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Terminator: Dark Fate || Review Thread
- Thread starter CaptainKashup
- Start date
For comparison's sake, T3 ended up at 69%.
Dark Fate is a much better movie and considerably truer to the first two in mood than that one. I don't hate T3 like many, but there's no question that it received a more favourable reception thanks to the 12 year gap. I think there was just a sense of relief that it wasn't a complete disaster; I was expecting something like we eventually got with Genisys.
Who knows if it will stick but the movie is currently at 70% on RT
Edit: Ya beat me!
Brings me so much hope.
The one thing I will give this movie, is that unlike the two before it, it doesn't do the dumb thing of having its Terminator not be an immediate lethal threat.
I remember in Salvation and Genysis, you always had the dumb thing of a Terminator throwing its target away *hard*, rather than quickly and efficiently eliminating them. The Terminator in this doesn't engage in that farcical, contrived behaviour.
I remember in Salvation and Genysis, you always had the dumb thing of a Terminator throwing its target away *hard*, rather than quickly and efficiently eliminating them. The Terminator in this doesn't engage in that farcical, contrived behaviour.
He is back to being an infiltration unit, he tracks his target and only revels himself when he has his target in sight.
It's like they watched The Terminator.
They need to make a Terminator movie without a 'lead' Terminator actor. They ought to utilise what is scary about the concept of an infiltration unit. That it could be anybody in a crowd. The only film that has nailed that fear in recent memory is It Follows.
Music-wise, I found Holkenborg's score rather generic and by the numbers. The motif for the Rev-9 is certainly the stand-out, echoing the droning soundscape of the T-1000's theme. The few other instances of Brad Fiedel's Main Theme showing up as a leitmotif for Arnie's character is nice as well, as is its use for the final sequence and incredible end credits.
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Holkenborg's rendition of the Brad Fiedel Main Theme, as featured in the end credits:
The acoustic guitars are a really nice touch, I feel.
The acoustic guitars are a really nice touch, I feel.
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thats pretty nice with the mexican-esque guitars in there to reflect its new characters. god damn tho is Brad Fiedel's Terminator theme still so fuckin good
I'm thinking of watching this one tonight, but only cause I want to test out how it is sitting closer to the screen, cause those are the only seats left for Star Wars.
I don't remember anything from T2 but absolutely love Terminator 1. I see there's multiple versions of T2, which is the one to watch? The special edition?
I don't remember anything from T2 but absolutely love Terminator 1. I see there's multiple versions of T2, which is the one to watch? The special edition?
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Finally saw the film: I felt this film was the Alien 3 of the franchise, that's how I best sum it up.
In my opinion, there was more wrong with it including the opening scene and the fact that it was the action genre - again and Terminator worked best as a tech-noire horror/thriller. T2 only worked for me because it was different from the first, but now with so many terminator films being the exact same flavour (and it's vanilla), I would have prefered a horror film. Or you know what? No sequel at all.
In my opinion, there was more wrong with it including the opening scene and the fact that it was the action genre - again and Terminator worked best as a tech-noire horror/thriller. T2 only worked for me because it was different from the first, but now with so many terminator films being the exact same flavour (and it's vanilla), I would have prefered a horror film. Or you know what? No sequel at all.
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Felt it was okay to competent - there was loads of stuff that didn't make too much sense but the movie at least tried.
Arnie was fun, I was surprised that the concept of the new Terminator kinda made sense and wasn't terrible like I suspected from the movie.
It made sense both in the future and now from an ability point.
The three women was a nice idea and it worked more than it didn't, but outside of Sarah Connor and Arnie, nobody really seemed to have a real character arc.
The finale was way too Bockbustery though - it should have chosen one of the things. Not do everything starting with the planes.
Didn't hate it, but I also didn't really love it.
Arnie was fun, I was surprised that the concept of the new Terminator kinda made sense and wasn't terrible like I suspected from the movie.
It made sense both in the future and now from an ability point.
The three women was a nice idea and it worked more than it didn't, but outside of Sarah Connor and Arnie, nobody really seemed to have a real character arc.
