The premiere episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles opens in the year 1999 with a big action scene which is glaringly obvious is a dream sequence about 2/3 of the way in. Sarah wakes up from the nightmare and my first thought was: Lame cop out.
The FBI is after Sarah Connor for her escape from the looney bin in Terminator 2 and because they believe she is responsible for the death of Miles Dyson, also from that film. Dyson was the guy who was responsible for Skynet, the computer system that brought nuclear armageddon upon humanity. It seems that his death only delayed the inevitable.
Regarding the timeline of this series: It seems to take place between T2 & T3.
Ok, before I rip into this thing, maybe I should list some positives about the episode so you don’t think I’m being a jerk just for fun. Was there anything good about the show?
Yes.
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Number one good thing: Summer Glau as the “good” Terminatrix. Summer is best known from her stint on the ill-fated Firefly TV series and the Serenity film based on the TV show. She has an otherworldly quality that is perfectly suited for this role. Also, having seen her kick major butt in Serenity makes it easy to buy her as a Terminator here.
Number two good thing: The visual effects. For a TV series I thought they were pretty impressive, in particular the scene at the end of the episode where the evil Terminator is trying to get into the bank vault where the good guys are hiding.
Number three good thing: By the end of the episode, it finally started to get just a bit more interesting in a twist that I did not see coming.
So after all that glowing praise, what was bad about the episode?
Pretty much everything else.
The dialog is unbelievably cheesy. Both the opening and closing monologues by Sarah are way, WAY over the top melodramatic. And I felt genuinely sorry for the actress playing Sarah who had to deliver lines like the following:
In a scene where she decides they’ve stayed put too long and have to leave immediately:
“Half an hour. One bag. Plus the guns - I’ll make pancakes.”
In a later scene where Glau is repairing herself after being shot and is shirtless with John in the same room but around the corner:
You might want to holster those.
Guess what “those” are.
I mean, seriously, if writers want to negotiate for more money they’d better do better than that.
Ok, bad dialog, big deal you say? Well in addition there were more plot holes in this thing than those in a piece of swiss cheese.
If they want to “stay off the grid” why aren’t they living in Mexico or some other more low-tech hiding place than in the U.S.?
Why in God’s name did they pick “Reese” (the name of the soldier sent back in time in the first Terminator movie and John Connor’s father) as their cover name? I mean all the Terminator had to do to pick out John from a class full of high schoolers was run his finger down the attendance sheet for crying out loud.
Why does the Terminator spout off with witty quips? Yes, Ahnuld did that in the first film with his F*** you, a**hole, but it worked in context. Hearing a Terminator as a substitute teacher say “class dismissed” after riddling it with bullets just seemed completely out of place. The former line was dealing with someone and trying to get rid of them where the latter was thrown out like something Spider-man would say after catching the bad guy.
It was completely obvious that a silhouetted person who comes into the room where the bad guy is holding Sarah and mimicking her voice is NOT John even though the person is speaking in HIS voice. Ohhh… the good Terminator is turning the bad Terminator’s own trick against him. (Viewer slaps forehead in amazement.)
Also, in this world a La-Z-Boy chair will stop 9MM bullets. Really. I ran it back and replayed it on my Tivo to be sure that the bullets didn’t in fact go through and bounce off the wall and Sarah was just ducking down low. Nope. The old stuffed chair stopped those bullets cold. I guess they used to build tougher furniture than they do these days.
Oh and one Terminator can electrocute another with a high voltage cable while touching him but not get electrocuted themselves.
They did throw in the “Come with me if you want to live” line, so I guess that counts for something.
Back to the story: Sarah and John are on the run and have been for about five years since the events of T2. There is an FBI agent pursuing them that while initially doubtful about her whole story, begins to get his first whiff of becoming convinced when a room full of high school students witnesses “a guy with robot leg” shooting up a classroom.
At the very end of the episode (and I’m not really clear on how they managed this) the female terminator had stored in a safety deposit box at a bank not only a weapon that could blow the head off a Terminator, but one of those time travel devices that send people through time naked in a big glowy sphere.
They arrive in present day (2007) in the last two minutes of the episode, where Sarah’s brief fiancee from the beginning of the episode and the FBI agent see her on the news after being missing for 8 years.
I may give Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles one more hour of my life tomorrow night to see if it improves at all - but I’m not very hopeful.
