I don't know why people have such issues with this movie. It gave us exactly what it advertised, a glimpse of the war we've heard so much about. And it gave us something new that the other movies didn't tell us. The action was good, the plot was good, what's the problem? *SPOILER* I'm a bit miffed that they killed off Marcus. I LIKED that guy, what an awesome addition to the resistance! Too many movies have done this type of sacrificial story ending for it to strike me as anything but overdone and convenient. It was poignant the first few times, but now it's just cliche. And he was so cool! Okay, I'm done.… Expand

Dreadful, noisy crap. The only thing, and I mean THE ONLY THING I found engaging in this film were the tiny little hairs around the lower lip of Sam Worthington. He was the best thing in the film and my eroitic fantasies of doing him 9000 ways to Pittsburg was the only thing that got me to stay. Really. During the first third of the film the continuity was so bad, I swear they were scenes shot for nine other films stitched together like a crazy quilt of celuloid. And that silent little Newt from Aliens clone shows up and I just wanted to yank the hairs on its head (gender-f much?) And then Arnold shows up and he has no genitals! What a disgrace! I mean really. What was the effing point? This had no balls, no dick and no story. I prayed for the machines to blow up the theater and let me tell you, they should have!!! Oh, and BTW, Bryce Dallas Howard should stick to her gig as a local newscaster.… Expand

Bear with me as I may find it difficult to actually express how appalled by this film I was into words - although I guess that already gives you a good idea of my opinion of this film. I'll try to keep this short and list just a few of the reasons for loathing this film. First, this film is part of a trend of films that Hollywood is churning out with much more frequency, that have forgotten that the basic principle of any good film is not how much shit you can blow up but actually having a good story and characterisation. However, I’m not even sure that Hollywood have forgotten this, they just don’t care as long as the audience pay their money, they don’t care whether you enjoy the experience. As is the case with Terminator: Salvation. They blow up A LOT of shit, but quiet frankly I didn’t care. The story is nonsensical and I couldn’t have cared less about the one dimensional characters. Secondly, I couldn’t help but feel I was watching a Transformers movie. The different Terminator machines in the movie just became increasingly ridiculous as the makers obviously thought ’Oooh, it’s been at least 10 minutes since we blew some shit up for no reason’. This culminates in, what was for me the most ridiculous part, where the harvester suddenly releases 2 terminator motorbikes FROM IT’S LEGS. WTF. Finally, Christian Bale cannot act. Although maybe that is being unfair, as the quality of the material Bale has to work with is shocking. John Connor is a terrible creation in McG’s Terminator universe. There is much more - including the frequently poor special effects and the terrible score, but I think I’ve gone on far too long as it is - just like the movie.… Expand

I'm being nice giving it a 2. The Visual Effects are the only somewhat impressive thing about this abomination of a film. Anyone that gives this film a 7 or higher is either 6 years old or incredibly stupid.

As a huge of the first terminator film, I thought that T2 was too family friendly and moved away from the real plot. T3 although average set the scene for T4 which was innovative, clever, told a brilliant story, and paired Bale and Sam Worthington together who were brilliant.

Insulting to any true sci fi fan. So so crap. i.e A terminator grabs john conner and throws him against a wall. WRONG! A terminator would grab john conner and kill him as quickly as possible by ripping his head off. McG needs a bullet. I want this movie erased from time and space. Maybe the next 'sequel' can send a terminator back in time and kill McG to stop this movie been made. Now that would be worth watching.… Expand

First, if robots in the future have become so self aware as to try to destroy their creators, then they should probably have invented a better technology than USB. CHRISTIAN BALE HACKED A WRECKED TERMINATOR BY PLUGGING IN HIS LITTLE I PHONE INTO A USB 2.0 PORT. Second, the words decrypt and override would have had to have been programmed by the programmer or skynet to "over ride" and "decrypt". Simply typing in these commands DO NOT decrypt or override whatever is trying to be overridden. NO SELF AWARE MACHINE WOULD BE STUPID ENOUGH TO HAVE THAT SUBROUTINE PROGRAMMED IN THERE!!!. And these are just some of the qualms I had with the film. From plot holes to poor character development and simply "yeah right" moments, the film falls flat of its former "tongue in cheek" vibe. T1 and T2 were great films, not only because of their stories, but because they didn't take themselves too seriously. The message in the first one lined up cyberdyne systems to protect humanity from any threat, and the message what that while humanity exists, they are in essence, threats to themselves, and therefore must be eliminated. In this film, robots have been relinquished to the evil plotting of taking over the world. In all, while I was mildly entertained, the film did not meet my expectations.… Expand

