Terminator: Reboot

[StarTrek1701]

The 80's are making a very big comeback in the second decade of the new millenium. We are either getting sequels to 80's hits and flops (Predators, Tron Legacy) or we are getting drastic modernised reboots (Robocop, Short Circuit). We all know its just a matter of time before some big studio head gets the bright idea of doing a reboot of one of scifi's most beloved franchise: the Terminator universe. Granted the last two movies were.. subpar.. at best, but that doesn't stop us fans from wanting more. The Terminator and T2:JD will always be two of my favorite movies of all time. Rebooting them is, obviously, pointless. However, if it is rebooted, how/what would you like to see?

For starters, lets be hypothetical and think the movie would go into pre-production this year. So shooting is next year (2013) for a 2014 release. How would you develop the story, what themes would it have, and who shall be the cast?

Here's my idea:

CAST
Jennifer Lawrence as Sarah Connor
Ryan Gosling as Kyle Reese
Patrick Schwarzennegger as The Terminator.

SYNOPSIS
The year 2050. The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Two decades have passed since Judgement Day. Skynet, a self-aware militaristic program had gone rogue, deducing humanity as its number one existential threat, so it takes control of all modern UAV's, UGV's and UMV's, plus 'early models' of humanoid androids that are precursors to the terminators in the future. However, even after reducing the human population to a mere 800 million or so, it seems Skynet cannot beat humans no matter what. It actually begins to lose the war. Defenses are down, humans taking control of many of Skynet's outposts, military and research alike. The final blow comes when its main defense grid is smashed and humans will take control of its main headquarters within a matter of days. Desperate, it strikes one final blow to the Resistance, but the resistance still comes out on top. All because of one man: John Connor. We all know what's Skynet's last ditch effort.

UPDATES TO A CLASSIC
Obviously the tropes that worked in 1984 isn't gonna work today. For starters, viral videos uploaded from everyone's Android (ha!) and iPhones takes minutes to gain momentum. The advent of Facebook will also make it highly easy for a futuristic robot to just hack and find Sarah Connor's face, identity, work, etc. However, the Terminator does not know which Sarah Connor it is, so it has to hunt down every Sarah Connor who is of birthing age (13-50) in the Los Angeles area. It should also be very discreet in taking out its intended targets.

The Terminator itself is a wartime robot, bleeding edge of its class. The T-800 comes with human/organic vaporizer that it can use once every 30 minutes to completely disintigrate a human body. It can change its height within a 5" range, rearrange its facial structures, eye/hair color and voice to remain undetected and/or grossly unidentifiable. It can also mimic human emotions and behavior very well. Think scratching its eyes or smiling flirtily. For a robot, its not robotic at all. That makes it even more dangerous and very, very hard to convince others it is a killer machine. The only way to detect a Terminator: dogs. Dogs start to bark and howl wildly without reason when a Terminator comes near them.

The Terminator shouldn't also look like a bodybuilder with a bad Austrian accent. Its an infiltration robot in a dystopian future where food is scarce and every breath you take could be detected by an HK nearby. Nobody would have time to be in the gym 6 hours a day with a specialized diet to get Mr. Universe muscles. Any human or soldier with half a brain would be able to easily realize something's not right if a bodybuilder comes up to them with no emotions and ask for help.

TL;DR
So what are your thoughts as to how the Terminator franchise should be rebooted, or even if it should be rebooted? Please provide your ideas or general discussion about it.

[Guy Gardener]

Nice.

Here's my idea.

Sarah's on PCP, and it's all in her head.

[Admiral James Kirk]

StarTrek1701 wrote:

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Patrick Schwarzennegger as The Terminator.

Patrick is his mother's son as far as looks go. I'm about as scared of Patrick as I am any other skinny douche I pass on the street every day.

[Mr. Adventure]

I'd drop the vaporizer thing personally. And we aren't all on Facebook or am I the only one left?

[Admiral James Kirk]

I've been on Facebook for two years. Or is there something cooler out now?

[Sindatur]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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I'd drop the vaporizer thing personally. And we aren't all on Facebook or am I the only one left?

I don't do Facebook, MySpace or Twitter either, too much exposure of your computer, IMHO.

[Takeru]

Admiral James Kirk wrote:

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Patrick is his mother's son as far as looks go. I'm about as scared of Patrick as I am any other skinny douche I pass on the street every day.

In other words, he'd be perfect for the part. The Terminator should look like someone who's not dangerous at all, if I were Skynet I would create a model that looks like a 12 year old sad orphan.

[davejames]

I'm with James Cameron on this one. The two best stories were already told in T1 and T2, and with the coolest Terminator you could ever have in Swarzenegger.

Anything more would just be a rehash or a retread. Time to move on.

[Dream]

They already rebooted the franchise with the tv show. Didn't work out.

[Wereghost]

I'm not sure that a reboot would be a wise idea. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles showed that the franchise had artistic legs without James Cameron, but a movie reboot would probably entail a back-to-basics retelling of the original story. The original story, though, was basically Cameron's alleged fever dream on celluloid. I don't see a manufactured and commerce-minded retread faring well against such a seminal and driven movie, unless perhaps Cameron himself decides to take up the reins. That's not likely to happen in the next five years, if ever.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Essentially, every Terminator film was a reboot.

The first film was a closed loop. Subsequent ones, including the TV series, always rebooted it. There's not a consistent one in the bunch.

Kind of like Highlander.

[Disruptor]

New spin on it. The Terminator is a human sent back in time to destroy the future saviour of the oppressed machines.

I think that would be...stupid.

I think for once they should just let something die. Sarah Chronicle Conners and Salivation were met with lukewarm reception.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Disruptor wrote:

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New spin on it. The Terminator is a human sent back in time to destroy the future saviour of the oppressed machines.

Mirror Universe Terminator...

[Wereghost]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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Essentially, every Terminator film was a reboot.

The first film was a closed loop. Subsequent ones, including the TV series, always rebooted it. There's not a consistent one in the bunch.

Kind of like Highlander.

Well, at least the Terminator franchise always had an excuse (or a halfway credible pseudo-excuse).

[RoJoHen]

Mr. Adventure wrote:

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I'd drop the vaporizer thing personally. And we aren't all on Facebook or am I the only one left?

I'd wager that you are in the minority, or at least in the minority within the age group that a new Terminator movie would be aimed at.