The finale was way too Bockbustery though - it should have chosen one of the things. Not do everything starting with the planes.
Didn't hate it, but I also didn't really love it.
T2 theatrical is the canon version that Dark Fate follows. I actually do like the extended edition, but it's not strictly canon.
Extended includes a (really cool) deleted scene that kinda messes with the plot of DF a little. If you just keep in mind that the "chip" scene doesn't count, then you can get away with watching extended anyway if you want. I like it.
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Sounds really optimistic. I think I like it a little more than T2's theme but not as much as T1's. D'em guitars half way through are pulling me in lol.
There will never be another T2. This was just a fun action movie.
When I think of terminator I don't think of "fun action".
Until they hire a director that understands that what made the first 2 so great were it's horror/thriller undertones then we'll never get another great terminator.
What the fuck do they not understand about that?
Even Cameron himself seems to have forgotten what made his movies so great. Completely missing the mark.
Hollywood is fucking clueless.
Someone like Denis Villeneuve or even Matt Reeves would be the perfect director for a modern day terminator that flaunts it's horror roots. But instead we get Tim Miller. Frustrating.
When I think of terminator I don't think of "fun action".
Until they hire a director that understands that what made the first 2 so great were it's horror/thriller undertones then we'll never get another great terminator.
What the fuck do they not understand about that?
Even Cameron himself seems to have forgotten what made his movies so great. Completely missing the mark.
Hollywood is fucking clueless.
Someone like Denis Villeneuve or even Matt Reeves would be the perfect director for a modern day terminator that flaunts it's horror roots. But instead we get Tim Miller. Frustrating.
Just got out and loved it. Glad we finally have a Terminator 3. Obviously not as good as the first two, but a strong 8 out of 10 for me. If this is where the series finally ends, I'm satisfied.
I usually like his content, but I couldn't make it through this video at all. A bunch of entitled whining.
Not enough blackface, Jeremy?
Stop watching Jahns, he wore blackface and put on a racist stereotype "black" voice in a video. Fuck that racist asshole.
I haven't watched this video but that's because I could never stand Jeremy Jahns.
I can't stand Chris Stuckmann either.
I used to lump Grace in with this lot too but then she sunk to even deeper and dumber lows.
It's amateur hour trying to listen to them talk. There are plenty of amateur opinions on youtube that I enjoy listening to, but these are peas in a pod where they imagine that they're more insightful than they are and pretend those farts smell like roses. The peak was when Chris imagined he was a professional scriptwriter and the whole internet made fun of his bad fanfiction.
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Watched it a few hours back.
I thoroughly enjoyed it, much better than T3, Salvation and Genisys. Respected the lore/mythos, gave Linda/Arnold purpose and a reason to be in it. Linda was the star. Her presence gives the movie legitimacy.
Gonna check out the spoiler thread to see why people are feeling as negative as they are.
4 Draperies out of 5 (as of now and subject to change lol)
I thoroughly enjoyed it, much better than T3, Salvation and Genisys. Respected the lore/mythos, gave Linda/Arnold purpose and a reason to be in it. Linda was the star. Her presence gives the movie legitimacy.
Gonna check out the spoiler thread to see why people are feeling as negative as they are.
4 Draperies out of 5 (as of now and subject to change lol)
This was fan-goddamn-tastic!! Loved the cast, the story, everything really. Only thing I didn't like was the John thing but apart from that I loved everything else.
After having seen it earlier today: this was decent, it was fun. I agreed completely with these two lines. And then you went into "it just needs someone who understands what made them great, and then there will be another great Terminator film" and lost me
Because there will never be another great Terminator film. Period
How much chances do they need? How much answers to "we just need x to make it work" need to be given? We've had Christian Bale. We've had Arnold come back (twice now!) We've had a Doctor Who and a Game of Thrones queen. We've had Linda come back. We had CG teen Furlong come back. We even had Cameron get involved behind the scenes
They have thrown Everything at the wall. None has stuck. It's not for lack of effort, it's not for lack of strength in throwing: it's because it can't stick
The magic, the lightning in the bottle that was the first two films, can't be recaptured. It can't randomly strike a third time
Terminator is destined to become the new Highlander, the next Hellraiser, the latest franchise that keeps thinking any new entry not only can, but Will, hold a candle to its oldest and best entry/entries. Incorrectly thinking, and progressively more sad each time (don't act too surprised when a new one comes direct to DVD or streaming one day, and don't dare believe the lie that it's because they wanted to explore the new potential of release it could provide to the franchise's target audience)
Thanks for posting about this btw, surprised how much people still don't know he's a prick
I liked it. It's not as good as the originals, obviously, but it gets the tone right, which none of the other Terminator sequels have done.
