Marlowe Reviews...TERMINATOR SALVATION (Warner Bros.)

Peter Marlowe · 12-04-2009, 01:02 AM

Studio: Warner Bros.
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition; 16X9 2.4:1 (2.40:1); Region 1 (U.S.) Release
Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (tested at core DTS)
Director: McG
Starring Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE…OR IS IT?

PLOT ANALYSIS:

In many ways, this fourth installment to the Arnold-esque franchise is like a cross between War of the Worlds and Transformers – how, you ask? Well, remember when Tom Cruise and all the unlucky captives of the aliens in Spielberg’s War of the Worlds are trapped in those “transport buckets” on the alien ships? Something very similar happens in Terminator Salvation. Furthermore, the overtly wild, eye-popping mechanical mayhem and battle sequences in this Christian Bale-helmed action fest are eerily similar to all the chaos that ensued between the transformers in Michael (gulp) Bay’s film.

Let me back up a bit. I rented this on a whim after recalling wanting to see it theatrically; after all, the “hole” left by “John Connor” telling us that the “battle had just begun” at the end of Rise of the Machines had fans salivating for the fourth installment. Part 3 was pure popcorn action – the kind of film that non-diehard Terminator fans were able to enjoy just as an over-the-top summer blockbuster, while serious fans that were raised on the more cerebral diet of the first and second films called Jonathan Mostow’s film pure eye candy. Bet that as it may, Rise of the Machines was simply all-out, balls-to-the-wall fun from beginning to end, and we were treated to Arnie gettin’ it on with a foxy “female” terminator sent to wipe out John Connor once again. The DVD’s Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is still, all these years later, absolute pure demo gold. And so Terminator 3 stands on its own as a kind of unique entry in the franchise; one that non-Terminator diehards can watch as a standalone action picture.

The biggest gamble came when Warner Brothers announced that Arnie wouldn’t be in the fourth installment – it was to take a bit of a fresh direction with Christian Bale as Connor leading the human resistance after the events of the third film. How could this work? How could it be a Terminator film without Arnold on the marquee? Well, just when you thought he wasn’t completely in it, there’s a good surprise towards the end of Salvation…

The timeline of events from the conclusion of Rise of the Machines up until what transpires in Salvation seems a bit sketchy upon first watch, and the film finds itself playing like an odd mix of a Mad Max film and one of the aforementioned Transformers sequels, what with desolate, dry landscapes and horizons fusing with bands and pockets of survivor colonies. An opening sequence gets a bit confusing as we witness a prisoner (Sam Worthington) preparing to be executed on death row as he talks with a cancer victim looking for him to donate his body once he’s executed. Worthington’s character ends up being “half-made” into a terminator and sent into the raging war that Bale and the resistance is fighting with Skynet and the machines. It takes until the end of the film to discover that the cancer victim in that opening sequence was actually behind making Worthington into the half-machine in order to, of course, stop John Connor’s resistance efforts.

The resistance, as it is known, is apparently fighting this war against the machines and Skynet via a submarine, I guess because the robots simply cannot make it underwater – until some new eel-like terminator units find a way to do just that. Meanwhile, there are some continuation issues here, mainly with the fact that Claire Danes’ character from the third film has been replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3); at the end of the third film, Connor and Danes are destined to be married and have children as they hunker in the military bunker, but much like the Dark Knight Katie Holmes switch, Howard now plays Connor’s wife and is carrying his baby. Another interesting element in Salvation comes in the form of Connor’s father (played here by Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin)who is fighting the war against the machines from the L.A. pocket of resistance – Connor doesn’t know his father, Kyle, is in this time until some events start coming together.

