Terminator: Dark Fate 4K UHD (2019)

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

Outside of Fury Road, those bombed, too.

Heh, and Fury Road only took another $114M worldwide than DF so even that wasn't some astonishing box office success, though it was a critical darling for sure. Still, $150M domestic for Fury Road is a very solid haul and the domestic returns for the last two Terminator flicks amount to that combined.

[OutOfBoose]

TDF was completely worthless. Down there with Genisys and Salvation, only for it's own reasons.

[StingingVelvet]

Reviews had me thinking this came out last week, then next week, but it's the week AFTER that. Stop toying with me!

I dunno, dumb or not I feel pumped for more Terminator action at the moment.

[Archivy]

Originally Posted by tyrok

Some of these older franchises just need to go back to their 80s roots and do something cool with a lower budget that doesn't need $600 million to break even.

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

I'd love some $20 million or less Alien, Predator and Terminator films.

That will never happen. Ahnold and Linda Hamilton aren't lowering their fees to be in these films. Sure, they don't command what they used to, but these are popcorn films -- established actors are not going to work for scale. Hence, if you want low budget films, you're asking the filmmakers to cast unknowns. They already made a Terminator film without Arnold, and we know how that was received. Besides, financiers want marketing anchors, which established stars/characters like Linda and Arnold are. Plus, just from an artistic perspective, if you've got franchise films filled with unknowns, it's worth just creating wholly original IP and dropping the franchise tag. Studios these days are loathe to do that. So you're back to casting stars, which necessitates big budgets, which necessitates a certain risk aversion because they want to try to recoup their sizable financial outlays.

Face it, any way you cut it, these films are never going to go back to their franchise roots. It's not financially viable to do so.

[Archivy]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Heh, and Fury Road only took another $114M worldwide than DF so even that wasn't some astonishing box office success, though it was a critical darling for sure. Still, $150M domestic for Fury Road is a very solid haul and the domestic returns for the last two Terminator flicks amount to that combined.

It's tough to think of successful franchise revivals. Fury Road is one, arguably Toy Story 3 is another. However, nearly all of them are unsuccessful.

Bad Boys for Life is the latest attempt to revive a franchise. Let's see how it fares.

[RedHarvest]

I was so looking forward to this, but just watched and I hated it. Just a tired retread of T2.

[levcore]

I never understand that whole "I hate this movie, it's a piece of crap, a dumpster fire! ..... anyway I'll be rewatching the 4K disc I bought this weekend"

[Nothing371]

For me, it's really hard to care about these movies when we don't even have Terminator 1 & 2 in proper 4K HDR. I haven't felt the least bit compelled to watch any of the sequels. The same way any of my friends react to the concept of Terminator too; it's a relic of the past. People actually groan at the thought of the subject and genuinely aren't interested.

James Cameron needs to start giving home video more special treatment and attention. If he doesn't care, why should anyone else? It wouldn't be hard at all to reinvigorate a little interest in this franchise but it has been thought of as "passe" for decades.

[brasil]

So true. Cameron screams not caring but for the $$$. ME ME ME $$$$$. So many of his films have issues getting decent transfers on home media. Because why? Because only he knows how to screw up transfer? like T2?

Cameron is eminently dispensable as far as home media goes. Unfortunately he doesn't know that.

[fighthefutureofhd]

Originally Posted by Archivy

It's tough to think of successful franchise revivals. Fury Road is one, arguably Toy Story 3 is another. However, nearly all of them are unsuccessful.

Bad Boys for Life is the latest attempt to revive a franchise. Let's see how it fares.

Mad Max Fury Road wasn't really all that successful. And Toy Story 3 wasn't a franchise revival.

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Daredevil666

Fury Road needed Mel. With Mel, the box office would have been double or triple.

Fury Road needed a script overhaul, not just crazy Mel. It's about as simple a plot as one could imagine and thin tissue holding it together. It's just a head in one direction, turn around, and go back the other way chase with cringey dialog and silly acting. Boring and sloppy!! It felt more like a spoof of post-apocalyptic films. There was more CGI added to the stunts than one could imagine. Too bad as other films have been able to pull off wild stunts with no help from a computer.

[rockyfan]

Not casting Mel as Max in Fury Road was the worst decision of the last decade. Hardy did nothing for me in it. I still love the film but if it had been Mel in that role, he would have taken it to a whole new level (sorry of topic).

[Archivy]

Originally Posted by Nothing371

James Cameron needs to start giving home video more special treatment and attention. If he doesn't care, why should anyone else?

You should seek out his "film school in a box" laserdiscs then.

[Archivy]

Originally Posted by Daredevil666

Arnold worked for next to nothing before in exchange of a %.

Ok, same difference -- it leads to the same financial catch-22, that it places undue pressure on the film to be successful at the box office, so the studios get conservative to try to make that happen, which then leads to it not happening.

I get it; I'm a fan too. It's frustrating, but you can't put the genie back in the bottle. If you want the franchise roots, go rewatch the first Terminator.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Archivy

That will never happen. Ahnold and Linda Hamilton aren't lowering their fees to be in these films. Sure, they don't command what they used to, but these are popcorn films -- established actors are not going to work for scale. Hence, if you want low budget films, you're asking the filmmakers to cast unknowns. They already made a Terminator film without Arnold, and we know how that was received. Besides, financiers want marketing anchors, which established stars/characters like Linda and Arnold are. Plus, just from an artistic perspective, if you've got franchise films filled with unknowns, it's worth just creating wholly original IP and dropping the franchise tag. Studios these days are loathe to do that. So you're back to casting stars, which necessitates big budgets, which necessitates a certain risk aversion because they want to try to recoup their sizable financial outlays.

Face it, any way you cut it, these films are never going to go back to their franchise roots. It's not financially viable to do so.

I love them both, but they aren't commanding anything anymore. It's production costs that continue to balloon higher. Scale that back and then you can make something with the potential to make some money. Granted, with the way Hollywood accounting goes, even films that make money still don't make money.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by levcore

I never understand that whole "I hate this movie, it's a piece of crap, a dumpster fire! ..... anyway I'll be rewatching the 4K disc I bought this weekend"

Likewise, but I think that's more of an OCD component.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Heh, and Fury Road only took another $114M worldwide than DF so even that wasn't some astonishing box office success, though it was a critical darling for sure. Still, $150M domestic for Fury Road is a very solid haul and the domestic returns for the last two Terminator flicks amount to that combined.

And 5 years (almost?) it's considered one of the best action films of all time let alone the decade.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Daredevil666

Fury Road needed Mel. With Mel, the box office would have been double or triple.

Nope.

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

And 5 years (almost?) it's considered one of the best action films of all time let alone the decade.

Yep. I literally said it was a critical darling, then and now, but it didn't do amazingly well at the box office (domestic was rather good, worldwide less so).

[Jlouisbarrett]

Uh, yeah, Mel Gibson being the star of Fury Road probably would have hurt the box office of the film, rather than turning it into a massive blockbuster.

[Geoff D]

Exactly what I was thinking, it may have actually been worse for it e.g. can you imagine all the kvetching from the whiny YT fanboys that their beloved Mel had been sidelined in his own Mad Max comeback film...by a WOMAN!?! Hell, not just one woman but LOTS OF WIMMINZ?!! Christ, we'd have never heard the ****ing end of it, if the unbearably toxic reaction to Dark Fate's female-oriented slant is any indication.