Terminator SalvationMovie Reviews

Gifts + Promos

• Go Based on 4,916 reviews
  Breakdown:

• Sort by: Helpfulness
• Review Date

• Go
  Written May 23, 2009

  Good? Yes. $9.50 Good? Probably not.

  by Kyle_Adkins

  I was really hyped to see the film myself, being a avid fan of Terminator series. But I must confess, I honestly wasn't too happy with the choice of John Connor in this series, considering how much of a D-Bag I feel Christian Bale to be (I mean, come on.. "Don't trash my scene"? What are you, 9?). However, his acting was fairly good I must admit for this role.
  
  Were I was really nit-picky honestly was the cookie-cutter suspense. Everything had a certain level of predictability about it. We honestly knew the "Twist ending" of the film, which I will not ruin for readers of this review, before it happened. Also, the explosions were unnecessarily loud, and almost ruptured my girlfriend and my own eardrums in the theater. Crank it down to a dull roar please.
  
  Aside all this, the movie was fairly enjoyable. Try to catch the matinee if possible. I think you'll be much more satisfied if you do.

  • 136 out of 178 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Oh No!
  Written May 23, 2009

  Where's Batman when you need him?

  by Cal Varnson

  The whole time I was watching the movie, I was wishing Christian Bale would don the bat suit and rescue us from this predictable yawner. Yes, I was literally yawning during this film. This movie has every cliche imaginable for an action film. A self loathing tough guy leading man that survives all peril, a hot babe that likes to shoot automatic weapons, laughable use of a previous catch phrase ("I'll be back"...c'mon give us a break!), stealing scenes from classic action films (mute kid, high speed chase on a car strewn desolate highway, blowing up fuel tankers while petrol is at a premium...was this "Terminator" or "Road Warrior"?), etc.
  
  I kept thinking of how Bale went off on a crew member while filming this crud seeing as he's such a dedicated and professional actor. Huh? Maybe he was angry that he signed up for the picture (and apparently a string of additional sequels...Lord help us).
  
  It's time to exterminate.
  
  

  • 28 out of 33 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Must Go!
  Written May 21, 2009

  Great Movie

  by esgill

  Terminator Salvation is a great movie that captures the essence of post-apocalyptic Earth.. The movie stays very true to the Terminator "mythology" with many used faces to welcome us in. A new character introduced --Marcus Wright-- not John Connor, is the hero of the movie. John Connor, while important to the plot line and chronology, plays only a obligatory role in this latest installment. Wright offers a new insight to the "human condition" with his unique circumstances, and allows John Connor to become who he needs to... the savior of mankind. Thus explaining the ending of the movie. Keep that in mind with regards to the ending of Salvation, before casting it as cliche.
  
  Any Terminator fan, die hard or so-so, should enjoy this movie tremendously, IMO. For the die hard's there is the obvious plot structure and chronology that sets up the previous 3 Terminator chronologies. And for the so-so's there is the action packed and well thought out plot line to draw you in.

  • 30 out of 38 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Oh No!
  Written May 31, 2009

  DONT BE FOOLED

  by joetv

  I have been a huge fan of the Terminator story for 25 years. I love the first 2 films alot and the 3rd one is even ok with me. Terminator Salvation is a huge slap in the face to all the terminator fans everywhere. You've probally read other reviews telling you about the bad acting, bad dialogue and lack of story. Well, there is more bad news. Everything that makes Terminator a good story is missing in this. The makers of this film put some big name actors, pretty good action, and some familar one-liners together and are calling it a Terminator story. They hope that we the fans will fall for the CGI and explosions and ignore that this movie has no continuity,urgency,desperation,or investment in character development. Hollywood has taken a crap script,stamped Terminator on it in hopes that the vast majority of Terminator fans will be fooled out of millions of dollars. Terminator fans deserve more respect than this. You have been warned!

