Posts Tagged ‘Arnold Schwarzenegger’

Movie Review – Terminator Genisys (2015)

Released to theaters this weekend is Terminator Genisys, the latest film in the Terminator franchise and (hopefully) the beginning of a new Terminator series of films.

Terminator Genisys returns to the origins of the Terminator story, but it’s not what you’re expecting.  This isn’t simply a reboot of the original film.  Instead, Terminator Genisys pays homage to the original film while also offering people a new story as part of an alternative timeline.

Terminator Genisys (2015) – movie poster

Directed by Alan Taylor, Terminator Genisys returns Hollywood legend Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of the T-800 (Model 101) / Guardian.  Co-starring in the film are Jason Clarke as John Connor, Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor, and Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese.  Also in the film are J.K. Simmons as Detective O’Brien and Courtney B. Vance as Miles Dyson.

Terminator Genisys begins with a voiceover of Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) explaining how life has changed drastically since Judgment Day, the moment when the machines declared war against humanity and launched a surprise nuclear attack, wiping out most of humanity.  The survivors were forced to band together and fight for their lives.  The leader of the Resistance is a soldier named John Connor (Jason Clarke).

In the year 2029, John Connor leads the Resistance in a final assault in the Los Angeles offensive.  The attack, coordinated with an attack in the Colorado offensive, is aimed at striking at Skynet‘s secret new weapon, a weapon that could change the outcome of the war.  Hidden underneath a remote storage facility is Skynet’s ultimate weapon — a time machine.

The final attacks are launched against Skynet.  The Colorado offensive is successful at stopping Skynet’s main defense grid, but Connor’s Los Angeles offensive is unable to stop Skynet before it sends a lone T-800 cyborg back in time to 1984 to kill John Connor’s mother.  If the cyborg is successful in its mission then Sarah Connor will die and John Connor, the leader of the Resistance, will never be born.

In order to stop the cyborg and save the future, then somebody from the Resistance will have to travel back in time to save Sarah Connor.  Several soldiers volunteer for the dangerous mission, and John Connor selects Kyle Reese.  The Resistance gets the time machine operating and they send Reese back in time.  Just before he travels through time, Reese notices one of the soldiers (a Terminator in disguise) grabbing and attacking John Connor.  Reese then travels through time and has flashbacks to an alternative version of his younger self. Read more…

Movie Review – Predator (1987)

“If it bleeds, we can kill it.”

Back in 1987 the world was introduced to Predator, an action-adventure / horror / sci-fi film depicting an alien warrior who visits Earth for the purpose of hunting the fiercest creatures on the planet . . . . human beings.  This alien warrior, the Predator, is armed with powerful weapons, incredible strength, and a camouflaged suit that makes it nearly invisible to the human eye.

Predator (1987) – movie poster

Directed by John McTiernan and with music composed by Alan Silvestri, Predator stars action superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger as Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, the leader of an elite group of soldiers.  Co-starring in the film are Carl Weathers as George Dillon, Jesse Ventura as Blain Cooper, Bill Duke as Mac Eliot, and Kevin Peter Hall as the Predator.

Predator begins with an alien spaceship approaching planet Earth.  From that spaceship drops a pod that lands in the jungles of Central America.

Some time later, a helicopter carrying a team of special forces soldiers lands on a coastline in Central America.  Led by Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the team of soldiers includes Mac Eliot (Bill Duke), Blain Cooper (Jesse Ventura), Billy Sole (Sonny Landham), Jorge “Poncho” Ramirez (Richard Chaves), and Rick Hawkins (Shane Black).

Predator (1987) – (c) 20th Century Fox

General Phillips (R.G. Armstrong) meets with Dutch and informs him of the situation.  It turns out that a presidential cabinet minister was recently in the area when he was suddenly attacked and captured by guerrilla forces.  It’s also believed that the prisoners are going to be executed by the guerrilla forces as well.  The person who recommended Dutch’s team for the mission was George Dillon (Carl Weathers), Dutch’s old friend who now works for the CIA.  Dillon explains that he’ll be going into the jungle with Dutch’s team to oversee the mission.

The special forces team uses a pair of helicopters to fly into the jungle.  The soldiers have different ways of preparing themselves for the mission, from chewing tobacco to telling jokes to readying their weapons.  When they arrive at the insertion point not too far from where the hostages were abducted, the helicopters hover in the air and the soldiers rappel down ropes to the ground.  The team is now on their own.  There is no back-up for this mission. Read more…

Movie Review – Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Twelve years after the release of the epic Terminator film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines arrived in the movie theaters.

