‘Terminator’ salvaged by ‘Batman’ star Bale

Richard Kelly

The movie trailer for “Terminator 4: Salvation” should have Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “I am the Terminator. All prestige of this movie series will be terminated with my absence.”

Consider the fact that the last Terminator movie was released in 2003. “Terminator Salvation” is set for release on May 22, 2009. That’s a six year span just in itself. Also, consider that the first one was released in 1984 and the sequel was in 1991. That alone makes me wonder why these movies are still being produced. With all of them being so far apart in time, who is going to keep up with the series? This will only be the fourth installment, and I wasn’t even alive until six years after the first one was released. That says something. These movie directors aren’t anxious to get the sequels out.

Why insist on making this one? It looks like another meager attempt to squeeze out every drip of revenue from a dead movie series to me. I “Saw” that coming, with the movie industry these days. But, I could be wrong. Maybe this movie will be great. The story is said to be a prequel to the series, an explanation for how the movies got to where they were.

Maybe Warner Brothers needed to think of something to do so that Arnold Schwarzenegger wouldn’t have to be in it, and this is what they came up with.

Regardless, Christian Bale will be playing the star role of John Connor, so all of those fans of the Batman series may want to flock to see him in the theaters for this one after his terrific performance in that role.

Until the release, I will ponder the truth of whether the 24 years of only four Terminator movies was worth it. With all the questions racing through my head about this movie, it will keep me perplexed for the time being. Mainly I’ll wonder more about why this movie is even being made. Someone want to explain that to me?

Even if it wasn’t always the only reason people watched the Terminator series, Arnold Schwarzenegger is who people identify it with. Now that it’s all but official he won’t be a part of this one, it’ll be like making a movie about the government without including the president, which in reality would be a blessing, but it would fall flat at the box office. So for now I’ll take the thought that we have another “Indiana Jones” on our hands, friends, considering how long it’s been since some of this series has been released. There’s just one difference: they got Harrison Ford to come back for that.