Really shows the difference between a good director(cameron,jackson)and a shit one(bay,mcg).The Terminators dont really terminate much at all.Where is the fear and scrambling action from the first movie?And the heart transplant???Luckily there seemed to be a nearby heart surgeon who can do a transplant in the desert with a butter knife and crossed fingers.LOLOLOL.I could crap on for hours but this movie gets a 6 for being shiny.… Expand

Some of the effects were very good. The surprise part of the film was where Marcus realizes he is a robot. That made sense that he could be thrown so hard against a card or splash into a river and live. .. Terminators can kill quick and easy unless it's John Connor.. physics do not apply. The acting was bad... same batman character for Bale. Wait for this to come out on video...then rent it...… Expand

Reprehensible waste of studio funds. Blatantly manipulative [hey! Here's a cute, mute black girl of kindergarten age to blatantly make you feel sympathy], and poorly thought out in terms of storytelling.

Where's the plot? It seems to have disappeared about halfway through the movie. McG (pretentious a**h*le;who would call himself that to being with w/o a big ego?) creates an incoherent mess. What happened to the secret weapon that 'turns off' the machines? Why does SkyNet HQ look like some dirty steel factory? And why do those stacks belch fire? Pretty hokey--it makes no sense except for some dumb special effects. Why are all those people herded? It isn't really developed. John Connor comes across ans mean and surly--not really a prophet or visionary--something else McG fails to develop. I miss 'Ahnold' as the Terminator. At least those last two movies (T1is by far the best) had a sense of not taking itself too seriously. This movie just feels kind of depressing. No need to do a sequel.… Expand

This movie clearly shows the relentless nature of the machines and the struggle of the surviving remnants of humakind against them. The movie is darker and more serious because judgement day was not prevented and the war against the machines is in full swing. Fear the rise of the machines.

Great special effects and CRASH BOOM BANG action doesn't make up for a rubbish script, there were more holes in the plot than golf course. It takes a big steamy turd over James Cameron's vision. Rubbish, utter rubbish. But it's too late now, we've all already been duped.

Good action, better than T3 but story and character development weaker than expected. I also noticed they cut the part when Christian Bale was explaining why the machines were taking human prisoners for "cloning human tissue" that was in the previews! WTF? Did they release 2 different versions of the same movie?

Really good, does exactly what it says on the tin, ignore the critics it was never going to be the next Godfather! Its a great action adventure flick!

Great Sound Effects, Huge Explosions, Stunning Visual Effects, but no plot, no real character development. The whole thing felt like a really long music clip, fun to look at, but without having anything to say.

It was nice to see a squel coming. Until the movie started and the screen title became the coolest part. I heard the movie was rewritten a few times, to give it more character and... dumbness. You can see the terminators has stunt men in them. The movie feels empty half the time. Special effects where generally good, more towards the end and in the scenes in the middle of the movie. Just watch the movie and see.… Expand

Action in this 4th edition is understandingly(since its 2009 now) way better than all editions.however i felt thats where director McG messed up.The action element was highlighted to the extent of ignoring the human element.Script witing was horrible.Even I could have written better!It restricted lead actor Christian Bale's acting skills.When we talk about a war between mankind and machines,thats where spine tingling speeches and dialouges where required from human resistance leader John Connor.The Terminator franchise has a beautiful and ingeniously well thought storyline.Hence handling of that requires good handling with responsibility.not cold computer generated high quality graphics.A well worked dramatic angle was missing.Otherwise(as its said in the film itself)..'What would be the difference between us and the machines?'… Expand

I wasn't expecting to see so many bad thing's said about what i consider one of the better movies of 2009. I really enjoyed this movie acting, effect and plot. The replay value could be better, trying to figure out what the deal was the guy with from the past was interesting. Very nice special effects. I enjoyed this over GI Joe and Star Trek. Obviously a lot of people see this movie as a failure but im very shocked at just how many and the 52 doesn't do this justice IMO.… Expand

T1 was great but the sequels have gotten progressively worse. This was dreadful schlock. The terminators showed more acting skills than Bale and Worthington. This was a movie devoid of any content, plot, sense, suspense or meaning. The ending is a gimmick. The giant terminator was good though.

