• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Can we talk about Terminator Dark Fate's opening scene? (Unmarked spoilers)

Wrexis

Wrexis

Member
Nov 4, 2017
21,247
Last chance:

It takes guts to show a young Sarah Connor in the opening scene, and then a CG Sarah Connor 30 seconds later.
I'm hard to impress with de-aging tech - Marvel's hit and miss, The Irishman looks bad - but Dark Fate really knocked it out of the park IMO.
Everyone - Hamilton, Furlong, Arnie - looked amazing.
 
Fat4all

Fat4all

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot
Member
Oct 25, 2017
92,810
here
weird way to open a movie, with a character walking out of a bathroom and saying to another character "PEE-YEW, do NOT go in there, I just triggered a Dark Fate for that toilet" and then the title card drops
 
shaneo632

shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,008
Wrexham, Wales
I didn't like the scene from a creative perspective but the CGI was done well.

Also I've seen The Irishman and you forget about the de-aging after like 5 minutes, apart from that scene set in WWII where De Niro looks like a video game character.
 
Cerium

Cerium

The Former
Member
Oct 23, 2017
1,741
I rewatched Judgment Day in preparation for this, and it was stunning how good the de-aging was.

It really felt like picking up from the end of T2. The brief moments we get of John look and sound like John.
 
VaanXSnake

VaanXSnake

Banned
Jul 18, 2018
2,099
I wanted to leave the theater after this opening, it's terrible but not as trash as the movie itself, they need to stop doing Terminator movies, T1 and T2 is all we need.
 
Syriel

Syriel

Banned
Dec 13, 2017
11,088
Fat4all said:
weird way to open a movie, with a character walking out of a bathroom and saying to another character "PEE-YEW, do NOT go in there, I just triggered a Dark Fate for that toilet" and then the title card drops
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

We keep telling you to stop renting those Asylum knockoffs from your local convenience store...
 
Shoe

Shoe

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,183
What's funny is the next Terminator movie will also be yet another retcon of everything after T2
 
Temtastic Muns

Temtastic Muns

Member
Apr 19, 2018
6,818
I feel like the scene would have been more impactful as a later reveal, rather than having it right at the beginning. It should've been featured as Sarah relays the story in the hotel room.
 
Amiablepercy

Amiablepercy

Banned
Nov 4, 2017
3,587
California
Wrexis said:
Last chance:

It takes guts to show a young Sarah Connor in the opening scene, and then a CG Sarah Connor 30 seconds later.
I'm hard to impress with de-aging tech - Marvel's hit and miss, The Irishman looks bad - but Dark Fate really knocked it out of the park IMO.
Everyone - Hamilton, Furlong, Arnie - looked amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Have you actually seen 'The Irishman' I have and their deaging tech is pretty goddamm impressive
 
VaporSnake

VaporSnake

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,603
I'm still shocked so many people are against it, even here we have "John deserved so much better.." Did you guys see T3, salvation, genisys? John Connor as a character was completely assassinated long before this movie ever had the audacity to do it.

In the last film we literally had him become a Terminator because there was no where else to take the character but straight into the ground, I think it was clearly the right decision to move away from it, both because it makes sense in a world where you can change the future, and because there was nothing interesting left to do with the character.
 
Dullahan

Dullahan

Always bets on black
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,410
VaporSnake said:
I'm still shocked so many people are against it, even here we have "John deserved so much better.." Did you guys see T3, salvation, genisys? John Connor as a character was completely assassinated long before this movie ever had the audacity to do it.

In the last film we literally had him become a Terminator because there was no where else to take the character but straight into the ground, I think it was clearly the right decision to move away from it, both because it makes sense in a world where you can change the future, and because there was nothing interesting left to do with the character.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
100% agreed.
 
Tace

Tace

Avenger
Nov 1, 2017
35,511
The Rapscallion
VaporSnake said:
I'm still shocked so many people are against it, even here we have "John deserved so much better.." Did you guys see T3, salvation, genisys? John Connor as a character was completely assassinated long before this movie ever had the audacity to do it.