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65 Comments
c’mon man, stop with the silly nitpicking. that show was dam good, better than most of the crap ive seen on broadcast tv in a while. just relax and enjoy the ride. besides, it could be worse, it could be that horrible bionic woman crap.
“Also, in this world a La-Z-Boy chair will stop 9MM bullets. Really. I ran it back and replayed it on my Tivo to be sure that the bullets didn’t in fact go through and bounce off the wall and Sarah was just ducking down low. Nope. The old stuffed chair stopped those bullets cold. I guess they used to build tougher furniture than they do these days.”
In relation to this the above comment. They later explain this scene when the FBI are investigating the CONNOR’S torn up house and cannot understand why someone would line their LAZY BOY with Kevlar.
So it does match up with Sara trait of preparing for battle with TERMINATORS.
Nah, come on guys, the show blows. There’s no question at all why they decided not to run the show when it was filmed, I only wish though they would have decided to run Fire Fly instead.
Seriously, this makes a mockery of Jame’s Cameron’s movies, and destroys the lore entirely. Best pretend the whole thing was just John Connor’s bad dream.
“At the very end of the episode (and I’m not really clear on how they managed this) the female terminator had stored in a safety deposit box at a bank not only a weapon that could blow the head off a Terminator, but one of those time travel devices that send people through time naked in a big glowy sphere.”
Cameron explained that others had traveled back in time to 1963 and stored the “future” equipment in the bank’s safety deposit boxes.
Yes, it was cheesy and the dialogue pretty much sucked. But it wasn’t all that bad.
Great review Vic as usual……
I agree with it…overall….
The lazy boy thing was very funny.
^ it wasn’t perfect but…
Couple things I didn’t like…
^^
The show should have been shown in Widescreen!!! Full screen dosnt capture the scope well.
^
Sarah Connors hair color should have been tan/sandy blonde. The actress reminded me of Nina from 24….but seriously the hair color should have the same and it bugged me throughout the show.
^
Couple small points, Dysons family photo was missing Danny’s sister from T2.
^
Also….
The Terminators that were shown should have been more buffed out.
^
The biggest problem I guess I had was that when they jumped forward in time to 2007 they
violated the timeline that was set in T3.
T3 was set in the year 2004. Also they copped out the Timemachine and made it a gimmik.
(Didn’t like that hope its not a trend).
^
Things I liked…
^
The female terminator protector looks alot like the TX from T3. (Note the blue glowing eyes).
^
The actor that plays John Connor is very convincing and well cast…
^
I’m guessing “come with me if you want to live” is a resistance password at this point.
Cool……
^
This show was a collection of Terminator cliches but overall entertaining…..
It has continuity problems and throws the Terminator timeline all over the place but it still holds my attention and could be very entertaing if they don’t trash the Terminator mythos too badly.
^
But overall Vic’s review is dead on and I don’t know if this show will get any better or end up taking the Terminator franchise down or not… More to comment on after tonights show…
Nikki when did Cameron explain that others had gone back to 1963 I never heard that.
^
If this show has a different terminator villian every week it will get old.
I don’t like the fact that Skynet just keep sending Terminators back thru time.
Its explained in T1 that the resistance shut skynet down. How can it be still sending Terminators back.???
^
The going after Skynet plotline could be good I’ll give it a few more episodes…
Whait I thought Jhon Conners did not find out about sky net till in the middle of the third movie. Even though I liked the show it was fun
unlike Baionic Women.
Totally disagree with you. The show was a blast, especially the action scenes, like when the terminator pulled a gun out of his leg. I was like, “Damn!” The lines aren’t cheesy to me at all. When you dissect dialogue in movies, it almost always sounds cliche’d if you stress on it too bad. The dialogue in this series is equal to most of the dialogue in other shows. In this version, the timeline is also slightly different, so we cannot hold the story to the same dates and exact rules. The show has flaws, but any more than 24, or some of the other shows on TV? C’mon, relax. This show has me hooked already.
Like I wrote, I did think the show had SOME redeeming qualities and yes, it was not drop dead awful like “Bionic Woman.”
I have to admit I missed the “kevlar chair” comment, and some shows do take a few episodes before they find their legs and hit their stride.
I always appreciate debate here when it’s done intelligently like you guys have!
