Rank the Terminator films

[Tosk]

In T1 there's no evidence whatsoever of it taking place or even being possible

We don't see any flesh heal, that's true (the story takes place over a very short period of time) but the Terminator does dress and bandage the arm wound, so I would argue it is implied as possible.

I won't argue over Genisys...it's portrayal of Terminators is incompatible with the original films.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

We don't see any flesh heal, that's true (the story takes place over a very short period of time) but the Terminator does dress and bandage the arm wound, so I would argue it is implied as possible.

I won't argue over Genisys...it's portrayal of Terminators is incompatible with the original films.

It could also be argued that maybe the Terminator in part one doesn't want its flesh to heal. The same way Reese came back knowing he had to become John Connor's father, maybe the T-800 knew it was the catalyst for Miles Dyson to create SkyNet, so maybe it gave zero fucks about whether or not its endoskeleton was exposed. As long as it ended up in the hands of Cyberdyne, its mission was a success, skin or no skin

 

[Tosk]

The same way Reese came back knowing he had to become John Connor's father

That's not what happened. Kyle had no idea he was John's father.

 

[Kirk the Jerk]

1. T2
2. T1
3. Salvation
4. T3
5. Genysis - steaming pile of CGI mess

 

[Mike Farley]

T2-Judgement Day
The Terminator
Terminator: The Sarah Conners Chronicles

all the rest are varying levels of crap.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

That's not what happened. Kyle had no idea he was John's father.

He had to have SOME idea. The savior of humanity gives him a pic of his mom for no reason. Dude falls in love with her after studying said photograph. Years later, TechCom leads an assault on SkyNet HQ, and Connor needs a volunteer to follow the T-800 back and protect Sarah in 1984. Reese volunteers. Wait a second. John is 45. 1984 is.... *MATH* 45 years ago! He may not have known 100% for sure he was, but I bet the thought crossed his mind once or a thousand times

 

[Tosk]

While I obviously can't say for sure that Kyle didn't consider the idea, I doubt that John would have risked telling Kyle how old he was. And the possibility would not have years to ferment, the idea wouldn't have even made sense until he finds out that time travel is possible. Kyle volunteers to protect the mother of the future, and goes back to a world he doesn't know with a life-or-death mission that he clearly takes very seriously. He also doesn't seem the sort to spend much time thinking about the ins-and-outs of one possible future. He already knows that John's father died before the war...it's a pretty outlandish idea to anyone who hasn't watched a bunch of movies that it could have been him.

 

[Gracewood]

T2
T1

The only 2 I have seen.

 

[Caretaker]

Title says it all. I thought this might be fun in anticipation of the newest film, Terminator 6 aka Terminator 3 version 2.
Mine would be:

1. Terminator 2
2. Terminator 1
3. Terminator 5
4. Terminator 4
5. Terminator 3

I absolutely love 2 but I'm not as big as a fan of 1, though I've probably only seen that once all the way through. The last 3 are flawed but have good moments in all of them. I'm going to be rewatching them all out of order before 6 comes out. I've finished 2, started both 5 and 4, then 3 and then finish on 1.

In descending order:
Terminator 2 Judgment Day
The Terminator
T2 3D Battle Across Time
Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines
Terminator Genisys
Terminator Salvation

 

[somebuddyX]

After watching The Terminator I agree that it is technically a much better made film overall than the sequels made after T2 but I think there are moments in T4 and T5 that I enjoy a bunch more, especially anything with Pops. I still want to rewatch The Sarah Connor Chronicles but I think I will leave it until after I watch Dark Fate.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

After watching The Terminator I agree that it is technically a much better made film overall than the sequels made after T2 but I think there are moments in T4 and T5 that I enjoy a bunch more, especially anything with Pops. I still want to rewatch The Sarah Connor Chronicles but I think I will leave it until after I watch Dark Fate.

I really would have loved a flashback of Pops working construction on the Cyberdyne building or surfing Guns and Ammo dot com

 

[ALF]

T1 and T2 compliment each other so nicely. The difference in style and tone could also be explained by the 1980s giving way to the 1990s.

 

[Gaith]

... And this is as good a time as any to remember that, according to a 2009 article by a guy who visited the set and was allegedly privy to lots of behind-the-scenes gossip, Salvation was originally going to be much weirder:

In the original script the title Terminator Salvation actually meant something. Watching the finished film it's hard to figure out why it has that name - is it because Marcus saves Connor's life in the last minute? In the original script Serena has a bigger role than a quick cameo, and she explains the salvation element.

