In 2029, John Connor (Jason Clarke) and the human resistance wage a final battle on two fronts to destroy Skynet- one force goes to destroy Skynet while another with John Connor and Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) go after Skynet’s secret weapon (a time machine).   Kyle is sent back to 1984 to stop the Terminator sent to kill Sarah Connor (John’s mother played by Emila Clarke of GAME OF THRONES fame), but not before he sees John attacked by a T-5000 (Matt Smith) as the time machine activates.   John gets memories from an alternate timeline and he arrives in 1984 to find the past John told him about has changed.   He is chased by a T-1000 (Lee Byung-hun), but he is rescued by Sarah and her Terminator guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) which she refers to as Pops that saved her when she was 9.    John is able to convince Sarah they must travel to 2017 to stop a new form of Skynet hiding under the name of Genisys from going online and they must also fight a T-3000 (a man infected by machine and turned into one) whose mission is to protect the birth of Skynet in this altered timeline.

TERMINATOR GENISYS is a reboot of sorts while also being a sequel to the first two TERMINATOR films.   It has a solid story with plenty of action and a better script than the last two TERMINATOR films (even though I am a fan of the flawed TERMINATOR SALVATION and wish a sequel was made to that movie years ago).   Arnold Schwarzenegger is in fine form as the Terminator guardian while failing to fit in as a human to comedic results.   Emila Clarke is good as Sarah Connor (while now I wait for Linda Hamilton to be cast one of these days on GAME OF THRONES so all Sarah Connor actors can be on that show) while Jai Courtney isn’t bad as Kyle Reese (and giving a better performance than he did in A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD).   The movie starts familiar while throwing in some new twists (like Sarah fighting against her destiny to be with Kyle and the altered timeline with memories that Kyle never originally had), but I wish they didn’t spoil the big twist in the second theatrical trailer and all of the TV commercials.  Remember to stay around for the middle of the end credits for a scene that teases a possible sequel and maybe even the TV series (that Skydance is developing too).   TERMINATOR GENISYS will be a more satisfying sequel/ reboot (or not) for fans that enjoyed the first two films and didn’t quite enjoy the last two sequels.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Blu-ray DISC 1-

Three featurettes are the only extra and they are part of a making-of documentary which is only available on a bonus disc through Best Buy for now.

FAMILY DYNAMICS- cast and characters of the movie

INFILTRATION AND TERMINATION- post production of the movie: visual effects, editing, and the film score

UPGRADES: VFX OF TERMINATOR GENISYS- a more extensive look at the visual effects of TERMINATOR: GENISYS than the actual making-of documentary on disc 2

Blu-ray DISC 2-

The second disc contains the full making-of documentary which is a Best Buy exclusive

Which only part of it is on the regular blu-ray disc release.  I wish Paramount didn’t split up the extras as a retail exclusive which means not all fans will be able to watch the making-of which might be better than the movie to some people who hated the movie, but the documentary is a great thing to watch if you want to see how TERMINATOR GENISYS was made.

RESET THE FUTURE: CONSTRUCTING TERMINATOR GENISYS (two and twenty minute making-of documentary with cast and crew interviews in this very extensive behind-the-scenes look at TERMINATOR GENISYS):

PARADIGM SHIFT-

FAMILY DYNAMICS- cast and characters

OLD. NOT OBSOLETE- Terminator dummies and special effects prosthetics make-up using today’s tech

TACTICAL APPAREL- costume design

A ONCE AND FUTURE WAR- behind-the-scenes of filming in New Orleans and San Francisco using sets, locations, and green screen

INFILTRATION AND TERMINATION- visual effects, editing, and the film score

EXILES IN TIME- cast and crew reflect on the movie, James Cameron gives his praise for the new TERMINATOR film, and the producers vaguely hint at the future for the series (which might not be due to the box office performance even though China helped redeem the foreign box office)

BATTLE ON THE BRIDGE: MULTI-ANGLE SCENE BREAKDOWN- a breakdown of the bridge battle from sketches to previz to special effects to the final scene

The movie is also available to watch in standard definition on DVD along with a code to download and stream a digital ultraviolet HD copy of TERMINATOR GENISYS

FINAL ANALYSIS:  TERMINATOR GENISYS is better sequel than some people think it is, but I wish people would give more love for TERMINATOR SALVATION which has its flaws like what might be the last TEMRINATOR movie for some time.  I do wish the full making-of documentary was on the regular blu-ray release instead of being parceled off as a retail exclusive.  Also I wish the original theatrical trailers were included on this release.

This review is ©11-14-2015 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

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