Best regards and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Vic
Steve,
cameron mentioned the safety deposit box was established in 1963 just before they entered the bank. and as they entered the camera focused on a stone plaque outside the bank that said “this stone was set in 1963″.
hope this is helpful.
I don’t like Lena Headey (300) as Sarah Connor. She just doesn’t look like a bad ass that Linda Hamilton was in T2. The kid cast as John Connor was a good choice though. I think he’s actually better than the horrible casting of Nick Stahl in T3. As for the young female Terminator, I’m still undecided and will wait till I see a couple more episodes. She does have a very exotic look to her. She looks half Asian/white.
Overall the pilot episode was ok. I agree with the poor writing and lame opening dream sequence. Hopefully the show gets better as I’ve been looking forward to watching it.
uh…cheesy melodramatic dialogue? Have you seen T1 and T2?
You are very hypocritical and you forget that fact that Terminator is a fictional and its a TV show…wait…why are you reviewing this then?
This article/review is retarded and I lost faith in you Vic. You don’t seem to understand entertainment story-telling. If this show went the way your illogical review shows you want, then this would be the worst show ever.
Terminator premiere: 9/10
Your Review: 1/10
alot of your comments show that many of you missed some key dialogue points explaining some of your questions. Tivo and re-watch it.
Yes, I have, and as a matter of fact I watched them both this weekend. The dialog was nowhere near as cornball as it was in this episode.
“you forget that fact that Terminator is a fictional and its a TV show…You don’t seem to understand entertainment story-telling.”
Once again I feel the need to point out that “fictional” and “entertainment” does not have to equal “substandard.” Search this site for my reviews of “Heroes,” “Journeyman,” “Stargate-SG1,” “Firefly,” etc., etc. for counterpoints to what you’ve said about my point of view.
I *did* say there might be hope for this show.
Best regards,
Vic
I thought the season opener was very entertaining. Held my interest. I liked the casting overall. It’s it corny, to some extent yes. More so than the movies. However, the effects are great for television and I see this show getting more entertaining as the storyline continues.
One side note, I think the girl terminator looks like a young version of Sigourney Weaver (who was in James Cameron’s Aliens).
I think this show showed more promise than the handful that are already out there (Bionic Woman, Journey Man). Good luck!!!!
Yeah sorry about that Nikki when I read your post it was like 4 in the morning and for some reason I thought you meant James Cameron mentioned the bank vault deal. I didn’t realise till Garys post that the female TX is called Cameron. Gheeesh I blew that one… :)^
One ironic twist was the date 1963, same year Kennedy was shot..?? Hmm
^
jimmy, glad you liked the show but the dialog was not only cheesy it was basically just lifted right out of both T1 and 2 scripts. I noticed Mario Kassar’s name in the creds that explains alot to me on that….
How many times can you say ” come with me if you want to live” and have it not get ammusing.
Also….
And are you trying to say that Vic and this site shouldn’t cover tv shows???
I disagree with most of your points.
^
Cliff good point on the weaver look. I think she’s well cast. She IMO looks like a younger version of Kristna Lokans TX,!^
I’ll be tuning in tonight hope to see some more comments afterwards.
Also Endri, John Connor knew about Skynet from his moms tapes.
Remember at the end of T1 she was making tapes of info for John to listen to when he got older.
^
During the film T2 John Connor tells the Terminator that he wants to go home and get some stuff, he’s talking about those tapes.
^
In a deleated scene found only on the T2 Extreme dvd you can see a the scene where the T-1000 goes into Johns room after he kills the foster parents and finds the tapes…
^
By the time of T2 JC knows of Skynet….
I completely spaced and missed the first episode! Does anyone know it’s online anywhere?
http://www.fox.com/terminator/
Vic
I enjoyed T:TSCC in a popcorn flick comes to the small screen kind of way. As an aside theose involved with this series as well as the movie franchised have hinted around that alternate histories are created whenever time-travel is involved. Personally, I don’t mind this as it leaves the overall mythology more flexible.
Don’t get me wrong I’ll be watching this every night like a robot.
Beats any other reality show for sure. (Dosnt take much)…an old dvd will do.
^
And yeah Time Travel enables the franchise to go down a bunch of different paths.
