As a fan of the Terminator and many actors of the series, I reviewed the series in the past few days and also talked about my analysis of the series' decline in the past 20 years. It's hard to say because I haven't seen the TV show.
Terminator 1 is a B-movie that Cameron made through his own nightmares. The governor who was supposed to play Kyle Reese as the Terminator was one of the biggest hits. The characterizations of Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor were also successful. So although the cost is not high, it has received a very high box office and gave the green light to increase the budget for the sequel.
When shooting Terminator 2, although the plot mode is still to avoid the Terminator's pursuit, but the characters and settings have improved compared to the first one. From the villain to the mechanical tough governor with a bit of tenderness, the intelligent and handsome young John Connor, and the growth of the warrior Sarah Connor are more attractive than the protagonist duo of the first part. And Robert Patrick's T-1000 is the pinnacle of the Terminator series villains, whether casting or setting performances. Up to now, when he played T-1000, he was still the most handsome European and American actor in my eyes. Terminator 2 not only surpassed the first one, but also one of the best sci-fi action movies in the eyes of many people. The era of Terminator 2 is the beginning of the Hollywood blockbuster sweeping the world and destroying the local film market of various countries. Therefore, this film also has a very high popularity in the eyes of Chinese audiences.
Terminator 2 was very successful as an independent film. At the same time, this route has been photographed to the extreme, and it is very difficult to make a sequel. In addition, with the rapid development of technology, the original setting. Coupled with the constant changes in copyright, it increases the difficulty of this IP continuation.
In the mid-1990s, Cameron had intended to make a third film, but he gave up because of the bankruptcy of the original film distribution company. Although "Yu Wei" still existed when shooting Terminator 3, it was not the best time to launch a sequel. In addition to Cameron's failure to return, Edward Furlong, like many child stars, self-destructed his career, and the crew looked for him at the beginning, but found that he couldn't and replaced him. After Linda Hamilton and Cameron divorced, they were not at their best as actors and refused to return due to dissatisfaction with the script. Only the biggest-name governor managed to return before fading out, and a considerable portion of the entire film's budget came from his paycheck.
Although Terminator 3 received positive reviews at the time, the box office was also the most successful film after 2. Although it was slightly lower than 5, the local box office was high enough. However, this film is far from being able to compare with the first two, and it has been criticized by the audience. The essence is a re-enactment of the second-generation plot, plus the huge gap between the director's level and Cameron's. Although the TX setting is very strong, it is obviously insufficient in the presentation of specific deterrent power, and many places are too plot-killing. There are also some jokes that affect the atmosphere too much, which weakens the sense of crisis of the first two films.
Of course, this film also has some bright spots. At that time, the governor was still at the peak of his 60-year-old action star and still had considerable appeal, and he was not old enough to be restricted from shirtless play like the last two films. Tie Han's tenderness performance is still excellent. Connor and Kate's acting skills are still online. Christiana Loken's TX and exoskeleton shapes are quite amazing, and they are the first beauty in the whole series. She also did a lot of training for the role, as did Robert Patrick. The positioning as a common popcorn chip can be seen.
Although the ending is considered by many people to be contrary to the original intention, it is regarded as the best part of the film. It is an innovation compared to the first two films, and the dark ending of Judgment Day cannot be avoided. It also paved the way for future battlefields that have never been highlighted.
Terminator 4 is the sequel to the next 3, so it is the only movie in the series that breaks the mode of crossing back and escaping the pursuit, and truly describes the future battlefield as the main story. The input scene is also the highest in the whole series, and the big-name Christian Bale was invited to play John Connor.
However, with the rapid development of technology, the future war between human and machine is not so new in 2009. It is not easy to shoot well, and it is also an adventure to break out of the original mode. Moreover, it is set that 2018 is the middle of the war rather than the end, and it cannot be directly connected to the future periods of the previous episodes. Coupled with the governor's inability to participate, the biggest star appeal does not exist.
John Connor has acted as the protagonist in two films, and the room for character expansion is limited, at least not as a single protagonist or relying on him and Kate to support. The characters of Kyle Reis have also been fully presented in the first part. While the governor is not there, one of the key human-machine coexistence and interaction topics in 2 still needs to be discussed. So the character Marcus was created. The design of this character is quite good, it is a contradiction in itself, and the plot of sublimation and redemption is also very good. But the script was not well balanced between Marcus and Connor, and neither character was best presented. The original script of Connor's death in battle with Marcus to replace him was even forced to be revised after it was leaked. In addition, the presentation of the war with Skynet can only be said to be unsatisfactory. It's not too bad, the front battle and the final fight against the T-800 are very good. Not only does CG present the governor, but the T-800 is also very oppressive. But the film's overall combat setting is not precise enough, and Skynet's plan feels a bit superfluous. The sense of wasteland is enough but it gives the feeling of a Transformers movie. This film is a typical direction and the general setting is correct, but the specific presentation is not done well. Therefore, the box office of this film failed to break through 400M, compared to the high budget. The entire shooting process was not satisfactory, and even incidents such as scolding on the set of Bell appeared.
As far as the development of the Terminator series is concerned, the box office hit of 4 is the most influential. Because it completely ruined the route of this IP to break the original model and expand future innovation. It also caused 5 and 6 to continue to return to the 1-3 route against the future mechanical killer.
With the change of ownership of the copyright, the new production company has ambitious plans to restart the series, invited Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor, and it is not surprising that Sarah Connor is played by Long Ma. Although Cersei has already played Sarah Connor on TV. The governor also officially returned to the series, giving the film a boost.
T5 is a soft reboot, opening a parallel time and space, adding many modern elements. The whole film also has an obvious American drama style. A lot of pits have been dug, such as who sent the old governor, and the origin of Skynet's T-5000 is waiting to be revealed in the sequel.
The young governor of CG at the beginning and Lee Byung-hun's T-1000 are very sincere. Lee Byung Hun really has a sense of Robert Patrick's coldness. The elderly governor is also very lively in the performance, and even a little tearjerker at the end of Sarah's affection and sacrifice. The film can also be considered to realize the advantages and disadvantages of the old governor, and let us see a father-like iron-blooded old man. The two protagonists are qualified and reflect the difference from the first generation. The protagonist group of T5 is quite good, and it also brings some new ideas.
However, the biggest flaw of the film is the villain Terminator. Jason Clerk opens with a very successful and convincing presentation of Rebel leader John Connor. However, the film made a very puzzling move, actually killing the hero John Connor and his soldiers to Skynet, and not only that, Connor was also transformed into a T-3000. What's even more exaggerated is that this turning point was revealed in the trailer. This displeased fans first, and secondly, was a complete waste of Connor's character. If Connor really wants to become a villain, this character should struggle and resist contradictions like Marcus. However, T-3000 was completely blackened and loyal to Skynet, chatting endlessly to persuade his parents to surrender. Even though he was a part of Connor, this Terminator had super powers throughout the whole process, but he was full of nonsense and had no sense of oppression at all. Turning John Connor into a T-3000 and the presentation of the T-3000 is the biggest flaw in the film.
The domestic box office of T5 is not high, and the actors such as Long Ma are dissatisfied with the director, etc., which has led to the cancellation of the original trilogy, and many pits have never been filled. In fact, it now seems that it may be better to continue shooting according to the T5. At least the writers tried to use multiple parallel time and space to tell a fresher sequel than T6.
T6 completely abandoned the 3-5 plot and directly connected to T2. Cameron was the producer. In addition to the governor, Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong announced that they would return without Robert Patrick. This seems to be an opportunity for the Terminator to turn over, but it ushered in a fiasco.
In all fairness, T6 alone isn't that bad as a movie. In the specific shooting, the comparison of 3-5 also somewhat recovered the original sense of urgency and atmosphere, and the old people did their best. In the end, the old governor and REV-9 returned together and shouted FOR JOHN Sarah Connor looked tangled. It was also very moving. But no amount of good narrative can save a bad old story itself. This script is the worst. In particular, the "innovation" has taken a complete backtrack.
At the beginning, he painstakingly reproduced the T2 character scene, but John was directly collapsed and persuaded to quit, angering a group of fans. Cameron clearly didn't learn the lessons of Connor's villainy in the last film. This scene fed nostalgic fans a piece of shit, causing many fans to protest or even abandon the film. However, the rest of the plot is a straightforward old bottle of new wine, which is equal to offending both old and new movie fans.
6 In addition to the plot re-engraving 2, Cameron also plagiarized some old stalks of the previous ones, especially 3. Even the ability of REV-9 is a mixture of T-1000 and TX. The main reason why 3 and 5 are criticized is that the soup is not changed, and 6 is less innovative than 3-5. In addition to changing the brand of Skynet and changing a new person to be the future leader, the real new content is the obvious punching ZZZQ of the Mexican heroine. The newcomer Danny is far inferior to the young Connor of 2 in terms of appearance, character and performance, completely ruining the fine tradition of selecting female characters in the Terminator series. The actor's performance of REV-9 was very successful, but I don't understand why such a peaceful Mexican guy was chosen to play the Terminator, and the Latin American handsome and beauties grabbed a hand. Where did the vision of Robert Patrick go in the first place. In addition to the feelings of the elderly, the only casting highlight of T6 is Grace, and the actors' images and movements are very amazing. But the specific depiction is not satisfactory. As a character who also traveled back from the future, it is far less plump than the first part of Kyle Reis. Cameron meant to use two veterans to pick up newcomers, but the effect was not good. Too many characters affect the presentation of the characters to each other. The two old people have insufficient roles, and the newcomer group also lacks chemical reactions and only has a full sense of ZZZQ. Instead, the villain REV-9 presents the best.
ZZZQ boxing, the old story mode that can't be old again, the popular protagonist of the current work and the unsuccessful new characters, together created the fiasco of the film. Who would have thought that after a series of misfortunes, Cameron himself buried the IP he created, which is also an ironic reincarnation.
All hope has been lost in the foreseeable future of the Terminator movies, and the only visible short-term animation is the short animation to expand the story. As someone who appreciates this series and some of the actors, it is also very sad to write these words, and can only hope that one day a new "savior" will arrive and successfully restart the series. The lessons of 3-6 are all worth learning.
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