Terminator Salvation (2009)

★ 6.1 1h 55m 6,974 votes IMDb
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All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.

Terminator Salvation

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Cast

Christian Bale
Christian Bale as John Connor Age 52 · Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK Christian Charles Philip Bale (born 30 January 1974) is an English actor. Known for his versatility and physical transformations for his roles, he has been a leading man in films of several genres. He...
Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright Age 49 · Godalming, Surrey, England, UK Samuel Henry John Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor. He is known for playing Jake Sully in the Avatar franchise (2009–present), Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation (2009), and ...
Moon Bloodgood
Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams Age 50 · Anaheim, California, USA Moon Bloodgood (born September 20, 1975) is an American actress and model. She starred as "Lt. Blair Williams" in the film Terminator Salvation alongside Christian Bale and Sam Worthington.
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter as Serena Age 59 · Golders Green, London, England, UK Helena Bonham Carter CBE (born May 26, 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, especially period dramas, she is the recipient of various accolades, incl...
Anton Yelchin
Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese Died 2016 · Leningrad, USSR (St. Petersburg, Russia) Anton Viktorovich Yelchin (March 11, 1989 – June 19, 2016) was an American film and television actor, known for portraying Pavel Chekov in the Star Trek reboot series, and for several other prominent...
Common
Common as Barnes Age 54 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Em...

Audience Reviews

Anton2k Jul 24, 2012
What can I say about this movie, its amazing! full of explosions and action. The setting is slightly different than other terminator films but I like this new "survival" setting more so than the older terminators. Terminator 2 was and always will be my favourite terminator movie but this one sure comes close, defiantly my second favourite terminator movie.

There is only so much a review can tell you but this is a must watch movie for any one who has not seen it yet.
Mas Manado 7/10 Nov 03, 2012
worst of the terminator series
Jodie 6/10 Feb 18, 2017
What can I say about Terminator Salvation? It's a decent addition to the Terminator series, but has major issues. Some would say that it is the worst of the series, but I disagree. T3 will always hold that top honor for me.

It was nice to see the return of Kyle Reeese. It was a different look at a character that was forgotten to quickly. John Connor was a bit stale and I wanted way from his character.

It was nice to see this future everyone spoke about in past films, Problem was this film felt darker than all the others, excluding T1. The first film was pretty dark but had a storyline And an R Rating to back that up. This film just didn't feel like it belonged to the Terminator world. And a few nostalgic lines and visuals did nothing to make it feel like it was part of the franchise.

All of that being said, the film still had some decent action scenes and some interesting moments. It's not bad, but its not fantastic either.
Gimly 6/10 Apr 03, 2020
I know that even amongst the rocky track record of the _Terminator_franchise, _Terminator Salvation_ is not especially well-liked. I've always been a little bit of an outlier when it came to this series though; like everyone else, I know the first two are the only great ones, but to me, it's actually not _T2_ that stands at the top of the pile, but _The Terminator_, the first film. And since that first film, we've copped 5 new runs at a _Terminator_ movie. Out of all 5 of them, _Salvation_ is the only one that tried something different from the first one. Even the lofty success of _T2_ was garnered using the same core concept as the original movie. _Salvation_ hits something new, and while that obviously doesn't work for a lot of its audience, for me, it's the best movie outside of the first two that the franchise has made to date.

_Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go._
Wuchak 6/10 Jul 19, 2021
_**Wall-to-wall post-apocalyptic action needed more time to breathe**_

The first couple of Terminator films are easily two of the greatest sci-fi/action flicks in history. The problem with the third one, more than anything else, was that it was largely just more of the same; and you can only recycle the same plot so many times before it gets stale. This explains the filmmakers’ decision to set this fourth installment (2009) in the post-apocalyptic future where the machine-controlled Skynet is at war with the surviving humans, otherwise known as The Resistance.

A few characters from the previous films are featured: An older John Conner (Christian Bale), his dad Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin), who's actually just a teenager here (such are the complexities of time travel) and the T-800 Schwarzenegger Terminator (CGI face, of course). Beyond these we get some new characters, the best being Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), followed by Blair Williams (Moon Bloodgood). Also on hand are: Conner's mate, Kate (Bryce Dallas Howard), a mute girl named Star and Helena Bonham Carter in a peripheral role.

On the surface everything is of the highest filmmaking caliber. The problem is that there's not enough character development or intriguing respites. So what we end up with is a plot that strings together a bunch of cool post-apocalyptic action sequences with people who are constantly grim, shouting and killing, but we barely know them and therefore hardly care. It's like putting on an extreme metal cd that's full of hyper drumming, buzzsaw riffing & screeching/grunting vocals from beginning to end. There are no valleys to contrast the over-the-top highs and so it cops a samey-sounding, dull vibe. In other words, the very energy and excitement meant to impress & move the consumer backfires due to overkill. That's why they call it "overKILL." It's a curious thing but all too true.

Be that as it may, there are enough positive elements in “Terminator Salvation” to make it worth checking out if you’ve seen the first two films. For instance, Marcus Wright is an intriguing protagonist who thinks there's no good in him until he is informed otherwise. At around the 45-minute mark there's a good campfire scene in the desert between two characters sharing a warm moment in a world gone mad. The film would have been more effective if it contained more scenes like this. But there's a decent revelation in the second hour concerning one of the main characters. Meanwhile Bryce Dallas Howard has a uniquely beautiful face (although she’s pregnant throughout the story). There are also some interesting ruminations about the nature of being a human and being a machine, or both.

Bottom line, if you love action, you'll get it here. There are motorcycle-bots, fish-bots, giant-bots, flying-bots and Schwarzenegger-bots, all trying to terminate the protagonists. Since the events take place in a post-apocalyptic world it’s reminiscent of films like “Beneath the Planet of the Apes” (1970), “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” (1985) and, especially, “Reign of Fire” (2002), albeit with constant outrageous thrills.

The first two films in the series successfully captivate the viewer from the get-go and the suspense builds to avalanche proportions. Even the third installment accomplished this to a lesser degree, although the plot was old-hat by that point (2003); still, it was a decent entry. "Terminator Salvation," on the other hand, only captivates marginally in preference for wall-to-wall action. That's too bad, but it has its moments; it's thankfully not as bad as "The Mummy Returns" (2001) in this regard. Not to mention it'll likely play better on repeat viewings in light of the convoluted plot.

The theatrical release runs 115 minutes and the director's cut 118 minutes. The film was shot in New Mexico.

Here's how I grade each of the Terminator outings (I have yet to see the sixth one):

T1: A+

T2: A+

T3: B+

T4: B-

T5: C+

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