But they jumped right over Judgement day (T3) with a handheld Time machine. I allways pictured the Time machine to be a massive complex that used the power of a nuclear power plant to work.. But I guess 110 volts will do it..?
Being a massive dorky terminator hella fan, that kind of botherd me a little.
But I’ll get over it.
Its good practice for me with the next Star Trek film being a cannon fodder event unlike anything ever witnessed.
Fatroddy, when it comes to the Terminator films I’m all about silly nitpicking …..
Bad news another episodes on in a few hours and my online connection is working. Hehee
I liked the show and will be watching it. Yea its chessy, yea the bad terminator has nothing on Arnold .. but can you REALLY replace Arnold?
I personally HATED T3 it ruined T1 and T2 for me, as such I am more than happy to pretend that T3 never happened and watch the show. Try it … pretend only T2 ever existed and THEN watch the show, its much more belivable that way.
Didn’t like T3?
Jane was it because of the ending?
^
IMO
T3 was great because it threw out the “let’s stop judgement day” cycle the franschise was stuck on.
T4 (IMO) should be set in the future and the new enemy should be skynet.
^
Since Connor knows what’s going to happen with the timeline he should focus on stopping the time machine from being built
Since that’s the one way to prevent and hopfully restore the timeline
^
IMO, the next film should resemble a full on war epic againt Skynet.
^
Terminator 4 War accross Time. Good title???
1)comment:
“Also….
The Terminators that were shown should have been more buffed out. ”
1)reply:
Not Really. If the TERMINATORS were always so buffed out then they would be easy for the FUTURE RESISTANCE to spot. The TERMINATORS really need to come in ALL SHAPES and SIZES to be better infiltration units: (which is their primary function) In fact, how many buffed out people would there really be in a war torn future where food is scare?
^
2)comment:
The biggest problem I guess I had was that when they jumped forward in time to 2007 they
violated the timeline that was set in T3.
T3 was set in the year 2004. Also they copped out the Timemachine and made it a gimmik.
(Didn’t like that hope its not a trend).
^
2)reply:
this could be problematic, HOWEVER, we have to remember that “whenever time travel comes into play, alternate time lines are always a possibility.” In fact this could a PRE-EMPTIVE way to BRING BACK SARA CONNER (at least for just a few more years, until the Cancer I think, kills her as was explained in T3)(Now speaking about T3 killing off Sara Connor without a fight; i always hated this in T3; especially since Kyle Reese met her one in the future when she was old and handed Kyle Reese a picture of her (the picture taken by the Spanish Boy in T1) that ended up loosing in the Resistance Hide Out when the “Terminator played by Franco Colombo infiltrated his base”. So the need to bring back Sara Connor in some way is needed.
Lastly speaking about time violations, the fact that John Connor exists is completely the fault of Skynet in the first place since John Connor would have never been born in the first place had Skynet not sent back the Terminator in T1, which would have resulted in “no need for Kyle Reese to return and so forth”.
Vic
Hey Brian, good points.
1: I agree with your point on infiltration units looking different and not allways buff.
However the 2 Terminators that we saw in SCC were T-800 models. The T-800’s had a large muscle mass because there chasis were oversized. The later models like the TX were more compact because of advancements to the Terminators.
^
2:good point, however I didn’t bother me not seeing Sarahs death. Btw,(Her death in T3 was just addressed on tonights SCC).
^
3: the scene you talked about where an Old Sarah gives Kyle a picture in the park was a deleated scene and never used…
^
There is a way to eliminate the time paradox that Skynet brings upon itself.
The resistance needs to destroy the time machine before it gets built. And then destroy Skynet in that order.
I dont think this is that bad so far. The whole sending people back in time to set up a support structure is kinda cool. It does bug me that its established that everything that comes from the future contributes to the creation of skynet. I dont mind the story so far though. It takes time for these things to get legs under them. The first few episodes of anything are usually rough. The cast is decent and its neat to watch.
I find myself unable to get attached enough to be upset given that the shows airing on Fox. I would be suprised to see it return after the strike. Honestly, it wouldnt suprise me if Fox cancelled it while we were watching the 3rd episode. Like it goes to commercial and never comes back.