Awesome action pretty much from start to finish, a wide variety of machines, and a good story line. I'm surprised this movie did not get much better reviews. I think this was the best terminator films since the original. Several of the action scenes reminded me of the first time that I saw the "Road Warrior" which is a very good thing. Lots of fun and only brief moments without action, most of which are very cool. Many of these reviews are way to critical of the script, are any of the terminator films really all that complicated, deep, or realistic? No they are not, so lighten up and enjoy it like you would an Indiana Jones movie for goodness sake!… Expand

Sam Worthington is on my Oscar-watch!

I didn't find this movie very exciting at all. Besides a couple of good robot special effects it was quite boring. Transformers 2 even had more substance.

I checked it out about two hours ago...and what i can say IT WAS AWESOME. Entertaining and good action flick. Looking rewarding to terminator 5

This was a legitimate stand alone sci-fi summer blockbuster. It was drastically different from the feel of all the others in the series, but maintained many of the important story lines. If you watch the other three movies and the T:SCC, this integrated all prior plots along with providing some interesting explanations for outstanding issues. While the "professional" reviewers may be judging it based on how it is not the same as prior versions or based on the absence of Arrrrrrnold, I can tell you that not one person leaving the theater last night didn't have a smile on their face or a positive thing to say about this movie.… Expand

30 min in the movie you ask your self WTF. then every 5 min after thatt you think the same until to have to say it out load. this was resident evil and the matrix with a little terminator in it. his was the first time in the terminator movies i wanted john conor to die so that thier could be no more. the writers and director should be the ones are terminated.

Great action from start to finish. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Visual effects are stunning and you'd swear it was real! Looking forward to more from this post-apocalyptic world. Let's finally see how the war ends!

Real fans of the franchise will find this installment exhilarating. Excellent performances by Bale and Worthington, as well as excellent sound design, and visual effects. The narrative, like all great narratives, is simple and to the point. Terminator Salvation expands the Terminator mythology, asks interesting questions about the machine/human dichotomy, and gives us an entertaining picture of a post-apocalyptic world ruled by robots. As for those critics who have said this movie isn't "fun enough," or that it is "too dark," I can only guess that they were not real fans of the original. After all, it is not like 1984's The Terminator was a comedy!! Anyways, highly recommended!… Expand

I would not go see this movie if you paid my way. As far as I am concerned, Christian Bale has been blacklisted from my great actors list. Greatness comes from how you live your life and treat others. The guy is a dickhead. On another note, I'm not that interested in a movie where the plot is too easy to figure out. You would have thought that he would have picked a better movie if he was sooo great.… Expand

HELL YEAH! This movie was so badass, I don't give a damn if it was corny and cliche'd. It was Christian Bale doing the awesome things he does, only as John Connor, one of the most epic sci fi characters of all time. Marcus Wright is an effing brute, what a fantastic character. The movie was great, don't listen to the naysayers. 2009 is going to be one damn good year for movies, this is one damn good start.… Expand

Don't want to bash this film, on par with T3, a mix of Matrix/Transformers/Robocop. If you like those types of movies then you will like T4.

This was one of the silliest movies I have ever seen. Christian Bale played john connor's character all wrong, and the plot made no sense. But it was very entertaining.

I became completely absorbed in the action and SFX. I thought the pacing was done well, since it gave some albeit "bleak" moments of rest. I found myself saying "awesome!" throughout, and Sam Worthington really took the forefront. Being well versed in Terminator mythos, it's hard to tell if non-Terminator audiences will easily grasp the main concepts of the story.

Damn awesome is the only way to describe this move. If you are a fan of the Terminator franchise, this is a must see.

It was almost as good as T2... excited for the next ones... compare it to batman begins. just pretend that T3 never happened.

Quite an awful movie. Really boring; pointless non-stop action and explosions without a real plot behind them. Could wait for it to be over, but it just kept on going....

An amazing movie. I wish some things were more elaborated on than others. Some interesting elements were thrown in. Has amazing action sequences. The story is kind of set in stone from the previous films that pretty much say what is to come. But ultimately the results are satisfying for those looking for a view at John Conner's war.

