VideoVista covers rental and retail titles in all genres and movie or TV categories, with filmmaker interviews, auteur profiles, top 10 lists,
plus regular prize draws.
HOME PAGE
INDEX OF ALL REVIEWS
SEARCH THIS SITE
COMPETITIONS
FORTHCOMING REVIEWS
TOP 10 LISTS
INTERVIEWS & PROFILES
RETRO REVIEWS SECTION
ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS
READERS' COMMENTS
SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER
SITE MAP
LINKS
SUPPORT THIS SITE -
SHOP USING THESE LINKS
visit other Pigasus Press sites...
The ZONE - genre nonfiction
Soundchecks - music reviews
Rotary Action - helicopter movies
|
December 2009
cast: Sam Worthington, Christian Bale, Helena Bonham Carter, Moon Bloodgood, and Bryce Dallas Howard
director: McG
111 minutes (12) 2009
widescreen ratio 1.78:1
Sony DVD Region 2 retail
RATING: 7/10
review by J.C. Hartley
|
Terminator Salvation
I'm no great fan of the Terminator series, due to a lifelong antipathy to Arnie that dates from Pumping Iron, but I was lured to
watch this on DVD by the excellent cinema trailer; mind you even G.I. Joe looked good.
This prequel has had its detractors but I quite enjoyed it. Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington, Clash Of The Titans, Avatar) is on 'death
row' after a cop-killing when he is approached by Dr Serena Kogan (the ever fantastic Helena Bonham Carter) of Cyberdyne Systems who wishes him to
donate his body for medical research. This short tense sequence between the condemned man and the scientist dying of cancer is the nearest the film
comes to acted drama and is savoured in retrospect.
Fifteen years later in 2018, after Judgement Day has seen machine intelligence attempt genocide against the human race, resistance leader John
Connor is the only survivor of an attack, which reveals Skynet harvesting human prisoners to create robots swathed in human tissue. Connor survives
a counter-attack by Skynet that also leads to the emergence of Wright from beneath the Skynet base.
The Resistance has discovered a radio frequency which effectively switches-off Skynet and Connor volunteers to test it. Meanwhile Wright hooks up
with Connors' father-to-be Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, Star Trek). When Reese and mute companion Star (Jadagrace
Berry) are captured by the machines, which are aware of Reese's future, Wright is determined to save them. He meets Resistance pilot Blair (Moon
Bloodgood) and travels with her to hook up with the Resistance but a revelation about his true nature threatens everything. OK, he's a cyborg; the
trailers don't hide it why should I? And guess what, the anti-Skynet radio frequency is a trap!
Sam Worthington does quite a bit with very little to go on; he has a certain presence which means he adds dignity to what amounts to a beefcake
role. Christian Bale does his mean and moody driven avenger, and even reprises his
Batman voice.
There are some references to the original movies, the continuity is apparently spot-on (who cares?), and the action sequences are what director
McG does best. Some of it is a bit Matrix-esque, the Resistance leaders have a submarine, and there is an AI quasi-human revelation debate
thingy. Also Connor is only a leader insofar as he enjoys popular support, he has superiors and is given orders, but everyone looks to him anyway,
and by two-thirds in all the other commanders are dead anyway so, whatever... It's fine, really, and you never tire of big stuff swooping down out
of the corner of the screen and snatching-up the characters.
There's the usual crop of DVD extras. Does anyone really care how they make CGI movies post-Lord Of The Rings? Imagine the stuff you'll have
to wade through when Avatar comes out! A making-of called Reforging The Future, a feature on the motorbike terminators, and a rash of
mini-featurettes about various technical aspects of the production. I have seen a crop of complaints about the extras on the basic disc, so obviously
some people do care, but do expect the film to be released in a host of different formats.
|
|
|