The future scenes weren't very good and while I liked the Rev-9 overall, the way it goes out is weak. Part of what made beating the T-800 and T-1000 satisfying was that it was done with realistic, modern day means (hydraulic press, molten steel). When you need to bring in future bullshit it feels like a cop out. They basically recycled Terminator 3's climax for that.
Overall I think the film deserves a sequel and I would be pleased to watch one.
The future scenes weren't very good and while I liked the Rev-9 overall, the way it goes out is weak. Part of what made beating the T-800 and T-1000 satisfying was that it was done with realistic, modern day means (hydraulic press, molten steel). When you need to bring in future bullshit it feels like a cop out. They basically recycled Terminator 3's climax for that.
Overall I think the film deserves a sequel and I would be pleased to watch one.
7 out of 10 for me personally I went in with very low exceptions but the movie was handled well, there were a couple Sarah moments I wasn't a fan of and then the main girl whose name escapes me at the moment did really good up until one one flashback scene that made no sense to me because of her
Just saw it. 3/10 from me.
I really wanted to like it but it was terrible, basically everything I feared would happen with this movie happened. What a letdown, only worthwhile scenes were the scenes with Arnie. They took a huge dump on the lore of T1 and T2. I honestly feel that this movie would have been better if it didn't have the Terminator name attached to it.
I really wanted to like it but it was terrible, basically everything I feared would happen with this movie happened. What a letdown, only worthwhile scenes were the scenes with Arnie. They took a huge dump on the lore of T1 and T2. I honestly feel that this movie would have been better if it didn't have the Terminator name attached to it.
This film was absolutely terrible and I have no literal idea how anyone could claim otherwise. From the stupid soft reboot concept to the lame one-liners to the almost unfathomably poor CG, this film is arguably the worst in the franchise and certainly isn't better than T3, which at least felt like a Terminator movie and had a courageous ending. Linda Hamilton was fine but her character was reduced to a one-note grumbler and Arnold looked fantastic but the arc of his character was mind-numbingly stupid. The much-touted R-rating added nothing to the proceedings, McKenzie Davis was utterly wasted with a character who is sullen for the sake of being sullen and Reyes has less charisma than the machines that want her dead.
The film makes no sense - even in the nonsensical, convoluted and muddled timeline of this franchise.
This is a really stupid fucking movie. Like The Predator, it is essentially the final nail in a coffin that should have been buried years ago.
The film makes no sense - even in the nonsensical, convoluted and muddled timeline of this franchise.
If this is a direct sequel to T2, how was there even a third Terminator sent to kill John? And what was the point of killing John if in fact they had already prevented the birth of Skynet? And why was Legion EXACTLY like Skynet? Why were all the weapons, endoskeletons, and HK's shown the same as when they were a product of Skynet? Why does the Reyes character talk of Judgement Day when the Legion attack was described as being different and more drawn out? Why would they even call it the same thing? And whose bright idea was it to essentially nullify John Connor and take him out of the picture? Kudos to just making T2 totally and utterly pointless.
This is a really stupid fucking movie. Like The Predator, it is essentially the final nail in a coffin that should have been buried years ago.
The movie with a robot treated like a sex object and jokes felt like the first two?
I mean I guess.
It's an imperfect and entirely unneeded film (as all the post-T2 films have been) but it is a much truer Terminator film than this piece of shit.
A movie that among other things completely nullifies the significance of John Conner (and T2) and turns a T-800 into a family man.