It angers me that this movie has had such bad reviews. Although I admit, not as good as the first 2, but saying that it's worse than the 3rd is just insane! T4 is a creative new way to show this amazing robotic world. Two thumbs up.

Too many plot holes. The movie had no point in being, other than to milk the franchise for more money. It takes the plot absolutely no where. [**SPOILERS**] First, if the machines are looking for Kyle Reese, why dont they kill him when they did in fact find him? Using him as bait for John is pointless, because its already been established that killing him would mean John doesnt exist. Remember in the first movie, the terminator went looking for Sara and instantly blew peoples heads off when he asked them their name. But in this one its suddenly different? Next to notice, is when the terminator gets covered in molten ore. That clearly killed him in the second movie. But suddenly the same model of terminator can be covered in it and not melt a single bit... only get sorta slowed down and then make the metal "shatter" off him by moving. Makes no sense at all. Movies dont need to make sense with reality, but they should make sense in the reality they create within themselves. Lets also talk about this new human/terminator/bad-australlian-actor guy. If he was made before skynet was self aware, then why was he a plan from skynet to infiltrate the rebels? Skynet wasnt trying to exterminate humans before it was self aware. Was the lady that had him sign the paper sent back to have that done? That would explain things somewhat... except for the fact that the machines wouldnt send back a "human" since humans are really on their side. And if she was a robot, then why bother making some random guy into a half-human/cyborg thing... just send one back in the first place. I'm getting nitpicky yes. But there is no plot in the movie to follow, they start at point A and end at point A. It cant be good when one of the ending lines is, "We may have won the battle, but we havent wont the war... etc".… Expand

Fairly predictable, some nice background story to the Terminator original, although we knew pretty much what was going to happen. Sets up future sequels nicely though, which have the potential to be more interesting from a character and plot development standpoint.

The movie was simply bad, but the end was so d-chill inducing it easily earns a 0. The director, a thinking-man's Michael Bay, has managed to fill 2 hours worth of cinema with neither a single character that extends past a two dimensional melodramatic archetype, nor a story that makes sense on any level above "Gee whiz, a robot!" Yeah, it wasn't for me.

Well, Salvation is here and depending on what you're looking for...whether it be "Summer Popcorn Movie" or a "Worthy Terminator Sequel", there is every chance of walking away dissapointed. The opening is silly, whats in between is hit or miss drama and expensive action sequences, and the ending is rather lousy. This just dosen't feel like a proper Terminator sequel...and while its expensive...it still feels "cheap", like an incredibily expensive Sci-Fi Channel movie. The "War" against humans and machines is in full force, and John Connor is merely a voice in the background, not the leader he's destined to become as he's yet to convince everyone of what he knows is coming. So while he's figuring out his issues regarding the location of his father, Kyle Reese, we have the new guy Marcus (Sam Worthington) waking up in this bleak future with no memory of whats happened over the last 15 years...even though its rather obvious the reasons behind this, given the opening. So what we have is Marcus helping Kyle then when the crap hits the fan, Marcus helping John Connor...essentially, this is Marcus's movie in a lot of ways. Without going in to detail, the movie is just chock full of moments that make little sense, and trying to make sense of the nonsense in this movie will just give you a headache. There are things that just DO NOT work in the movie and they make it obvious that it dosen't work, and when this happens it comes off as an insult to my intelligence, and when something as beloved as the Terminator series does this not once, but twice (T3) given the already complex nature of the "timeline"...its a problem. Casting-wise, Christian Bale as John Connor is a fine choice, but gone is the personality of T2 and T3, no wisecracking...no jokes...in fact...no personality at all, the guy is as interesting as a houseplant at this point...just yelling his thoughts and looking intense all the time. Sam Worthington as Marcus, VERY bland...and how this guy is the "next best thing" in Hollywood is beyond me, Bryce Dallas Howard does nothing worth mentioning...and Anton Yelchin barely skates by as Kyle Reese. As far as action goes, it delivers...its big, loud, and glitzy and the bullets and metal fly. The Terminators look great...the older models wearing the scraggily clothes, the building-size Hunter Gatherer with detachable "Motorcycle" Terminators to scoop up those pesky humans, or the introduction of the model we know and love (with a special FX-ladened cameo)...all the props and bots look great. I don't know, I left the theater with the feeling that I choked down a tall glass of flat Coke...it was sweet, but did nothing for me. The mood of this film is closer to Terminator 1 than any other...very bleak and humorless, but thats where ALL similarities end and it becomes the poorly put together movie that it is. It's not terrible and its a good fix for those craving some summer action...but its place in the Terminator series rests behind that of the other average flick, T3. So this one comes off as AVERAGE.… Expand