In the last film we literally had him become a Terminator because there was no where else to take the character but straight into the ground, I think it was clearly the right decision to move away from it, both because it makes sense in a world where you can change the future, and because there was nothing interesting left to do with the character.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I disagree. I still think there was a ton left to explore with John's character. Some bad takes don't ruin the character forever. They had a chance to make this John something fresh, a new clean slate after T2. Instead they killed him off, when they didn't have to.

I think it's a shame this was billed as a true return to form with Linda AND Arnold back only for John to get got like that. Especially because I think they could've recast an older John pretty easily and no one would've cared too much
 
VaporSnake

VaporSnake

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,603
Tace said:
I disagree. I still think there was a ton left to explore with John's character.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Like what? There isn't much to work with if Sarah and John rode off into the sunset happily for 20 years after stopping the future in which he was needed in.
For this movie to work, one of them had to die, and they chose Sarah this time, because like I said, the last 3 sequels predominately focused on John and they already exhausted all the avenues in which to take the character. One thing they hadn't yet done was to further explore Sarah's character, who arguably is the real main character of the franchise.
 
Tace

Tace

Avenger
Nov 1, 2017
35,511
The Rapscallion
VaporSnake said:
Like what? There isn't much to work with if Sarah and John rode off into the sunset happily for 20 years after stopping the future in which he was needed in.
For this movie to work, one of them had to die, and they chose Sarah this time, because like I said, the last 3 sequels predominately focused on John and they already exhausted all the avenues in which to take the character.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
If they can include a scene showing him die they've could've worked in a sufficient enough prologue in that same timeframe to set up the story. It wouldn't be the exact same story obviously, but I think it would've been doable. Even if they did want to pass on the torch to the new generation, I still think he could've used a more heroic send off.

I'm not opposed to him dying, but how he died
 
VaanXSnake

VaanXSnake

Banned
Jul 18, 2018
2,099
VaporSnake said:
Like what? There isn't much to work with if Sarah and John rode off into the sunset happily for 20 years after stopping the future in which he was needed in.
For this movie to work, one of them had to die, and they chose Sarah this time, because like I said, the last 3 sequels predominately focused on John and they already exhausted all the avenues in which to take the character. One thing they hadn't yet done was to further explore Sarah's character, who arguably is the real main character of the franchise.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Hardly disagree, they could have make him what he was supposed to be from the beginning, the fucking leader of the resistance, you could kill him and make a new leader later...
 
Engell

Engell

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,616
can we talk about this sentence

".... i was terminated"

tenor.gif
 
Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,176
UK
Yeah, it had me fooled that I thought it was a deleted scene from the older Terminator films. Great scene.
 
Scullibundo

Scullibundo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,688
VaporSnake said:
Like what? There isn't much to work with if Sarah and John rode off into the sunset happily for 20 years after stopping the future in which he was needed in.
For this movie to work, one of them had to die, and they chose Sarah this time, because like I said, the last 3 sequels predominately focused on John and they already exhausted all the avenues in which to take the character. One thing they hadn't yet done was to further explore Sarah's character, who arguably is the real main character of the franchise.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Let's be honest, they didn't really explore Sarah's character anymore in this film. She didn't develop.

The change in Sarah Connor from T1 to T2 is a fantastic example of character development (that is also understandable given what she knew). By the end of T2, Sarah goes from having shut herself off into a Terminator-like, goal focused state, to finally seeing her son and regaining her sense of humanity.

This film just lazily regresses her character development so we can get some more crazy Terminator Sarah. That's why it uses the T2 footage as its opening title card.

Sarah is a caricature in this film. Like everybody else, Hamilton gives a great performance, but it's a great performance in service to hollow schlock.
 
JadeGiveTwoRides

JadeGiveTwoRides

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
767
The CGI - particularly on Sarah - was great, and in terms of the story, I liked it. It solved the creative conundrum of how to reintroduce Sarah and give her a purpose; T2 meant that John never becomes a leader, so although this is brutal it serves as a fitting denouement for a character who no longer has that purpose. Sarah, along with the T-800, was the biggest driving force of the first two movies; she's not coming back if John ends up as a car salesman in Idaho.
 
