If there's any series/franchise ripe for a true comeback: It's The Terminator.

It's pretty widely agreed that every movie after 2, which is over 30 years old now, kinda sucks to varying degrees (Tho 3 might have it's moments).

They've tried to soft-reboot it not just once, but twice, both being pretty abysmal failures.

In the right hands, I think it's very possible for there to be another critically-acclaimed and successful Terminator movie, I don't think it's impossible.

  • Ericthescruffy [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    I'll be the dissenting voice who says that the Terminator series can exist independently of Schwarzenegger.

    But first off: who says it has to? Salvation and Genisys may have varied between passable and janky, but Dark Fate Young Arnold is 100% out of the uncanny valley and if you tell me otherwise you're lying. Dude has been fine with his likeness as the terminator so if we can have young Mark Hammil being Luke on TV I say we can keep having Arnold forever.

    I think the real problem is a question of where the hell you even go from here and why? Terminator 3 is basically just Terminator 1 and 2...but worse. Salvation was the obvious next step forward in the series to show the actual war, much like how the real Alien 3 was supposed to show the Aliens on earth finally...but they squandered that one. Then there were the soft-reboot attempts with Genisys and Dark Fate which ultimately didn't work.

    I feel like the robot sent back in time to assasinate a target is a pretty played out concept on its own. Ridiculous as it was I feel like maybe the Rick and Morty episode about the snake terminators might have actually been onto something with the way it parodied the escalation of the entire thing?

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Terminator 3 is basically just Terminator 1 and 2…but worse.

      Terminator 1: The future is terrifying and it will kill you unless you fight back

      Terminator 2: The future seems inevitable, but with the power of community and comradery and the willingness to sacrifice for others, it can be overcome

      Terminator 3: Forget everything we said in the first two movies, the grimdark future is inevitable, weeeee! Zoom! Boom! Kablewy!

      I feel like the robot sent back in time to assasinate a target is a pretty played out concept on its own. Ridiculous as it was I feel like maybe the Rick and Morty episode about the snake terminators might have actually been onto something with the way it parodied the escalation of the entire thing?

      The double edged sword of R&M (and South Park, et al) is the way they step back and look at the absurdity of Capitalist Realism while also sorta giving up in the face of it.

      My personal favorite part of the R&M Terminator episode was Snake Jazz.