# A Brief History of Terminator Movies \[spoilers for all movies\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519 "2019-08-31T14:53:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/1 "2019-08-31T14:53:44Z")
1984: Great Movie! 1991: Great Movie! 2003: This Movie Certainly Exists 2009: Aborted Start of a New Trilogy 2015: Aborted Start of a New Trilogy 2019 (Aborted?) Start of a New Trilogy Only time will tell… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/2 "2019-08-31T15:42:45Z")
An excellent, succinct and extraordinarily accurate summation, **Quimby**. I see nothing to quibble over. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/3 "2019-08-31T15:49:26Z")
Well, that’s certainly _one_ history. Or is it? We don’t know how badly those cyborgs have messed up the space-time contiuobhdgsviyghnguriuo ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/4 "2019-08-31T16:26:43Z")
those are certainly some detailed files ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/5 "2019-08-31T17:19:57Z")
I think this movie is supposed to be the end of the old trilogy, or at least the third part. It’s gonna ignore everything but the first two movies. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/6 "2019-08-31T22:07:32Z")
The TV series established that there are multiple time lines because of all the time travel… but then, I expect even more people ignore the TV series than ignore some of the movies. In which case, going back to timeline #1 and resuming the story from there can work in my head. I must be easily amused - I enjoyed all the movies (and the TV series) although yes, the first two movies were better than the others. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/7 "2019-08-31T22:13:30Z")
I can’t understand why they haven’t merged the Terminator franchise in with the already-merged Predator and Alien franchises. They’ve got Arnold in both. Shouldn’t be that hard! ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/8 "2019-09-01T01:30:13Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I can’t understand why they haven’t merged the Terminator franchise in with the already-merged Predator and Alien franchises. They’ve got Arnold in both. Shouldn’t be that hard! They kinda already merged Terminator and RoboCop. Well, it was a four-issue comic and one video game, but it’s as much a merger as AvP, the A seldom even acknowledging the P. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/9 "2019-09-01T05:12:23Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I think this movie is supposed to be the end of the old trilogy, or at least the third part. It’s gonna ignore everything but the first two movies. For a movie that is supposed to ignore T3-5, they sure aren’t ignoring: Skynet sending the most advanced Terminator after someone other than John Connor (T3) A liquid metal over endoskeleton Terminator (T3) An aged T-800 model 100 helping out (Genisys) A human-Terminator hybrid that thinks it is human (Salvation) The hero character shooting the Terminator’s face off (deleted Salvation scene) Terminators own the seas too (T4, The Sarah Connor Chronicles) The jets colliding was supposed to be in T3 as well but was deemed too expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2019, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/10 "2019-09-01T08:12:14Z")
Yeah, Cameron’s talked about watching all Terminator media for ideas. Nevertheless, the movie only acknowledges the first two flicks. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/11 "2019-11-01T15:07:22Z")
Now that it’s out I thought I’d give this a bump. Anyone see the new one? ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/12 "2019-11-01T15:14:04Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Now that it’s out I thought I’d give this a bump. Anyone see the new one? I’m going in about 6 hours. 🙂 I’m cautiously optimistic that it is going to be good. Of course, given my username I tend to cheer for the machines. \ ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/13 "2019-11-01T18:58:08Z")
I’ve always thought that T3 was a bit underappreciated. Its major crime (and it IS a major crime) is rendering the ending of the vastly-superior T2 pointless. T2 is a classic, and T3 doesn’t have the stature to presume to mess with a classic. But, that aside, it’s an above average action blockbuster, highlighted particularly by the performance of Claire Danes as a young woman who gets sucked into this action maelstrom, unbelieving and unwilling. It also has some genuinely exciting stunts and setpieces. And the bleak ending would be pretty cool… if not, again, for the metaphorical middle finger it extends to its predecessor. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/14 "2019-11-01T19:11:52Z")
I like Terminator 3. In fact, it’s really good. Brace yourselves, though. I actually saw Terminator Genysis just the once and really liked it as well. Having said that, my memory of it is not that great. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/15 "2019-11-02T00:32:05Z")