Steve, not true. (you are thinking about the Old Sarah in T2; this was a deleted scene),however, i am talking about Terminator One, WHERE Kyle Reese tells Sara in Terminator One about how he met Sara Connor in the future and Sara in the future gave Kyle Reese a picture. This is the picture taken by the Spanish Boy in the end of T-1 while Sara Connor is sitting in her jeep headed into Mexico. This is the picture that Kyle Reeses lost in the future when the “Terminator played by Franco Colombo” attacked the resistance base.” in T-1.
Yea Pope I’m begining to agree with you…..
^
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
From what know this show was halted back in November
due to the strike.
If I remember correctly they only shot 10 episodes.
Ok yes Brian I do remember that I thought you were referring to that deleated T2 scene.
^
Yea I guess your right T3 did violate that established fact.
^
I allways thought that the lukemia that Sarah died from was caused by the T-1000’s spiking her shoulder in T2
it could have transfered radioactive junk into her blood.
^
They referenced her death in T3 on tonights episode of SCC. So it just gets wierder.
I wouldnt be surprised if somewhere down the line Sarah is transported back to that day in december 2005 where she is supposed to die .
And her cancer ?
probably the result of being exposed to the radioactive core of a terminator.
which hasent happened,
YET!
It may verwell be that by sending her forward in time Cajmeron has set in motion the events that will lead to Sarahs death .
or at least her death as history has recorded it.
Darn typos!
Sorry about that.
anyway, I think camerons attempt to prevent Sarahs death will ultimately lead to it.
or at least as far as history is concerned she will be dead ,
and possibly off the grid somewhere else .
opinions ?
Brian I was thinking after I read your last post, did T3 violate cannon,,?
Steve
^
And I have to say your incorrect
Sarah Connor didn’t give Kile Reese the photo John Connor did. If I remember correctly in the scene at the hotel Kile tells Sarah that “John gave me a picture of you once. I didn’t know at the time it was very old faded, you were very young like you are now”. Its the story of the picture that causes Sarah to fall in love with Kile.
^
Go check it I bet I’m right.
(Warning geek post factor high)…
^
^
^
Alot of people rag on Mostow for the fatalistic Termintor 3, but not me I think he had this thing worked out. Sarah Connor portrayed by Linda Hamilton declined to be in the film folks!
^
Therefore (for the sake of character continuity)her contracting Lukiemia (IMO) was due to the fact that she was exposed to the T-1000 2 times. Once in the elevator at Pescadaro mental hospital and at the CSI steelyards when she received a spike to the shoulder for more than a minute.
^
The T-1000 was made up of dna-sized nano-bots that each had a fusion resonance that would have been steeming with radioactivity.
^
There you go Gary…that’s one way to catch Lukiemia.
^
During that year when T3 came out I didn’t have any forwarning of the plot. So when the Terminator tells John and Kate that Judgement Day was in 5 hours it really blew me away… As did the ending..
^
later reflecting back I was surprised that Mostow was granted the right to change the course of the Terminator franchise…
^
IMO, it was a bold move and also think that T4 should close and end the franchise (theatrically) with
Connor sending back Kile Reese,Unkle bob, and Terminator 3.. Afterward the distruction of the Time machine would be in order.
^
I would hate to see the Terminator (movie) frachise going on and on and on because they can’t blow up the time machine in time. Gheesh its soo obvious the focal point of all this. (According to Camerons Terminator world there was only one Time chamber).
^
Meanwhile I’m digging the tv show since it takes place between there and who knows its entertaining.
It would have been great if the casting folk on Sarah Connor Cronicles would have hired Roland Kickinger. He’s the spitting image of young Arnold…
^
He was in “Son of the Beach” and also played Arnold in the docu-film about Arnold I don’t remember the exact name.
^
They could have used him for all the time travelling Terminators. These other Terms are kinda weak…IMO
Also, its too bad they didn’t make Cameron a full TX with morphing capabilities and on board weapons. But I guess it would have been hard to capture a TX,…
Most importantly, a point you forgot, is the biggest plot hole of all: now that they time-travelled to 2007, they left the ray gun and the time machine back in the vault in 1999. What’s up with that loose end? It wasn’t explained. It wasn’t blown up, so there it is, ready to be reverse engineered, or worse, used again. Future technology.
Right on Sheila!
My thoughts on that….
^
I think that was a one shot rifle in the vault.
Btw.
That vault scene has alot of unanswered questions. IMO
^
Anyone else bothered by the fact that the terminator skull passed through the time portal in the second half of the pilot? Isn’t that a MAJOR incongruity in the story? Also, Lena’s Sarah Connor is way too soft, not edgy and tormented like Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor… and when she’s edgy, it seems overdone. I hate how she calls Kyle “Kyle Reese”. It was always either Kyle or Reese. Do you call someone you love by their full name? And as another poster stated, the terminator that was in the classroom, when he turned around and said, “Class dismissed”, I cringed. I hope this series improves and that this is just the teething process of a new show.
I’m prob wrong but wasn’t the school teacher terminator blown up alongside the road resulting in the Terminator head being found by the cal-trans dude?
And then the remains of the endo-skeleton came back on-line at the junkyard.
^
This then caused the endo-body to seek out its head…
Vert cool how the Terminator has to wear camo because he’s without flesh.
No, they showed the scene where the skinless skull passed through the portal with Sarah, John and Cameron.
No, they showed the scene where the skinless skull passed through the portal with Sarah, John and Cameron.
I haven’t seen part 2 yet, but along the same lines, when the Terminator pulled a gun out of his leg (that to me indicates he brought it from the future) why was it a regular 9MM handgun instead of a “future weapon”?
Vic
Ken I agree with your comments on the casting of Sarah, her hair is black? Never seen Sarah connor with black hair??
^
Also Ken I don’t remember seeing the Terminators head getting in the times sphere but if so it should have been vapor since only living tissue can survive the time machine skynet built.
^
I’m a little confused myself, I don’t remember where that skinless Term. came from. We know the teacher unit was blasted at the vault and there’s the terminator that was lying in wait but that’s it. Who did I forget?
^.
All I know is that road worker picks up the head on the side of the road and next thing there’s a headless Term at a junkyard???
And question?? How does a headless Terminator see where he’s going. Some kind of Lojack in the head??
^
Good point about the 9mm Vic. There’s lots of little problems with this show but overall its entertaining…
i think the teacher unit stole a 9mm after he got here, and jury rigged his leg to contain it.
thats my best guess.
I wonder if this tv show will have the courage or lasting power to resolve the Judgement day factor.
^
I do hope Sarah lives long enough to destroy Microsoft, I mean skynet…
I just watched both episodes on fox.com. The problem with the show is going be lack of strong antagonist. The FBI agent isn’t it and the Terminators are only good for action sequences. Maybe Skynet itself…
I like the protector being a ‘young’ Term John’s age, a break from the father-figure of the movies. Her line from the 2nd ep “please stay calm” after being hit by the car was much more like a Terminator (apposed to the “class dismissed line in the 1st ep).
Something bothered me in the opening monologue, when Sara say Skynet was created to destroy the world. I thought Skynet was created to defend the country and became self-aware, then destroyed the world. Semantics I guess.
FYI, folks, I started watching Monday’s episode and decided to turn it off about 15 minutes in. If you like it, fine, but it’s not for me.
Vic
1-”Also, Lena’s Sarah Connor is way too soft, not edgy and tormented like Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor… and when she’s edgy, it seems overdone.”
Regarding the softness of the current Sara Connor, let’s not foreget that she (Sara) thought they killed off the Terminators and Skynet until now. Meaning it is possible that she become soft due to the feeling that the threat was over. People who work out and are real buff and honed do get soft and flabby when they stop working out. I am sure that as time continues, she may get her edginess and buffness back.
But that’s not even true of the storyline depicted in the TV show. Sarah is still on edge, teaching John that no one is ever safe and to never believe that he is. She’s still on the run from danger. She still lines the couch with kevlar “just in case”. And she’s still teaching John to be a leader.
“Regarding the softness of the current Sara Connor, let’s not foreget that she (Sara) thought they killed off the Terminators and Skynet until now. Meaning it is possible that she become soft due to the feeling that the threat was over. People who work out and are real buff and honed do get soft and flabby when they stop working out. I am sure that as time continues, she may get her edginess and buffness back.”
Ok, I guess I’ll add my two cents in as well, seems everyone has covered everything already. It would seem that the majority of the people here are more in favor of the show, myself included. One of the people writing in here, “T” had it right,In a nutshell saying just to “relax” and have fun with it. I read way to many reviews from people and not just on Vic’s blog, but on some others and I think everyone just tries to put way too much thought into some of these shows. Alot of you people just make yourselves miserable by trying to find every single thing wrong with a show, trying to find the bad and yes, nitpickingtwo, when a tv show comes out thats a spin off of a major motion picture, you can’t expect that its going to reflect all the eleements of the movie, it just doesn’t happen, and if it does its very rare.
