The End begins: Christian Bale stars as Resistance leader John Connor in TERMINATOR SALVATION Director's Cut: 3-Disc Blu-ray edition reviewed by John J. Puccio

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—> See Link to our Blu-ray Review (below)

The End Begins - We Fight Back

"In McG's new world order, the machines now rule with enforcers of every shape imaginable roaming the the land... There are enough pyrotechnics and heavy artillery to feel like Armageddon squared."
—Betsy Sharkey (Los Angeles Times)

"The movie has a brute integrity lacking in some of the other seasonal franchise movies... The action is loud and blunt, a symphony of screaming gears, anguished torque and thumping collisions of metal and flesh."
—A. O. Scott (The New York Times)

"The world McG presents to us is scorched and hostile, and the action is startling and visceral. Significantly, TERMINATOR SALVATION takes itself far more seriously than its predecessors."
—John Anderson (Washington Post)

"Christian Bale brings the role his usual stylish, seething edge."
—Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly)

2-Disc Blu-ray includes both Theatrical Version and Director's Cut with footage not seen in theatres and Maximum Movie Mode, allowing viewers to watch the film with director McG.

TERMINATOR SALVATION Director's Cut
— on 2-Disc Blu-ray (+Digital Copy), and DVD »

Blu-ray Specifications:
Disc 1: PG-13 Theatrical version (115 min.)
Disc 2: R-Rated Director's Cut version (118 min.)
Disc 3: Digital Copy (Theatrical version)

Terminator RE-BOOTED... on December 1st

"The End begins" for John Connor and the human resistance in TERMINATOR SALVATION - now available on Blu-ray and DVD in a newly edited R-Rated Director's Cut, containing three additional minutes beyond the PG-13 Theatrical version.

Witness the battle between man and machine in the gritty action epic as TERMINATOR SALVATION blasted its way onto Blu-ray and DVD on December 1st from Warner Home Video. The newest installment in the adrenaline-fueled hit Terminator franchise stars Christian Bale as John Connor, leader of the human resistance in a post-Judgment Day world ravaged by deadly Terminators.

The TERMINATOR SALVATION 2-Disc Blu-ray includes both the theatrical version (PG-13) and the Director's Cut (Rated R) with explosive additional footage not shown in theaters. Packed with over 2 hours of spectacular bonus, the Blu-ray version features the immersive Maximum Movie Mode, an interactive viewer experience where the entire film is examined using "Walk-On" technology that enables viewers to see Director McG deconstruct key moments from the film. Also included is over 40 minutes of Picture In Picture (PiP) commentary with cast and crew, 11 mini featurette focus points, storyboard comparisons, still galleries, and a Terminator mythology timeline.

Additionally, the Blu-ray contains "Re-Forging the Future", a behind-the-scenes look at the film's production, and The Moto-Terminator, a featurette revealing how the film's visual effects crew and motorcycle manufacturer Ducati partnered to create the slick and deadly Moto-Terminators. The Blu-ray will also include a theatrical version of the film available on a Digital Copy disc.

Additional content available via BD-Live includes a compilation of 10 viral videos from the alternate reality game "Resist or Be Terminated" revealing SKYNET's secret plans, the first episode of Terminator Salvation Machinima Series, and a digital version of Issue #1 of the Terminator Salvation official movie prequel comic. Plus, viewers can organize Live Community Screenings, and record their own commentaries using the "My Commentary" BD-Live feature.

Priced to own at an SRP of $35.99 (Blu-ray) and $28.98 (DVD), TERMINATOR SALVATION is the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the hit Terminator series sci-fi action fans won't want to miss.

In the aftermath of Judgment Day and the takeover by the machines, John Connor (Christian Bale, The Dark Knight), the destined leader of the human resistance, must counter Skynet's devastating plan to terminate mankind. As Connor rallies his underground street fighters for a last, desperate battle, he realizes that to save the future he must rescue his own father Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, Star Trek). But the most shocking discovery comes with the arrival of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington, Avatar), a mysterious loner from the past who challenges Connor with an impossible choice that will determine the future of the human race – leading them both on a brutal journey into the very heart of the enemy.

John Connor is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future that Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright, 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.

Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction film, the fourth installment in the "Terminator" series, directed by McG, and starring Christian Bale as future Resistance leader John Connor and Sam Worthington as cyborg Marcus Wright. The film also introduces a young Kyle Reese from the original 1984 film, played by Anton Yelchin, as well as depicting the origin of the T-800 Model 101 Terminator. Terminator Salvation, set in 2018, focuses on the war between humanity and Skynet - a departure from the previous installments, which were set on the present day and featured time travel.

The film is currently the most expensive independent production in history (produced by The Halcyon Company). Terminator Salvation was released to theaters on May 21, 2009 in the United States and Canada, and grossed over $370 million worldwide.

Christian Bale is John Connor: A soldier in the Resistance waging war against Skynet after it destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, who is destined to become humanity's leader. Director McG deemed Bale "the most credible action star in the world" during development. McG wanted Bale for Marcus, but the actor — even though he "can't really remember why" — wanted to play John, and that led to the character's role getting expanded in rewrites of the script.

Sam Worthington is Marcus Wright: A mysterious man on death row for murder who donated his body to Cyberdyne Systems for experimentation. His last memory is of being on death row, and John is at first unsure of whether Wright is trustworthy. Terminator creator James Cameron personally recommended Worthington (whom he directed in Avatar) to McG. Russell Crowe also recommended him to McG. The director decided Worthington looked tougher than the "great many of today's [waify] young male actors". McG had originally asked Christian Bale to play the role, but the latter insisted on portraying John instead, and to expand the character's role.

Anton Yelchin is Kyle Reese: A teenage refugee and admirer of John Connor and the Resistance. As portrayed by Michael Biehn in The Terminator, he was sent back in time to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor to ensure the survival of the human race, and fathered John with her. Yelchin said he wanted to portray Reese as Biehn did and not make him appear weaker because it was a younger version of the character. The difference in his portrayal lies in showing Reese as intense, but not concentrated until he joins the resistance proper. Yelchin tried to convey Reese's intensity by focusing on how fast Biehn appeared when running in the original film.

Bryce Dallas Howard is Kate Connor: John's wife, who is seven months pregnant. As portrayed by Claire Danes in the third film, Kate was a veterinarian; but in this film, she is now a physician. Howard suggested, as part of the character's backstory, that Kate studied medical books and interviewed many surviving doctors after the events of Judgment Day. The film's subject matter reminded her of developing countries, devastated by war and lack basic supplies such as clean water, which "reflects things that are going on currently in this privileged world that we are living in where there hasn't been an apocalypse and robots haven't taken over the world. I think that's something definitely for us to reinvestigate and that we continue to make choices for our own future to take that into consideration".Howard also focused on Kate "being accustomed to fear and loss" because the character was a military brat.

Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams: Suffering from survivor's guilt, Blair is a "no-nonsense and battle-hardened" pilot of the Resistance and the romantic interest for Marcus as well. McG characterizes her as continuing the feminine strength that has been prominent throughout the franchise.

Helena Bonham Carter is Dr. Serena Kogan: Before Judgment Day, Serena was an ex-Cyberdyne scientist with terminal cancer working on advanced technology, convincing Marcus to donate his body to Project Angel for her "research", which will fall into the hands of Skynet. Her face was later used by the Skynet computer in order to communicate with Marcus. Bonham Carter accepted the part because her partner, Tim Burton, is a Terminator fan.

Roland Kickinger as the T-800 Model 101: The first Terminator covered in living human tissue built as Skynet's newest weapon for the extermination of humankind. Arnold Schwarzenegger's facial likeness was utilized via CGI, with a mold of his face made in 1984 scanned to create the digital makeup. Fellow Austrian bodybuilder and actor Kickinger, who previously portrayed Schwarzenegger in the 2005 biographical film See Arnold Run, was his physical double on set. When asked about his role, Kickinger said it's "Arnold's character in the first Terminator. That's basically my role, but 20 years before, so it establishes how the Terminator came about."

Jadagrace Berry as Star: A nine-year-old girl in Reese's care. Born after Judgment Day, Star is mute due to the trauma of the post-apocalyptic world. However, this has given her the unnatural ability to sense when a Skynet machine is approaching.

Michael Ironside as General Ashdown: As a former commander from the United States Armed Forces, Ashdown serves as the leader of the Resistance, who views John Connor as nuisance yet also sees him as an asset because of his extensive knowledge of the Skynet machines.

Linda Hamilton as the uncredited voice of Sarah Connor: Hamilton is heard from tapes Sarah recorded before her death prior to the film's events to warn John of the future war.

STAN WINSTON (Visual Effects)
Terminator Salvation was one of the last films that Stan Winston, the visual effects supervisor on the first three films, worked on. He died on June 15, 2008 from multiple myeloma, and McG dedicated the film to him, in the end credits. John Rosengrant and Charlie Gibson replaced Winston, and McG commented that they are "trying to achieve something that's never been done before" and will "push the envelope". Motion capture was used to show damage to the Terminator Marcus' face, while a 20 foot-tall model built and detonated by Kerner Optical was used for the explosion of Skynet's 30-story San Francisco-based lab.

During filming, actor Christian Bale became angry at director of photography Shane Hurlbut, swearing at him and threatening to leave the film. Bale apologized publicly and said he resolved his differences with Hurlbut, and that when the incident took place they continued to film for a few hours.

Detail + BONUS FEATURES:
(2-Disc Blu-ray, + Digital Copy 3rd disc)
Disc One:
PG-13 Theatrical version (115 min.)
• WB Maximum Movie Mode - Director McG hosts a riveting probe of the world of Terminator Salvation while you watch the movie!
• Re-Forging the Future - see how the filmmakers reinvented the franchise
• The Moto-Terminator - cool Ducati bikes become Terminators
• Focus Points
Disc Two:
R-Rated Director's Cut version (118 min.)
• BD-Live enabled
• Media Center
• My Commentary
• Live Community Screening
• Featured Content:
- Compilation of 10 viral videos from the "Resist or Be Terminated" alternate reality game revealing SKYNET's secret plans
- Terminator Salvation Official Movie Prequel Digital Comic Issue #1
• The first episode of Terminator Salvation Machinima Series (see details further below)
Disc Three:
• Digital Copy of PG-13 Theatrical version

TERMINATOR SALVATION — Explore further:
—> Blu-ray Review by John J. Puccio »
EXCERPT: The first "Terminator" movie was quite a lot of fun, with the evil Terminator robot out to kill Sarah Connor before she gave birth to son John. The second movie, "Terminator 2" (or "T2"), was even better because it developed the characterizations further and added some touching relationships. Then "Terminator 3" came along, and, while it didn't live up to the first two movies, at least it was a good, rousing action yarn. What all three of these first "Terminator" movies had in common, of course, was Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead, either as the good or bad robot. Now, we've got "Terminator Salvation" (or "T4") sans Big Arnold, who was in Sacramento at the time trying his best to govern California. So, instead, we get the Dark Knight as star. Or, rather, Christian Bale as an adult John Connor often speaking in a hoarse Batman whisper. But no Arnold. It ain't the same. Except one scene. Sort of. Remember, this is Hollywood and the movies.

Now, if you think the previous "Terminator" movies were brain teasers, at least this one, a prequel of sorts, doesn't play around too much with the time-travel motif. The story takes place almost entirely in the future, 2018, before the time-travel business of the first three moves starts happening, and it tells us how things are going in the war against the machines, with both John Connor and his father, Kyle Reese, half the son's age, involved because the father hasn't gone back in time yet to father the son, but the son is there because the father eventually would. My brain is hurting again. The drawback is that without the continuing presence of Arnold and without any notable relationships, the movie is mostly noisy, blaring battles. The director, McG (Joseph McGinty Nichol), has several popular films to his credit, but the most popular of all have been the two "Charlie's Angels" flicks. You saw them? Expect more of the same.

Basically, though, the film is all about chasing and shooting and stuff blowing up, most of it highly exaggerated. People get thrown ten feet against solid walls and get up without a scratch; Wright knocks a flying Skynet probe out of the air with a tire iron; in the middle of the desert a two-hundred-foot Terminator (the size of a giant Transformer) sneaks up on a whole gang of people without their even noticing it; and so forth.