Opening credits would have been impressive 10 years ago. First action sequence IS AWESOME, and then the movie goes downhill, made lame by IRONY-deficiency and HORRIBLE DIALOGUE. The action becomes irrelevant. Bale, Yelchin, Howard, Bloodgood and Worthington are great but this won't help their reputations much. Is it true that any screen time is good screen time?

This is great! I didn't care what critics said! Super and action packed.

This movie reminds me of water world. better special effects, but I didn't care if the robots beat the humans or not.

Highly enjoyable sequel that is pure popcorn fun!

I enjoyed this movie more than what was the train wreck of the previous one. Bale as the prophet saving mankind plays the role completely understated. Knowing you will do something and doing that thing comes across in this movie as a rather hard choice to live by. Overall I definitely enjoyed it more than 3.

A big disappointment I'm afraid. This is marginally superior to the abominable T3, but only *marginally*. In other words, this film is disappointingly average. Bale and Worthington are under utilised. Pacing/continuity is off and decidedly strange. Dialogue is just plain groan inducing. There are also too many logic irregularities / blatantly non-sensical actions/happenings. The action sequences do not save the film.… Expand

The movie was good, and it progressed the underlying story arc of the series well, but you could tell that the creators really wanted to stick with the original ending that was leaked a few months back, and the one that they ended up with felt really forced and out of place. It was like they got the word from the studio execs at some point that they had to change the ending, but they didn't really want to rewrite the last 20 minutes of the film, so they just stuck in the thing about the heart, and it didn't really make a lot of sense. Basically, you can tell that the ending that the director and head writers really wanted, or perhaps had originally intended, didn't make it into the film. Let's hope that somehow it ends up on the DVD.… Expand

I loved this movie, personally I liked it even better than Star Trek because of the darker plot.

One or two action sequences were pretty cool. the other 1 hour and 50 mins of the movie was total piece of crap. feels like something that was made for a television episode.

I really don't understand where all the negative criticism has come from as Terminator Salvation is a very enjoyable and entertaining popcorn movie. The effects are some of the best I have ever seen - MCG gives Michael Bay a run for his money when it comes to blowing stuff up. The first person point of view helicopter crash set piece is scarily realistic and the terminator motorbikes are superb. The only thing that disappointed me was the soundtrack as I love the original theme and that wasn't included. Ignore all the negative crap - I saw Star Trek the other week and this is as good if not a better summer blockbuster.… Expand

The 3rd best terminator movie.Where was the grim future shown in T1 and T2?Whoever decided McG would direct should be terminated.

This was the best sci-fi movie I've seen since the last Star Wars movie. It is much better than the most recent Star Trek reboot (and I am a huge Star Trek fan).

Please fire the director. Did the people who made this movie even watch the first two movies? From the schlocky Hollywood ending, to the laughable dialogue, this new series has nowhere to go but down... unless they fire the director and bring someone who can pull a story together on board.

Mix War of the Worlds and Transformers add direction by McG and you have the worst Terminator film to date. Just awful.

I am a HUGE Terminator fan. Loved the first 3! I went into this with low expectations since so many people were so-so about it. I came out liking it. Personally, I do see what all the complaining is all about with the plot holes in the last 1/3 of the movie. I did wish they did that a little different and that is why I am giving this a 8. The one thing I don't understand is why people are ragging on the acting. I thought for the most part everyone did a great job.… Expand

Don't be put off by the critics, Its just there job to act like spoiled little girls. I think most of them are waiting around for God himself the make a movie. Terminator 4 is one of the best action movies of our time. The acting was fantastic. It had a lot to do because T3 let the hole series down. The story was spot on. The sound was amazing really brings you back to T2.