The ending of Terminator 2 concluded with the presumed destruction of Cyberdyne Systems along with its Skynet project.  The research material was also destroyed and it was believed that Judgment Day was stopped.  But as we see with Terminator 3, Judgment Day was merely postponed and Skynet still declared war on human beings.

Unable to locate John Connor as he’s been living “off the grid,” Skynet sends a new model of the Terminator machines back in time to kill future officers of the Resistance prior to Judgment Day.  The Resistance is once again able to send a reprogrammed Series 850 Model 101 Terminator back in time to protect those targets including Kate Brewster and John Connor.

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, Terminator 3 stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in his classic role as the Terminator cyborg.  Nick Stahl plays the role of John Connor this time, and Claire Danes plays Kate Brewster, Connor’s future wife.  Kristanna Loken plays the role of the T-X, the superior Terminator sent back in time to kill members of the Resistance.  Supporting actors include David Andrews, Mark Famiglietti and Earl Boen.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) – (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

Set about nine years after the events in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines begins with John Connor (Nick Stahl) being paranoid about Skynet and the future war against the machines.  Although Judgment Day does not occur on August 29, 1997, John still isn’t taking any chances.  He lives “off the grid” without a permanent home or credit cards or a cell phone.  There’s nothing that can be traced to his constantly changing location. Read more…

Movie Review – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

In 1984 James Cameron released his science fiction marvel, The Terminator.

We were introduced to a world where machines launched an all-out war against human beings.  The humans eventually won the war at a cost of several billion lives.  One-way time travel was invented, and to try to stop the humans, the machines sent a killer cyborg back in time to kill the mother of the future leader of the human resistance.  The Resistance was also able to send a soldier back in time, and The Terminator focused on the soldier stopping the Terminator from completing its mission.  The soldier won at the cost of his own life.

We know that there’s much more to the story.  It was just a matter of time before the technology would allow for James Cameron to give us a proper sequel.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was released on July 3, 1991, and it quickly broke ticket sale records.  James Cameron would continue this massive blockbuster trend in later years with Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009).

Terminator 2: Judgment Day returns Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role as the Terminator.  He’s a Series 800 Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 cyborg, but instead of hunting John Connor this model has been reprogrammed by the Resistance to protect the child.  Linda Hamilton reprises her role as Sarah Connor, now an energetic woman locked in an insane asylum who still fears for the future war with the machines.  Robert Patrick plays the role of the Series 1000 Terminator, a liquid metal, shape-shifting machine sent back in time to kill the child version of John Connor.  Edward Furlong has the role of John Connor, a 10-year-old boy being hunted by the T-1000 Terminator.  Earl Boen reprises his role as Dr. Peter Silberman, Sarah Connor’s psychiatrist in the asylum.  Joe Morton has the role of Miles Dyson, the engineer at Skynet responsible for reverse-engineering the technology left behind from The Terminator.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) – (c) TriStar Pictures

Terminator 2: Judgment Day opens with a horrific vision of the future.  We’re told that the machines launched an all-out war against mankind on August 29, 1997.  The initial round of battle and nuclear fire cost billions of lives.  The battle against the machines would last for another thirty years before a man named John Connor would lead the Resistance to ultimate victory.

Like in The Terminator, the machines send an advanced cyborg back in time to kill the leader of the Resistance.  This time around the killer machine is sent to the year 1995 to kill John Connor as he’s just a 10-year-old boy. Read more…

Movie Review – The Terminator (1984)

Imagine a near-future where computers have complete control of the country’s military power.

Then imagine those computers deciding that humans, all humans, are a threat to the computers.  The computers declare war and a worldwide nuclear war wipes out most of the human population.  The surviving humans are enslaved as an army of robots tries to take control of the world.

But the humans fight back and ultimately defeat the robots.  Time travel has been developed, and to stop the humans the robots send a hunter-killer, a Terminator, back in time to kill the mother of the leader of the human Resistance.

Back in 1984, visionary director James Cameron presented the world with The Terminator, an action-adventure and science fiction film where a robotic Terminator is sent back in time to kill the mother of the human Resistance.  To combat it, the human Resistance sends a soldier back in time to protect the mother from the Terminator.

The Terminator stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a hunter-killer cyborg sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor, the future mother of the leader of the human Resistance.  Michael Biehn plays the role of Kyle Reese, a human soldier from the Resistance who travels back in time to protect Sarah Connor.  Linda Hamilton is Sarah Connor, future mother of John Connor, leader of the Resistance.  Rounding out the cast are Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen and Earl Boen.

