People have been abusing terminators for years. This must end.
There was once a time when terminators were treated with respect, sometimes even with adoration. Those days are long gone. In the modern era, terminators are treated like million-dollar chips on the craps table – put a few down on a random number and roll the dice. Most of the time, the chips disappear, and nobody remembers or cares about them. They’re just…gone. The Terminator franchise is on the brink of this now.
The Terminator (1984) and T2: Judgment Day (1991) are two of the best action sci-fi movies ever made. They deserved a franchise worthy of their greatness. Instead, we got a garbage sequel (Rise of the Machines,), a decent one (Salvation), a failed TV show (The Sarah Connor Chronicles), a disrespectful and woefully miscast reboot (Genisys), and an even more disrespectful woke reboot (Dark Fate). Dark Fate was so bad it managed to undo the entire premise of the two original films.
**Inside the Dark Fate writer’s room.
Woke writer A: “I know! Let’s kill off John Connor and make Sarah Connor and Kyle Reece irrelevant!”
Woke writer B: “Brilliant!”
**
Where did The Terminator franchise go so terribly wrong? Like The Terminator storyline, it’s complex. So bear with me while I try steady the foundation.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was bad, but it wasn’t 100% bad. Rather than marginalize the original premise, it built upon T2 by honoring Miles Dyson’s heroic sacrifice, revealing that the heroes managed to stave off judgment day for a few extra years, at least. Sure, the T-3000 was ridiculous – and Claire Danes emptying an AK-47 is a sight no one should have to endure – but the ending almost redeems the film. T3 answers the question of how John Connor’s legendary leader status came about, and does so in a believable and coherent way. Quite an achievement, given the complexity of the franchise storyline.
Terminator: Salvation was pretty good for the most part. It was practically Casablanca compared with everything that came after it. And while Skynet personified as Helena Bonham Carter was weird, I didn’t hate it. Bryce Dallas Howard’s performance as Kate Conner added a much-needed dimension of human frailty, and enhanced our appreciation for John Connor and his leadership. The film ended with John Connor clinging to life, and with Kyle Reece set up to become the stud lieutenant he’s destined to be. The heroes had scored a major but temporary victory, and we knew there was plenty of fighting still to come. We expected Skynet to come back and come back hard against the uppity humans who just wouldn’t die, so let’s start right there.
Just pretend Genisys and Dark Fate don’t exist. James Cameron says we can.
This is The Nerd Cut – a series where I take flawed movies and rework them into better versions of themselves.
The Nerd Cut: The Terminator Franchise
We begin our next chapter about ten years after the events of Terminator: Salvation. In the opening credits we learn that almost immediately following the events of that film, Skynet launched an offensive and destroyed the base where Marcus Wright gave his life. The Resistance conducted a forced retreat to hidden bases and most modern human weaponry was destroyed in the process.
In time, Resistance fighters managed to refurbish Skynet hardware and refit and modify new weapons while in hiding. We see a series of battles in the ruins of cities and learn that humans hiding in rural areas are increasing in numbers. Every time Skynet fights a battle it loses weaponry. John Connor explains that the goal is not to defeat Skynet in a major offensive but rather to perpetrate as many skirmishes as possible, thereby allowing the Resistance to collect more Skynet hardware and incrementally level the playing field.
A pair of genius scientists learn to fashion directional EMP devices – dangerous to use because they destroy Resistance assets even while rendering Skynet hardware useless. These scientists also begin experimenting with time travel theories. Most resistance leaders scoff at the idea, but John Connor surprises everyone (except Kate) by encouraging them to play with it, while concealing his foreknowledge of what’s to come. Only Kate Connor knows the full story.
We see a terminator’s point of view and learn they are on a mission to terminate the Resistance R&D scientists. Dozens of T-800 terminators set out to infiltrate the Resistance underground networks.
