Blu-Ray Review:
Terminator Salvation
By Jason Gillard
*Screenshots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
Current Rottentomatoes.com score 32% Fresh: 79 Rotten: 170
In the highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
The film also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Charlotte Gainsbourg as Kate Connor, Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams, Common as Barnes, and Jadagrace as Star. --© Warner Bros.
I was looking forward to watching this movie, because I had not seen it. Most of the movies I review I have already seen so this was kind of a treat. I found this movie to be OK. It has some pretty cool action scenes, some well done CGI, but I found the story to be lacking. After the movie was over I found myself sitting there thinking that I didn't remember much of what had gone on. I guess I didn't find much of it to be memorable. I am sure I read somewhere that all the Terminator's were CG this time around. I have to say that they did a great job with the exoskeletons. I really could not tell the difference between these and previous Terminator movies. So I guess if I had to sum this movie up it would be cool action, with a weak story.
7 out of 10
Video
The transfer for Terminator Salvation is very good. Framed in the 2:31.1 aspect ratio, everything is very bleak. There are really no primary colours to be found here and of course this is by design. Detail is extraordinary, with close ups of characters revealing individual details on the face in great detail. At the beginning of the film you see many closeups of Markus as he is being executed. You see stubble and wrinkles and subtle lines in his face. Most of the scenes in the film include some kind of broken down structure or debris. Everything has that worn down look to it and this transfer makes that easy to see. Black levels are strong throughout the film as well. The only scenes in the whole film that don't have this grey bleak look are the scenes inside of Skynet. It is here that we see bright whites, and also the occasional crimson orange colour from molten steel. These also come across very accurate. Skin tones in the movie are again washed out but again this is by design. Terminator Salvation has one of the sharpest transfers I have seen a while.
9 out of 10
Audio
For the audio we get a mind numbing DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. I say mind numbing because the sound hits you like a ton of bricks and doesn't stop until the credits roll. The opening credit music is a great example of this. At first I thought they had gotten completely away from the old Terminator movie music, but just when you think that, the original music punches you right in the face and gets you ready for one hell of a ride. The surround channels are fully active hitting you from all sides. The music and effects are so clear and sound fantastic. Everything from metal on metal collisions, to planes flying across the screen sound fantastic. The LFE channel is so strong and makes everything have this solid feel to it. When the giant robot is picking up humans to take to the Skynet prisons the sounds coming from it are fantastic and will make your ears bleed. Motorcycle Terminators go whizzing past and behind you! This is a reference track and one that you will use to show off your sound system to your friends.
10 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras:
Maximum Movie Mode
Focus Points
- Digital Destruction (2:30), Enlisting the Air Force (2:48), Molten Metal and the Science of Simulation (2:09), Building the Gas Station (2:52), Creating the VLA Attack (2:46), Exploding Serena's Lab in Miniature (2:38), Hydrobots (2:19), An Icon Returns (3:01), Terminator Factory (2:17), Stan Winston Workshop (3:03), and Napalm Blast (2:46). Next up is a piece entitled Reforging the Future
Moto-Terminator
Reforging the Future
Digital Copy
WB Maximum Movie Mode is a great feature that should be included on every one of their discs. If you read my review of Watchmen you would know how much I like this feature. It has director MCG standing in front of two virtual screens. Throughout the movie he cuts in to isolate something specific and it's really like having the director explain to you step by step what his thought process was. It's a great feature. In the maximum movie mode there is also roughly 40 minutes of various picture-in-picture material. There is also storyboards that are on a 3D wheel that coincide with the movie. There are also 10 points that take you to small features around 3 minutes in length called focus points. The Moto-Terminator feature is also really cool. They do talk about it in Maximum Movie Mode but this feature dives into it a little more deeply talking about how they used stunt drivers to bring them to life. The Reforging the Future feature is a documentary on how they brought this world to life. It talks about MCG's insistence to do most of the effects practically if possible and for that my appreciation of him went up a little bit.
I should mention that there is 3 discs. The first disc has the theatrical presentation and special features, the second disc is the directors cut and BD-Live and the 3rd disc is the digital copy.
7 out of 10
Overall
This movie was made for Home Theater and it's a great disc to show off your system. It has a great transfer, outstanding audio and some decent extras. For me even though the movie wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, I am still going to recommend it.
9 out of 10