I greatly enjoyed it. The action sequences were great, and the story elements were very good. I liked how they tied everything together overall both internally within the movie and to the greater trilogy. To be clear, this movie didn’t need to exist. T1 and T2 were just fine as they were, and in fact it would be probably have been strictly better if no further Terminator movies had ever been made. However, if a sequel had to be made this was overall a pretty good choice. My only real complaint is the new lead. Dani just didn’t work for me. I’m not quite sure why, but her character never quite clicked with me the way Sarah Connor did. And it isn’t the sameness, it is something else. I don’t know. Anyway, overall I’ll give it an 8 out of 10. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/16 "2019-11-02T02:15:37Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > To be clear, this movie didn’t need to exist. T1 and T2 were just fine as they were, and in fact it would be probably have been strictly better if no further Terminator movies had ever been made. I felt the same way, and throughout the movie I couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling I was watching some sort of remake of the original. Later I read the [BBC review](http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20191022-terminator-dark-fate-review-please-terminate-this-franchise), which sums it up well: > [@](#): > > At this stage, it looks as if making further Terminator sequels is as much of a doomed endeavour as making further Alien sequels. In both cases, there were two sublime opening episodes (the second Alien episode was directed by Cameron), followed by a succession of sequels, prequels and spin-offs which couldn’t recapture that early magic. And in both cases, there was a devilishly simple science-fiction / horror movie premise. Keep that simplicity in the later sequels and what you get is essentially an inferior remake. Complicate the mythology and you lose the first films’ white-knuckle intensity. The makers of Terminator Dark Fate went for the former option – the inferior remake – and the results aren’t bad. But if that’s the best they can come up with, then why bother? This franchise needs to be terminated. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/17 "2019-11-02T02:43:58Z")
I saw it tonight. I thought it was really good. The story wasn’t bad and the action was incredible. I put it solidly at 3rd best. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/18 "2019-11-02T03:06:35Z")
I’m definitely not complaining about any explosions, you understand. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/19 "2019-11-02T03:11:47Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I’ve always thought that T3 was a bit underappreciated. > > Its major crime (and it IS a major crime) is rendering the ending of the vastly-superior T2 pointless. T2 is a classic, and T3 doesn’t have the stature to presume to mess with a classic. > > But, that aside, it’s an above average action blockbuster, highlighted particularly by the performance of Claire Danes as a young woman who gets sucked into this action maelstrom, unbelieving and unwilling. It also has some genuinely exciting stunts and setpieces. And the bleak ending would be pretty cool… if not, again, for the metaphorical middle finger it extends to its predecessor. I would agree that T3 is a bit underrated. But I would argue that it’s ending is inevitable, otherwise the first two films wouldn’t exist. Really the problem with all the films is that the time travel element creates a couple of problems: 1. If it’s true that “there is no fate but what we make” and the timeline is flexible, then that sort of diminishes the importance of everything. They can always send someone/something back in time to alter the story whenever they want. Heck, why even send a terminator back in time? Why not just send a 10 megaton nuke stuffed into a cow carcass and blow up Los Angeles? 2. The timeline can’t be altered. This is hinted at in T1 with the “bootstrap paradox” where Kyle Reece turns out to be John Conner’s dad. But it also renders the Terminators mission moot. Skynet is destined to come online, John Conner is destined to be born, Sarah can basically just sit in her living room because no matter what the Terminator does, it won’t alter the future. Anyhow, I don’t think I hated any of the Terminator films or the Sarah Conner Show. It just think most of it after T2 never had to be made. Most of it never added more to the story besides “cyborg chasing the Conner family through time”. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519/20 "2019-11-02T03:17:18Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > I can’t understand why they haven’t merged the Terminator franchise in with the already-merged Predator and Alien franchises. They’ve got Arnold in both. Shouldn’t be that hard! I’m not sure how you would do that. Predator and Alien exist in a future universe where mankind has advanced to the point where they can explore the stars and AI serves humans. Terminator exists in a future universe where humans have nearly been wiped out by AI. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-brief-history-of-terminator-movies-spoilers-for-all-movies/839519.md?page=2)