Terminator Genisys (July 1st, 2015)

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

"I'll be back" was never supposed to be a catchphrase. It was just another line in the movie that Cameron thought would be mildly humorous for people who watched it a second time. He never envisioned it to be this big thing. Running Man decided it was his catchphrase.

Yeah, poor Cameron, he tried creating a catchphrase in Avatar and didn't work. Even in interviews when he was promoting Avaturd he was like, "I see you, I see you, I SEE YOU! It's so important to the film and the story", and he kept repeating it hoping people would remember that **** He should have given those cats an Austrian accent.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

Right? Sure it was fan service in T2 too, but it wasn't mindless fan service for the dudebros to elbow each other.

It had a creepy sense of deja vu by **** repeating itself in twisted ways.

I think 'dude I'll be back lmao' actually describes pretty well how they choose to deploy these catchphrases vs Cameron's films. When Cameron did it, it was a sly nod to fans of the first film, created as you say a creepy sense of symmetry with the Terminator from the first film and most importantly was written in at the perfect moment.

Now they just seem to think if they wheel out creaky old Arnold and have him say 'I'll be back' in a thick Austrian accent at every possible opportunity, even if it makes no sense whatsoever, people will just eat it up. $87 million at the domestic box office vs a $155 million production budget would suggest otherwise, at least for the US.

 

[Khev]

The trick is to not let the new stuff in if you really think it sucks. I watched way too much of the Star Wars Special Editions and the prequels for instance, especially for as much as they annoyed me. But I did because they were "Star Wars" and I wanted lots of options and would bounce from film to film especially since I rationalized that there was at least one or two cool things to enjoy despite all the lame things. Bad idea.

One of the reasons Spider-Man 3 hasn't "tainted" SM1 and 2 for me is because I thought it was so irredeemably terrible that I watched it once at the theater, once years later to see if it really was as bad as I remembered, and then never again. Therefore it never really imprinted on me. When people post gifs and things from that movie I honestly don't even always remember what the context of any given scene was. So if a Genisys or something comes along that you think "ruins" the series you need to not obsess over the movie, not watch it over and over, and for heaven's sake stop discussing it on the internet.

And then it will just fade away. Crappy directors don't choose what gets tainted for you, you do.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

And then it will just fade away.

Somethings don't fade away

Spoiler

 

[Khev]

Somethings don't fade away

Spoiler

Ha, they really do though. How many times have you seen Batman Forever and Batman & Robin? You know it wasn't just once. I'd guess you've probably seen both films many times over the years. You've got to stop. Superman IV was one of the most awful movies ever made. Does anyone remember any specifics and how it tainted Superman the Movie? I sure don't.

I had blocked The Lost World out of my mind for so many years that when I finally watched it again last month I was shocked that I had completely forgotten that Goldblum's daughter actually KILLED a velociraptor with her stupid gymnastics move. If I was constantly watching and talking about the movie for the last 18 years then I'm sure the Raptors in JP1 would have seemed less cool.

I really do think that many people just crave melodrama and use the internet as a platform to wax eloquent about the "travesty" of this or that movie. Childhood rapings, franchises being "ruined," this or that superhero movie being SO overrated. Bla bla freaking bla. For those of you who don't understand "If you don't like it don't watch it," let me fill you in: It's usually code for "please try to avoid movies you're going to incessantly whine about, your melodramatic ramblings are annoying to scroll past."

 

[GasparZizou]

I agree that directors don't choose what gets tainted, that's probably the producer's job, "put this in it, audiences love it".

It isn't really diminishing my enjoyment, rather than just cheapening what a certain movie created, it's not in any, way shape or form the fans' fault for expecting something to meet the standards set up by the franchise once, it's not our fault by disobeying the "if you don't like it don't watch it".

Sure I can avoid dog ****, but if a dog comes and ****s on my copy of Terminator, sure the disk inside is still in pristine conditions but it's only logical I at least say "oh maaaan"

 

[Khev]

Sure I can avoid dog ****, but if a dog comes and ****s on my copy of Terminator, sure the disk inside is still in pristine conditions but it's only logical I at least say "oh maaaan"

But if you don't wipe the **** off your disc and instead just look at it, smell it and taste it over and over for years and never shut up about it then, yeah, your fault for it tainting the movie.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

But if you don't wipe the **** off your disc and instead just look at it, smell it and taste it over and over for years and never shut up about it then, yeah, your fault for it tainting the movie.

 

[GasparZizou]

But no one here is doing that, we're passing by covering our noses and trying to avoid the recent still steaming **** while mourning a T1 copy, while others squat and taste it. It's your fault for tasting **** sure, but it's still the dog's fault for ****** on the disk.

Great, now this is a surprise scat thread.

 

[Khev]

But no one here is doing that

That's exactly what you're doing, not that I expect you to notice. Every single post you make in this thread just allows Genisys to make that much more of an impression on you. Thinking about something and talking about it never, EVER makes it leave your mind. Which is ironic when the topic of discussion is a film that you wish was never made because it "taints" the originals.

You say Genisys is dog **** and yet here you are, the perennial fly hovering around it.

 

[GasparZizou]

It's not, I kinda knew you were going to say that, I don't expect you to notice either that I didn't actually speak specifically of TG which doing so is the equivalent of as you say "taste it over and over", instead I spoke of how the originals (any) are affected by the sequels which is naive to deny.

It's weird, this board is usually all for criticism, but JW and this seem to have some sort of hall pass, but ok I had my say, don't mind me.

