Terminator 4 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Is there anything more amusing than the bickering of film directors? Not on a slow news day such as this! Our friends over at Slashfilm have dug up a charming feud between Transformers' Michael Bay and Terminator: Salvation's McG. Naturally, it occurs over who has the biggest ... robot. Or rather, who came up with the concept of giant robots first.

Bay fired the first volley on his official website after the Transformers 2 teaser poster was unveiled. "Okay it's time to turn up the heat on Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen. We've waited low in the weeds letting all the summer movies get their stuff out. We've seen the great year end movies, and watched the upcoming clips of the upcoming summer fare. We've seen certain movies coming out even try to duplicate Transformer size robots in their ads. Please, come on. Well, I promise you we will rock your world with Transformers 2. The fans wanted ROBOTS KICKING ASS - well we got it. Today we are releasing the teaser poster and soon the onslaught will continue with a steady drum beat until June 26th."

What other giant robot movie could he mean? Why, Terminator: Salvation of course, and McG wasn't going to take that lying down. He fired back via Comcast's Movie Blog. "It bothers me to tell you the truth. Ultimately, our large robots have nothing to do with the Transformers robots. I say with respect, giant robots have been the theme of film for a real long time . So we want to do everything we can to create separation. Our film's about T-800s and the Marcus character and the Connor character, and this, that, and the other. So, to have people have a problem with that wouldn't be working for us so we want to make sure there's separation."

While one can't be blamed for mistaking all of composer Danny Elfman's work for sounding like his distinctive collaborations with Tim Burton, the three-time Oscar nominee has been kicking as much ass as ever when it comes to more conventional action fare, with work on The Kingdom, Wanted, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, not to mention dramas like Milk and Notorious.

So when the MTV Movies Blog broke the news that Elfman just began scoring this summer's Terminator: Salvation, it sounded like as good a fit as any. He doesn't promise the return of Brad Fiedel's signature theme, though he also doesn't rule it out. Even if he sticks with a wholly original composition, I really think he'll bring something exciting to the table, whether or not director McG manages to.

MTV also brought less surprising news that hip-hop artist Common, who starred in Wanted and stars in this, will be contributing a track. Now I could see the beat turning up for that:

Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh -- WHAT?
Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh -- YEAH!

Y'all feelin' me? No? Well, are you at least feeling the Elfman?

So Erik-with-a-k covered the coming comedies of 2009, Scott was all over the horror picks (though his inclusion of Race to Witch Mountain still boggles my mind), Eric-with-a-c nabbed the family-friendly fare, and Elisabeth went over the geek fodder that awaits. But while I respect their calendar years and made-up math alike, I've opted to divide my list of 2009's action and adventure flicks into four categories: Action Flicks I Couldn't Care More About, Action Flicks I Couldn't Care Less About, Action Flicks That I Hope Surprise Me, and Those Which Fell In Between. Enjoy!

Action Flicks I Couldn't Care More About: First and foremost -- Watchmen (March 6th). It's one hell of a graphic novel and looks to be one hell of an adaptation (with or without the Giant Blank), but the only problem is it may not hit theaters on time if 20th Century Fox has anything to say about it. Both Fox and Warner Brothers are fighting over who actually owns the rights, and if a judge favors Fox comes January 20th (when the court date is set), we're looking at a delayed release and a whole ton of angry fans. Then there's Public Enemies (July 1st), which has me sold on not the subject matter, but sheer pedigree: Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp and Christian Bale as '30s gangsters. (It doesn't hurt that the earliest word ranges from damn good to great.) On the skimpier side, I can only hope that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 17th) streamlines its source material as the previous one had, and I can only hope that Crank 2: High Voltage (April 17th) lives up/down to the depravity of its predecessor. There's one last action movie that I couldn't care more about because, well, I've already seen a version of it. The international cut of Taken (January 30th, though reportedly opening with some R-dodging trims) is about as brisk and butt-kicking as one might hope out of a man-on-a-mission kidnapping thriller, and if you disagree, I'll send Liam Neeson to change your mind.

Gallery: Watchmen

UPDATE: The domestic trailer is now up at Apple.

Check out the full Japanese trailer for Terminator Salvation, which should be attached to The Day The Earth Stood Still, not to mention shown on Entertainment Tonight -- um -- tonight, and will likely be yanked from YouTube in favor of a proper online premiere later this week. I don't know about you, but this doesn't look half-bad -- even if it doesn't quite feel like Terminator proper. (Then again, I think Rise of the Machines is tolerable, so what do I know?)

You've got your Christian Bale yelling, you've got big robots, small robots, ones the size of your bike, and explosions are in no short supply. Something tells me that probable PG-13 might not be so distracting given the scale of the piece. I never thought that I'd say it, but I think I want to give director McG (Charlie's Angels 1 & 2, We Are Marshall) the benefit of the doubt here.

