James Cameron Kinda Sorta Disses 'Terminator Salvation'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, Remakes and Sequels
Oh, Terminator Salvation. It's the sequel that tried, grabbing excellent names like Christian Bale, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anton Yelchin ... but it had so much going against it. We had already learned, after Terminator 3 came out, that Terminators without James Cameron aren't much fun at all. But now another sequel with another John Connor, all at the hands of the Charlie's Angels helmer, and it just didn't do very well at all -- disappointing numbers and an ouch-worthy 34% fresh at Rottentomatoes.And what we all want to know is what does James Cameron think about what's happened to his beloved franchise? Well, he's not the sort of guy to be too catty, but what he said during a Q&A at the end of last month says it all. Cameron discusses how he wasn't keen on returning to Terminator after Titanic, and how he suggested that Arnold Schwarzenegger get as much money as he could for his work in the third film. When Cameron told him just how much he should ask for, Arnie said: "Really?" And Cameron's response was: "Sure, are you kidding? They're not gonna make the movie without you. That'd be stupid!" (You can hear Cameron tell the story over at Movieline.)
So, there you have it. Of course, it takes more than Arnie to make a good Terminator film, as we learned last time. And it certainly takes more than some mediocre-at-best CGI of the man to make for a good T800 this time. But hearing Cameron talk, I want to see the director finish Avatar and get back into the Cyberdyne spirit, like the anal-retentive parent who trashes their kid's haphazard school project and redoes it into a masterpiece. Father knows best ...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-04-2009 @ 10:18AM
Fargus said...
Why are you using the critics score from rotten tomatoes? The community score is the important one, and its at a more respectable 71%. The community gives a more accurate feel of how the movie is going over.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 10:24AM
Kurt Munro said...
But the public are idiots. They'd also rate a Robbie Williams album as one of the top 10 of all time. Doesn't mean it is.
6-04-2009 @ 10:27AM
Fargus said...
LOL! You're telling me film critics aren't idiots? Interesting.....
6-04-2009 @ 10:32AM
Mr. R said...
What strikes me as odd is to think that the rest of the intelligent community would actually care if this was a great movie or not.
You see robots, explosions and chases, what else do you need? As demanding as I can get, I clear off any expectations and sit down and watch a pop corn flick. End of story.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 10:47AM
shadowracer said...
You thought the CGI to do Arnie was mediocre? It was entirely convincing. It didn't have any of the sh!tty texture or incomplete lighting toddler Ben Button had.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 12:24PM
Dru said...
I for one was very disappointed in the final Terminator movie. Too many things didn't make sense, and having Arnold in the movie for 72 seconds wasn't worth it. Unless of course he is using the money to repay California for his misguided governmental abuse.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 12:33PM
Ben Mac said...
I saw Terminator Salvation last night.
I have been a fan of the franchise since I was a child, and the third installment was so destructive to what was a gruelling storyline.
This film Had everything that a Terminator film should have, it paid homage to the first two movies, and it did not make a hollywood version like R.O.T.M. This was what every fan was waiting for, the war... It made it look real and seem believable.
The only thing I would say was I disagreed with Christian Bale as the lead role, Sam worthington was brilliant... This film is a 4 out of 5, I wont give away shit... just go and see it!!!
I promise and good cinema experience!
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 1:07PM
cpred23 said...
TERMINATOR WAS WAY BETTER THAN WOLVERINE WAS AND THEY DIDN'T DESTORY THE CHARACTERS LIKE THE WORST MOVIE THIS YEAR WOLERINE.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 1:18PM
Lizerne Guiting said...
It is too bad Arnold can't milk this for cash and use it to help the deficit! Anyway, I didn't think Salvation was all that bad. Better than T3 with the action, and I don't think non-critics were expecting a whole lot from McG to begin with. OF COURSE Cameron can't be topped. It was HIS franchise that spouted popcorn one-liners like "I'll be back" and "Hasta la vista, baby." Kudos to McG for delivering a fun actioner with the pressure of filling very big shoes.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 3:52PM
Tom Whitaker said...
