:
“We’re trying to synthesize a human character with a CGI character and that may or may not have something to do with the T800,” And he isn’t pleased with the progress, as he says “At the moment it’s not good enough, and we’re running out of time.”
I really hope he finds a way to get Arnold in the film. It just wouldn’t be Terminator without him! Now to address all the Internet rumors about the plot of the film, including the controversial “ending.” McG addressed all of this when he aired footage from the film, and sat down for a little Q & A in London recently. So lets start from the beginning. McG was a doubter on day one. He didn’t believe that the world needed another terminator movie. It was not until writer Jonah Nolan convinced McG of his vision to re-invent John Connor ala “Batman Begins.” The two are now comparing the movie to Begins and the new Bond films as re-inventions of the classic characters. An origin story showing how John grew up to be the leader of the resistance. The film is said to be a “gritty, dark, grimy war movie.”
Christian Bale will star in the film as the leader of the human resistance, John Connor. But Bale is already Batman. Two franchises running at the same time? Why would Bale do that? He does have a history of being picky with his film choices, and apparently T4 was no exception. McG said that when he asked Christian to star as Connor, he was initially told to “Fuck right off.” Bale wanted nothing to do with the film unless he was convinced that it could be done as a play with no big budget effects. McG convinced Bale that the film would work as a serious drama, and he signed on to play John Connor in three films. Apparently, McG has the next two films already “arced out.”
So what about this footage that was shown in London, you ask? Well, the footage shown was a combination of the featurette leaked online that I referenced earlier, in addition to some new, unfinished footage. The new footage was described as “Transformers style meets the Matrix.” The description alone is one of the reasons why 790, and now I, are starting to worry about this film. Why do all robots have to suffer from what I now affectionately call “Michael Bay-itis?” Anyway, the footage shows Marcus Wright (played by Sam Worthington) and Kyle Reese (played by Anton Yelchin). Marcus awakes, seemingly unaware of the time and place. He asks what happened, was it Judgement day? Then Marcus and Reese are being chased through the desert by a harvester. It smashes a gas station, and the chase through the desert provides, according to McG himself, some “fairly standard Hollywood action.”
Then there is some of the John Connor drama. John is trying to be the leader he was raised to be, but there are some more experienced military leaders who are reluctant to let this “young, non-soldier” take command. Connor discovers the DNA plot to create the genetically modified T-800’s (as mentioned above) and warns that if the T-800’s come online so soon, the war will already be over. Apparently there was also a scene here that was also shown at comic-con, showing Connor confronting a chained up Marcus Wright. Connor exclaims that Marcus killed his mother and father, be he won’t kill him. Perhaps this is the scene in question?
Connor is seen talking to resistance Pilot Blair Williams (played by Moon Bloodgood). He says “This is not the future my mother told me about.” To which she replies “If you saved us in another future, you can save us in this one.” It is also said that Connor gets to utter the now infamous phrase “I’ll be back.” But it is not used in the same context.
Finally, the most popular and equally disgusting rumor floating around the web is about the films “ending.” Rumor is that the end of the film has John Connor killed and replaced by a recommissioned Terminator. This is another point of contention I have with the film. As I read this rumor, I was disgusted. I thought to myself, how could they ruin the mythos in this way? Well, according to McG, the rumors are false. John Connor will not die at the end of the movie. Here is what he had to say:
“That is not the ending. John Connor is not the machine. We did discuss that idea, but that is not the ending, I can say that right now.”
Well thank goodness for that! That would have been horrible, and really upset a lot of fans. I probably would not have gone to see the movie if that proved to be true. And I still don’t completely trust this news. I don’t trust McG. I think he is terrible. And it wouldn’t shock me if they did something like that. Apparently, there is a lot of terminator fiction out there meant to show avid readers what happened in the future war that up until now was left to the imagination. 790 tells me this stuff is very good (I haven’t read it yet, but I intend too) If this path was followed by McG, the movie would quite possibly be very different. It doesn’t seem like it was followed though. The movie is not out yet, and very little footage has been seen by anyone outside of those working on the film. So we can’t be sure what it will end up like. But I have my doubts, considering McG is the director. I mean, he has already mislead us by telling us he met with the franchises original director James Cameron, and saying he got Cameron’s blessing. This was not true, of course, and McG did come clean. He said while he did not get his blessing, he didn’t come out damning him for making the movie. It was implied that Cameron followed a truly great film by a great man (Alien from Ridley Scott) so he knows what it is like. What does that even mean McG? Just say it man! No one said it was cool, or I hope you do well. They all basically said, “whatever.”
So there you have it, a rather complete update on all the Internet buzz for McG’s “Terminator: Salvation.” Does any of this news change your opinions of the film? Please, let your voices be heard, this is a divisive issue. Are you with me and 790, worrying about this film and how bad it seems to be? Or are you psyched to see the future war, and more man vs metal madness?
“Terminator: Salvation” stars Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Common, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Helena Bonham Carter. It is currently set for release May 22, 2009.