Rank the Terminator Post-T2 sequels now!

[MJD64]

Count me among those who enjoy the fast-paced and exciting TERMINATOR SALVATION the most...and it also sports the best cast.

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE - overstays its welcome, but elevated considerably by a cantankerous Linda Hamilton, the ever-terrific Mackenzie Davis...and "Carl".

TERMINATOR 3:RISE OF THE MACHINES




TERMINATOR GENISYS - an abysmal mess; completely and unremittingly awful...

[JayTL]

Order of release, highest to lowest for me

[Xen11]

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

Terminator: Genisys

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

The Terminator

Terminator: Salvation

Terminator: Dark Fate

[Batman1084]

Originally Posted by kylor

1. Terminator Salvation - Appreciate it for daring to go beyond the present day for the whole movie, something that none of the other Terminator movies have had the balls to do.

This perfectly embodies what I think and feel. I only watch T1, T2, and Salvation. Personally, I love Salvation as much as T2 but nothing could ever touch T1 for me as it has those elements of 80s horror that I found perfect since I was a little kid.

I wouldn't even bother rating the other movies, but I would go T3, Gen, and Dark Fate (though I can't stand Gen and Dark Fate).

[CrazyBlu-RayFan]

I haven't seen the TV show, so won't include that.

Dark Fate - Actually remembers the heart of the first two (the movie actually takes time for the characters to just talk and grow throughout the movie, which is just as important for Terminator as action scenes) and remembers that the franchise is Sarah Connor's story, with her trying to find purpose after losing John. My only issue is that it probably need 20-30 more minutes in the beginning to really developed Dani. But besides that it's pretty good and a worthy follow up to the first two movies. Gabriel Luna as Rev-9 was probably the most intimidating antagonist since T2. The action is great and has just the right amount of brutality (it's so nice to get a legitimate R rated Terminator movie again). And this is probably Arnold Schwarzenegger's best acting in a movie I've seen in awhile, he actually had passion here, unlike Genisys where he was just kind of sleepwalking through the thing, he actually brings a lot of heart to the role and his character brings up some unique ideas (a Terminator growing some form of humanity after completing its mission was very intriguing). All in all, I think this movie is great and gets better on rewatch, it just feels like Cameron actually had a big hand in this movie, which he pretty much did (to the point that Tim Miller won't work with Cameron again), and the excellent quality of the movie reflects Cameron's passion to fix the past mistakes of the post-T2 movies. This is the real Terminator 3 as far as I'm concerned. 4/5




Terminator 3 - Pretty average action movie, some fun set pieces and scenes, but unfortunately lost the grit and brutality of the first two (the violence is so tame and bloodless here it's hard to remember the movie is actually R rated), had too many jokes, and is just average. It's a decent rainy day watch, but you'll forget most of it after watching it. 3/5

Terminator Salvation - Boring. They made the future war boring, that's quite a feat to make something that should be awesome just so dull. Its completely wasted potential and is just a slog to get through every time. The fact that the mid budget 2019 video game Terminator Resistance was a better future war story than this just showcases how much wasted potential this movie was. 2/5





Terminator Genisys - What the f**k was this? A decent fight scene or two, but for the most part a total clusterf**k of half baked ideas and nostalgia baiting while screwing up the timeline beyond repair in the process. 1.5/5

[TheSpruceMoose]

T2: Battle Across Time (if that counts)- Filled with the same kinetic harmony shared between action and character beats that Cameron is known for.

T4- straight forward as it is there's no time traveling schemes and it distinguishes itself from the others with a look of its own.

T3- same recycled beats without any of the thematic weight but at least it keeps the R rating.

T5- I'd rather take it in the bum for $$$ then watch this again. Shame seeing as how the first 10 or so minutes is legitimately interesting.

T6- Haven't seen it and don't plan to (this coming from a superfine of the series)

[anomaly7]

1. T3: Rise of the Machines - it mostly plays like rehash of a lot of T2, except for the ending which legit shocked me in theaters. In hindsight, it was a really great stepping stone between T2 and a potential 4th film that never happened.

2. Salvation - I feel it needed more connection to set up where the events of T3 left off and bring us to this future (how and why did John Connor become a leader of the resistance, etc.). It's an ok sci-fi action movie, and would have been better if visually it looked more like the future scenes of T1 & T2 and not transformers.

3. Dark Fate - Didn't really add anything new to series, just new characters going through the same story as previous films with old characters brought back for nostalgia. It's the Force Awakens of the series.

4. Genysis - just plain bad. The idea for John as a terminator was a rejected idea from Salvation that was around online before this movie was made, and most fans hated it. Why they thought they'd try it here, I don't know, but that and several other issues easily makes this the worst.

Only saw a few episodes of the show and didn't get into it. The Universal 3D show was awesome and maybe the best theme park 3D show I've seen.

[The Dark Shape]

The Sarah Connor Chronicles (when it's good)
Terminator 3
Dark Fate
The Sarah Connor Chronicles (when it's not good)
Genisys
Salvation

Salvation and Genisys are both bad movies, it's just a matter of whether I prefer a competent production (Salvation) or actual energy (Genisys), even if every creative decision feels silly.

