Even though James Cameron wasn’t behind the camera for Terminator: Dark Fate, the Tim Miller-helmed direct follow up to T2: Judgment Day was excellent. However, the opening of the film left many in shock, some enraged.
In the sequence, a young Sarah and John Connor celebrate surviving another day as they’ve saved the world and stopped Judgment Day.
While they may have thwarted Skynet’s plans, the robots from the future sent more than one T-800 back in time with orders to kill John Connor. In a traumatic moment, John is eventually shot down by one of these stranded machines as Sarah is left helpless to save him.
Linda Hamilton returned to the role of Sarah Connor and has finally talked about this scene, which she understands may have enraged some fans.
“This is going to upset a lot of people and a lot of the fan base who just think that it has to remain true to the first two stories,” she tells Film Stories. “The whole concept of Terminator, that John Connor is the hope for the future of mankind and then to have him cut down like that. I think it’s going to upset a lot of people!”
Both Sarah and John are played by stunt doubles (Jude Collie played John for Edward Furlong), as is Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s T-800 (performed by Brett Azar).
Even though Hamilton wasn’t acting in the opening sequence, she reveals that Cameron brought her down to set in order to help keep the authenticity of the performances.
“I was there only to give guidance, I guess,” Hamilton candidly explains.
“You know, not really in any supervisory role, but [director] Tim [Miller] wanted me to bear witness, since she is the woman that they cast for her body mostly, for resembling Sarah Connor back in the day. And it was really hard to watch on every level and just the way that she fought.
“She was an actress and a good actress in her own right, but not Sarah Connor and I had very little control over how she performed,” she adds.
“I did step it up right away and say ‘no, no, no, no, no you can’t just toss her aside! She’d get back up, you can’t just hold Sarah, you know she’d be biting, scratching, elbowing, grabbing his arm.’
“I remember telling the stunt man and this woman that you’ve got to fight harder, this is your son that he is shooting to bits and she would grab – oh and it’s not Arnold either – so she would grab Arnold’s body double and she’s grabbing his arm and I’m like ‘No grab the arm with the gun! Not just any arm the one with the gun!’ [laughs a lot]”
She continues speaking to the addition of her face:
“And you know, to try to teach someone right there how to be fierce, how to be Sarah Connor, was an edgy moment and then they put my face, younger face on digitally.
“So I had almost nothing to do with that scene, they assembled it… so I had to match her performance vocally because they put my face onto her body, but they had to match her performance with my face and I had to match… Oh my god, it was so confusing and not very satisfying! [laughs]”
Edward Furlong also shared his own thoughts on the controversial scene.
Meagan Navarro reviewed Terminator: Dark Fate and called it a “much-needed return to form for the franchise.”