"The unknown future rolls toward us. I face it, for the first time, with a sense of hope. Because if a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too."
Yeah, it's still a stupid fucking arc for the film given the context of the character.
He kills John (with ease this time for the sake of an expeditious narrative) and then wanders aimlessly but for reasons never explained he learns to respect life and humanity. Of course in T2 the Terminator has a tutor (John) that he was programmed to care for show him the deeper implications of preserving life. By contrast Daddy T-800 just learns this on his own for, you know, reasons.
But then again, the entire film is mired in stupidity and the most ironic thing about you quoting T2 is how completely and utterly it effectively renders that film meaningless for the sake of a franchise reboot. (A reboot which is looking to have failed at the box office)
And this film wasn't?
Hey, to each their own. I actually think this is even sloppier than Geneysis, which is saying something. Arnold and Linda were great but everything else felt incredibly off tonally and in terms of focus and mythology.
So setting aside the plot and direction, why was the CG so awful? Because it was, generally speaking, terrible.
Weightless, sloppy, fuzzy in places, it looked like something from fifteen years ago. Even stranger still is that at the very beginning of the film
Weightless, sloppy, fuzzy in places, it looked like something from fifteen years ago. Even stranger still is that at the very beginning of the film
the de-aging on Hamilton, Norton and Arnold looked fantastic. I thought they were using stock or unused footage from T2. Then the rest of the film looks subpar.
Watching humans for 20 years
That's fine but there needs to be context as to why that value is learned.
The context here is
I blew John away and then had nothing better to do than learn to love.
The thing is, it's a stupid character arc but the film has much, much larger problems than Daddy T-800. Arnold and Hamilton are actually the best part of this turgid, aimless mess and it's a damn shame that if they wanted to go this route they didn't get a better script and director to pull it off because the ingredients were there to make a decent, direct sequel to T2. Unfortunately the entire purpose of Dark Fate was to launch a trilogy of new films, which is why they opted to
kill John and replace Skynet with Legion even though apparently, Legion manifests the exact same manner of machine combatants as Skynet, which is shamefully lazy writing
I agree with that second criticism fully.
It was shit in The Force Awakens, it's shit here.
At least in Force Awakens it makes sense the old enemy would return.
Here it...doesn't.
It didn't. Not at full force but with another name. And SPECIALLY not with what TROS is bringing back.
It's equally as dumb and reeks of creative bankruptcy. As much as I like this film, doing that shit really bothered me.
Thankfully unlike TFA, this one does make some creative choices and brings some new concepts to the table, to the point I can forgive how dumb Legion is
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Yeah pretty much, 3 s the ultimate "gotcha! Turns out fate is set and everything in t2 was nonsense, also Sarah Connor died offscreen don't worry about it", at least here they absolutely split the difference in t1 and t2 interpretations of fate and explain that yes things can be changed but also Arnie's line in t2 that "it's in your nature to destroy yourselves" is meaningful.
It's not a perfect film like the first two but dark fate feels like the first sequel to understand t1 and t2 and make a genuine attempt to continue their erratic but compelling path, solid/entertaining and the first one to not make me angry about the franchise.
People keep talking up that this is trying to set up a new sequel trilogy or whatever but unlike the other attempted sequels I'd be ok if this was the end of the franchise.
I liked the beginning and most of the middle, but by the end it kinda started to stretch thin.
There needed to be some kind of new plot element I feel like.
I think they've done about as much with the concept as they can at this point, they've basically drained all the juice out of that coconut.
Also I was expecting to see Edward Furlong ... but not like *that*, lol. Kudos to them for surprising me, but lol, poor Eddie Furlong. I thought for a bit they might do the "parrallel universe" where Sarah can prevent/alter Jon's death somehow, but nope.
There needed to be some kind of new plot element I feel like.
I think they've done about as much with the concept as they can at this point, they've basically drained all the juice out of that coconut.
Also I was expecting to see Edward Furlong ... but not like *that*, lol. Kudos to them for surprising me, but lol, poor Eddie Furlong. I thought for a bit they might do the "parrallel universe" where Sarah can prevent/alter Jon's death somehow, but nope.