The main problem with Bale playing John Connor is his Batman-under-the-mask-like dialogue delivery; sometimes, it is so similar, it’s startling. As Bale delivers his lines in this, you can almost hear the lisp-like speech in The Dark Knight when he talks to Harvey Dent about turning himself in – the delivery is identical. But, surprisingly, if you give it time, Terminator Salvation has some moments of clarity and wallops of action setpieces reminiscent of the first three films. There are wild updates of the terminator machines and their weapons/ships, and a great final battle sequence between Bale, Worthington and a surprise visit from a terminator we all know…

Which brings me to Worthington’s “Marcus” character and the role he plays in this; as I said, if you give the film time, the plot begins to make more sense and effective elements begin to fall into place. Once discovered as a half-machine, Marcus is suspected of being a Skynet spy of sorts by Connor and some of his resistance friends, even though he denies being there to harm them. Restrained in iron chains, Marcus is eventually set free by a sexy member of Connor’s team that doesn’t believe he is there to harm them, either. Meanwhile, Connor’s father, Kyle, and other resistance fighters, have been scooped up by giant machines and are headed to Skynet headquarters in a bombed-out San Francisco. Now, in order to save the future and stabilize the past, Connor must get to Skynet and rescue Kyle – his only hope is to trust Marcus in that this half man/half machine will help him in infiltrating Skynet’s headquarters.

What ensues are eye-popping machine/human battles that borders on almost beyond reproach – sure, these battle sequences were wild enough in Judgement Day and Rise of the Machines, but wait until you see Bale fighting the surprise terminator towards the end, or Marcus using his machine half to battle the super terminator. Pretty cool stuff, to put it simply.

There are some “cameo” voiceover moments from John’s mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton) and the score from the first three films has been fused with a Batman Begins-like tune from Danny Elfman, but the biggest issue I had with Terminator Salvation was Bale as Connor; I just didn’t see it. Actually, Worthington would have probably been a better fit, visually, for Connor. I just didn’t see Edward Furlong growing up into Bale – speaking of Furlong, there’s a nice nod to his John Connor performance from the second film in this, when Bale switches on a boom box radio and blasts that Guns ‘n Roses song from Judgement Day…

The final sequence has, again, Bale as Connor narrating a few words about the machines not being completely eliminated, thus leaving the door open for a fifth installment; will we see a return of the beloved California politician? Is he too old? Can his wife manage to look remotely sexy even with makeup?

VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:

For Warner Bros.’ Blu-ray presentation of Terminator Salvation, the audio happened to fare better than the video – and I’ll get to that below. The opening shots on this 1080p, 2.40:1 widescreen transfer appeared to be riddled with a bit too much grain and slight digital noise. As the transfer moved forward, however, visuals cleared up a great deal and there was a tremendous amount of detail to be found in facial hair, pores, dirt roads and the usual standbys that happen to look good in high definition. The overall color palate was coated in a dull, bleak, cold scheme inherent to the subject material of robots taking over mankind, and this transferred over well on the Blu-ray. Most scenes kept a thin veil of film grain present, but aside from some opening sequences, this wasn’t a distraction.

AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:

Wow. Even running the DTS core stream of this 5.1 Master Audio track was an experience that bested the video presentation on the Terminator Salvation Blu-ray Disc (I will finally have access to full lossless Master Audio after the holidays when I receive the Oppo Blu-ray player). From beginning to end, this was a sweeping, engaging and at times walloping audio track that will have your subwoofer testing the vibration limits of objects in your listening room. Compared to the last DTS Master Audio track I sampled on Blu-ray, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, this sound mix was a completely different animal – much like the crushing Dolby Digital track on the Rise of the Machines DVD, the LFE, surround activity and immersion presence on Salvation will give even the most demanding of systems a workout.

Curiously, I haven’t been pleased with the latest crop of Master Audio-equipped titles, even running them at core extraction – let me say I haven’t been impressed. But once the action heats up in Salvation, hold on – there’s a heavy, menacing sense of bass information during the battle sequences and when the machines are falling and hitting the ground as they’re taken out. Gun blasts, directional cues and all other kinds of elements work their way into the surround channels with an aggressive presence; it’s an all-encompassing, nearly constant surround mix. At times, dialogue was bit difficult to make out when I needed to lower the master volume to compensate for the crushing, hammering effects; this happens with almost every disc where the soundfield needs to be reduced to an almost nonexistent level due to late night viewing of high action material.