Very poor. Awful story telling in show here. Amateur dialogue. Poor acting (why was Connor playing Batman, or Batman playing Connor). The opening rendered scenes of the video game was more exciting. A wasted opportunity and a waste of 200 million dollar budget. Could have made ten classic low budget movies for the same price. Wanted to love it, but just too much bad film making skills on display here.… Expand

Bale using Batman voice. Worthington as a movie version of Kane from Quake 4. Some annoying kid with a voice out of Doug as Kyle Reese. Illogical and unexplainable behavior by supposedly sentient AIs (for example, SkyNET sends a missile directly at the resistance base but treats John Connor, their actual target, like a puppy when they see him). General lack of actual battles in favor of Mad Max. The amount of Terminators in the film could probably be counted on one hand. Most ridiculous dialogue. People being blown back 100 feet on wires from explosive shells rather than being torn to shreds, and not even bleeding afterward. Generally pointless and inconsistent plot. PG-13. What do you think?… Expand

Great Terminator movie it was what terminator is dont expect it to be the dark knight! Im Am a hugeee fan of T1 and T2 and even T3 was ok Incredible action scenes should get at least a 5 or 6 from people, giving this movie a 1 or 0 is insanity Marcus is a awesome new character maybe as good as arnold in the first 2 and please stop crapping on T3 looking back t3 was decent and the tx had amazing offensive weapons and was cool T4 was much better than T3 though I think once the directors cut of this comes we will see more blood and it will make the film even better its sad when i see people actually like the TSCC tv series more than the movies 3 or 4 the show teased john loving a Skynet girl terminator WTF??? this is the real john in the film period. in fact a fair amount of people giving this such low scores are probably just upset the show was canceled and that wb made the film and gave up on the show.… Expand

No.!!! Why do you have to ruin a great franchise. The terminator flicks are my favorite franchise. I didn't even have a problem with T3. This one was just terrible. Bad story, acting, and action. I think Anton Yelchin was great. He's gonna be great.

I give this movie a 9 for special effects and a 1 for plot, averaging to 5. The plot makes no sense. Where did the new "cyborg" come from years after his first "death"? Were his organs in a deep freeze? The movie implies that the Arnold model was just developed, but one would think that the cyborg is a higher level of technology, so why was he first? When the cyborg first appears, he is naked and doesn't know what year it is, so I assumed he had just used the time machine and was on a mission. Not true. Yes, he had a program to return to mama, but that's not really a mission with a purpose. Lame. Even the ending is stupid. If the resistance soldiers accepted the cyborg as a human, they would not have allowed him to donate his heart, thereby committing suicide. It would have been more plausible if he were damaged beyond repair and then told them to use his heart.… Expand

Very weak scenario, bad acting by Bale, frankly, the Terminator saga is not the same when Cameron is not behind the camera.

The most underwhelming 'epic' movie of the last decade, woefully lacking in character development and soul. The script was basically non existant, the characters had no depth whatsoever. Why did they have such trust in a Terminator what based on one good dead. Come on, the action was pretty good but the sound design was better than the action itself. I never expected to come out of a Terminator film and feel nothing,but I did and its a real shame cos the first two especially are still brilliant examples of how Sci0fi should be done. And after his performance in this i am starting to think Bale is a little over rated as an actor, this was basically one note from start to finish. Dallas-Howard just stood around and looked pensive alot and well the rest were paper thin Terminator targets. Most importantly whereas in the first two you had the iconic T-800 (aka Arnie) here we have a bad CGI likeness of Arnie in the last act, which is both unessasary and appeard the filmakers are desperate fo fans approval.… Expand

The special effects are amazing, acting is amazing but the plot and the story is very poor. Clichés after clichés killed this movie for me.

It has the makings of a worthy entry in the Terminator series, but it only partially succeeds. The special effects are great, it is impressive technically, good sound, cinematography etc. It lacks the the depth and character development though of it’s predecessors. The acting is fine, but the performances lack soul. It’s not a bad film though, just a little disappointing.

As a huge fan of the first and second Terminator, I'm sad watching where this series has gone. Sure the special effects are great, and I liked seeing T-600 models (and Arnie of course for 2 seconds), but the story was really weak. I just don't think this series works without Schwarzenegger. Take out Jack Sparrow from Pirates, and it would be the same thing.

