Liveblogging the Terminator Salvation movie panel at Comic-Con 2008.
McG came out and said they’re in the middle of photography in New Mexico right now. Said they weren’t excited about making Terminator 4, they were excited about a new beginning and showing us a part of the story we hadn’t seen before.
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The script was written by Jonah Nolan who co-wrote The Dark Knight. McG consulted with James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzennegar and Stan Winston. He understands the trepidation about the movie.
He said they put the picture first at all times.
He hired Christian Bale to give the film credibility and got him on the phone although Bale is currently in Japan.
They should what could be called an extended trailer and it looked damn good. No CGI, tons of action but it didn’t look cheesy at all. [I think we have a winner, folks. - Vic]
Common, Bryce Dallas Howard, Moon Bloodgood, Anton Yelchin and Sam Worthington are in attendance.
McG used a film stock very high in silver content to give the film a unique look. This stock is usually used in black and white films.
We see “the becoming” of Skynet.
This film takes place in 2018, the earliest future scene we’ve seen previous was 2029. Skynet is not yet completely built out and all machines are not yet in control.
Sam Worthington said that this film “is not for pansies” and “will kick you in the balls.”
The machines in this film look more like greasy tanks than the clean look of the future machines we’ve seen before. ILM is working on the film.
Sam Worthington said he wouldn’t have signed on if this film disregarded what happened in Jim Cameron’s movies because he loves those movies.
McG would not answer whether Arnold would be back, and while he didn’t want to spoil anything he did say that the T-800 is indeed a part of the mythology of the series.
McG said there is no more science fiction because we’re living in it with our current technology of cloning sheep, text-correcting Blackberries, manipulating brain chemistry with Dopamine and Seratonin, etc.
There is not a tie-in with the Sarah Conner Chronicles.
McG said the ending of the movie is being protected and that the studio is actively providing misinformation about the film to preserve the film experience for the fans. For example there was a story that was out about the ending of the film that was never the ending of the film.
Anton Yelchin (who plays Kyle Reese) talked about building towards the heroic character and pure spirit we see in the first Terminator film.
McG said we see the “becoming” of Kyle Reese, and we’ll see the genesis of the character and the origins of some of the things we see the character do in the first film.
One of the main thrusts of the picture is to see the world of Skynet and Skynet itself.
McG thanked Gale Anne Hurd for her contribution to the original films (she was in the audience).
An Asian guy came up to the mic and did a great Arnold impression and McG said “if you’re Asian that was f***ing awesome.”
Stan Winston had a very big hand in the film [Stan Winston is a legendary visual effects craftsman who passed away recently - Vic]. The film will be dedicated to the memory of Stan Winston. Stan’s shop did all the designs for the film.
The T-600s in the film have the rubbery skin that was referred to in the original film – these Terminators are bigger than the version played by Arnold at 7′5″. They wanted more of a tank-like, big feel – the proto version of the more refined T-800.
They wanted the tech to remind people of the old Soviet tanks.
McG said the film is about people coming together to fight a common area and getting over all our differences.
Bloodgood plays a pilot in the film and is in a romance that “isn’t cheesy” with Worthington’s character.
Dallas was excited about the film because it’s reinventing the franchise (and joked because she got to kiss Christian Bale).
Common said he’s “just glad to be here.” He’s surprised that he’s in a Terminator movie. He said he’s glad “we’ve got a black man in the film” and that it’s multi-cultural. He said “it’s gonna be fly.”
Common is John Connor’s number one guy.
Dallas plays John Connor’s wife.
They’re playing the trailer again (only if we f****ing freak out, which the audience did).
McG had each side of the audience scream and he told the second half that he wanted them to rock it so hard that it would start a riot and end Comic-Con. 
Let me revisit my comments on the trailer above – it freaking rocked. I don’t think we need to worry about this one folks, it looks like it’s in good hands!
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16 Comments
Another cool article. I’m excited for this film.
and I think there’s a little typo in there: “They should” I think is “They showed” in reference to the extended trailer.
Ah, wonderful. I thought that first teaser had a good Terminator vibe to it.
I really am looking forward to the unique way the movie is being filmed. The cold blues and solid silvers in Terminator 2 in conjunction with the “no nonsense” metallic death music really gave it a serious feeling.
“McG said there is no more science fiction”
Yeah we know what you mean, that new transporter thingy that Wal Mart now sells in a blister pack took the fiction right out of science fiction.. HA
Yeah, I don’t think he meant that in an all-encompassing way – he was just referring to it in the context of the film and how we may be on the brink of Armageddon and not realize it.
Vic
I’m just goofing too… You know the one thing we don’t see enough of is new philosophies and psychologies in science fiction up on the screen. How do we get to a society that is more about self improvement and less about the accumulation of wealth?? Who has filmed a script called “The Armageddon Safety Valve” Where social scientists invent the sociological A-bomb that snuffs out hate, fear, or greed. Where’s “The Santaroga Barrier, Whipping Star, or Dosadi experiment” for the 21ST century film or TV viewer?
First of all, a PG-13′ film isn’t kicking me in the balls. Let’s not forget that.
What I think MCG was reffering too, was that Technology is becoming more self-aware and the abilty to clone a human looking skin is right around the corner.
Dopamine and Saratonine are great drugs to use for interagation of captured humans.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it…
^
Great review Vic! This is incouraging info. Watching the birth of Skynet has me interested !!!!
Nobodys talking about it but I sure hope they show how Skynet could be in control of the nuclear submarine fleets of the world.
I still think there going over the top with the T-600’s looking like russian tanks. That’s way un-needed.
Having Common say he’s glad a blackman is in the future is a completely racist statement (IMO). The guys a dork and needs to at least watch the beginning of T2.
It would be cool if they make his character Miles Dyson’s son.
I see alot of story traits from the Dark Horse comic series, this sounds great.
As long as they don’t ruin it by killing Connor and putting his skin on a T-800, it might be good ….
@ 790: “they show how Skynet could be in control of the nuclear submarine fleets of the world.” That’s easy disinformation and impersonation. Then “The MAD” scenario takes over. Once relevant nuclear munitions are expended, Skynet messages them and brings them to port to be destroyed by HK’s. Anything rouge gets blown away by UCAV’s.
Yeah good point Old Man, maybe the Resistance could occupy one ??
@ 790
in a recent interview at comic con mcg said that t4 willl most likely get an R rating
Thanks Mack4444, that’s great news…
….As long as it dosnt get the R rating because of the scene where Connor gets killed.
Lol.
You know this continuation can get seriously cool. Running around all over military bases of all types. The war in the streets. The concentration camps. The discovery of the automated factories and the time machine, the mutants Bishop and Wolverine… oh wait I’ve went too far I’m on another set… Let me turn the golf cart around.
I have to agree with one of the comments here. As much as I hated T3, I worry about any Terminator film that is PG-13. Next, we’ll be seeing PG Terminator that never kill, they just threaten to kill. Still, if McG was researching the project with Jim (the father of the Terminator series; lets never forget that), Arnold and Stan, and since he’s got Bale as John Connor, I have hopes for this one as opposed to T3. The rubber skin on T-600s is perfect for the mythos. Thank you, McG for trying to get it right.
I’m totally looking forward to seeing the new Terminator… Christian Bale tends to do a great job no matter what role he takes
I can’t wait for this film to come out, I love the Terminator Mythos, I have read many of the novels and even played some of the “horrible” games. I dont have any real reason to dislike T3 though, it was a fun movie and it did set it up to be moved on to the future, and thats what i wanted to see the most anyways.
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