It is 2018 and Skynet is waging war on the humans to destroy what’s left after Judgment Day.   John Connor (Bale) is viewed by some as the great leader he is supposed to be while others see him as a false prophet.   After a mission where the team Connor with is killed and only Connor survives, Connor learns that Skynet is making a move to kill him and his future father (Kyle Reese) in the next four days.  Out of the ruins of the destroyed complex arises a man who was executed back in 2003, Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington).   Marcus soon encounters Kyle in the ruins of what used to be Los Angeles.   Marcus learns about the Terminators and soon is out to protect Kyle (and a mute black girl) only to have Kyle taken away by the terminator prison transport.   Soon Marcus meets John Connor and the events are sent in motion for a plan to save Kyle (and other captured humans) that might fail.

TERMINATOR: SALVATION is a vast improvement over the last TERMINATOR film.  It is an action driven film that has themes about redemption and second chances.  The film refers back to the first two in the TERMINATOR series (Kyle wears the same type of shoes and has the sling shotgun, and a certain Guns and Roses song plays in one scene).   The new Terminators are cool (and a neat cameo from a certain Terminator to boot) especially the big Terminator that picks up humans to put into transports.  The film may be a little short on major character development.  However, it sets the stage for the next two films.   I look forward to those films.  I have an idea where the second film will go, but it all hinges on whether the third film can provide a satisfying conclusion.

The Director's Cut includes more violence and a brief topless scene.  The movie is basically except this the R rated cut.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

RE-FORGING THE FUTURE- A look at how the filmmakers used locations in New Mexico, green screen, body capture suits, digital effects, and grimy worn-down look to create the new movie.

FOCUS POINTS (mini-featurettes)-

DIGITAL DESTRUCTION-  see how they used digital effects to bring the Terminators to life

ENLISTING THE AIR FORCE-  see the Air Force provide a few helicopters and some planes for the production in adition to see Moon Bloodgood go through a little pilot training

AN ICON RETURNS-  how they digitally recreated Arnold's look from the first film for this one.

STAN WINSTON SHOP- a  look at the various Terminators created for the movie.

FINAL ANALYSIS:   TERMINATOR SALVATION shows promise for the franchise and future movies will judge how good the first one is.   If you need more TERMINATOR fix, check out the excellent SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES TV series on DVD.   Too bad the trailers for the movie aren't included on the DVD.

The DVD review is (c)12-2-2009 David Blackwell and the movie review is ©5-22-2009 David Blackwell.   All Rights Reserved.  send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com  The future is what fate we make it.