SUMMARY:

Most of Terminator Salvation doesn’t really entertain; fans of the franchise will find themselves checking the elapsed time on their players to see how much more they need to sit through because, as I said, much of this plays like an odd War of the Worlds/Mad Max/Transformers hybrid. But once the “Marcus” man/machine finds his mission, to help John Connor save his father from the Skynet trenches, and the battles between him and the “resurrected” super terminator (you’ll love that surprise), the film really picks up steam and redeems itself. It is absolutely no Judgment Day or even Rise of the Machines, but it gets fairly entertaining towards the end. It will be interesting to see where – if anywhere – this franchise is going to go from here.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

If you’re curious, like me, you’ll want to give this at least a rental spin – it didn’t find much love in the theaters and it was pulled rather quickly, but it sure makes for wild home theater enjoyment. Coupled with the disc’s Master Audio track, you can probably find worse ways to spend two hours. Just watch that subwoofer volume/calibration level on your system because this one’s a boomer.

As for a purchase, I really can’t say; I don’t think I am going to pick it up as I don’t see it getting much repeat play in my system, but I may rewatch it a few times before I need to return it.

As always, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy Terminator Salvation should you choose to give it a try.

Peter Marlowe · 12-05-2009, 09:44 PM

What was the overall concensus on this film? How about the Master Audio track, which I felt was demo-worthy from almost the get-go?

