The Machines Rise Again.

The story of the Terminator franchise is kind of ironic. At the end of T2, the best installment of the trilogy, Judgment day was narrowly avoided. Sarah, John and the T-101 saved the future of the human race, well temporarily.

Skip forward to the climax of T3 and we discover that judgment day was only postponed; it cannot be stopped.

And in many ways the same can be said of the Terminator Franchise. No matter how they attempt to save us from a new feature length installment; Jim Cameron wiping his hands of the series, or Arnie’s lack of involvement it seems you cannot stop another sequel being made. Like judgment day itself, it’s inevitable.

So if we absolutely have to delve once again into the dystopian world of man Vs machine, without any familiar faces to boot, then we need a new take on a story that is so treasured by its fans. It needs to be respectful of the originals yet take us to new places and prove to us that a new Terminator movie really is necessary.

Well judging by the trailers for this year’s Terminator Salvation, I’d say that there on the right track. So without further ado here are 5 reasons why we will all be back to catch this new take on the Terminator chronicles.


1. Cut to the chase.

Terminator Salvation is a reinvention, no expense spared, and probably the best decision they could have made was to set the film in the future.

It’s the drive of the original trilogy, heavily mentioned, briefly envisioned, but never fully realised. This time around we are dropped right into the action. The year 2018, post judgment day. The bombs have fallen, the resistance has risen and we finally get a decent look at the world at war against the machines.

And from what we’ve seen so far it’s a sun-bleached wasteland, sprouting jagged metal with hidden industrial human colonies. Littered with destruction, and over run with machines the future looks unforgiving, taking the glimpses of Cameron’s dark future and fleshing out its metal endoskeleton.


2. Bale out.

Ok so the film has enough ties to the Batman franchise, with Jonathan Nolan co-writing Salvation's script fresh off The Dark Knight, but for the film to be a success it needed a strong lead. And who better than Christian Bale to play the hard-boiled leader we learn so much about from previous installments. There’s no doubting his dedication to the role (The Bale rant anyone?)

Many actors have embodied John Connor over the years, most notably Edward Furlong as the teen rebel Connor and Nick Stahl as the off-the-radar young adult. It only seems fitting that the leader of the resistance this time around is different to all previous Connor depictions.

Despite all its faults T3 had one defining moment: John Connor realising that Judgment day is inevitable finally accepts his fate as mankind’s only hope answering a distress call in a presidential bomb shelter. In that moment his character changes and he reluctantly becomes the leader he was born to be, the leader we will see in Bale’s performance.


3. Action Sequences.

Although there has been no official blessing from James Cameron regarding Salvation, that’s not to say director McG is going hold anything back in bringing his vision to our screens.

T2 is often considered one of the best action movies ever made, probably because it is, so lets be realistic. McG isn’t going to top T2 for innovative action sequences, but by the look of the third Salvation trailer, that hasn’t stopped him trying.

Giant machines plucking humans from the ground, motorbike chases, helicopter attacks, just try to watch that trailer and not get excited about what the finished film will be like. All this and I haven’t even touched upon the Terminator/human fight scenes.

For a Terminator fan, sure, this isn’t the usual style of action we’ve grown accustom to, but that’s a good thing. If the trailers aren’t just an action tease and actually live up to expectations, this could be the action movie of the year and might even make Cameron raise an eyebrow.


4. The small yet necessary changes.

Compare T1 Sarah Connor to the Sarah Connor of T2, any similarities? Nope. Does it work? Yes. Even the Terminator changes roles drastically from the first film to the second, again with positive results.

The Franchise needs to change in order to stay fresh and relevant, the failure to do so was T3’s downfall. That’s why we shouldn’t be against the latest changes made to the mythology in the latest installment.

The most obvious change taking the form of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a soldier with a hazy past who is unaware that he is part machine. Other potential new plots that may arise: Worthington has something to do with the death of Kyle Reece (John’s father), machines taking humans captive; using them for terminator parts (skin, hair) and also was it me or is it subtly hinted in the trailer that Connor’s wife Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard) might be pregnant?


5. More Robots.

Of course the backbone to the whole franchise is the machines, with the new surroundings allowing McG to go wild regarding what terminator models he wants to show.

So what should we be expecting? A terminator army of all shapes and sizes by the looks of it.

Harvesters’ sixty feet tall capturing humans for experimentation, small scout robots, under water Hydrobots, right down to the prototypes which eventually lead to Arnie’s T-101. Eight feet tall rubber skinned T-600’s and the smaller not quite humanly perfect T-700’s.





So if this top five still doesn’t wet your appetite for machine apocalypse movies, then just watch the trailer below, see if that sways your opinion.

Terminator Salvation is released on June 5th.