Alternate script for Terminator Salvation or why the movie could have been better

[CptStern]

What caused these massive changes? And what were they? The biggest change came when McG flew to the UK to talk to Christian Bale about starring in the fourth Terminator movie. The director wanted the Batman star to play Marcus Wright, the cyborg protagonist of the script. But Bale focused on another part: John Connor. The only problem is that John Connor had about three minutes of screen time in the entire film; most of Connor's moments were played offscreen. In the original script John Connor was the secretive leader of the Resistance. He lived on the HQ sub, and almost no one saw his face, so as to keep him hidden from the robots. Connor made radio addresses and existed as a legend for the fighting men and women of the Resistance, but in the original script Connor didn't show up onscreen until the last minutes of the movie.

pretty shitty but actors often negotiate their roles in movies necessitating a rewrite

Bale's desire to star as John Connor was probably the most fatal blow to the film; it completely distorted the shape of the story as it existed. But the other fatal blow came from the internet. When the original ending of the script leaked - John Connor is killed by a Terminator and has his skin grafted onto Marcus Wright, who takes up the shadowy leader's place as the leader of the Resistance - many people went crazy. On the surface it seemed like a major slap in the face of the franchise, and doubly so on paper: John Connor, the guy who the entire franchise is ostensibly about, shows up for two and a half pages, gets killed and has his face transplanted onto a robot

sounds pretty silly

http://chud.com/articles/articles/1...NT-WRONG-WITH-TERMINATOR-SALVATION/Page1.html

 

[Viperidae]

Sounds like an ending more typical of an 80's sci fi. I guess fans prefer the usual instead.

 

[Raziaar]

It's in your nature to destroy yourselves.

 

[AtomicSpark]

I'm glad I decided not to see this in the theater.

 

[Remus]

Better? Are you serious? That original script sounds even worse.

 

[Darkside55]

John Connor is killed by a Terminator and has his skin grafted onto Marcus Wright...gets killed and has his face transplanted onto a robot

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK so THAT'S what that robot John Connor toy was about. They must have made it before the script change and just went ahead and put it on the shelves even afterward.

 

[Asknoone]

They never had a good script. The original script sounds quite appalling in almost every conceivable way, and I don’t blame Bale for trying to force a re-write (by bringing in a more competent writer, too), but they should have recognised the fact that trying to phase transition the two was never going to work and re-wrote the entire thing. As it stands, it appears to be built on a mound of dog faeces, no matter how you look at it.

This is a movie that was absolutely and entirely doomed to fail because it was handled by incompetent, moronic people (such as you, McG), and geared toward the equally stupid summer-action movie crowd, whooping and cheering and nodding their heads as they do at explosions, gunfire, car chases, and giant robots.

 

[Krynn72]

T4 was better than T2. FACT.

 

[Yorick]

See, Serena heads Project ANGEL, which is making Hybrids (ie, Cyborgs). The reason? Skynet did a calculation and realized that humanity was going to be extinct in 200 years; the machines decided to save a few by turning them into Hybrids and wipe the rest out.

LOLWUT.

 

[Remus]

See, Serena heads Project ANGEL, which is making Hybrids (ie, Cyborgs). The reason? Skynet did a calculation and realized that humanity was going to be extinct in 200 years; the machines decided to save a few by turning them into Hybrids and wipe the rest out.

What the flying ****?

I haven't seen the actual movie yet. Is this crap in the final script?
If so, WTF?! Who thought this was a good idea.

 

[Asknoone]

Apparently the two chaps who wrote the following:

 

[MJ12]

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK so THAT'S what that robot John Connor toy was about. They must have made it before the script change and just went ahead and put it on the shelves even afterward.

I have not seen this one, are you sure you are not confusing it with Marcus?

I'd be willing to bet that toy will be worth something in the future because of it's oddity.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

I had already heard about the original ending but some of that other stuff is even worse

I still haven't seen it but from this stuff i'm expecting a bigger flop than T3 >_>

See, Serena heads Project ANGEL, which is making Hybrids (ie, Cyborgs). The reason? Skynet did a calculation and realized that humanity was going to be extinct in 200 years; the machines decided to save a few by turning them into Hybrids and wipe the rest out.

HUH?!

 

[Letters]

That wasn't in the movie...

I saw it a couple days ago and it was alright... kinda fun but mostly just... lukewarm. I couldn't get a good grasp on the overall setting; it was just a bunch of jarring scene-jumping. That was the main thing that bothered me. Ending was pretty weird too, though.

 

[Darkside55]

I have not seen this one, are you sure you are not confusing it with Marcus?

Yeah, there's a terminator John Connor. Before the movie I assumed maybe it was going to be something like Skynet made a John Connor terminator to infiltrate the resistance, but when that didn't show up in the movie I was like, "Oh, good, it was just something stupid the toy company came up with." But it actually had a basis.

T4 was better than T2. FACT.

In my day, trolling meant something.

 

[Sheepo]

That wasn't in the movie...

I saw it a couple days ago and it was alright... kinda fun but mostly just... lukewarm. I couldn't get a good grasp on the overall setting; it was just a bunch of jarring scene-jumping. That was the main thing that bothered me. Ending was pretty weird too, though.

This really. No substance in the story whatsoever. The series isn't going anywhere. Not worth seeing.