12-04-2009, 01:02 AM	#1
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,515	Marlowe Reviews...TERMINATOR SALVATION (Warner Bros.) Studio: Warner Bros. MPAA Rating: PG-13 Disc/Transfer Information: 1080p High Definition; 16X9 2.4:1 (2.40:1); Region 1 (U.S.) Release Tested Audio Track: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (tested at core DTS) Director: McG Starring Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard RESISTANCE IS FUTILE…OR IS IT? *PLOT ANALYSIS:* In many ways, this fourth installment to the Arnold-esque franchise is like a cross between War of the Worlds and Transformers – how, you ask? Well, remember when Tom Cruise and all the unlucky captives of the aliens in Spielberg’s War of the Worlds are trapped in those “transport buckets” on the alien ships? Something very similar happens in Terminator Salvation. Furthermore, the overtly wild, eye-popping mechanical mayhem and battle sequences in this Christian Bale-helmed action fest are eerily similar to all the chaos that ensued between the transformers in Michael (gulp) Bay’s film. Let me back up a bit. I rented this on a whim after recalling wanting to see it theatrically; after all, the “hole” left by “John Connor” telling us that the “battle had just begun” at the end of Rise of the Machines had fans salivating for the fourth installment. Part 3 was pure popcorn action – the kind of film that non-diehard Terminator fans were able to enjoy just as an over-the-top summer blockbuster, while serious fans that were raised on the more cerebral diet of the first and second films called Jonathan Mostow’s film pure eye candy. Bet that as it may, Rise of the Machines was simply all-out, balls-to-the-wall fun from beginning to end, and we were treated to Arnie gettin’ it on with a foxy “female” terminator sent to wipe out John Connor once again. The DVD’s Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is still, all these years later, absolute pure demo gold. And so Terminator 3 stands on its own as a kind of unique entry in the franchise; one that non-Terminator diehards can watch as a standalone action picture. The biggest gamble came when Warner Brothers announced that Arnie wouldn’t be in the fourth installment – it was to take a bit of a fresh direction with Christian Bale as Connor leading the human resistance after the events of the third film. How could this work? How could it be a Terminator film without Arnold on the marquee? Well, just when you thought he wasn’t completely in it, there’s a good surprise towards the end of Salvation… The timeline of events from the conclusion of Rise of the Machines up until what transpires in Salvation seems a bit sketchy upon first watch, and the film finds itself playing like an odd mix of a Mad Max film and one of the aforementioned Transformers sequels, what with desolate, dry landscapes and horizons fusing with bands and pockets of survivor colonies. An opening sequence gets a bit confusing as we witness a prisoner (Sam Worthington) preparing to be executed on death row as he talks with a cancer victim looking for him to donate his body once he’s executed. Worthington’s character ends up being “half-made” into a terminator and sent into the raging war that Bale and the resistance is fighting with Skynet and the machines. It takes until the end of the film to discover that the cancer victim in that opening sequence was actually behind making Worthington into the half-machine in order to, of course, stop John Connor’s resistance efforts. The resistance, as it is known, is apparently fighting this war against the machines and Skynet via a submarine, I guess because the robots simply cannot make it underwater – until some new eel-like terminator units find a way to do just that. Meanwhile, there are some continuation issues here, mainly with the fact that Claire Danes’ character from the third film has been replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3); at the end of the third film, Connor and Danes are destined to be married and have children as they hunker in the military bunker, but much like the Dark Knight Katie Holmes switch, Howard now plays Connor’s wife and is carrying his baby. Another interesting element in Salvation comes in the form of Connor’s father (played here by Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin)who is fighting the war against the machines from the L.A. pocket of resistance – Connor doesn’t know his father, Kyle, is in this time until some events start coming together. The main problem with Bale playing John Connor is his Batman-under-the-mask-like dialogue delivery; sometimes, it is so similar, it’s startling. As Bale delivers his lines in this, you can almost hear the lisp-like speech in The Dark Knight when he talks to Harvey Dent about turning himself in – the delivery is identical. But, surprisingly, if you give it time, Terminator Salvation has some moments of clarity and wallops of action setpieces reminiscent of the first three films. There are wild updates of the terminator machines and their weapons/ships, and a great final battle sequence between Bale, Worthington and a surprise visit from a terminator we all know… Which brings me to Worthington’s “Marcus” character and the role he plays in this; as I said, if you give the film time, the plot begins to make more sense and effective elements begin to fall into place. Once discovered as a half-machine, Marcus is suspected of being a Skynet spy of sorts by Connor and some of his resistance friends, even though he denies being there to harm them. Restrained in iron chains, Marcus is eventually set free by a sexy member of Connor’s team that doesn’t believe he is there to harm them, either. Meanwhile, Connor’s father, Kyle, and other resistance fighters, have been scooped up by giant machines and are headed to Skynet headquarters in a bombed-out San Francisco. Now, in order to save the future and stabilize the past, Connor must get to Skynet and rescue Kyle – his only hope is to trust Marcus in that this half man/half machine will help him in infiltrating Skynet’s headquarters. What ensues are eye-popping machine/human battles that borders on almost beyond reproach – sure, these battle sequences were wild enough in Judgement Day and Rise of the Machines, but wait until you see Bale fighting the surprise terminator towards the end, or Marcus using his machine half to battle the super terminator. Pretty cool stuff, to put it simply. There are some “cameo” voiceover moments from John’s mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton) and the score from the first three films has been fused with a Batman Begins-like tune from Danny Elfman, but the biggest issue I had with Terminator Salvation was Bale as Connor; I just didn’t see it. Actually, Worthington would have probably been a better fit, visually, for Connor. I just didn’t see Edward Furlong growing up into Bale – speaking of Furlong, there’s a nice nod to his John Connor performance from the second film in this, when Bale switches on a boom box radio and blasts that Guns ‘n Roses song from Judgement Day… The final sequence has, again, Bale as Connor narrating a few words about the machines not being completely eliminated, thus leaving the door open for a fifth installment; will we see a return of the beloved California politician? Is he too old? Can his wife manage to look remotely sexy even with makeup? *VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:* For Warner Bros.’ Blu-ray presentation of Terminator Salvation, the audio happened to fare better than the video – and I’ll get to that below. The opening shots on this 1080p, 2.40:1 widescreen transfer appeared to be riddled with a bit too much grain and slight digital noise. As the transfer moved forward, however, visuals cleared up a great deal and there was a tremendous amount of detail to be found in facial hair, pores, dirt roads and the usual standbys that happen to look good in high definition. The overall color palate was coated in a dull, bleak, cold scheme inherent to the subject material of robots taking over mankind, and this transferred over well on the Blu-ray. Most scenes kept a thin veil of film grain present, but aside from some opening sequences, this wasn’t a distraction. *AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:* Wow. Even running the DTS core stream of this 5.1 Master Audio track was an experience that bested the video presentation on the Terminator Salvation Blu-ray Disc (I will finally have access to full lossless Master Audio after the holidays when I receive the Oppo Blu-ray player). From beginning to end, this was a sweeping, engaging and at times walloping audio track that will have your subwoofer testing the vibration limits of objects in your listening room. Compared to the last DTS Master Audio track I sampled on Blu-ray, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, this sound mix was a completely different animal – much like the crushing Dolby Digital track on the Rise of the Machines DVD, the LFE, surround activity and immersion presence on Salvation will give even the most demanding of systems a workout. Curiously, I haven’t been pleased with the latest crop of Master Audio-equipped titles, even running them at core extraction – let me say I haven’t been impressed. But once the action heats up in Salvation, hold on – there’s a heavy, menacing sense of bass information during the battle sequences and when the machines are falling and hitting the ground as they’re taken out. Gun blasts, directional cues and all other kinds of elements work their way into the surround channels with an aggressive presence; it’s an all-encompassing, nearly constant surround mix. At times, dialogue was bit difficult to make out when I needed to lower the master volume to compensate for the crushing, hammering effects; this happens with almost every disc where the soundfield needs to be reduced to an almost nonexistent level due to late night viewing of high action material. *SUMMARY:* Most of Terminator Salvation doesn’t really entertain; fans of the franchise will find themselves checking the elapsed time on their players to see how much more they need to sit through because, as I said, much of this plays like an odd War of the Worlds/Mad Max/Transformers hybrid. But once the “Marcus” man/machine finds his mission, to help John Connor save his father from the Skynet trenches, and the battles between him and the “resurrected” super terminator (you’ll love that surprise), the film really picks up steam and redeems itself. It is absolutely no Judgment Day or even Rise of the Machines, but it gets fairly entertaining towards the end. It will be interesting to see where – if anywhere – this franchise is going to go from here. *RECOMMENDATIONS:* If you’re curious, like me, you’ll want to give this at least a rental spin – it didn’t find much love in the theaters and it was pulled rather quickly, but it sure makes for wild home theater enjoyment. Coupled with the disc’s Master Audio track, you can probably find worse ways to spend two hours. Just watch that subwoofer volume/calibration level on your system because this one’s a boomer. As for a purchase, I really can’t say; I don’t think I am going to pick it up as I don’t see it getting much repeat play in my system, but I may rewatch it a few times before I need to return it. As always, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoy Terminator Salvation should you choose to give it a try. __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605(B) OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *2-CHANNEL/RECORDING:* ONKYO TX-8555(B) polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL Professional Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST REVIEW:* Last edited by Peter Marlowe; 12-04-2009 at 01:06 AM.

12-05-2009, 09:44 PM	#2
Peter Marlowe Resident BD/DVD Reviewer Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2,515	What was the overall concensus on this film? How about the Master Audio track, which I felt was demo-worthy from almost the get-go? __________________ THEATER: ONKYO TX-SR605(B) OPPO BDP-83 SONY KDS-50A2020 SXRD Mains: polkaudio RTi12 Center: polkaudio CSi30 Surrounds: SpeakerCraft Preinstalled In-Ceiling Sub: polkaudio PSW350 APC SurgeArrest System *2-CHANNEL/RECORDING:* ONKYO TX-8555(B) polkaudio R20 Stands by Sanus Systems' Natural Foundations marantz CC4001 TASCAM CD-RW900SL Professional Technics SL-1200MK2 (wish list) Numark CD MIX-1 Bell'O Audio Tower *LAST REVIEW:*