New Terminator Salvation Trailer

[Sean Novak]

Here it is in all its glory. I think this will be the biggest surprise of the year. I saw the premiere footage unleashed to the public in the form of a rough trailer last year at Comic Con and McG did the impossible, he actually convinced an enthusiastic but suspect sea of fanpeople (I'm being gender neutral here because there are tons of girls at conventions now) that he was in fact more than capable of giving us a kick ass Terminator sequel. I don't think anyone thought it was possible if James Cameron didn't helm it again. The footage I saw had no CG added yet, so it looked like the Road Warrior meets Terminator. I liked that thought a lot - a stripped down, practical effects Terminator. Now this trailer adds the CG in heaps, but it still looks well done, gritty and epic. So even my initial impression of the movie has shifted and I'm still on board.

Our favorite insult-hurler Christian Bale has proven himself to be a smart selector of screenplays and word is he forced McG to re-write the draft which was initially presented to him. Bale reportedly told McG that any script he'll sign on for has to be compelling enough to be read by people in an empty room, like a bare bones play, and still convey all of its themes and emotions in that 2 hours. Is that what we could have here?

At the con McG came off as a very enthusiastic, determined man. You can tell that studio execs love him; he's the kind of guy that can go into a room and sell your own clothes back to you. But he never came off as pretentious like Michael Bay would. He came off as a guy who clearly knows what he's doing and knows what a Terminator movie needs. This won't be Charlie's Angels with exoskeletons replacing Cameron Diaz’s boney ass. This will be a kick ass apocalyptic action flick starring Batman. I'm in McG. Now start using your real name (Joseph McGinty) instead of one that sounds like a burger that belongs on the dollar menu and you can start gathering some street cred.

[SimpsnsFan]

You're right, that trailer does look pretty kickass.

HOWEVER, this whole aspect of "machines that think and look like they are human" seems like a direct rip-off of Battlestar Galactica. There's gotta be some other film geeks out there who can back me up and say that series is hands down the best sci-fi epic of the last decade. I'm sure other sources have presented the idea as well, but BSG has made that concept so incredibly intricate and fascinating, there's no way this new Terminator movie will do more than just scratch the surface.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that apart from this bare-bones play aspect, there are more moments of Christian Bale landing a helicopter on a Terminator's head and then blowing it's head off. AWESOME!

Thanks for convincing me to sign up. I'm here for you Sean. Keep it up!

[Sean Novak]

I keep hearing about BSG and I just have to break down and start renting the series. It sounds incredibly geeky even to me but I keep hearing too many great things. And as far as machines looking AND acting like humans, I'm sure this concept has come up in sci-fi writing decades ago, but films like Alien with Bishop's character come to mind. See also Westworld with Yul Brynner (which I just learned was directed and written by Michael Crichton). I'm starting to realize how big an influence Crichton has been for both modern sci-fi AND medical drama. But that's another article.

I'm looking forward to Bale going head to head with that Terminator in the trailer. No offense to Linda Hamilton, as manly as she is, but I can't wait to see a real man, specifically Batman, vs. a Terminator. Isn't that a graphic novel?

[SimpsnsFan]

Sean Novak said:

I keep hearing about BSG and I just have to break down and start renting the series. It sounds incredibly geeky even to me but I keep hearing too many great things.

I promise you BSG is not nearly as geeky as you think. Though you may find yourself accidentally saying "Frak", which is indeed pretty damn ridiculous. Get started now! There's only one more episode after tonight and I KNOW you can catch up on 4 seasons in a week.