[PenguinInfinity]

1. Dark Fate - Great direction for the story to take. It made the events of T2 actually mean something because it caused a different future to happen rather than just postponing Skynet's creation and John's leadership. The characters are all interesting and they actually grow over the course of the movie. The action is top-notch as well. A worthy follow-up to T2.

2. Sarah Connor Chronicles - Great characters and explores a lot of interesting concepts. I especially like that it delves much more into AI and alternate timelines. A bit too much of Sarah's melodramatic monologues and the middle of the second season drags a bit, but still a great show overall.

3. Salvation - It's a very different movie than the rest series and all of it is fairly well done. None of it feels like an inferior knock-off of T2. I don't have anything bad to say about it, I just don't find a post-apocalyptic setting to be as fun as a modern setting.

4. Genisys - I'm a big fan of the concept but they just didn't do enough with it. Unlike many people I wasn't bothered by most of the cast... I liked both Sarah and Kyle. But the main antagonist,

[Show spoiler]John

, is not menacing at all. He is so annoying and constantly talks at points where he could easily kill both Sarah and Kyle. Overall it's an enjoyable movie, but it could have been so much more.

5. Rise of the Machines - I liked it a lot at the time but not so much anymore. It's too jokey and none of the characters are at all compelling or ever developed. The T-X is especially bad: she talks in a stilted unnatural way, she constantly looks surprised, and her weapon selection is really stupid. This is supposed to be the most intelligent model of terminator? It's still an okay movie and I often watch it with the rest of the series, but it's definitely the most flawed entry in the series.

[drush9999]

The Sarah Connor Chronicles
T3
Salvation
Dark Fate
Genisys

The last two really sucked, wasn't sure how to rank them.

[morris_schaffer]

1. T3: sticks to familiar territory, but feels like a legit continuation because of it, especially because of that wonderful ending. Action is mostly real, the crane chase is a showstopper.

2. Salvation: A new direction, namely the future war, which at least added some freshness even if it didn't look like anything from the Cameron movies. Some explosive and fairly grounded action notwithstanding, the future war lacked the desperation, bleakness of what we saw in the Cameron movies. It makes me question whether a future war movie can really work since Terminators inevitably end up as cannon fodder. To me, that's counter-productive to what Kyle Reese said to Sarah in that parking lot.

3. TSCC: Hard to outright dislike, but feels like a reset more than anything else. I didn't find anything new here except that it was Terminator for the small screen. Compare it to legit amazing shows, and TSCC just isn't up there. I recall warming to it, so I might have watched one more season.

4. Dark Fate: Beefy and competent, solid action. I wasn't bored, but it became painfully clear that it's becoming more and more difficult to bring something new to the table. They tried with the Arnold character, but it's beating a dead horse, prolonging something that's on life support rather than genuine inspiration. Terminator has always been a straightforward concept, these myriads of sequels are proving no one really knows what to do with it.

5. Genysis: At first glance some clever ideas, but I never found this one inspired, just a more egregious example of my issues with #4 above. It's just gotten out of control, trying whatever they can to keep this beast going and to shoehorn Arnold in there somehow. Action was silly and crap towards the end, The T800 became a full-blown caricature, and some lines you simply do not cross like turning John into the bad guy. That's not inspiration, that's doing whatever the **** you want to ensure these movies get to be churned out.

[CreasyBear]

Dark Fate
Genisys
T3
Salvation

[BluRayTim]

Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Terminator
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines
Terminator: Savlation
Terminator: Dark Fate
Terminator: Genesis

The first two movies age like fine wine. The TV series aged adequately but Summer Glau is too cute, delicate looking and pretty to convincingly be a terminator.

T3 and TS didn’t age well. TG is the worst in the franchise and a massive waste of J.K. Simmons’ massive talent. TDF won’t age well, either.

[mastadge]

Sarah Connor Chronicles
Dark Fate
T3
Salvation
Genisys

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by BluRayTim

Summer Glau is too cute, delicate looking and pretty to convincingly be a terminator.

Why can't Skynet make cute, delicate looking, pretty Terminators? They're infiltration units, they can look like anyone.

[kylor]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

Why can't Skynet make cute, delicate looking, pretty Terminators? They're infiltration units, they can look like anyone.

For cute and delicate looking:


For looking like anyone, the T-1000 can take on the form of anybody.

[Damon1281]

And we're skipping T2 because...

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by PenguinInfinity

1. Dark Fate - Great direction for the story to take. It made the events of T2 actually mean something because it caused a different future to happen rather than just postponing Skynet's creation and John's leadership. The characters are all interesting and they actually grow over the course of the movie. The action is top-notch as well. A worthy follow-up to T2.

.

The action is even more brutal and impressive than the one in T3, and this says something.

[PenguinInfinity]

Originally Posted by Damon1281

And we're skipping T2 because...

I think the OP wanted to encourage more discussion about the other movies in the series. Otherwise the thread would just turn into argument about whether T1 or T2 is better (like most Terminator threads).

[L.J.]

Dark Fate
Salvation
Genisys
Rise of the Machines