Umm, those comments are about T3.
Reply
6-04-2009 @ 9:35PM
Matty said...
Personally i liked the cgi Arnie more than the real one.
Looked better, moved better and didn't talk.
Reply
6-06-2009 @ 11:34AM
winston said...
Jim Cameron's genius cannot be topped--that said, Titanic was a gigantic chick flick.--and if he feels compelled to talk shit about McG's attempt to BE him--Why didn't he stop being an auteur for five seconds and FOLLOW THROUGH!Then we would have gotten the showstopper we've been waiting all these years for!! "Oh, that's not what I would have done"...oh REALLY? we're WAITING, Jim! when you FORCE the fans to have to remake your movies for you, you forfeit the right to complain.
Reply
6-05-2009 @ 10:54AM
nick said...
I thought the movie was great! It had tons of action, there was even humor, and the story line was killer! The special effects weren't bad either! I been waiting for the war, and it's here! I was very glad the Arnold wasn't there to suck up halk the budget just because. Don't take me wrong, he made the original 2 movies what they are! But after the 3rd, I'm glad it ended the way it did!
I can't wait for the next one! Or next two for that matter!
MCG, you did a great job! James, if you don't like, then you should have done it yourself, and stop crying like a baby!
Reply
6-06-2009 @ 9:33AM
filmguy said...
Why does this article have suggest that Cameron trashed the new film? That was a comment that he made over six years ago in regards to Terminator 3. It has nothing to do with his opinions of the new film nor does it reflect badly on the new film.
Salvation is no where near as bad as people are pushing it to be. The sad truth is that people just don't want a film about a post apocalyptic world that is run by machines that are trying to exterminate all of humanity. People want safe happy little family films. Movies that are filled with cheap laughs, predictable formulaic narrative, cliche dialogue, and optimism. Especially with the times that we live in with the economic crisis and all. Also fans are always rough on their favorite franchises when a new director and cast take over. It's like they go into the movie wanting to hate it because they think that some how they would be betraying the original talent that made the original. Then why do they bother seeing the movie in the first place? People need to chill out. This flick truly is not bad. It has some narrative issues with focusing too much on Marcus when it should have focused on John Connor. Marcus was really the sub plot so to make his story the main focus was an odd choice. They also should have shown more humanity and vulnerability to Connor maybe even with a scene where he talks about his wife's pregnancy. It is odd that we see that she is pregnant but it's never mentioned. No one can relate to a man destined to fight Skynet but everyone can relate to man fighting as a husband and a father to protect the future of his family. Other then that though, this movie is pretty solid.
Any blame for the portrayal of Connor though falls with the writers and directors. Everyone seems so ready to blame everything on Bale but they forget that it's his job to put on screen what is in the script and the directors vision. I think it's impossible to debate that Bale is an extremely talented actor and is capable of anything with the right direction and script. He did the very best he could with what they gave him. Also I thought that, even though they could have done more, John Connor was represented well on screen. As far as his intensity, you try spending your entire childhood on the run, live through judgement day, fight in a war with an almost unbeatable enemy and see how intense you are. True Connor used to have a sense of humor and cockiness but this takes place fourteen years after the last time we saw him. People change, especially under extreme circumstances. He has been fighting for ten years and has seen probably some pretty terrible things. He literally has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Bale's intensity is both believable and realistic. Problem is that people don't like realism in movies in this day and age.
It had great action scenes with some clever cinematography. The visual style was really impressive. The film had a great cast which all delivered the best they could. Sam Worthington brought a likability and was relatable in his portrayal of Marcus. Anton Yelchin really surprised me and was totally believable as a young Kyle Reese. As always Christian Bale brought his best to the movie. The film was filled with fan moments ranging from homages to the previous films. The film carried the narrative through the the origin of Kyle Reese, to the birth of the T800, to John Connor's rise to resistance leader. It stays true to the history and mythology of the franchise.
