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A Sneak Peak At "Terminator: Salvation"
By Jim KiernanLast night in NYC I was among the lucky invited to a Warner Bros. hosted presentation for their upcoming May 22 release of the latest entry in the Terminator series, "Terminator: Salvation." Director McG, best known for the quick cutting one-two punch of 'Charlie's Angels' and 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," was on hand to introduce never before seen selections from the film starring Christian Bale as John Conner, the man who leads humanity out of the nuclear ashes following Judgment Day (and previously portrayed by Eddie Furlong and Nick Stahl in T's 2 and 3, respectively).
McG was excited to talk up the footage and the film at length in as much detail as he could in a spoiler free forum. He was down to earth, personable, and very honest about things like both his own and James Cameron's initial unfavorable response to making another Terminator pic, how much he wanted to make a gritty war film that was loyal to the established mythology, and working with the incredibly intense Christian Bale, whom he considers one of the greatest actors of his generation (and, of course, he demanded extensive script re-writes before he'd sign on to the project).
The script draws predominantly from James Cameron's first two films, acknowledges T3 somewhat, and leaves FOXs 'Sarah Conner Chronicles' out in the cold. He said the first film was about saving Sarah Conner, and the second one was about saving John Conner, this one is about saving Kyle Reese. He called it the Holy Trinity of Terminator.
McG promises a character driven film with an elliptical and challenging ending that will piss off a lot of people (and clarified that everything rumored on the Internet regarding the ending has been wrong).
They showed a high octane chase sequence in the desert that heavily evoked "Road Warrior" meets "Matrix" meets "Transformers" with some temp FX, but it is definitely gritty, fast, and loud. The deafening sound design was all there and it was fun to see actors being vaulted and thrown about on wires that will be digitally removed later.
Rest assured, Michael Bay has nothing to worry about in the 'giant
robot' department because these guys are big, boxy, and hulking. They,
by design, don't need to look as sleek or move as fast as your Optimus
Prime or Megatron. When asked about "Transformers 2," McG was not
worried about both films coming out this summer, saying his film is far
more in tone with the "Bourne" series.
Christian Bale is as intense as ever in a somewhat confusing spoiler scene where John Conner meets co-star Sam Worthington's character for the first time. McG made no secret of Bale's hard hitting work ethic to the film and general un-Hollywood attitude. Sometimes the director could keep the camera on him for three minutes of straight dialogue without going to another shot. He even did an imitation of him refusing to do something Bale felt may be out of the Conner character -- i.e... Bale being out of his mind regarding the 'craft.'
An extended trailer with finished FX and a harrowing voice over was shown which would play well as a Super Bowl spot next month.
I asked during the Q&A if there was any pressure to deliver some kind of big finale shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger being sent back in time to 1984 to wrap it all neatly together. McG said there was extreme pressure for that and speculated as to whether or not it would happen (with ILM's help) because of the passage of time and Arnold's political schedule. He also noted that 'Salvation' takes place in 2018, and Arnold's T-800 is not sent back to kill Sarah Conner until 2029, and that time travel is not even addressed in this film.
I had a few minutes of one-on-one time with the director walking the halls of the screening floor following the presentation. We talked a bit about the gritty bleached-out look of the film (they used an old film stock unique to this production) and how the dark undertone will surprise a lot of people. He feels that working within this established mythology of the franchise is definitely a blessing as a storyteller, not a curse.
When we passed the teaser one sheet poster depicting the mechanical Terminator skull in the shape of a burning city, McG stopped and said that image represented the Terminator movie he wanted to make. I asked if there was more story to tell after "Salvation," and he replied that while he would never automatically presume that there would be a second or third movie after this one, he has indeed mapped out a three-part story arc that could be developed.
McG wants this film to stand beside films like "The Matrix," "Children of Men," and "Alien." He noted that the great thing about the first "Matrix" film is that you can both marvel at its action and effects and then sit down and discuss its deeper meaning at length.
As of now, I am very optimistic at this point as to what this film will deliver on screen in May. McG's heart is definitely in the right place for what he wants to get across. And the footage certainly backs that up. Mark your calendars for May 22...
Christian Bale is as intense as ever in a somewhat confusing spoiler scene where John Conner meets co-star Sam Worthington's character for the first time. McG made no secret of Bale's hard hitting work ethic to the film and general un-Hollywood attitude. Sometimes the director could keep the camera on him for three minutes of straight dialogue without going to another shot. He even did an imitation of him refusing to do something Bale felt may be out of the Conner character -- i.e... Bale being out of his mind regarding the 'craft.'
An extended trailer with finished FX and a harrowing voice over was shown which would play well as a Super Bowl spot next month.
I asked during the Q&A if there was any pressure to deliver some kind of big finale shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger being sent back in time to 1984 to wrap it all neatly together. McG said there was extreme pressure for that and speculated as to whether or not it would happen (with ILM's help) because of the passage of time and Arnold's political schedule. He also noted that 'Salvation' takes place in 2018, and Arnold's T-800 is not sent back to kill Sarah Conner until 2029, and that time travel is not even addressed in this film.
I had a few minutes of one-on-one time with the director walking the halls of the screening floor following the presentation. We talked a bit about the gritty bleached-out look of the film (they used an old film stock unique to this production) and how the dark undertone will surprise a lot of people. He feels that working within this established mythology of the franchise is definitely a blessing as a storyteller, not a curse.
When we passed the teaser one sheet poster depicting the mechanical Terminator skull in the shape of a burning city, McG stopped and said that image represented the Terminator movie he wanted to make. I asked if there was more story to tell after "Salvation," and he replied that while he would never automatically presume that there would be a second or third movie after this one, he has indeed mapped out a three-part story arc that could be developed.
McG wants this film to stand beside films like "The Matrix," "Children of Men," and "Alien." He noted that the great thing about the first "Matrix" film is that you can both marvel at its action and effects and then sit down and discuss its deeper meaning at length.
As of now, I am very optimistic at this point as to what this film will deliver on screen in May. McG's heart is definitely in the right place for what he wants to get across. And the footage certainly backs that up. Mark your calendars for May 22...
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