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B-D Reviews: Two Opposing Looks at ‘Terminator Salvation’

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Warner Bros. Pictures’ Terminator Salvation hits theaters everywhere tonight at midnight and we’ve got two opposing reviews, one from yours truly and the other from David Harley. “Being a rabid fan that grew up on the franchise created by James Cameron, the idea of McG getting behind the camera for this sequel was slightly nauseating, and yet, by some miracle, the fourth film in the franchise is (barely) passable.” For the rest of my review, click the title above, or read on to see what David has to say about the fourth film in the franchise. Don’t forget to write your own review and tell all of B-D what you thought.
I’ve heard words like “joyless” and “depressing” being tossed around since Terminator Salvation began screening not too long ago. I wish I could say it was joyless – it’s about an apocalyptic wasteland overrun by robots hell-bent on destroying humans – but describing the film as such would be a compliment. It would indicate that McG actually accomplished his goal of creating a world that James Cameron’s highly-praised sci-fi opuses only gave us a glimpse of. As it stands, depressing is an accurate statement, if only because it’s off-putting that someone would hire the writers of Terminator 3 (and Catwoman) to reboot the same franchise they killed and fail even more miserably by putting McG at the helm, but lifeless and contemptibly stupid is more fitting.

This isn’t a film with dog pee jokes and dancing robots that has embarrassing, dumb moments; this is worse. The people behind Terminator Salvation think that after seeing a POV shot from a Terminator unit, indicating where it needs to strike a character in order to eliminate him, and a cold, comatose corpse lying on the floor, the audience couldn’t possibly know said character is dead so they need another POV shot with the word “Terminated” blinking on-screen to get the idea. It’s not that we haven’t seen that or a variation of it before, but rather that it’s presented here not to inspire awe with its use of technology but to reinforce a nuance that a toddler could’ve picked up on.

Since Salvation could be considered a prequel or sequel, it has the daunting task of getting the attention of newcomers and giving veterans of the series something to sink their teeth into bestowed upon it. The problem is that it does neither. It’s too “been there, done that, already know what’s going to happen” for those who have seen the previous films and too slow moving and unengaging for, well, anyone to appreciate. With something like Salvation, or even Benjamin Button, where the story itself is a self-fulfilling prophecy, the goal is to make everything in between a worthwhile viewing experience. I don’t want to completely spoil the film for everybody, but let’s face it: you know who’s going to live, who’s potentially disposable and what will eventually happen whether it does so in this film or the inevitable sequel(s). Why not spice it up a little with some tension or danger that makes you question characters’ fates?

The story, originally written to revolve around Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a man-turned-machine who has no clue he isn’t entirely human anymore, feels restrained due to the casting of Christian Bale which caused John Connor’s role to be beefed up. The idea of Marcus’ inner-conflict between his machine and humanistic qualities is far more interesting than anything actually in the film. While the audience is clued in on his modified state of being, the character doesn’t find out until halfway through the film and at no point is it believable that he would betray the resistance. His allegiance is put to the test once, maybe twice, but by that point, one could practically recite the remaining half-hour of the film line-by-line. It doesn’t help that there could have been more room for self-discovery if a failed subplot involving Moon Bloodgood as a cyborg sympathizer hadn’t come into play. The future world that Salvation paints for its audience apparently involves beautiful women, who are a little too liberal with their affections, falling right out of the sky (and into power lines where they have to be cut down). Marcus saves her hide on two separate occasions, but neither really justifies throwing her life away for something that could cause harm to the resistance.

With the first of the half of the film being Marcus heavy, Salvation focuses on Bale, for the most part, during the second half. Some people criticize Bale for only being good when he’s placed in extreme roles, which is wrong considering he was great in The Prestige, but his take on Connor will baffle those who have that opinion of him. Like me, he looked really bored during the whole film and while he has little moments here and there, it’s only once he makes a leap of faith that we see the great military leader in him come out, which is more than halfway through the two hour runtime. He’s supposed to be the savior of the resistance and we’re reminded of that over and over again – with Salvation being in the title, an emphasis of “Christ” in Christian Bale’s name during the opening credits, characters getting shot through the hand and enough religious rhetoric to qualify this as a sequel to Passion of the Christ – but rarely in a way that wouldn’t make someone roll their eyes.

The action is surprisingly bland considering the amount of firepower featured throughout. The film is completely devoid of any style, unless you count the cinematic endeavors that influenced it. Long gone is the blue tint of Cameron’s future; instead, we’re given a Mad Max-esque desert landscape (which I think is great), decrepit buildings from Children of Men, a Skynet that resembles Blade Runner‘s city landscape – complete with fire-spewing pipes – and a compound interior that has the metallic white sheen of I, Robot. A colleague pointed me in the direction of some McG interviews earlier this week and he seems like he’s really into the franchise and it’s not just a paycheck for him. Going back to Charlie’s Angels, which at least has some personality to it (even if it’s really campy), the action sequences are the worst part of the film (bad choreography, strange choices of shots, etc.) so I really have no idea why he was even considered for this. But for whatever the reason, Salvation joins the long list of films that prove just because a director enjoys the material, it doesn’t mean he’s the right person for the job.

On top of all this, there’s still the question of why the robots here are more advanced. Underwater robo-snakes? Giant robots that deploy motorcycle Terminators? With the exception of the T-1000, they seem more extreme than anything we’ve seen in this universe before. And for a film whose money-shots should consist almost entirely of great robot sequences, the appearance of the machines pales in comparison to Stan Winston’s work on Cameron’s films. The CGI is just plain shoddy.

With a great cast and a big budget, one would think they could get a better creative team behind Terminator Salvation but, once again, Warner Bros. completely drops the ball on what was once a great franchise. But, in all fairness, you know what you’re getting yourself into when you sit through an opening sequence where someone kisses a woman with cancer and then says “So that’s what death tastes like.”

1.5/5 Skulls

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Editorials

‘Phantasm’ – Why the Horror Classic’s Exploration of Death Still Resonates 45 Years Later

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As Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

The horror genre offers a controlled environment in which viewers can reflect on their own morality, whether it be via catharsis or escapism, but a personal loss can complicate one’s relationship with horror. Even the most hardened of fans may struggle to find comfort in the genre after experiencing the death of a loved one.

45 years ago today, Phantasm helped viewers confront death head-on while subtly exploring the grief that accompanies it. In the film, 13-year-old Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) convinces his older brother-turned-guardian Jody (Bill Thornbury) and their affable neighborhood ice cream man, Reggie (Reggie Bannister), to investigate a mysterious mortician dubbed The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm).

Phantasm was the third feature from writer-director Don Coscarelli (The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep). The seed was planted upon witnessing the audience react to a small jump scare at a preview screening for his previous effort, the 1976 coming-of-age tale Kenny and Company. Chasing that jolt of adrenaline, he challenged himself to make a movie that delivers scares regularly throughout.

The independent production was shot in 1977 on weekends over the course of nearly a year in and around southern California’s San Fernando Valley. The 23-year-old Coscarelli shrewdly rented the film gear on Fridays and returned it Monday morning, getting three days of work out of a single day’s rental fee. When all was said and done, the film cost an estimated $300,000.

Unable to afford a full crew, Coscarelli also took on director of photography and editing duties. His father, Dac Coscarelli, receives a producer credit for providing a large chunk of the film’s funding. Additional financing was invested by doctors and lawyers, accruing a total estimated budget of $300,000. His mother, Kate Coscarelli, served as production designer, wardrobe stylist, and makeup artist under different pseudonyms, and she later wrote the novelization.

Hot off the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, AVCO Embassy Pictures purchased Phantasm for distribution. It was released on March 28, 1979 in California and Texas before expanding to other territories and becoming a box office success. It spawned four sequels, with Coscarelli and the core cast on board throughout, along with a cult following that counts Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Snoop Dogg, and JJ Abrams (who named Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ Captain Phasma in its honor) among its ranks.

PHANTASM Remastered

The film embraces nightmare logic – in part by design, as Coscarelli drew influence from Suspiria; partly the result of extensively editing down an overlong first cut to a tight 89 minutes. The it-was-all-a-dream ending is a rare one that doesn’t undermine the entire movie that preceded it. Not every plot point is spelled out for the viewer, and some dots may not completely connect, but the narrative is conveyed in such an engrossing manner that it hardly matters.

A particularly striking pair of back-to-back sequences occur at the conclusion of the first act. Following a late-night graveyard excursion, the camera pulls out on a shot of a sleeping Mike to reveal his bed in the cemetery with The Tall Man poised over him while ghouls attack from their graves. The next day, Mike witnesses The Tall Man affected by the chill of Reggie’s ice cream truck via a spine-tingling slow-motion zoom.

The special effects also shine, from flying metallic spheres that suck the blood out of victims’ heads to lifelike severed fingers that bleed viscous yellow gore. The visuals are supplemented by progressive music composed by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave, to whom Coscarelli recommended electronica maestro Vangelis and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Despite its repetition throughout the film, the power of their haunting musical theme is never diluted.

The cast was populated by amateurs, but occasionally hammy performances are far outweighed by naturalistic character moments, best exemplified by the scene in which Jody and Reggie jam on their guitars together. In addition to serving the plot by introducing the tuning fork that plays an integral role in the finale, it allows the viewer to better connect with the characters, thereby making their peril all the more frightening.

It’s character building like this that makes Phantasm‘s exploration of death so effective. The film is ultimately about Mike coming to terms with the passing of Jody, portrayed as the cool older sibling every adolescent wishes they had. Mike confronts his fear by dreaming up a final adventure with his dearly departed brother in which they manage to defeat death itself, represented by The Tall Man. Upon doing so, he’s awakened to the harsh reality that Jody died in a car accident, allowing Mike to reach the final stage of grief: acceptance.

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