Truth must be told: Terminator 3 sucked the big one. Sure, it introduced me to Nick Stahl and I love Claire Danes but that movie was a pointless mess that tried way too hard to be cool and put some sort of closure on the franchise.
I had thought that was it. There was no way that a film with that high of a suckage factor could ever allow for any more entries into the franchise but once again, Hollywood proved me wrong and some time back the franchise rights were sold off to The Halcyon Company and word on the net was that they were planning to fast track 3 more films. First though: are they insane? Who the hell wants to see more crappy installments in a dead franchise?
Then came the mediocre TV series which sort of got people thinking that maybe something good could come out of this but truth be told, no one was really sold on it. Then the casting rumors started to fly. First there was talk that the great Christian Bale could be up for the role of John Connor. Then just last week Josh Brolin, who had a great “comeback” year in 2007, was rumored to involved in the project as the new Terminator and today a final development that could change the tides on the project for good.
According to this Variety article, found via Cinema Spy, Aussie Sam Worthington (who led the cast of the atrociously bad but visually appealing Macbeth) has come on board; apparently the first truly cast and not just rumored addition. What’s most interesting about this story isn’t the casting itself but this little tidbit of information:
The fact the Australian actor just played the lead in the James Cameron-directed “Avatar” is no coincidence. Cameron recommended Worthington to “Terminator Salvation” director McG, indicating that the director of the first two “Terminator” installments might be warming to the new pic.
Cameron could be warming up to the new project? Seriously? OK, so it doesn’t say that he’ll produce or have any involvement what-so-ever but I have to admit that the fact that the great James Cameron isn’t running the other way pretending not to know that this movie is even in the works warms my heart a little.
So let us recap. Worthington is in for sure. McG (who has a nasty, nasty track record) is on board to direct. Bale and Brolin are possibly involved as well and almost as important as anything else, Cameron isn’t seeing red – yet.
I must admit, I’m curious to see what comes of this. Not excited yet (I’m waiting for the casting confirmations before the excitement kicks in) and to be honest, McG directing scares me to no end (though there’s always the off-chance that he’ll surprise us) but I’m definitely interested to see how this unfolds over the next few months and I’m assuming that with the writer’s strike now over, movement on the project will likely be swift.
Now for the million dollar question: Does anyone else care, at all, about Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins or is this project dead before it even gets off the ground?
I’m interested, sure. I haven’t gotten around to The Sarah Connor Chronicles yet, but I’ve got them on my hard drive waiting to be watched.
While T3 pretty much sucked, the one thing it did have going for it was the story line. All the action and crap was lame, but I loved the revelation as to what Sky Net really is and watching how it was birthed. In a weird and scary way, it’s actually pretty believable.
I’m all about seeing what happens next in the story of John Connor and what the future holds for him. If Brolin and Bale are in, it’s pretty likely they wouldn’t sign on for a shitty script – possible, but not likely.
I’m on board… for now.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles….you’re not missing much. We watched the first two episodes and even Summer Glau couldn’t keep me interested. Blah.
I too have the Conner TV pilot on my hard drive and haven’t watched it yet. I love the first two Terminator movies and think they’re action/sci-fi classics, with a pretty decent message that you control your own fate. Then T3 came along and kicked that theory in the nuts, along with sucking as a movie too.
The rumors on T4 are certainly intriguing, if they’re true. McG on the other hand almost ruins all hope. However, if Cameron supports it, then maybe he’s read the script itself and that might be what saves the whole thing.
Wow. No love for Jonathan Mostow’s take on the francise?
I thought Mostow boiled things down to its essence, played with taking out the James Cameron earnestness, and turned out what is pretty true to the franchise in terms of an action film.
I like the movie a fair bit, because it is one of the best examples of a director with a fair bit of money — smashing his toy vehicles with glee. That mondo-destructo car chase in the middle of the movie between a fire-truck and heavy crane is probably the single most destructive chase in the history of film.
Why did I like something as silly and underwritten like T3 and not like something equally silly and underwritten like Transformers?
There just seem to be more of a sense of fun in T3, and the effects were mostly practical and had some weight to them. Plus, Nick Stahl and Claire Danes made a good on-screen couple.
It’s fluff, but then again, so were both of the Terminator flicks. Personally, I like the first one, because it flirts with being a grindhouse flick for most of its run-time with the serial murders at the beginning, nasty blood-work effects, reasonably explicit sex scene and final robot nasty. Despite being made for less than the catering budget for the other two films, The first Terminator is quite easily the best of the three.
All that being said. ZERO (nadda, zilch) interest in T4. Along with Alien, Star Trek, Star Wars and Batman, these franchises have gone on pass the welcome point…I simply wish they would stop making the damn things.
On the one hand I agree with you Kurt and on the other, I can’t help but think that the Terminator universe is rich and ready for more stories, as long as they’re well told and I’m just not sure if T4 can/will do that.
I love both films but T2 is my favorite of the two. There aren’t a lot of things that make me go wow but when the T-1000 rematerializes after the crash…the first time it made me go wow because I’d never seen something like that before and now it makes me go wow because I can’t believe that effect is nearly 20 years old!
And yes, I realize that it’s an expansion on earlier effects from The Abyss but I didn’t see that until after T2.
Star Trek has gone on pass the welcome point? Star Trek can go on forever. The only thing that has been holding it back is the lack of creative talent behind the characters created after Gene Roddenberry died. Star Trek is not one franchise, it is multiple franchises. It could definitely go on forever, the only unifying theme being a refusal to focus on and represent what is worst in man, and try and elevate the screen with drama based on more lofty conflicts. Something that TV has never been able to do, except for when TV was showing the two Gene Roddenberry-created Star Trek series.
And the second Terminator film easily is the best of the 3. Both as an action-effects extravaganza, and in terms of actual content – themes, characters, cinematography – everything is a step or seven above the original.
“Star Trek can go on forever. ”
Wow, we agree! It’s this stupid approach J.J. Abrams and company are taking that irks me. They have a full rich universe with so many possibilities and you want to fucking remake/prequel/etc. I call it bullshit! I want original corners of the universe and original ideas, not re-hashing fo the same old, same old. And no more time-travel episodes.
So many things poisoned me on the Rick Berman and Brennon Braga era of Star Trek…
And I concur on the ST discussion. “Enterprise” failed miserably. What makes them think a feature will be any different?