 

[Khev]

It's not, I kinda knew you were going to say that, I don't expect you to notice either that I didn't actually speak specifically of TG which doing so is the equivalent of as you say "taste it over and over", instead I spoke of how the originals (any) are affected by the sequels which is naive to deny.

If you don't think Genisys is crap then great. The "hovering fly" bit certainly doesn't apply to you. But if you think of TG as a missed opportunity that does taint the originals again I say: You don't have to let it. Sure whatever you thought was stupid is fresh in your mind now, but as long as you don't keep digesting it then puking it back up in your mouth only to chew on it all over again like a cow with its cud then it really will fade and you'll still have the originals.

It's weird, this board is usually all for criticism, but JW and this seem to have some sort of hall pass, but ok I had my say, don't mind me.

There really is two types of internet criticism. There are people that see crap on the sidewalk and go "nasty" and then keep on walking and living out their lives. There are some people who are really big Terminator fans that are regulars of this board that have indeed said that Genisys either looked or was nasty and then they didn't have any other part of it.

And then there are the flies....and this board does indeed have lots of those.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

I expect to see lots of dirty little flies in the BvS thread eight months from now

 

[Khev]

I expect to see lots of dirty little flies in the BvS thread eight months from now

The worst is when there are dirty little flies hovering over something that is actually quite good. I make sure all my Hobbit picnics are safely indoors now. But you're right, whether or not BvS is good or bad the flies will most certainly be circling trying to get their nasty little legs all over everything.

 

[Plastic Bateman]

It's not, I kinda knew you were going to say that, I don't expect you to notice either that I didn't actually speak specifically of TG which doing so is the equivalent of as you say "taste it over and over", instead I spoke of how the originals (any) are affected by the sequels which is naive to deny.

It's weird, this board is usually all for criticism, but JW and this seem to have some sort of hall pass, but ok I had my say, don't mind me.

You know, I didn't actually think TG was that terrible initially. I quite enjoyed the first twenty-five minutes or so.

What killed it for me, and then led me to do some thinking in hindsight that led me to condemn it to the cinematic dustbin, was when I realised I enjoyed the 1984 segment purely because it managed capture a little of the grim 80's ambience of the first film - that and it was effectively just recycling ideas from early Cameron drafts (T-800 and T-1000 in 1984, showing the time displacement equipment, etc) and not necessarily doing a good job of it.

The T2 storyboards and concept art for Skynet's compound (the meat locker the T-800s are stored in, the time displacement equipment, etc) had this incredibly grandiose sense of scale and vertical space, clearly very inspired by Forbidden Planet. Genisys reduced that down to a pair of sliding doors and something about the size of an office reception area.

It's quite telling that when the film jumps forwards to 2017 via absurd plot contrivance it suddenly becomes incredibly bland and dull compared to the first half, looking and functioning like a generic summer action film from that point onwards. It's because it's run out of material to crib from Cameron.

 

[cmiller99]

I think 'dude I'll be back lmao' actually describes pretty well how they choose to deploy these catchphrases vs Cameron's films. When Cameron did it, it was a sly nod to fans of the first film, created as you say a creepy sense of symmetry with the Terminator from the first film and most importantly was written in at the perfect moment.

The reuse of both "come with me if you want to live" and "I'll be back" in T2 was only ever meant to comment on how the role of the T-800 had changed from one movie to the other.

Doing it in T3 etc just made it redundant and repetitive and completely missing the point.

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

The trick is to not let the new stuff in if you really think it sucks. I watched way too much of the Star Wars Special Editions and the prequels for instance, especially for as much as they annoyed me. But I did because they were "Star Wars" and I wanted lots of options and would bounce from film to film especially since I rationalized that there was at least one or two cool things to enjoy despite all the lame things. Bad idea.

One of the reasons Spider-Man 3 hasn't "tainted" SM1 and 2 for me is because I thought it was so irredeemably terrible that I watched it once at the theater, once years later to see if it really was as bad as I remembered, and then never again. Therefore it never really imprinted on me. When people post gifs and things from that movie I honestly don't even always remember what the context of any given scene was. So if a Genisys or something comes along that you think "ruins" the series you need to not obsess over the movie, not watch it over and over, and for heaven's sake stop discussing it on the internet.

And then it will just fade away. Crappy directors don't choose what gets tainted for you, you do.

Good post.

..& FWIW - still haven't seen this.

 

[The Iron Koob]

I liked it. You can still enjoy the old movies. It's not like they can make a Cameron sequel to T2 and the franchise has gone way past what it was intended to be. If you don't like it just move on. I don't think there's any reasonable expectation for this movie to match up to the old ones. You just take it for what it is. Arnie back, some forced story, some younger recasting because they have to, and probably a few plot holes. Action packed and that's it. The truth is I think T1 and T2 would be too slow paced for today's audiences anyway.

 

[Patriot666]

I liked it. You can still enjoy the old movies. It's not like they can make a Cameron sequel to T2 and the franchise has gone way past what it was intended to be. If you don't like it just move on. I don't think there's any reasonable expectation for this movie to match up to the old ones. You just take it for what it is. Arnie back, some forced story, some younger recasting because they have to, and probably a few plot holes. Action packed and that's it. The truth is I think T1 and T2 would be too slow paced for today's audiences anyway.

 

[cmiller99]

Is it true? I ****ing hope not.

I have a feeling it's true.