 

[MJ12]

I really wish Neca or Mcfarlane would make a T-600 with some remaining flesh, those were my favorite thing about the movie, probably my favorite robot design out of the entire series. Really ****ing creepy looking.

 

[Absinthe]

Wow, this film sounds like it was doomed to suck from the start,

 

[Deleted member 56031]

Yeah, there's a terminator John Connor. Before the movie I assumed maybe it was going to be something like Skynet made a John Connor terminator to infiltrate the resistance, but when that didn't show up in the movie I was like, "Oh, good, it was just something stupid the toy company came up with." But it actually had a basis.

You got a pic of it Darkside?

 

[Darkside55]

Can't seem to find one. But, go to any toystore and you'll probably see it. It's not like anyone's buying those Terminator toys. The entire line is shelfwarmers.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

I've not seen any but it may be because I'm in the UK. I'll keep an eye out though.

 

[MJ12]

Can't seem to find one. But, go to any toystore and you'll probably see it. It's not like anyone's buying those Terminator toys. The entire line is shelfwarmers.

Well........ If I was a kid I would have wanted a lot of them. I loved the T2 toys.

 

[Darkside55]

I had almost all of the T2 toys when I was young. They were pretty cool back then.

 

[Adabiviak]

I thought it was alright, like Road Warrior of the 2000s. The other script sounds awful, but this had some fun action scenes. The story is no ball of fire, but it wasn't awful.

 

[Remus]

I don't think the problem with T3 and T4 is necessarily McG.
It could be the fault of the script writes, which are the same ones that made the script for Cat Woman... WTF?

 

[Rico]

So wait, did they ever explain why the t-600 had human skin on it? I thought the t-800 was supposed to the first cyborg, and that all the others looked like robots?

And yeah the movie was lukewarm.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I thought it was alright, like Road Warrior of the 2000s.

I am still waiting for some sort of Mad Max'esque style film for ages

 

[Sir Phoenixx]

So wait, did they ever explain why the t-600 had human skin on it? I thought the t-800 was supposed to the first cyborg, and that all the others looked like robots?

And yeah the movie was lukewarm.

Yeah, in T1...

The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy, but these are new. They look human... sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot. I had to wait till he moved on you before I could zero on him.

 

[Rico]

Ah, I guess I must have missed hat part then. It's been forever since I saw T1

 

[xcellerate]

yea, I saw the movie and the thing that bothered me the most was how touch the humans are.

The robot will pick up a 2 ton slab of concrete and hurl it across the room, then he'll punch connor and connor will be like, "ow! stop it!"

 

[CyberPitz]

yea, I saw the movie and the thing that bothered me the most was how touch the humans are.

The robot will pick up a 2 ton slab of concrete and hurl it across the room, then he'll punch connor and connor will be like, "ow! stop it!"

Humans have evolved into having super strong bones/skin. Nerve endings are a thing of the past!

I'm still waiting to go see this in theaters.

 

[Sheepo]

This is not worth seeing. It offers nothing worth 5$ from an action or narrative standpoint.

 

[Rico]

He's the Batminator.

 

[Remus]

First we have the beetlebat (Michael Keaton) and now the batminator (Christian Bale). What next?!

As for the movie.

I have no idea how they did it, but it has some of the most boring action backed scenes I've ever seen. I initially couldn't put my finger on it why the action sequences are boring, until a reviewer mentioned that the first half or so of the movie has almost not music whatsoever.
Mental note action scenes without appropriate action music = fail.

 

[Sir Phoenixx]

yea, I saw the movie and the thing that bothered me the most was how touch the humans are.

The robot will pick up a 2 ton slab of concrete and hurl it across the room, then he'll punch connor and connor will be like, "ow! stop it!"

That's the one thing I didn't get about the T800 fight. It was the T800's mission to kill him, and yet every time he attacked Connor, it was to knock or throw him across the room... It could easily have ripped his head off the first time, it's like it just wanted to play with him first.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Better? Are you serious? That original script sounds even worse.

/agree

That's the one thing I didn't get about the T800 fight. It was the T800's mission to kill him, and yet every time he attacked Connor, it was to knock or throw him across the room... It could easily have ripped his head off the first time, it's like it just wanted to play with him first.

Well ya, logic goes out the window really. I mean why did the facility need alarms? When it identified Reese, why didn't it put a bullet in his head?

 

[jverne]

MY GOD...nothing could prepare me for what ia saw!

i just came back from the movies...saw T4.

is it wrong that i almost liked T3 more?

some say the action scenes are it's strong point...they were boringly unoriginal.

the end was...my god! the suckiest battle ever.

story...let's not get into it.

two things describe the movie...the guy (Barns) wears sun glasses at night time in the end and Mototerminators. this movie is bad in most aspects...even acting was cliche and straightforward.

seriously...what's good about this movie??

 

[<RJMC>]

<old derelic prophet voice> thats what happens to you for believing in those so called "terminator movies" and now you payed the price

only if james cameron go back to terminator hope will come to the world again<old derelic prophet voice>*leaves place in a old derelic prophet style*

 

[Sheepo]

some say the action scenes are it's strong point...they were boringly unoriginal.

****ing thank you. I don't know we people are calling it a 'good summer action movie'.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

It's a ****ing horrible movie and it makes T3 look competent in comparison :flame: