They’ve already committed themselves to ignoring it. T3 hinged on the surprise revelation that blowing up Cyberdyne didn’t stop Judgment Day, it only delayed it from 1997 to 2004. This wouldn’t have been new information to John in 2004 if Terminators from the future had already shown up back in 1999. Plus, at the end of the episode they time travel forward to a seemingly pre-Judgment Day 2007.
Also, per T3, by 1999 Sarah Connor should be dying of leukemia (or maybe already dead, I don’t remember whether they say exactly when she died, but it was not long after the original Judgment Day date).
I liked T3 also and hate to see it fall by the wayside, but it’s clear that the show is basically a reboot of the post-T2 timeline.
Was the Matrix-like one VR.5, perhaps? I have only a vague memory of that show, but I think it was close to what you described.
I actually liked the Terminator pilot, but like Bob, I don’t see much of a future for it (no pun intended). It’s a sci-fi series, it’s on Fox, and it stars one of the actors from Firefly.* That’s a pretty sure sign to me that it’ll get cancelled within five episodes.
*No, I’m not still bitter about Drive. Why do you ask?
My thoughts as well. It will be hard to keep a series going on this one note. Although I will disagree about The Fugitive- as best as I can remember, the show was far less of an action film, but was instead focused on the transience of his friendships and relationships, knowing that he would eventually move on. I just don’t see that level of introspection here, but I would be happy to be proven wrong.
To me T1 was the best. It cast the unique Schwarzenegger as an amoral and relentless killing machine. They weakened the premise in the second movie by making him the good guy, but the special effects compensated for that. And I agreee with most here in thinking that T3 is best forgotten. I just can’t see what this show brings to the party that hasn’t been done better elsewhere.
If everyone judged things this harshly based on the pilot, nobody would’ve watched the rest of the Star Trek The Next Generation or Stargate SG1 series. Just an observation.
Judgement Day is August 29, 1997, according to the first two movies.
Terminator is explicitly set in 1984, since it mentions being set in the present day. Now that I think about it (and Wikipedia confirms), T2 is actually set in 1994, and we’re supposed to believe that Eddie Furlong is 10 years old (and, apparently, spent little time gestating). I think there’s a shot of the police-car computer that lists his age as 10 at some point.
Also, I’m including this selection from the Wikipedia page, because it’s awesome.
You won’t find that kind of authoritative quote mining in World Book or Britannica.
Hrm, no. It was sort of militaristic, and was probably on TV around 1999-2000. It involved some good and bad guys, running the world in and out of a “Matrix”. It was on Fox (I think) and ran for maybe 10 episodes before it got cancelled. I have no clue, does anyone know what show it was?
I just watched it; not that bad; interesting enough that I’m recording the episode tonight.
The original movie, by itself, is such a solid self-contained piece that I tend to think of the sequels as a separate story. (In one of the deleted scenes, Sarah Connor and John Reese are arguing about changing the world’s fate; it’s a rare scene of pure science fiction, because they’re debating two different theories about time travel. I can understand its deletion because the scene would interrupt the pacing in a great action movie, but it’s worth looking at if you have the DVD.)
Terminators are starting to suffer from Borg syndrome. They’re just not scary anymore. Aren’t they supposed to be intimidating? It has nothing to do with the size of the actor. Robert Patrick played one of the most frightening villains ever, and he’s hardly built. “Cameron” (ha ha, I’m sure James really appreciates that) is about as imposing as a wet kitten. The bad terminator looked like a truck driver. And they acted nothing like robots. Why did the bad terminator pause before shooting John? That’s something a human would do. Machines don’t toy with their prey or stroke their own ego, which is what makes them so frightening. But this is all extremely obvious, which makes me wonder if the producers were all hit in the head with bricks while making this show. Another eye rolly moment was when Sarah asked Cameron about the contents of the isotope canister of death, and she responds with “hope.” Terminators shouldn’t speak in metaphor! Jesus. Yeah we’ll probably find out that she’s a special Terminator programmed to love, and they’ll keep neutering the terminators until there isn’t any sense of danger left. I wasn’t expecting much, but this makes T3 look like T2.
Well, when Riker jumps out and beats up a Terminator with his superior Star Fleet hand-to-hand combat training, I’m out. I really couldn’t handle it when the Klingons all went pussy.
This is a repost from the other thread. It looks like this is the thread for discussion about the episodes.
It was enough to keep me watching for a while.
I liked that the terminator executed Enrique - not so much that we found out she was right. Better to leave it ambiguous.
The story really needs to emphasize the alienness of the terminator. It doesn’t think like a person. It’s not sentimental. Everything it does is a logical step in fulfilling its mission.
So when you’re dealing with a guy who could identify you, who could PUT THE FATE OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE IN DANGER by selling you out, if it’s logical to execute him*, you should. Sarah wouldn’t do it because of the sentimental attachment. But the fate of mankind trumps any one person’s life, even potentially innocent, a billion fold. The Terminator understood that - within the context of its mission - which is part of what makes them interesting as characters.
I worry that the show will humanize her, let her pick up habits from people, and essentially become a flawed human character that can kick ass. I hope they don’t go in that direction - the story is much more interesting with alien terminators.
Telling us that the terminator did the right thing at the end of the episode like that makes it black and white and easy to handle. It indicates to me that the writers don’t intend to challenge the viewer. Leaving it ambiguous and making the audience ponder whether it was the right thing to do would be more interesting. I thought they were going to go that route when the terminator said “he was possibly lying”, rather than saying “his voice tension indicated a 99.4% chance of lying” or something, so the ending was dissapointing.
Not that it was necesarily logical to execute him. If the nephew is questioned about his death and suspects his new customer might be involved, and wants revenge, or is offered a plea bargain, he has all of the information he needs to rat her out.
I enjoyed it. I’m wondering if it’s going to get it’s “legs” in the next couple of episodes. It’s kind of nice to see Summer getting to kick some ass again just for the sheer mindless entertainment value of that. I mean, come on guys. It’s FOX – don’t expect Pulitzer caliber material, that’s not their target audience. Big men tossing around little girls who can kick their ass? Totally. Enjoy it for that, if nothing else. And the odd gratuitous shot of a semi-nekkid Summer Glau. ALMOST as fun as watching Amy Acker kick some serious ass.
HBO and Showtime it ain’t.
Enjoyable? Aw yeah. Suspend disbelief. A lot. Including for bulletproof chairs. Some of it lends itself to MST3K-like commentary. Pull out the popcorn and have fun…
Well, she apparently never thinks to change their names completely, always using the same first names and sometimes even a name that can easily be associated with them, like Reese.
I dread the girl terminator eventually developing emotions because she’s some sort of “new design” that can eat and have feelings and all that other crap. If she and John Connor have some sort of romance, it’s going to completely ruin the show, because I will be forced to believe that future JC sent a hot fem-bot back in time to pop his teenage man cherry.
