The Terminator Trilogy

shady sunshine

New member
I decided on watching a trilogy this weekend, I havent got around to part three yet but I watched Terminator and T2. Terminator is a nicely paced film, tho it's slightly ruined by the 80s cheese factor, which is high. Plus the minatures they used in the future battle scenes are quite laughable. They just look like Tonka toys. Which they probably were. T2 to be fair has some truly fantastic chase scenes, particularly the Truck/Bikes scene and the final chase with the Tanker/helicopter. Very impressive. Sadly tho the film itself is lacking any real depth, and having not seen it for at least 10 years I'd forgotten how annoying the kid was. I kind of hoped the liquid Terminator would win :D

Good movies but MASSIVELY overrated.

There is also a ridulously laughable plothole. In the first film, how the hell can John be Kyle's son? Kyle had to come from the future to impregnate Sarah... he was sent back by John, but in the original timeline John would not have existed because Sarah could not possibly have met Kyle. Or something.
 
I would say Terminator 1 is over-rated. The second one is miles better due to a better plot and action chases.

Dont even bother watching the third one.
 
I love the third one :D And can't wait to see Terminator 4 which is out in May!

Oh and to the OP, it isn't a plothole. If you watch Dr Who you'll know time often runs in a circle, hehe.
 
I have a soft spot for the Third movie but I haven't bothered with the second series of Sara Connor. T3 Rise of the Machines might have taken it a bit far but it's a cracking action flick
 
I think the third one is possibly my favourite - I can't understand why other people don't like it. It's definitely better than the horrible 'Directors Cut' version of T2, which is the only version that seems to be available on region 2 DVD.
 
Yes but that'sjust a cop-out isn't it :D It's just some loophole Sci-Fi enthusiasts created for Sci-Fi "time travel" films that don't make sense when you come down to the nitty gritty. It also renders the whole trilogy pointless, because if you bring that explanation into the equation then Kyle/Sarah/John will just exist in a never ending loop, or am I way off the mark? :confused:
 
I would say the opposite. 2 is overblown and incredibly over-rated due to a convoluted plot and action scenes so OTT they almost farcical.

I prefer the low-fi nature of the first one.
 
You could say the same about almost any movie that involves time travel. By your reckoning Planet Of The Apes is also a copout, as apes only managed to rule over the humans because Cornelius and Zira came back from the future in the human time machine, Caesar was born and lead the apes to take over - which is how Cornelius and Zira came to being. So, caught in an endless loop. How did it happen first time round?

Back To The Future is a cop-out as Chuck Berry only learned to play Johnny B Goode because he heard Marty McFly playing it - but Marty McFly only played it at the school dance because he knew Chuck Berry's version from the future. Which came first?

That is the subject of all time travel movies - one of the key elements that must be introduced is that something only happens in the future because somebody from the future travelled back into the past to influence that happening. And Terminator is no different. If Arnie hadn't travelled back in the first one and his arm and microchip rescued from his corpse then Skynet would not have existed and been able to create Arnie in the future - to send him back again.
 
T2 is one of my all time favourite movie. Love it! I think it is a timeless action/sci-fi movie.

T1 is also good but i think it is overrated by many when they call it the best Terminator movie.

Oh and the less said about T3, the better. :eek: Rubbish movie - especially compared to 1 & 2. And i can't say i am looking forward to T4, especially if it is like the former.
 
The Planet of the Apes one is interesting, because there is actually two timelines. Cornelius and Zira were not the original cause of the ape uprising, but rather they changed the original timeline. So in the original timeline the apes still take over, but at a later point in the future. Cornelius and Zira going back in time alters the timeline and instigated the ape take over centuries earlier than they did in the original timeline. Its a bit confusing, but it is clear from inconsistencies in dates throughout the films that the timeline was altered.

As for the Terminator films, I just try not to think about it.
 
Kyle said 'there is no fate but what we make'.
Hopefully the new films will have a scene where John is given no choice but to set the wheels in motion that create the scenario in The Terminator.
In any case, as T3 alludes to, there are multiple future scenarios for Skynet's creation. If John's not around to save them, mankind would be screwed it seems.
But yes, try not to think too much about the paradoxes no matter how hard it can be sometimes. ;-)
 
This is actually similar to the Terminator series. The events of each Terminator film change the outcome of the future. In T2 they delay Judgement Day but, as Arnold says in T3, it's inevitable (which cunningly fixes the plothole of if you prevent Judgement Day that means Kyle Reese can't come back and be John's dad)
 
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