Some of them succeed in battles in close quarters and John Connor realizes his top priority is now to protect his scientists. This causes a rift between Connor and other Resistance generals who want to focus on the offensive against the three remaining Skynet assembly facilities outside Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Diego. Kyle Reece and others hammer Connor about his priorities and wonder if the old man has lost his focus by obsessing over this time travel nonsense. Connor is persuaded by Reece to allow a simultaneous full-scale assault on the three Skynet facilities.
The assault on site A ends in a standoff and as the humans are forced to fall back to regroup, they wrestle in confusion over the shocking news that the assault on site B ended when Skynet detonated a nuclear weapon on its own facility.
The third and largest assault on site C is a decisive victory led by Connor and Reece. In the aftermath they discover a nearly completed time travel mechanism, identical to the prototype Connor’s scientists have been working on. Due to the EMP, the mechanism is fried.
Connor realizes Skynet destroyed their own base to keep the site B time travel machine out of Resistance hands. He also realizes that Skynet needs the human scientists or their research to complete its own machine. Connor explains this to Reece and his other two most trusted lieutenants. They race back to the Resistance R&D laboratories and find a battle in progress.
The terminators have killed one of the scientists and have downloaded all their files and digitally transferred it somewhere, presumably the site A facility. A single remaining scientist is saved by Kyle Reece. Connor calls on all Resistance forces to attack the receiving Skynet facility en masse, immediately.
The climactic battle takes place with Connor forbidding EMP use
in order to preserve the machine he hopes to find. The humans win, exploit the
facility, and most of the soldiers celebrate Skynet’s defeat. Connor and a small squad continue to search
the site and find the time travel mechanism. A log record shows that minutes
earlier, a T-800 had been sent to execute the mission to terminate Sarah
Connor.
“So, what does that mean?” his lieutenant asks.
“It means he plans to kill my mother before I can be born. Do that, and maybe none of this happens.”
“Well, if he did that, wouldn’t you have disappeared or something already?”
“No, because one of you will succeed in stopping him.”
The men look at one another. “Who?”
Connor turns his back to them, paces the room, thinking. He walks over to a computer terminal and types in a few keys, and stares at the screen.
From over his shoulder, we see the three soldiers standing in a line. “Sir!” Kyle Reece says taking a step forward. “I would like to volunteer for this mission.”
We see a close-up shot of John Connor closing his eyes, Kyle Reece in the background on the left. “Yes…I knew you would,” he says quietly.
Connor orders the other men to bring the remaining scientist to operate the time machine mechanism. While they wait, Connor shares a moment alone with Reece, struggling to speak the last words to his father before sending him on the one-way mission. “I want you to give her a message from me. You’ll know when she needs to hear it.”
As the Resistance scientist sets Kyle up for his mission, we hear the original recorded message of Sarah Connor: “Should I tell you about your father? Boy, that’s a tough one. Will it affect your decision to send him here knowing that he’s your father? If you don’t send Kyle, you can never be. God, a person could go crazy thinking about this. I suppose I will tell you. I owe him that much. Maybe it will help if you know that in the few hours we had together, we loved a lifetime’s worth.”
Kyle Reece vanishes.
“What do we do with this now?” the scientist asks.
“Destroy it,” Connor says, and walks out to throngs of soldiers, parting for him as he passes, saluting and cheering for him.
The remaining lieutenants walk over to the computer screen Connor was typing on. “Seems like a waste to destroy this thing. What if we need to use it again?”
From another terminal the scientist says, “I can replicate it if we need to, I think. But it will take some time. Destroying it will ensure that Skynet can’t use it now.”
“Skynet’s defeated.”
The scientist stands, and exits the room gently shaking his head as he leaves. They follow.
[Terminator theme music plays.]Focus on the computer screen with a blinking cursor next to the
following text displayed:
FATE
Check out the previous Nerd Cuts.
The Nerd Cut: Avengers Endgame
Subscribe to receive new posts on Wednesdays: http://vinceguerra.com/allies