What post Terminator 2 film sequel do you like the most (or dislike the least)?
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What is your most liked/least disliked post T2 sequel?
- Thread starter Trelane_Squire_of_Gothos
- Start date
Where's the selection that says:
"All of them...they're all equally bad..."
"All of them...they're all equally bad..."
Odd as it may seem, I kind of liked Genesys. I think its "alternate timeline" concept had potential, and if you ignore the post credits scene (and you should, since the planned sequel didn't occur), it actually has a happy ending.
Dark Fate's most interesting plot thread was "Carl". We see for the first time a terminator that is not carrying out a program (kill a target or protect a principal), and therefore has free will. And strange as it may sound, it develops humanity, or something like it. Unfortunately, very little of the story was devoted to that.
T3 was pretty good early on, especially the initial encounter. Kristina Lokken was just as scary as T1 Arnold and Robert Patrick. And the ending plot twist was brutal to say the least. But I just found it kind of depressing.
Didn't see Salvation.
Dark Fate's most interesting plot thread was "Carl". We see for the first time a terminator that is not carrying out a program (kill a target or protect a principal), and therefore has free will. And strange as it may sound, it develops humanity, or something like it. Unfortunately, very little of the story was devoted to that.
And despite being decidedly unwoke, I found myself thinking early on "why couldn't it be her?" So, the revelation that it was didn't startle me much.
T3 was pretty good early on, especially the initial encounter. Kristina Lokken was just as scary as T1 Arnold and Robert Patrick. And the ending plot twist was brutal to say the least. But I just found it kind of depressing.
Didn't see Salvation.
Rise of the Machines had no ambition whatsoever. Total generic cash-in. And I mean, that's not automatically horrible if I really enjoy a world/character enough but I don't care enough about Terminator as a franchise to give two shits about a Terminator movie with zero ambition.
Salvation arguably had the most ambition, but its execution and cast were so incredibly boring I'd rather rewatch Rise of the Machines.
Genisys was not as bad as people claim, in my opinion, but it was a bit confusing, I didn't love Emilia Clarke as Sarah as much as I thought I would and evil John Connor wasn't very effective or well acted, either.
Dark Fate I genuinely enjoyed quite a bit. It has a few similar flaws to what Genisys had but far less so, and the cast is incredible. Linda Hamilton returning was far more fun than leaning entirely on Arnie again (and even Arnie was much better and more interesting here than in the last one). Also, changing the future was the best idea the franchise has had in a long time. John Connor hasn't been an interesting or engaging character as an adult since, well, ever. He does not work outside of T2 itself. Replacing him was a masterstroke of a concept for moving the franchise forward. Plus, I quite liked the twist of the new protector having cyborg parts themselves. Gave the franchise a bit more sci-fi flavor beyond just the terminators themselves.
Salvation arguably had the most ambition, but its execution and cast were so incredibly boring I'd rather rewatch Rise of the Machines.
Genisys was not as bad as people claim, in my opinion, but it was a bit confusing, I didn't love Emilia Clarke as Sarah as much as I thought I would and evil John Connor wasn't very effective or well acted, either.
Dark Fate I genuinely enjoyed quite a bit. It has a few similar flaws to what Genisys had but far less so, and the cast is incredible. Linda Hamilton returning was far more fun than leaning entirely on Arnie again (and even Arnie was much better and more interesting here than in the last one). Also, changing the future was the best idea the franchise has had in a long time. John Connor hasn't been an interesting or engaging character as an adult since, well, ever. He does not work outside of T2 itself. Replacing him was a masterstroke of a concept for moving the franchise forward. Plus, I quite liked the twist of the new protector having cyborg parts themselves. Gave the franchise a bit more sci-fi flavor beyond just the terminators themselves.
No Sarah Connor Chronicles? Blasphemy.
I agree with Genesys as your pick. Even though it had glaring flaws (like all of these sequels did), it also had some redeeming qualities for me (like the CG of the original Arnold Terminator and the acid scene with the T-1000). I also think GOT dragon lady did a good job of playing Sarah Connor. T3 and Dark Fate had absolutely no redeeming qualities for me.
Of the four, 'Salvation' would be my choice, with the caveat that I wish they would have gone with the original ending (which I won't spoil). The fans, though most likely not the general public, knew through websites like 'Ain't It Cool' about the reshoots and re-editing to bring it from an 'R' to an 'PG-13' rating, which likely killed its box-office potential
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese is the only bright spot; he makes a good Kyle Reese.
'Dark Fate' I finally got around to watching last weekend, thanks to my local library.
While it was good to see Linda Hamilton back in the role that made her famous and the idea that Skynet/Legion or whatever you want to call it still happens which leads to Judgement Day and it doesn't matter if John Connor leads the resistance or not - once they got to hijacking the plane and crashing the HumVee, I was rolling my eyes at the absurdity of it all.
For once, I was wishing that with James Cameron on board that they would have gone back to the low budget, small scale action of the first Terminator and not try to top or rehash sequences from the previous films.
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese is the only bright spot; he makes a good Kyle Reese.
