Search - The Terminators on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 10/1/2017...

It really was much better than expected. The ending could have been done better BUT for terminator, Arnold fans, it's a must see! I know I enjoyed it!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Keith A. (Keefer522)
Reviewed on 8/28/2013...

Here's yet another one of those hilariously bad "mockbuster" knockoffs from The Asylum, this one is a low rent rip off of "The Terminator" (as if the title didn't give that away immediately) with some bits stolen from "Battlestar Galactica" thrown in for good measure.

Surprisingly enough, this one started off somewhat promising, with some cool action scenes and some halfway decent (by The Asylum standards, anyway) outer-space special effects. But once the opening was out of the way it went right back to the usual Asylum formula, i.e. lots of bad acting and unlikeable characters endlessly bickering with each other as they traveled through a continuing series of cheap set pieces.

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

So bad it's great

P. Ellerd | 08/19/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The acting, script, and graphics were an absolute laugh. If the producers were trying to produce a serious action flick then I'd have to rate it one star. I missed the first 30 minutes of the movie but will watch for it to come on again so I can see it from start to finish. I think the spaceship battle was spliced from a 80's video game for the weapons fire, the pull here to disable the threat plot (TR5 Main Control On-Off) device was awesome (needed a blinking neon sign to make it better), and the robotic walking by the terminators was perfect. Apologies to anyone that takes this movie seriously but it was so bad it was great!"

The rise of Skynet needs to be shown - this film doesn't..

Life Enthusiast | MD United States | 02/19/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I must agree with many other reviews on this one. My nine year old has really gotten into the series and it rekindled my enjoyment of T1 and T2. After recently seeing Terminator: Salvation, I was really hopeful for a similar action packed joyride, that provides plot development between T3 and Salvation. I'll refer to this film as T4 which is actually a low-budget attempt to cash-in on the Terminator legacy. It could have been sooooo much better if there was at least a reference to Sarah and John Conner. Instead, we're led on a journey that begins with Skynets sudden awareness and decision to eradicate humanity. Okay, let's accept this, maybe we need to see the rise of the human reaction and resonse to Skynet and the army John Conner will ultimately organize and lead. Instead, the acting, plot, scripts and low-budget special effects provide a series of random destruction, two-dimensional characters, most of whom you're glad to see 'hasta la vista, babied'.

The film presents Skynet and the benefit it has provided humanity - principally a cyborg (apparently only one model exists which probably saved the cost of hiring other actors or support technological special effects) which perform menial tech or labor tasks on a global scale. Other than this 'benefit' to humanity, modern life shows no other technological advancement beyond the ubiquitous cell phone. With Skynet's sudden awareness (we could call it Order 66 for a Star Wars analogy) the cyborgs suddenly turn on humanity. It's a strange rebellion, with cyborgs hunting and killing humans one at a time. A nuke does destroy LA, but you would think the cyborgs would be organized like a mass army and there would be different machines other than the generic cyborg and space shuttles to destroy humanity. If you saw AI: Artificial Intelligence, the Mechs are fully a part of the social infrastructure as are many other technological advancements (same with the incredible Blade Runner). Terminator: Salvation gives a much better sense of this blend of new and existing techology as well as the diversity of Skynet's evil machines.

In T4, a small group of surviving townsfolk collect around the town sherriff to run through a maze of pitiful 1970's backlot warehouses and a scrubby desert to escape the few cyborgs bent on twisting their heads off. Suddenly, Jeremy London (what happened to his career? maybe a new agent would help) arrives with a super-gun which stuns the cyborgs with its pulse blast. He is really there to monitor the Sherriff who turns out to be a 'good-guy' cyborg. Of course, the Sherriff who saved the lives of his companions suddenly can't be trusted. London reluctantly assumes leadership of the group, and gathers them to an abandoned shuttle. The survivors are picked off as they gather scuba tanks to fuel the shuttle. This gets them into space, where they successfully evade a fleet of Skynet attack shuttles, and land on Skynets main control space center. With the true personality traits of the selfish, riff-raff survivors coming to light, we can sit back and enjoy their destruction. We can also thank the quality of our education system that the teenager who just achieved her GED, can hotwire a van as well as figure out Skynet's computer system and shut it down. Whew, just in time.

Credits suddenly appear and you're left with some, albeit litte, concern about the fate of the survivors and what part they may play in the Terminator series. Apparently none at all as Salvation picks up where Skynet has reinvigorated itself and advanced the volume and variety of machines to destroy humanity.

So why would I even give the film two stars, I suppose more for the mental exercise of trying to connect the series of films and some sort of loyalty to the overall concept. It would be great to have a complete remake of the rise of Skynet. My fantasy film would show a Society that has visibly grown dependent on cyborgs and related technology. With Skynet's sudden awareness, humanity would be systematically destroyed, but for an unknown reason, Skynet must preserve some of the species which prevents it from committing total nuclear annihilation. The Jeremy London character could be the one who needs to preserve and transfer a piece of critical information to John Conner - perhaps the voice tapes Sarah Conner made for John in Salvation), or a missing piece of technology prevents Skynet from developing the T2 Terminator or can render it harmless (notice the fluid metal and indestructible character doesn't reappear in Salvation - how would humanity resist an army of these cyborgs). Maybe he is the one who provides the frequency code that allows Conner and army to save his father and destroy the LA Skynet branch.

Come on Hollywood, pull together the funds and make a film that has a meaningful relation to the Terminator series and provides the joyride we movie-goers had come to expect. Then we can pretend this film never happened."