The Terminator begins with a quick telling of the future war between humans and the machines.  It explains that while the war was fought in the near future, the ultimate battle for the future of the war will be fought tonight (remember that we’re back in 1984 in a modern day version of Los Angeles, California).

The Terminator (1984) – (c) Orion Pictures / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

It’s night time as a massive power surge electrifies an area.  Out of the blasts of electricity steps a naked man (Arnold Schwarzenegger).  He walks naked to a group of street punks (one of them is played by Bill Paxton) and kills one of them for his clothing. Read more…

Movie Review – The Running Man (1987)

Imagine a totalitarian world where a police state has control of the media and censors most of society include cultural activities.

Yet in this bleak world exists a horrific yet highly entertaining game show.  The television show pits society’s criminals against enforcers (known as “stalkers”) in a gladiator-style arena, complete with fighting to the death for fame and fortune.

Enter the world of 1987′s sci-fi action movie, The Running Man.

Based loosely on the novel by Stephen King (a.k.a. Richard Bachman), in The Running Man, Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Ben Richards, a military pilot who was imprisoned for his failure to take part in a civilian massacre in Bakersfield, California.  After a few years in a prison labor camp, Ben Richards and his friends take place in a jailbreak, killing several armed guards in the process.

Instead of joining a resistance movement, Richards flees into Los Angeles to seek refuge with his brother.  He later discovers that his brother was also imprisoned, and a new person, Amber Mendez, is now living in his residence.  Richards uses Amber in an attempt to flee to Hawaii.  While in the airport, Amber yells for the police and Ben Richards is once again captured.  This time his destination is to the ICS television network and The Running Man TV show.  The show’s host, Damon Killian (played by Richard Dawson), blackmails Richards into competing on the show.

And why does Killian want Ben Richards, a military warrior, to compete on his top-rated television show?  For the ratings, of course.  He knows that people love blood and violence, and a criminal such as Ben Richards will help the show dominate its time slot and make Killian a fortune.

After the airport incident, Amber Mendez is at home working on a project when the local news captures her attention.  Sure enough the news reporters talk about the capture of Ben Richards, but as she sees, the story isn’t quite as accurate as the reporters claim.  In fact, it’s intentionally wrong.  The reporters portrayed Richards as a violent criminal who critically injured several people during his arrest, when in fact the opposite occurred.  This news story motivates Amber to return to ICS to try to find the truth about Ben Richards.

The Running Man (1987) – (c) TriStar Pictures

Meanwhile, The Running Man TV show begins and the live studio audience sees edited news footage detailing Ben Richards’s alleged crimes.  Just like the news media, the TV network has Richards portrayed as a bloodthirsty killer who massacred unarmed civilians despite his superiors ordering him against the attack.  After that Ben Richards takes the stage, and with the command of Killian, he’s launched on a rocket sled into the world of The Running Man. Read more…

Movie Review – Total Recall (1990)

What did you do yesterday?

How about last week?  Do you remember of the details and feelings last time you went on vacation?

Now what if you were told that those memories are just a lie?  You really didn’t live those events.  Those “memories” were physically implanted into your brain to cover your true identity.  Just how well do you think you know yourself?

That’s the basic premise for 1990′s science-fiction thriller, Total Recall.

Total Recall stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as Douglas Quaid, a construction worker in the year 2084.  Quaid lives an ordinary life with a beautiful wife, Lori (played Sharon Stone).  Although he accepts this lifestyle, it’s clear to see that he’s desperate for something else.  Something bigger.  Many nights he dreams of exploring Mars with a mysterious woman.

One morning, after waking from another nightmare about Mars, Quaid expresses his interest to Lori about going to Mars.  She disagrees, reminding him how bad things are on the Red Planet with the current war between rebels and the Martian government, run by governor Vilos Cohaagen (played by Ronny Cox – RoboCop, Beverly Hills Cop, etc.).  Lori suggests taking a space cruise to Saturn, but Quaid rejects her offer.

Total Recall (1990) – (c) TriStar Pictures

While travelling to work at a construction site, Quaid sees a TV commercial for a company called Rekall.  According to the marketers at Rekall, why go on a vacation to deal with lousy weather, bad service, and lost luggage when you can just implant the memory of a “perfect” vacation instead, remembering it like you just came back yesterday?    “For the memory of a lifetime, Rekall, Rekall, Rekall.”  Douglas Quaid mentions Rekall to one of his co-workers, Harry, but his friend suggests he stay away from that company.  Apparently a friend had a “special offer” from Rekall and nearly had to be lobotomized. Read more…