>Vic I know its your show here and its your job to review it all as much as it’s our job to either agree or disagree with you, but I just think that this particular show was done really well and it deserves a chance. if you keep boycotting shows like this becasue of some minor stuff, we won’t have anything left to watch but these crappy reality shows. Just put aside everything you think you know about it all and let yourself just get into it. so what if theres cheesy line, they were meant to be humorous. “you might want to holster those” I thought was a pretty good one liner. Anyway, I’ve ranted enough. I like the show, I was impressed with the way it turned out and I look forward to the other episodes. Have fun with it and relax.
Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts. I nitpick because little things like that take me out of the show/movie I’m watching. There’s something called “suspension of disbelief” that applies to sci-fi/horror/fantasy movies which is the ability of what you’re watching to suck you into it’s fictional universe and making it believable despite the fact you know it’s not real.
And as to this:
“if you keep boycotting shows like this becasue of some minor stuff, we won’t have anything left to watch but these crappy reality shows.”
I have the opposite opinion: if people keep accepting crap TV shows and movies and helping them make money, then the studios have no incentive to improve the quality.
On the other hand most people (and I don’t mean you) prefer crap over quality. Look at how some folks reamed me over my AVP-R review and look at how Firefly and Journeyman got cancelled and Serenity didn’t make that much at the box office.
Despite this I will continue to fight the good fight here at Screen Rant.
Vic
Jeff G, commenting on tv shows and films is what this site is all about.
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I had some problems with Sarah Connor adventures, but I didn’t make myself miserable over it, I enjoyed the feedback and then I moved on…I’ll be watching the show even though its subpar.
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I’m would rather have an experienced opinion on shows not some (yeah its great) its Terminator, ya gotta love it bs.
I feel Vic goes out of his way to cover these shows and his reviews are very well done and consistant.
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But anyway I enjoyed reading your ScreeRant!
Vic, I never read one of you reviews before. Gotta say…….you nailed it. T1 and 2 are some my favorite movies of all time but while there were a couple of good scenes in 3, i really didnt like it. I thought this new series started out strong and then pussed out with the whole dream sequence thing, but again there were a couple of pretty good sequences in the first hour. I yawned through the 2nd hour. Some of it made absolutely no sense to me like why would the ‘bad’ terminator need to hide a gun in his leg?!? What there a point to this? Isn’t it easier just to stick in your waistband, gangster style? And youre right, the line in the classroom was just stupid. I always liked Summer Glau in firefly/serenity, not just cause she’s hot but she is also a good actor. She is about the only bright spot in this show. I will say that the effects are very good for a tv show. The final sequence in the vault was barely believeable but with excellent effects. I am very confused with the whole timeline thing. I get the idea that they are completely ignoring T3, which is fine, but why is Skynet (or how for that matter) sending model 101’s back in time instead of t-1000’s or TX’s. What is Cameron (I think she is an early version of the TX but she doesnt seem to have any morphing abilities—wtf?). Anyways, just some thoughts of mine…let me know what you think……..
Vic
Yea Patrick I agree with you. Where’s the Morphing? Not in the budget prob but they could be holding back a T-1000 later in future episodes.
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I’ve been told to lightin up a bit so I’m holding back, on my. nitpicking………….but if we assume Skynet sent the first 3 terminators back in time, relativly around same few weeks after It realisd the timelines hadn’t changed and then the Resistance shut Skynet down (Kile Reese T1) and sent its 3 heros back the story should be reaching a coda of some sorts in the future.
T3 pretty much sealed the Judgement day thread up…
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I mean that’s the Terminator Timeline were left with after the films…
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This show is all over the map with time machines retroactivly built into bank vaults, Skynet back online and spitting back Terminators that all seem to just want to kill John Connor again. Like they can’t just find him in the future and nuke his ars?
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Anyway. It will be fun to watch, 24 is off so I don’t have any other options on Mondays except for Prison Break.
