Director Tim Miller reveals that his 2019 film, Terminator: Dark Fate, features a quick visual Ghost In The Shell Easter egg. The sequel saw Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the franchise, alongside newcomers Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, and Gabriel Luna. Despite receiving a better critical response than other recent Terminator sequels, Terminator: Dark Fate underperformed financially at the box office, becoming one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.
Released in 2019, Terminator: Dark Fate deviates farther from the original Terminator timeline than prior sequels, as John Connor (Edward Furlong) is killed in front of Sarah Connor (Hamilton) following the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. While Skynet is never built and John never leads the Resistance, a new A.I. system named Legion rises in its place to push humanity to extinction. When a highly advanced Terminator (Luna) is sent to kill future Resistance leader Dani Ramos (Reyes), cyborg Grace (Davis) is sent to rescue the young girl. Teaming up with an older Sarah and a reformed, autonomous T-800 unit (Schwarzenegger) to fight off the threat. While Terminator: Dark Fate set up a new timeline for sequels, but nearly three years since it hit theaters, the man behind the film is revealing a nod to an iconic sci-fi property.
In the latest episode of Corridor Crew's ongoing YouTube series, VFX Artists React, Tim Miller broke down his work on Terminator: Dark Fate. When looking at the film's climactic battle between Dani, Grace and the T-800, the director revealed a subtle Ghost in the Shell Easter egg he hid in the sequence. See what Miller shared below:
“Did you see my Ghost in the Shell homage? With the arms and the flesh ripping off? Yeah, with the spider tank scene.”
Ghost In The Shell's Various Hollywood Influences Explained
With a new film released in May, Ghost in the Shell continues to be a highly influential franchise. Based on the works of Masamune Shirow, the series follows Major Motoko Kusanagi, a fully augmented cybernetic human who serves as the leader of a public security task force in a futuristic cyberpunk Japan. The Ghost in the Shell franchise attracted global attention following the release of Mamoru Oshii's 1995 movie, which saw Kusanagi track down an elusive hacker, tackling themes of identity in the technological age. A highly celebrated film, Ghost in the Shell has often been cited as an influence for many filmmakers long before Terminator: Dark Fate's development, including the Wachowskis, who have cited using it as a direct influence and example they used when pitching The Matrix to producers. Acclaimed director Steven Spielberg also shared his praise for the 1995 film, with Spielberg even intending to develop a remake in 2008, while Terminator creator James Cameron himself has claimed that the film's impressive visuals were a major inspiration when developing 2009's Avatar.
While a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Terminator: Dark Fate's surprising Ghost in the Shell nod is sure to catch the attention of many eagle-eyed viewers following Miller's reveal. While it isn't an obvious Easter egg, the similarities in framing, as well as Grace and Kusanagi's cybernetic characteristics, help create a subtle link between both films. Ghost in the Shell continues to be an incredibly influential piece of science fiction to this day, and Miller's sneaky tribute in Terminator: Dark Fate is a perfect, non-distracting tribute that audiences may keep an eye out for on future watches.
Source: Corridor Crew