I didn't like it. Distracting, unrealistic cinematography, ridiculous machines, predictable action, overly serious acting, and unrealistic characters. And memo to Christian Bale: can the gruff voice. It didn't work as Batman and it doesn't work here.

Cliché after cliché abound here - deeply stupid enemies turn this into a farce, and the malicious nature of most of the remaining humans (ridiculous in-fighting, attempted rape) bring into question the worthiness of what's being fought for. "And why isn't the T800 killing Connor outright, instead of throwing him around?" Couldn't agree more - saved him on two occasions in this film. Acting was fine. They just had tripe to work with. Brainless.… Expand

Someone besides James Cameron can do a Terminator movie, it seems. The acting was great all around. I went in expecting bad acting and absent plot, like the last film, but was totally surprised. It wasn't perfect, some scenes were rather unrealistic and put in for flashiness. The characters seem to rely mostly on luck than skill to survive. This is a big step ahead, considering Terminator 3 had one action scene after another without any purpose. The writers and director must have thoroughly studied John Connor and Kyle Reese throughout the series. Those familiar with the series will almost think that Bale has been playing Connor all along. The kid playing Reese seems to have a lot of the behavior of John Connor in Terminator 2. There's a lot of homages for the fans, I quite enjoyed that. The plot flowed smoothly, with a few holes, and tied some up at the end. Skynet doesn't seem nearly devious enough in this film, although, at the end, its rather ingenious when you think about it. But they certainly defeated Skynet too easily. There's no reason this should have gotten bad ratings; it certainly meets the quality of a terminator film. Perhaps not as good as the first or second movies, but still only a step down from them. That's much, much better than can be expected in this era of cinematic recession.… Expand

While developing the back story further and not having obvious day / night inconsistencies would have been nice it's substantially better than Terminator: Rise of The Machines but no where near James Cameron's quality of Terminator or T2: Juddgement day. While it's not perfect I enjoyed the action packed romp of Terminator Salvation and would love to see more!

A very bland, average and dull movie.

It was pretty good, wouldn't read to much into the score on metacritic seeing how bad a score T2 actually got. For a Terminator fan this is a must see.

A lot of nonsense. Early in the movie (on the first helicopter crash) he does NOT put his seatbelt on and then when it crashes upside down... he just takes it off as it saves his life?? This and other logic-defying mistakes make it DUMB compared to the previous Terminator films. Also, Connor's girl in the movie is just blah. A nice little goodie-good girl matched up with the most rebellious soulless warrior alive?. That's nonsense if you ask me. Then, a successful heart transplant made in a filthy war camp? with what? post-apocalyptic spoons? ... you just need to have half a brain to understand that's just beyond absurd. I'd like it better if they didn't insult my intelligence that much.… Expand

Saw the movie today and loved it. Obviously the critics are a bunch of blowhards for their mediocre reviews. The main complaints I've read are that the material is too dark and depressing, and that John Connor has no personality. First of all, a post-nuclear earth would not be all bright and cheery. And second of all, why wouldn't John Conner be drained of emotion after all the crap he's been through? I wouldn't be a comedian either if I'd been hunted by killing machines my entire life. Granted, he had some humor in T2, but that was long ago. Anyway, the movie was a great summer popcorn movie with lots of action. Can't wait for the next one.… Expand

The plot was lacking. There were plenty of corny, meaningless, or unexplained scenes and pointless yelling.

The action sequences were awesome. The only bad thing was the lack of integrated "Story effects". But who the hell goes to a terminator movie looking for "integrated story effects".

Better than the 3rd. Not as good as the first 2.

Saw it today, took my kids and my mother(seemed fair to take moms too considering she took me to see 1 and 2 as a kid, and she loves the franchise too) We loved it, awesome movie. I only noticed one really bad editing spot, where the scenes had no fluid transition. It was right after Marcus was asked to round up stuff for a fire. There was no legit transition from that scene to the chick versus hick rape fest. Other then that, just a awesome movie, completely. This is coming from a big fan of the first 2 films, having the films on both Laserdisc and DVD, along with T3 on dvd, figures, ect. For me this movie delivered completely. I cant even imagine how awesome a dir. cut home release will be.… Expand

Visuals were good, and Worthington was awesome.

whoever thought McEffingG could direcct a movie like this should be producing high school musicals, or musicals like at the end of The Ringer.