Marcus comes to Skynet City and finds... a seaside resort populated with humans. He sees Terminator landscapers! It turns out that Skynet hasn't been trying to wipe out humanity. It's been trying to save us.

This is perhaps the most bizarre idea in the whole script, and the one that most obviously doesn't work. It seems as though Brancato and Ferris thought people liked the Matrix sequels, as this all feels like it could be in those films. See, Serena heads Project ANGEL, which is making Hybrids (ie, Cyborgs). The reason? Skynet did a calculation and realized that humanity was going to be extinct in 200 years; the machines decided to save a few by turning them into Hybrids and wipe the rest out. It makes no sense, and is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if these guys ever even watched the previous Terminator films.

What's fascinating is that the Project ANGEL stuff lasted well into production. While I was on set I was given a security badge that gave me access to all the stages; it had Project ANGEL's logo on it. While being given a tour of pre-production artwork we were told more about Project ANGEL and the role it would have in the movie, a role that's completely removed from the final film. At the time I visited the set it seemed like Serena was going to show up in person at the end of the movie, just as she does in the script, and I saw artwork depicting that.​

... And now, a decade later, I find that I'd kind of like to see that movie. It could have been as disastrous as it sounds, but, hey, it still doesn't sound any worse than Genisys was.

 

[Set Harth]

T1 and T2 compliment each other so nicely.

"You are so badass, T1!"
"Your liquid metal scenes were so cool, T2 you sexy thing!"

 

[JD]

... And this is as good a time as any to remember that, according to a 2009 article by a guy who visited the set and was allegedly privy to lots of behind-the-scenes gossip, Salvation was originally going to be much weirder:

In the original script the title Terminator Salvation actually meant something. Watching the finished film it's hard to figure out why it has that name - is it because Marcus saves Connor's life in the last minute? In the original script Serena has a bigger role than a quick cameo, and she explains the salvation element.

Marcus comes to Skynet City and finds... a seaside resort populated with humans. He sees Terminator landscapers! It turns out that Skynet hasn't been trying to wipe out humanity. It's been trying to save us.

This is perhaps the most bizarre idea in the whole script, and the one that most obviously doesn't work. It seems as though Brancato and Ferris thought people liked the Matrix sequels, as this all feels like it could be in those films. See, Serena heads Project ANGEL, which is making Hybrids (ie, Cyborgs). The reason? Skynet did a calculation and realized that humanity was going to be extinct in 200 years; the machines decided to save a few by turning them into Hybrids and wipe the rest out. It makes no sense, and is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if these guys ever even watched the previous Terminator films.

What's fascinating is that the Project ANGEL stuff lasted well into production. While I was on set I was given a security badge that gave me access to all the stages; it had Project ANGEL's logo on it. While being given a tour of pre-production artwork we were told more about Project ANGEL and the role it would have in the movie, a role that's completely removed from the final film. At the time I visited the set it seemed like Serena was going to show up in person at the end of the movie, just as she does in the script, and I saw artwork depicting that.​

... And now, a decade later, I find that I'd kind of like to see that movie. It could have been as disastrous as it sounds, but, hey, it still doesn't sound any worse than Genisys was.

Wow, that is nuts. I'm kind of surprised they have even considered something that was so completely opposite of what the movies had established up to that point.

 

[thribs]

2, Genysis, 1, 3, Salvation

I’ll see where Dark Fate fits later today.

 

[JD]

Wow, you are the first person I've ever seen who ranks Genysis that highly.

 

[Gaith]

Wow, that is nuts. I'm kind of surprised they have even considered something that was so completely opposite of what the movies had established up to that point.

Aye, it's crazy, but there's a certain sense to the madness: once you reach the post-Judgement Day future, there's really nowhere for the story to go. Or, at least, there's only one place to go, and that's the final assault on and victory over Skynet. Of course, once you do that, then you're well and truly done. No more sequels!

 

[Smellmet]

Wow, you are the first person I've ever seen who ranks Genysis that highly.

And above the original no less.

 

[Tosk]

"At the time I visited the set it seemed like Serena was going to show up in person at the end of the movie, just as she does in the script, and I saw artwork depicting that."

That crap made it all the way to filming, Helena Bonham Carter actually did shoot her Skynet scenes with Marcus before they abandoned the third act.

"and is the kind of thing that makes you wonder if these guys ever even watched the previous Terminator films."

Oh, they've seen them...and some of them (the writers, no less) actually have open disdain for them.