  • 30 out of 47 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• So-so
  Written May 26, 2009

  A Fistful of Explosions...

  by spacemonkey17

  Terminator Salvation is the kind of movie that makes you leave the theater feeling like a slathering idiot... Though semi-entertaining, the film lacks the substance of the previous Terminator films, but has enough action and special effects to keep your eyes glued, even though your mind will wander. After an hour of non-stop action and the major "plot-twist" (already ruined by every trailer... ), my brain shut off and I found myself becoming bored, luckily Christian Bale's shouting and all the explosions were able to keep me awake. Other than a cool car chase and set-up for future sequels, this film seemed ultimately pointless. Hopefully, when parts two and three release, they add the elements that made the first two Terminator films so memorable.

  • 12 out of 15 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Oh No!
  Written May 25, 2009

  McDumb

  by JMTBerserker

  McG can't make a movie. At least make it somewhat believable. I am a fan of the Terminator movies and was looking forward to reviving the franchise, but what a complete pile of crap this movie was.

  • 15 out of 21 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• So-so
  Written June 18, 2009

  Speed bump in the series.

  by sandro5

  I dont know why they did not bother to put a story or anything remotely intricate to the Terminator universe in this movie other than that it was a few years before Kyle Reese was sent back in the first film. It is obvious that they will be churning out a new franchise with mister big budget, big gross Christian Bale, but the fact that this movie is missing a plot that could have written itself is no excuse. The next two films better be more surprising than the 6th sense, like maybe inthe tv series they get the select terminators to "join them" , how about that being a glitch that was created by Jon Conner as he is actually a machine and was programmed by a hacker resistance guy because conner was killed.....? huh? huh? I like it. now thats a twist. Oh hell I just ruined the next or last film plot.

  • 17 out of 27 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Must Go!
  Written May 22, 2009

  This Movie Doesn't STOP!

  by JBerven

  I just finished watching this movie. Even with all the hype it blew me away! I can not believe that they were able to bring this movie out of the dark shadow of T3! This film was a war style film with some of the best non-stop seat of your pants action. I can honestly say that I have never seen a film that I can really compare it with. I also heard rumors that if this film does well then they are making another three movies! I can't wait for the blue ray box set to come out!

  • 12 out of 17 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Oh No!
  Written May 25, 2009

  what a peice of crap...IT STINKS

  by zegbeethoven

  do not waist your time and money. if you like no plot, with no dialogue and little explanation of what the hell is going on, this movie is for you. There are plenty of needless explosions and no interesting story lines.
  
  If you like good sci-fi please go rent or buy the movie "Caprica" b/c it is about 300,000 times better.
  
  C. Bale is a great actor for the general role he takes and he is not even bad in this one but the director and writers should be banned from Hollywood for sucking soooooo bad. If you want to see what is wrong with the movie industry go watch this junky P.O.S. the musical score sucks even worse than the movie if you can believe it.
  
  or stay home and play video games b/c this movie is just a visio game that you can't control and can't be over fast enough! IT STINKS
  
  

  • 9 out of 12 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• So-so
  Written May 23, 2009

  No longer a "thinking man's sci-fi"

  by turnstile13

  I'll try to be fair- This movie DOES deliver a steroidal action-packed whallup. So if you are wanting and expecting an all bronze action flick, then you will probably think this is the best of the year. However, if you (like me) are a big fan of the Terminator franchise because of the S-T-O-R-Y (the four letter word of Hollywood) tied to all that Cyberdyne-anim fun, then prepare yourself for a death. With the superior Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles yanked from the tv airwaves, Terminator Salvation was humankind's last hope. Alas, the director targeted the brains behind the metal with cyborg fashion and coldly pulled the trigger. Story status: Terminated.

  • 7 out of 8 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Go
  Written May 31, 2009

  Good but not great.

  by escherfied

  The opening of Terminator salvation blew me away. The helicopter landing on a terminator, and the huge explosion was amazing. However, the rest of the movie is less exciting. I feel that a terminator should not have a PG-13 rating. The story was choppy, and condensed.Overall the movie was entertaining. The special effects are top notch, and when there is action it is full force. I would recommend seeing this movie.