If the trailer's still up by the time this post is, what say you guys and girls? Does this look like next summer's primo blockbuster to you or not so much?

Helena Bonham Carter gave a few hints on her surprising Terminator: Salvation role to Sci-Fi Wire -- and surprise surprise, it's not a cuddly one! "I kind of play a baddie, definitely a baddie. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, but I'm a very bad person."

Now, I know there's readers out there who are more up on their Terminator mythology than I am (and it feels weird to even refer to it having a mythology), but were there bad humans? Turncoats who helped the machines? Evil scientists from Skynet? I feel certain this was discussed somewhere in a Kyle Reese monologue, but I may just be filling in gaps. Of course, Bonham Carter could be playing a Terminator (Summer Glau has proved you can be tiny and lethal), but I'm trying to keep all options open.

Given Bonham Carter's late in the game casting, it turns out she was replacing another actress -- Tilda Swinton, who I now want to pop up as a Terminator at some point. (I think I would instantly surrender.)

As for Bonham Carter's own interest, it turns out it was all due to her other half. "Tim [Burton] would have killed me if I hadn't done it, because he's such a Terminator fan. I've been in big movies before ... but I've never been in this kind of big popcorn action movie, a male one, an action one." And honestly, I like that she is in one. I continue to be amazed at the talent who has been attracted to this film, and like the rest of the world, I'm excited to see what becomes of it.

Terminator: Salvation opens May 22, 2009. We must try not to get overdosed on it ... and that's going to be really hard.

Though he won't be appearing in the latest installment of the Terminator franchise, Arnold Schwarzenegger can still be considered involved, at least as an authority on the series. Unfortunately, as such an authority, he's apparently confused and underwhelmed by the early footage he's seen of Terminator Salvation. According to the Los Angeles Times, the "Governator" was recently given a private screening of scenes from the sequel -- either the same as or similar to the stuff shown at Comic-Con. In response, Schwarzenegger reportedly said: "They showed me some footage, but I don't have a feel for the movie. I didn't see enough. I wasn't sure who the Terminator was. I don't know if there is one or if he's the star or the hero. These are the things that determine the success and how strong the movie will be."

Well, that isn't so negative. Schwarzenegger is merely unsure of what's going on in the movie after seeing scattered sequences. Why nobody told him the basic plot is unclear, and it is strange he'd have no clue if any of the characters he was watching were Terminators or not. Still, that's not his fault nor a specific problem with the footage. However, the way he seemed to shrug it off and wish the filmmakers well is unfortunate. Meanwhile, he's claiming how much he loves Wanted and Will Ferrell movies, including Step Brothers and Semi-Pro and getting excited about this summer's box office numbers. But Terminator Salvation? He just says that if it's good it could break records and hopes it will make a lot of money, acting as if he might not even see it.

Despite the California governor's seemingly less-than-thrilled reaction, I remain excited about the fourth Terminator movie.

[via Rotten Tomatoes]

The script for Terminator Salvation must be all kinds of magic, because it's attracting the most unlikely of people. The Hollywood Reporter announced today that Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to join the cast, which already includes some pretty fine actors. Exactly who or what she will play is not mentioned, merely that her part is "small, but pivotal."

So, let the speculation begin! As Sarah Connor has morphed to a lovely brunette Lena Headey in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, perhaps she will be playing her in a flashback? (I know, the television show is on a separate mythology/timeline as the films, but I have to consider all the possibilities.) Could she be a Terminator model, despite her petiteness? A vital designer of SkyNet? A baker who comes up with an industrious way to dispose of fallen soldiers and feed what's left of humanity? I'm at a loss here.

Bonham Carter has certainly moved away from her Merchant and Ivory days. Who would have ever thought the adorable Lucy Honeychurch was going to be Bellatrix Lestrange, let alone go post-apocalyptic? Oddly, her attachment interests me far more than even Christian Bale's. And there, I have to hand it to McG -- every time I think my vague interest in this movie is dead, he finds a way to stir it up again.

Terminator Salvation is aiming to hit theatres on May 22nd, 2009. That is going to be one enormous summer, isn't it?

In Wanted, rapper-actor Common plays The Gunsmith -- a cool, deadly expert marksman who mostly lets his bullets do the talking. But meeting with Cinematical in Los Angeles, the veteran of films like Smokin' Aces and Street Kings is warm and obviously enthusiastic about his experiences, talking about everything from his preparation process for playing what he calls "a Samurai warrior" in Wanted to the challenges facing African-American actors -- plus what's good to drink in Prague and how holding a real gun to James McAvoy's head can get you in the moment for your scenes.

Cinematical's podcast content is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.