There is, naturally, continuous conflict, with virtually none of it generating any tension, suspense, excitement, or thrills. Nor is there any humor in the film; it's a dour business, with not so much as a single person cracking a smile in the whole course of the story. OK, I lied; I did laugh out loud once at "I'll be back." You've got to have the iconic line in there somewhere.

More detrimental, there are no sympathetic characters in the film, no one to care about. In past "Terminator" films we had folks to root for, like Sarah Connor or John Connor or Kyle Reese or the good Terminator robots. Here, the closest thing we have to a hero is Marcus Wright, and we're really not sure who he is or whether he's a good guy or a bad guy. And poor John Connor remains a cipher throughout; we know he's a good guy, but we couldn't care less if he's good or bad because he's so cold and distant.

In all, "Terminator Salvation" is an awfully bleak affair, with little happening beneath the carnage and nobody to cheer. The Director's Cut throws in a few more minutes of violence and a moment of partial nudity, but nothing helps, so we're left with admiring the sets, the costumes, the sounds, and the special effects. It's not enough.

"Terminator Salvation" looks and sounds great in high-def, but it's essentially just another loud, empty entry in the action-adventure genre and a not-so-worthy successor to three far-better "Terminator" forerunners. And I'm sure we haven't seen the end of the franchise.

"This battle has been won. But the war against the machines rages on."

(Click thru the Link above for the full review)

—> Visit the film's Official Site »
(North American site, from Warner Brothers)

—> Visit the film's International Site »
(from Sony Pictures)

—> View the Theatrical Trailer (w/HD) »
(from Apple.com Trailers website, + 4-minute clip)

—> Terminator Salvation - Behind the Scenes »
(another Warner Brothers site, featuring iTunes, graphic novel, still images, video clips, Cast TV interviews, and more!)

—> Terminator Salvation - THE GAME »
(PS3, XBox 360, etc - select your language)

118 minutes - Director's Cut:
Rated R for some violence and brief nudity

115 minutes - Theatrical Version:
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language

"A pulse pounding thrill ride."
—Paul Christensen (MOVIEWEB)
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In addition, on November 3rd Warner Home Video released Terminator Salvation The Machinima Series on DVD. Using real-time 3-D graphics from video game graphic engines and featuring the voice of Moon Bloodgood, Terminator Salvation The Machinima Series follows resistance pilot Blair Williams in her search for a mysterious disturbance known as Ghost across a post-nuclear Los Angeles, 2 years before the events in Terminator Salvation.

The 6 episodes of the series, previously available as digital downloads, are now available on DVD for the first time with 20 minutes of special features for only $12.97 SRP.

Terminator Salvation The Machinima Series
SD Content (DVD):
* All 6 episodes
* The Making of Terminator Salvation The Machinima Series – Learn how game assets evolve into movies. Features interviews with developers, producers and Moon Bloodgood at work voicing Blair Williams
* Character Profile: Blair Williams - Explore the character of resistance fighter Blair Williams in depth and learn why the creators used Machinima as the storytelling vehicle

Film Synopsis:
The End Begins - We Fight Back
The highly anticipated new installment of The Terminator film franchise is 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 that 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.

After reinvigorating the world of the Caped Crusader with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Christian Bale wants to restart a new franchise with this fourth film in the "Terminator series". The Welsh actor plays John Connor, who joins with Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to battle Skynet. TERMINATOR SALVATION is directed by McG (We Are Marshall, Charlie's Angels).

In the aftermath of Judgment Day and the takeover by the machines, John Connor (Christian Bale, The Dark Knight), the destined leader of the human resistance, must counter Skynet's devastating plan to terminate mankind. As Connor rallies his underground street fighters for a last, desperate battle, he realizes that to save the future he must rescue his own father Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin, Star Trek). But the most shocking discovery comes with the arrival of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington, Avatar), a mysterious loner from the past who challenges Connor with an impossible choice that will determine the future of the human race – leading them both on a brutal journey into the very heart of the enemy.

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Please Note - More details:
Be sure to check out the full details under related releases.

For other releases:
DVD & Blu-ray release calendar »

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