  • 10 out of 15 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Must Go!
  Written June 5, 2009

  A Worthy Addition to the Terminator Franchise

  by Indiana_Johnston

  I wonder if the Critics have something against the Terminator franchise when it doesn't include the Governator. I personally thought this movie was AWESOME and in fact saw it TWICE! IFirst "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" is canceled and then the critics give a movie, that is an addition to a popular APOCALYPTIC franchise where machines take over the world and enslave humanity, bad reviews because its TOO serious and doesn't have enough toungue and cheek humor? What's next, comedies get GREAT reviews because they are full of crass, crude, racial, and tactless humor? Oh wait a minute, that already happens. Can anyone say
  "TROPIC THUNDER" & "SUPER BAD"? I think the general public should take what the critics say with a grain of salt and make up their own minds on whether a movie is good or not. For Example, THIS movie has a 38% favorable reviews amongst "top critics" and over 70% with fan reviews - that's a pretty big margin DON'T YA THINK?

  • 10 out of 15 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• So-so
  Written May 29, 2009

  Booo Hooo!!!

  by na5m

  Where're the Terminators? I thought the landscape would be filled with them, like in John Connors' dreams in ROTM. Instead, you are only shown a few here & there thoughout the movie. And give me a break: Anton Yelchin did a poor job as Kyle Reese. Too effeminate & unconvincing. Michael Biehn's jaw must still be lying on the floor. And you gotta love the realism of the super-sexy flight suit that the hot, twenty-something, veteran, Asian-babe female combat pilot was wearing. Hip-hugger survival pants & a cropped blouse with obligatory tummy skin showing? Yeah, right. And uber star Helena Bonham Carter was an unnecessarily distracting choice for the trivial element that her character fills. & is it just me or does it seem like the more advanced CG gets, the less real it looks? I remember seeing Jurrasic Park in '93 and being blown away with how natural the CG blended in with the "real". There's an obvious deficiency of "life" missing from today's CG characters. Very sad 4th installment.

  • 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• So-so
  Written May 23, 2009

  JROCK007 Opinion of Salvation

  by JROCK007

  The kid that played Kyle Reese did well. He even has some of Michael Bien's (Adult Kyle Reese in Terminator 1) mannerisms..
  The Marcus character could have been portrayed better. (Lost at the beginning.. Defined purpose at the end. I DIDN'T like the approach)
  Cyberdine was inefficient, inconsistent, and not as tactical in execution which historically has been uncharacteristic. In short, a bit to messy.
  However, it was also manipulative and clever as usual.
  I wish McG would have spent more time around developing his idea of the story instead of depicting his idea of the story. I was not engaged in the movie unlike how I was in T1 and T2. I was just simply entertained by watching it.
  
  T1, you walked away with relief knowing she survived..
  T2, you walked away with a since of loss and closure..
  T3, (lets just not talk about that one)
  T4, Simply Entertained
  
  Score = C+
  
  JROCK
  

  • 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No
• Go
  Written June 8, 2009

  Closes the circle

  by Dimensional Traveler

  I know there has been a lot of negative buzz about this title but don't let that keep you from seeing this film. The script pays very close attention to what happened in T1 and T2 and stays faithful to them. There are a number of nods to those in specific shots and lines. The film also does a good job of "closing the circle" of the film series with things that were background in earlier movies being explained or coming to pass (some require the viewer to be familiar with the earlier Terminator movies and paying attention, but those can be the most satisfying to catch).
  
  There are a few quibbles, like the shot showing a dry San Francisco Bay (which would require lowering the Pacific Ocean's sea level several hundred feet), but you can find those in any film and shouldn't bother most movie goers.
  
  Overall I recommend it for what it is, a summer action flick.

  • 6 out of 8 found this review helpful.
  • Was this helpful to you? 
  • Yes
  • No

• Page: 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• More Reviews