Cold, dreary, heartless film in the vain of the old Road Warrior type movie without any soul or empathy for any of the characters. No dialogue to speak of just a "B" movie full out of CGI shoot em up and large explosions. I started yawning midway thru the flick as I couldn't wait for it end. I thought Arnie said he would be back??? They sure as hell coud have used him. Avoid.

Poorly made movie overall. for a movie about heart and the human spirit, it lacks both. poor story and character development, as well as sub-standard acting. some nice action, and sure, it was cool to see terminators in the theater again. unfortunately this movie struggled at every turn to shamelessly connect itself with the previous 3 terminators, while at the same time, completely disregarding them. also, special effects were a mixed bag, most times phenomenal, at other points laughable. don't bother.… Expand

I thought Transformers was too crazy, but by comparison, Terminator is miserable, oppressive, as if McG just wanted to turn an Animatrix short into a full feature. Bad dialog and Bale continues his fossilization. Now the important question is, Do we get to yell at Bale for making crap?

The movie is entertaining (yay for over using cgi), but pretty much pointless. Now we get to wait another few years for another terminator movie to be made and again leave us hanging. It's been over 2 decades, finish the series already!

a few good action scenes and Sam Worthington are the only salvation this movie has.

This movie rides on the plot/character development of the first three films and doesn't add much to it. To anyone not familiar with them (including T3) much of Salvation will probably seem esoteric and forgettable. This movie is for those who have grown up watching the franchise and anticipated each new release over the last 25 years. It is exactly the kind of Terminator I've been waiting for since watching the flash forward scenes from the first two. Pure non-stop man vs. machine action for two hours; personally I wanted more.… Expand

Perfect summer movie. Sure, not up to the first two, but way better than the third. Good action, lots of robots blowing stuff up. know what else you'd want.

Almost no story and what there is ranges from confusing to nonsensical. Basically there is no character development, so you never make any emotional connection to the film. Noisy action sequences pad out the time to two hours but border on irrelevant due to the lack of connection with any real story or characters.

What a great start for a new trilogy. Anyone going in wanting a terminator going back in time to kill or or protect someone then you will hate this movie. This is what Reese's flashbacks were about. B+

I thought this was an exciting and action packed movie. I'm a fan of the original terminator movies, too. I don't know why some people are giving this movie such low scores, but it was a good movie.

Implausible- even for a sci-fi action adventure it was utterly ridiculous. To call this piece of garbage an abortion of the franchises credibility would be kind. It gets a one only for wasted potential.

Great action. Light on advancing the terminator plot as a whole, but still, it was great to get a full glimpse of the future that the earlier movies only briefly showed.

Awesome action flick mixed with suspense. A great film for terminator fans that MUST be seen.

Makes the Apocalypse seem not so bad, but a bit boring.

Nice action and great effects, but too many moments that left me going "What?" due to plot holes or useless plot devices or just plain dumb occurrences. Rent if you like the series. Skip otherwise.

The little girl is a mute. That was Christian Bale's idea. That's not true, of course, but it's conjecture without implausibility. When he orders the girl to "move, now" in the middle of yet another tired action set piece, the Internet sensation from earlier this year incidentally breaks the fourth wall, as in the little girl should "MOVE, NOW" or else suffer the wrath of a temperamental actor who doesn't like his scenes trashed. W.C. Fields once said, "Never work with animals or children," and that "children...should neither be seen nor heard from," because a cute child can be a scene-stealer. In "Terminator: Salvation", a compromise in which the girl keeps her trap shut only around John Connor(Bale) might have helped this mirthless film immeasurably. Neutralized by a bevy of underwritten characters, "Terminator: Salvation" couldn't really afford to have anybody play it mum. [***SELF-POLICING SPOILER ALERT***] So when it's time to hand John Connor the remote to blow-up Skynet, for the sake of a star's ego, by all means, say nothing, and let the megalomaniac have his kismet without some moppet stealing the actor's thunder. But in the interim before she encounters the key to mankind's survival, a precocious, or unflappable, or even a foul-mouthed lass might have loosened up Kyle(Anton Yelchin), and especially Marcus(Sam Worthington plays the man-machine with less charisma then any member of electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk: "We are the Robots", indeed), who between them make the journey to meet up with the resistance seem less epic than Sarah Connor would have imagined it to be.… Expand