'Dark Fate' I finally got around to watching last weekend, thanks to my local library.
While it was good to see Linda Hamilton back in the role that made her famous and the idea that Skynet/Legion or whatever you want to call it still happens which leads to Judgement Day and it doesn't matter if John Connor leads the resistance or not - once they got to hijacking the plane and crashing the HumVee, I was rolling my eyes at the absurdity of it all.
For once, I was wishing that with James Cameron on board that they would have gone back to the low budget, small scale action of the first Terminator and not try to top or rehash sequences from the previous films.
I have to go with Rise of the Machines. It has a tolerable story, some decent action and Arnold was pretty good. Salvation had (in my opinion) a bad cast, uninteresting action and a terrible story. Genisys, while having a more interesting story then Salvation, had an absolutely terrible cast (with Jai Courtney and Emilia Clarke being possibly the worst actors in the entire franchise) that made the whole experience terrible.
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch Dark Fate, after having gotten spoiled about a few things I just haven't watched it.
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch Dark Fate, after having gotten spoiled about a few things I just haven't watched it.
I loved T2, Rise of the Machines, Genisys (especially, I think I'm the only one lol) and Dark Fate.
Salvation was shite.
Sarah Connor Chronicles was great.
Salvation was shite.
Sarah Connor Chronicles was great.
The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
TSCC was a love letter to James Cameron's two masterpieces and Lena Headey was a great Sara.
All the sequel movies were bad, but Genysis stands out as unwatchable for me.
Tougher question than I thought it would be, but I'm going with Genisys. I loved the Future War we got at the beginning and also the lovingly recreated 1984 scenes; after that the movie started falling apart, but for a while it was great going back to the setting of the original film.
As for the others, they all had some redeeming qualities as well:
-The ending for Terminator 3 was unexpected and I thought bold to upend what T2 had done.
-I thought the Future War setting for Salvation wasn't bad, and Anton Yelchin was great as a younger Reese, but I think I would've liked the film better if it had stayed with Reese and Marcus and limited John Connor's involvement.
-It was great seeing Linda Hamilton back, Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna were good, but I felt the film wasn't different enough. I thought the Rev 9 and especially the future Legion Terminators were pretty formidable. The story twists they made didn't really do it for me ultimately, not original enough.
-I really, really liked the first season of Sarah Connor Chronicles, but the second season lost me.
As for the others, they all had some redeeming qualities as well:
-The ending for Terminator 3 was unexpected and I thought bold to upend what T2 had done.
-I thought the Future War setting for Salvation wasn't bad, and Anton Yelchin was great as a younger Reese, but I think I would've liked the film better if it had stayed with Reese and Marcus and limited John Connor's involvement.
-It was great seeing Linda Hamilton back, Mackenzie Davis and Gabriel Luna were good, but I felt the film wasn't different enough. I thought the Rev 9 and especially the future Legion Terminators were pretty formidable. The story twists they made didn't really do it for me ultimately, not original enough.
-I really, really liked the first season of Sarah Connor Chronicles, but the second season lost me.
No Sarah Connor Chronicles? Blasphemy.
That is a television show (not a film). I am not trying to give you a cop out.
What is hard to understand about the question? It is asking you to choose which film you liked the most or disliked the least. They are really one in the same question (just on different parts of the spectrum).
You have some good insights. Despite its obvious flaws, I think I like Genesys a little more than most. The flashbacks like you said were really good. Genesys had the potential to be so much better.
T3 is almost devoid of anything worthwhile. The idea that John Connor would be a helpless screw up until the very moment he becomes "leader of the resistance" made no sense at all. He should have been far more gritty, tough, and street wise by the time of T3. Instead, he was a weak-willed vagabond. One thing Salvation did well was try to transition a slightly green (but battle hardened) John Connor into a military leader to compensate for how they messed up the character in T3.
Dark Fate is a complete void with infinite negative value. They should play it in loops to individuals detained in Guantanamo Bay.
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Here's my take on all the Terminators I saw...
The Terminator: 8/10. Exciting, very human, and an unstoppable villain.
T2: Judgment Day: 9.5/10. One of the best action movies ever made, and a finale that makes me tear up at the end.
T3: Rise of the Machines: 5/10. Strong beginning, forgettable middle, brutal ending.
Genesys: 7/10. Surprisingly strong, I thought. And Arnold's portrayal of a terminator who was discovering its humanity was both funny and moving.
Dark Fate: 6/10. Great action, moving finale, but didn't measure up to the others.
The Terminator: 8/10. Exciting, very human, and an unstoppable villain.
T2: Judgment Day: 9.5/10. One of the best action movies ever made, and a finale that makes me tear up at the end.
T3: Rise of the Machines: 5/10. Strong beginning, forgettable middle, brutal ending.
Genesys: 7/10. Surprisingly strong, I thought. And Arnold's portrayal of a terminator who was discovering its humanity was both funny and moving.
Dark Fate: 6/10. Great action, moving finale, but didn't measure up to the others.
Sarah Connor Chronicles.
What about it?
We already had this thread, and I'm pleased to note T3 won by a landslide.
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