I think people really need to stop and reconsider if they are being too judgmental on this flick. I have a feeling that if Cameron had his name attached in some way less would be complaining. Had this film come out before the economic crisis less would be complaining. If it came out ten years ago I think it would have been much more successful. A great deal of a films success depends off of good timing. Unfortunately this just wasn't the time for the movie I guess. The same thing happened to Watchmen. That was even a bigger tragedy than Watchmen because that truly was a great film. Still though Terminator Salvation is a good time and, though it does have some flaws, does the series justice for the most part. Anyone who hasn't seen it yet should just see it for themselves and make their own judgments.
Reply
6-06-2009 @ 9:37AM
filmguy said...
I wrote something out incorrectly in my post. When I said "The same thing happened to Watchmen. That was even a bigger tragedy than Watchmen because that truly was a great film." What I meant to say was, the same thing happened to Watchmen. That was even a bigger tragedy because Watchmen truly was a great film.
I just didn't want there to be any misunderstandings about that. Watchmen is by far superior to Terminator Salvation. Still, like I said, Terminator Salvation is no where near as bad as some claim.
Reply
6-06-2009 @ 10:19PM
Jbizzle said...
I think I must be crazy and my two buds who saw T4 with me must be too. I thought it was a thoroughly entertaining flick. With all the bad reviews, I went anyways. I kept waiting for it to get to 'that' spot where it goes from cool to suck, and it just never happened. I mean, there were a few cheesy moments, but as a whole it blew T3 outta the water.
I mean, it's not going to win any Oscars, but it certainly wasn't a bad movie. "The Happening" is a bad sci-fi movie, "Battlefield Earth" was a bad sci-fi movie, "Supernova" was a bad sci-fi movie. T3 was a forced sci-fi movie that had big shoes to fill and didn't even come close. T4 certainly was a lot better than any of those, and it was drastically better than I was expecting after all the crap reviews.
I dunno, maybe it's just me, but the story was better than "Star Trek" (which I still really liked), the action was a lot better than "Wolverine" (which wasn't terrible), and the sense of imminent death and despair was handled excellently, in my opinion; the robots actually seemed threatening and hellbent on killing at any cost, which I really didn't get the feeling of in the third one at all.
I'll tell you one thing; when I saw the first digi-Arny come in, hunting John for 10 minutes, it actually felt scary, and it takes a lot for me to get there in a movie these days.
Reply
6-12-2009 @ 7:51AM
filmguy said...
I had a theory for the reason why Terminator Salvation failed at the box office. I theorized it's because of the times that we live in. With the economic crisis and all, people just don't want to go to a film about a post apocalyptic world that is ruled by machines hunting humanity to extinction. People would rather family friendly films that offer optimism and safe predictable narratives. My theory seems to have some new information to support it. The international box office report has come in and Terminator Salvation is a hit over seas. It claimed the number one spot grossing $67.5 million which brings the international total to $101.6 million. It has almost made more over seas than in America in just a week of release. Terminator Salvation beat out Terminator 3's opening international gross by 20%. Salvation even beat out Night At The Museum 2 which was in the number 2 spot with a total of $26.7 million. This indicates that internationally, people prefer a darker film to a family friendly film. Had Terminator Salvation come out ten years ago it perhaps would have been much more successful. Here is a link that discusses Terminator Salvation's international success...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/world/news/e3i0bc78baf8235f8b45a85761d351697f2
Reply
6-14-2009 @ 8:02PM
Bishop said...
This was a great film!
And one that I had been waiting to see for a long time -- a depiction of the future war with the machines.
It's not a perfect film, but it was an enjoyable one and I recommend it to any Terminator fan. Both Bale and Worthington were excellent.
I can't wait for McG's second installment!
Reply