Vic - it was the whole movie I did not like. Although the ending was horrible! I did not like the ending because it just wrapped everything up so nicely ….. too nicely. I liked the suspense of not knowing if they will succeed in winning against skynet or not. T3 left NOTHING left to chance.
In regards to morphing, that costs MONEY!
they probably couldnt afford it .
they dont have access to same type of budget james cameron had.
if they use the T-1000 down the road ,
I hope they get Robert Patrick.
Gary. Robert Patrick is working on the show “the Unit” right now and woundnt be availible. I do hope the cast an actor that looks just like him they could have done the same with Arnolds terminators. Wtf
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Patrick stole the last half of T2 (IMO).
“In regards to morphing, that costs MONEY!
they probably couldnt afford it .
they dont have access to same type of budget james cameron had”
Isn’t morphing and the nuclear cloud dream sequence and where the terminator is ripping apart the vault all just CGI? CGI has come a long way since 1990 (where james cameron was using state of the art morphing kickass special effects) and its my understanding that all of this only requires CGI artists to render them. My point was more of a storyline/timeline question rather than a budgetary question. I am trying to figure out what Cameron is, whether she is a new 101 model (makes no sense) or an early version of a TX (makes a little more sense if she could morph or had onboard weapons). I gotta go with Vic on this one, the inconsistencies are very confusing and are starting to turn me off on this show. I will probably give it one more chance since its after prison break (although i watched ‘heroes’ instead of that in the fall so i am totally lost).
I like Summer Glau though I don’t think she can match up to Arnold, but I don’t particularly like Lena Headey or Thomas Dekker. Lena makes a terrible mother, and basically she’s no Linda Hamilton (Though I suspect some of that has to be the bad directing/writing, because I thought she was great in 300. So what the hell happened?). As for Thomas Dekker, he’s a pretty boy melodrama bore. I mean what the hell, what happened to the cool John Conner of T-2 who taught Arnold to say “astalavista baby!”
Basically, if you’ve watched T-1, T-2, or T-3 recently this TV show blows. I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t cut it. Then again, maybe the story will be enough to let me overlook such crap. Maybe the actors will get a chance to perfect their roles too. I doubt it.
First off I would like to say that I think the show has great potential and could become outstanding if given the right writers. I have tried to give this show a chance because, as others here have posted, a show usually takes a couple of weeks to get going. However, after four episodes I have arrived at a crossroads. I will give it one more episode and then make a decision to watch it anymore. My biggest complaint about the show (and I am not trying to pick apart every facet of the show) is that there are just too many inconsistencies in the storyline. Good writers can write something that although unbelievable, can make you think just maybe it could be believable. Let’s face it, the show is written primarily to cater to the fans of Terminator movies. Those fans are the core audience. Buzz about the show will draw other viewers but the biggest draw is from the fans. With that in mind the writers were obligated to at least peruse the material they were writing about. Therein lay the problem in that I really don’t think the current writers of the show ever watched the previous terminator movies. If they did there wouldn’t be so many inconsistencies. Another thing I don’t like is that it sometimes feels as though I am being rushed through an episode and not much thought is going into plot or character development. At other times I get a glimpse of the shows potential and keep hoping for the best. If they really want the show to succeed they will show the current writers the door and hire writers who have watched the movies. Alas, at this point it may be too late and the show may well be beyond damage control.
Jack its hard to believe but two of the shows producers have been attached to Terminator since T1…
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As the show progresses its straying bigtime from the film canon. The “inconsistancies” are very clear for all the true fans of the films.
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One thing I have a difficult time adjusting to is Sarah Connor. The actress that plays her is horribly
cast. She can’t even go blond for the role?? It just takes me out everytime I think of Linda Hamilton and then I see her. Just dosnt look anything like her.
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Another thing with the (stop Skynet) plot. Wow are we on a storyline treadmill or what. How can they stop Skynet when we all know the next film takes place in the future (a war against Skynet).
Geee I wonder if in the next film there gonna try to stop Skynet. Dah?
Unfortunitly Jack these shows were all written and shot months ago.
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At this point giving it a chance is over, I only watch it too see how bad it can get?
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I have a feeling this show won’t see a second season.
And I fear that the Terminator franchise is pretty much corrupted beyond repair.
I don’t know what show you are watching, but this show is BADASS! My wife and I couldn’t wait to the next episode week to week.
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