Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Bale) is the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind. Written by Warner Bros. Pictures.
One of the most anticipated films for next year is Termination Salvation, the latest in the long running franchise that started with the first Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1984. The Terminator 4 trailer, a 30-second teaser, has just hit the Internet.
Terminator Salvation picks up the story in 2018, after the destruction of human civilization by the artificial intelligence known as Skynet. Christian Bale stars at the iconic character John Connor, who was conceived in the first Terminator film by a union with Sarah Conner, then played by Linda Hamilton, and Kyle Reese, a soldier from the future. Kyle Reese appears in Terminator Salvation played by Anton Yelchen. Bryce Dallas Howard and Helen Bonham Carter also are in the cast, with Josh Brolin rumored to appear as the Terminator.
The Terminator 4 trailer hints that "this is not the future my mother told me about" and has John Conner expressing doubts that humanity can actually win against the machines. According to Comingsoon.net, John Conner meets a man named Marcus Wright, played by Sam Worthington, who may be from the future or may be from the past, but has definitely something to do with the altered 2018. Both men must go on a quest to the very heart of Skynet as the artificial intelligence prepares for the final annihilation of mankind.
The Terminator series, which has spawned three films (soon to be four with Terminator Salvation) and a hit TV series, plays on themes of the fear of technology that are as old as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. By creating computers that can think and robots that can do anything humans can do, only better, are we in effect fashioning the next step in evolution, as well as our own destruction?
The history of cinema is replete with computers like Skynet that run amok and turn on the humans for whom they have been built to serve. HAL 9000 kills most of the crew of the Discovery expedition to Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Colossus, in Colossus the Forbin Project overthrows the human race in a cybernetic coup and begins an absolute rule over the human race "for our own good."
The remorseless Terminators have their counterparts as well. Besides Frankenstein, which spawned several classic films, robots have been rebelling against the human race for decades on the big and small screens. The latest of the genre was a very loose adaptation of I, Robot, which starred Will Smith.
In real life, computers and robots have remained our servants, not potential masters or destroyers. This article, for instance, is being typed on a computer with power that was barely imaginable when 2001: A Space Odyssey and Colossus came out in the 1960s. Robots build our cars and other appliances, help explore the planets, and have even begun to mow our lawns and vacuum our floors.
The effect of ever more advanced computers and robots is likely to be far more benign that the scenario of Terminator Salvation, with relentless Terminators directed by an insane artificial intelligence to kill off humanity. They are quickly freeing us from drudgery and have expanded our capacity to do things. That does not make Terminator Salvation any less enjoyable or exciting. We love to be scared.
Terminator Salvation opens May 22nd, 2009.
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