Terminator Salvation Bulletpoints
A little article I read on Yahoo about Terminator:
1. The Terminator "Terminator Salvation" is a prequel to 1984's "The Terminator" that takes place 34 years after the original. How does that work? It is set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles of 2018 during the early days of the human resistance, eleven years before Kyle Reese is sent back in time to protect Sarah Conner from the first Terminator. (Boy is this film going to be silly in nine years. Or sillier, at least.)
2. The story centers on John Conner, who has been told from birth that he will lead the humans against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But at this point he's just a foot soldier still climbing the ranks. Everything Conner believes is called into question with the arrival of Marcus, who claims to be a human from before the bombs went off, but is revealed to be something else entirely. (This confuses me. I thought as Connor was literally born for the role, there wouldn't be a lowly foot soldier pretext.)
3. Director McG The movie is directed by McG, who previously made the "Charlie's Angels" films and "We Are Marshall." His name is actually Joseph McGinty Nichol, but from birth his family called him "McG" to distinguish him from his grandfather and uncle, who were both named "Joe." In 2003, McG was going to direct a new version of "Superman," but filming was to take place in Australia, and, ironically, McG is afraid to fly. (McG also directs a show I watch called Supernatural which is fucking GREAT.)
4. Christian Bale was McG's first choice to play John Conner, whom he calls "the most credible action star in the world right now." McG offered Bale the part while he was shooting "The Dark Knight," and he initially turned it down. Bale told McG that if he could refine the script to the point where it could be read on stage without any special effects and still be a compelling story, he would agree to star in it. (The site was making a huge deal about this as if it makes Bale a primadonna. Really? His "demand" is that he be in a good movie? Shut up, Yahoo.)
5. To that end, McG brought Jonathan Nolan on board to rewrite the script. Nolan is the brother of director Christopher Nolan, and they collaborated on the screenplays for "The Prestige" and "The Dark Knight." Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of TV's "CSI" franchise, also worked on the script. With the script in place, Bale signed on to play Conner, with the option to do two more "Terminator" movies if this one is successful. (So basically they are already saying this movie doesn't have an ending. That's fine I guess, no Terminator has ever really had an ending...)
6. Sam Worthington McG met with "Terminator" creator James Cameron, who wasn't involved in the third movie and reportedly wasn't happy with how it turned out. Cameron didn't contribute to the script of "Salvation," but he did recommend Australian actor Sam Worthington for the part of Marcus. Worthington also stars in "Avatar," Cameron's first movie as a director since "Titanic," which will be released this December. (I've been giving Cameron crap in my own head at least for years for 3, even though I thought it was OK. Not great, but not enraging. Do they really have to say he wasn't happy? NO ONE was happy.)
7. Also in the cast: Anton Yelchin plays the young version of Kyle Reese, who will later go back in time and father John Conner. Yelchin will also be the young Chekov in this summer's "Star Trek." Bryce Dallas Howard is Kate Conner, John's wife, who was played by Claire Danes in "Terminator 3." And Helena Bonham Carter plays the villain, Serena. Carter said she took the role because her partner, director Tim Burton, is a huge "Terminator" fan. (Notice they say Carter is Burton's "partner" like they either own a law firm together or are a lesbian couple. Or they own a lesbian law firm together.)
8. One of Stan Winston's Creations Stan Winston, the special effects mastermind who built the original "Terminator" and supervised the three previous movies, worked on "Salvation" up until his death last June. McG has said he plans to dedicate the film to Winston's memory. The movie will have a host of new robots to plague humanity: Harvesters that grab and collect people (and launch motorcycle-like Terminators to chase down anyone who runs), Hydrobots in the water, and Aerostats in the sky. Also, we'll see the T-600 models, the easy-to-spot rubber-skinned robots Reese mentions in the first movie. (It might help this movie's cause if they didn't give names to the robots. Let's leave it at letting the fans go "that cool water thing" rather than using creative names like "Hydrobots.")
9. Though he's been a bit preoccupied with running California since "Terminator 3," Arnold Schwarzenegger may make an appearance in "Salvation." Reportedly, a computer-animated recreation of Schwarzenegger's face will be digitally grafted onto the body of Austrian bodybuilder Roland Kickinger (who played the young Arnold in a TV movie). McG is also in talks to have Linda Hamilton reprise her role as Sarah Conner in a voice-over that will tie the beginning of this movie to the end of "Terminator 2."(Uhhhh....okay. I guess this will be awesome? And by the way, there's a reason why Linda Hamilton would only do a voice over. That's because sometime shortly after finishing Terminator 2, she accidentally opened the Ark of the Covenant.)
10. One fact that is still unknown about "Terminator Salvation" is what rating it will receive from the MPAA. The three previous "Terminator" movies were all rated R, but the producers are pushing McG to bring this one in at a PG-13. As with the fourth "Die Hard," the studio is hoping a more kid-friendly rating will bring in bigger crowds (and sell more action figures and video games). At a panel at WonderCon on Sunday, McG asked the crowd if they would prefer an R-rated movie, to much applause. But it stands to reason that if the theatrical release is rated PG-13, an "unrated" DVD edition is sure to follow. (I am fucking SICK of movies getting pushed to PG-13 for the sake of "marketability." Stop kneecapping things I enjoy for the sake of CHILDREN. Taken was a perfect example. The European version kicks ass. The American version occasionally causes minor bodily harm to ass. I don't fucking get this. Hopefully McG will make it work, I've seen and read him in interviews and he seems like a straight shooter.)
EDIT: Oh, and the trailer is looking pretty sweet.
1. The Terminator "Terminator Salvation" is a prequel to 1984's "The Terminator" that takes place 34 years after the original. How does that work? It is set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles of 2018 during the early days of the human resistance, eleven years before Kyle Reese is sent back in time to protect Sarah Conner from the first Terminator. (Boy is this film going to be silly in nine years. Or sillier, at least.)
2. The story centers on John Conner, who has been told from birth that he will lead the humans against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But at this point he's just a foot soldier still climbing the ranks. Everything Conner believes is called into question with the arrival of Marcus, who claims to be a human from before the bombs went off, but is revealed to be something else entirely. (This confuses me. I thought as Connor was literally born for the role, there wouldn't be a lowly foot soldier pretext.)
3. Director McG The movie is directed by McG, who previously made the "Charlie's Angels" films and "We Are Marshall." His name is actually Joseph McGinty Nichol, but from birth his family called him "McG" to distinguish him from his grandfather and uncle, who were both named "Joe." In 2003, McG was going to direct a new version of "Superman," but filming was to take place in Australia, and, ironically, McG is afraid to fly. (McG also directs a show I watch called Supernatural which is fucking GREAT.)
4. Christian Bale was McG's first choice to play John Conner, whom he calls "the most credible action star in the world right now." McG offered Bale the part while he was shooting "The Dark Knight," and he initially turned it down. Bale told McG that if he could refine the script to the point where it could be read on stage without any special effects and still be a compelling story, he would agree to star in it. (The site was making a huge deal about this as if it makes Bale a primadonna. Really? His "demand" is that he be in a good movie? Shut up, Yahoo.)
5. To that end, McG brought Jonathan Nolan on board to rewrite the script. Nolan is the brother of director Christopher Nolan, and they collaborated on the screenplays for "The Prestige" and "The Dark Knight." Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of TV's "CSI" franchise, also worked on the script. With the script in place, Bale signed on to play Conner, with the option to do two more "Terminator" movies if this one is successful. (So basically they are already saying this movie doesn't have an ending. That's fine I guess, no Terminator has ever really had an ending...)
6. Sam Worthington McG met with "Terminator" creator James Cameron, who wasn't involved in the third movie and reportedly wasn't happy with how it turned out. Cameron didn't contribute to the script of "Salvation," but he did recommend Australian actor Sam Worthington for the part of Marcus. Worthington also stars in "Avatar," Cameron's first movie as a director since "Titanic," which will be released this December. (I've been giving Cameron crap in my own head at least for years for 3, even though I thought it was OK. Not great, but not enraging. Do they really have to say he wasn't happy? NO ONE was happy.)
7. Also in the cast: Anton Yelchin plays the young version of Kyle Reese, who will later go back in time and father John Conner. Yelchin will also be the young Chekov in this summer's "Star Trek." Bryce Dallas Howard is Kate Conner, John's wife, who was played by Claire Danes in "Terminator 3." And Helena Bonham Carter plays the villain, Serena. Carter said she took the role because her partner, director Tim Burton, is a huge "Terminator" fan. (Notice they say Carter is Burton's "partner" like they either own a law firm together or are a lesbian couple. Or they own a lesbian law firm together.)
8. One of Stan Winston's Creations Stan Winston, the special effects mastermind who built the original "Terminator" and supervised the three previous movies, worked on "Salvation" up until his death last June. McG has said he plans to dedicate the film to Winston's memory. The movie will have a host of new robots to plague humanity: Harvesters that grab and collect people (and launch motorcycle-like Terminators to chase down anyone who runs), Hydrobots in the water, and Aerostats in the sky. Also, we'll see the T-600 models, the easy-to-spot rubber-skinned robots Reese mentions in the first movie. (It might help this movie's cause if they didn't give names to the robots. Let's leave it at letting the fans go "that cool water thing" rather than using creative names like "Hydrobots.")
9. Though he's been a bit preoccupied with running California since "Terminator 3," Arnold Schwarzenegger may make an appearance in "Salvation." Reportedly, a computer-animated recreation of Schwarzenegger's face will be digitally grafted onto the body of Austrian bodybuilder Roland Kickinger (who played the young Arnold in a TV movie). McG is also in talks to have Linda Hamilton reprise her role as Sarah Conner in a voice-over that will tie the beginning of this movie to the end of "Terminator 2."(Uhhhh....okay. I guess this will be awesome? And by the way, there's a reason why Linda Hamilton would only do a voice over. That's because sometime shortly after finishing Terminator 2, she accidentally opened the Ark of the Covenant.)
10. One fact that is still unknown about "Terminator Salvation" is what rating it will receive from the MPAA. The three previous "Terminator" movies were all rated R, but the producers are pushing McG to bring this one in at a PG-13. As with the fourth "Die Hard," the studio is hoping a more kid-friendly rating will bring in bigger crowds (and sell more action figures and video games). At a panel at WonderCon on Sunday, McG asked the crowd if they would prefer an R-rated movie, to much applause. But it stands to reason that if the theatrical release is rated PG-13, an "unrated" DVD edition is sure to follow. (I am fucking SICK of movies getting pushed to PG-13 for the sake of "marketability." Stop kneecapping things I enjoy for the sake of CHILDREN. Taken was a perfect example. The European version kicks ass. The American version occasionally causes minor bodily harm to ass. I don't fucking get this. Hopefully McG will make it work, I've seen and read him in interviews and he seems like a straight shooter.)
EDIT: Oh, and the trailer is looking pretty sweet.
Comments
Instead, Nolan's camera work wasn't explicit, but it implied violence like a mofo, which can be more effective sometimes.
But yes, marketing affecting art is bullshit.
"Alien VS. Predator"! Rated PG-13! Not exactly art, but perhaps the most blatant and ridiculous example of marketing's power over film.