Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation
When Terminator Salvation was announced in 2007, it immediately faced high expectations. The first two Terminator films are considered science fiction classics along with Star Wars, Alien, and Blade Runner, and the third film is hailed as a worthy addition to the franchise.

Taking a Chance
Unlike the first three films, Salvation takes place in the future rather than present day California. The setting is a huge departure for the series, and the Halcyon Company signed on McG, a relatively unknown director, to lead production of the film.Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Michael Ironside are all respected actors, but they lack the star power of the Brad Pitts and George Clooneys of the acting world. Other members of Salvation's cast include Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood, who were practically unknown before the movie was released.

Clearly, the Halcyon Company, Warner Brothers, and Sony were all taking a substantial risk with the movie. While the Terminator name would generate some revenue, the $200 million budget meant any mediocre reviews and poor turnout would turn the movie into a financial disaster.

A Critical Success
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone and Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal both applauded the film for its plot, acting, and special effects. Of Sam Worthington's performance as Marcus Wright, Peter Travers wrote that the actor "... is star material as a machine with a conscience," and the entire film "manages to blend action and feeling." Instead of being confined by the franchise's classic time travel template, the film finds John Connor and the remainder of the human resistance fighting a losing war against Skynet. The leadership is hiding aboard a nuclear submarine, and human industry is all but nonexistent. Outnumbered and outgunned, the future of humanity looks both grim and short, and we finally get to see the robot apocalypse first shown in Terminator.

The apocalypse is a popular theme in recent movies and TV shows - The Road, World War Z, and The Walking Dead all come to mind.

Terminator Salvation takes thirty years of cinematic history and blends it into a smart action film that takes the franchise into new territory without abandoning what made it memorable in the first place.

Although time travel is not directly addressed in the film, John Connor ends up leading a rescue mission to liberate Kyle Reese from Skynet. Fans of the series will remember Kyle Reese as the first film's protagonist, who ends up fathering John Connor nearly 15 years prior to Skynet's activation.

Terminator Salvation was a huge financial gamble, but it ended up generating significant revenue at the box office. The movie's $200 million budget makes it one of the most expensive movies ever produced, but it earned back its entire production budget with an impressive $170 million to spare. With this film's financial success, we're sure to see the next installment in the Terminator franchise within the next few years.