Kain

Kain

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
7,604
It's an ok action flick, nothing else. Not groundbreaking, not bad per se, just serviceable and forgettable. All the "Cameron is pretending the rest of the movies didn't take place" is pointless because this one is just another paralell universe thing even though it pretends not to be.

Sarah and John's CGI were amazing, yes, but Arnie looked off. Not Salvation off but off nonetheless.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,498
That straight to video sequel direction ,
you couldn't pay meto see it for that scene alone.


same with BS like Pacific Rim Uprising.
 

Deleted member 4372

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
5,228
I haven't seen Dark Fate yet but came in here to spoil that shit for me because enough with the Terminator already.
 
Massive Nights

Massive Nights

Member
Oct 30, 2017
966
Can someone lay out how the scene goes in spoiler tags (if necessary)? I don't really care to see the film, but I'm curious how it works continuity wise.
 
Ragnar

Ragnar

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,354
I think a large part of why it works and looks good, is that they were smart enough to not show/minimize the characters' talking. Mouth and face movement generally makes it veer into uncanny valley territorry.

Massive Nights said:
Can someone lay out how the scene goes in spoiler tags (if necessary)? I don't really care to see the film, but I'm curious how it works continuity wise.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
As seen/inferred in T2, they prevent Judgement Day which was supposed to take place in 1997. We see Sarah and John together at some sort of beach resort in Guatemala a year or so later. John's at the bar getting them something to drink, and when he turns around to go back to Sarah, he spots a terminator (another T-800 series looking like a younger Arnold) behind her. It walks past Sarah, draws a shotgun and shoots John in the torso. Sarah is understandably upset and rushes towards John on the ground, while shooting the terminator in the back multiple times with a handgun. She reaches the terminator and grabs onto the shotgun, trying to stop it from finishing John off, which it of course manages to do anyway. Then it walks away, down the beach and towards the ocean, while Sarah is crouched over her son's body.
Later in the film it's explained that
Skynet never came to be, but instead a military anti-terrorist A.I. going by the name of Legion, in part as a response to Skynet being blown up. This being Terminator, of course it goes haywire and starts exterminating humans just like Skynet did in the previous films. The people from Dark Fate's future have never heard of Skynet.
 
Last edited:
Based0ne

Based0ne

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
1,258
USA
Wrexis said:
Last chance:

It takes guts to show a young Sarah Connor in the opening scene, and then a CG Sarah Connor 30 seconds later.
I'm hard to impress with de-aging tech - Marvel's hit and miss, The Irishman looks bad - but Dark Fate really knocked it out of the park IMO.
Everyone - Hamilton, Furlong, Arnie - looked amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
QFTFT

I was fucking amazed at that and this was after the fact that I saw it in Dolby Vision, 3rd row in the middle.
 
giancarlo123x

giancarlo123x

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
25,384
I fucking loved it. I wish I didnt read about it like a year ago but they knocked it out of the park with the visuals. It was refreshing to see a terminator do the job correctly for once.
 

Deleted member 198

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,319
It's both absolutely necessary and effective for what it's meant to do. The film immediately sends the message that the series isn't about the same 3 characters, and begins to focus in on the message of the film.
 
Megasoum

Megasoum

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,567
The scene is really well made which makes the whole thing even worse when you realize the wasted story potential they setup with the scene and then completely squash with a super boring and unimaginative movie for the other 2 hours.
 
Alexandros

Alexandros

Member
Oct 26, 2017
17,811
VaporSnake said:
I'm still shocked so many people are against it, even here we have "John deserved so much better.." Did you guys see T3, salvation, genisys? John Connor as a character was completely assassinated long before this movie ever had the audacity to do it.

In the last film we literally had him become a Terminator because there was no where else to take the character but straight into the ground, I think it was clearly the right decision to move away from it, both because it makes sense in a world where you can change the future, and because there was nothing interesting left to do with the character.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Why not show how he becomes a leader?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.