Review Detail
7.9 9 10
(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Overall rating
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
7.0
Enjoyment
9.0
July 31, 2010 @ 1:49 am
Terminator Salvation – T-HOPE Edition
Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the original cut of T4. However, because of this, it’s easier to judge this edit without constantly thinking “this was cut, that’s gone, wtf that’s new” and so on. So let’s cut right down to it.
From a story standpoint, the edit is sound. Even knowing in the back of my mind that Marcus was a Terminator, his reveal was “shocking,” if you catch my drift. Also, the new intro. Ace. Absolutely awesome. (out of curiosity, did you use any shots from the movie “The Road”? Thought I spotted some. Anyhow). The intro really helped to set the mood. The only minor niggle I had with the story is why Blair suddenly decided to help Marcus. The scene with them after the attack helped to build their relationship, and without it, something just feels…off somehow.
I watched this on my laptop, so I have a feeling that video issues are going to be more apparent than on a DVD/TV. So take the next section with a humongo grain of salt…
Video was decent. The quality was consistent throughout, with a few exceptions: I noticed some interlacing during the intro. I don’t remember where exactly, but it wasn’t too distracting at that point, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. There was a shot in the first bit before the bomb goes off of a blonde woman in an office where the quality was noticably lower. Same thing with the shots of the bombs going off that was taken from Battlestar Galactica. I didn’t notice any other issues until the end…when Connor is being carried out of the Skynet facility at the end, the picture lookeda bit blurry, and the framing seemed off, almost as if the picture had been zoomed in on. Also, there was some interlacing on the final shots in the helicopter before Connor set off the fireworks show. And then…the strangest thing happened…the picture was amazingly sharp and clear during the helicopter finale and to the end. I was…confused. Finally, the final shot of Kyle at the end looks a bit stretched out.
Audio was great. Even on a stereo setup with my laptop speakers, I could still hear some directional sound effects and the like. Good show. I only noticed (read: remember) one hard audio cut, where the fire scene with Blair and Marcus was cut.
Now, for the edit: I didn’t notice anything (aside from the fire scene and the T-600 attacking Connor at the start), so all was good. However, there was a minor inconsistency in the edit: T-HOPE states that he cut the T-600 popping up behind John because, and I quote, “If a Terminator pops up behind you, you should be dead as its mechanical hand should already been ripping out your heart.” A very sound point…but shouldn’t that same point apply to the Terminator that pops out of the water during the opening base raid? Food for thought. Also, the fadeout to Marcus’s nightmare was…eh. Not sure how I felt about it. The filter on the dream was questionable as well. However, the second nightmare sequence during his “reveal” was probably my favorite sequence in the entire edit.
Overall, a very solid effort. The video stuff I mentioned earlier is really holding me from giving a higher rating. Perhaps it will look nicer once burned to a disc and played on a different system. However, editing is mostly sound, story was solid for the most part, and audio was close to perfect. THIS is what T4 should have been (or a very close approximation) the first time around.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Video: 6/10
Audio: 8.5/10
Overall: 7/10
Terminator Salvation – T-HOPE Edition
Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve seen the original cut of T4. However, because of this, it’s easier to judge this edit without constantly thinking “this was cut, that’s gone, wtf that’s new” and so on. So let’s cut right down to it.
From a story standpoint, the edit is sound. Even knowing in the back of my mind that Marcus was a Terminator, his reveal was “shocking,” if you catch my drift. Also, the new intro. Ace. Absolutely awesome. (out of curiosity, did you use any shots from the movie “The Road”? Thought I spotted some. Anyhow). The intro really helped to set the mood. The only minor niggle I had with the story is why Blair suddenly decided to help Marcus. The scene with them after the attack helped to build their relationship, and without it, something just feels…off somehow.
I watched this on my laptop, so I have a feeling that video issues are going to be more apparent than on a DVD/TV. So take the next section with a humongo grain of salt…
Video was decent. The quality was consistent throughout, with a few exceptions: I noticed some interlacing during the intro. I don’t remember where exactly, but it wasn’t too distracting at that point, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. There was a shot in the first bit before the bomb goes off of a blonde woman in an office where the quality was noticably lower. Same thing with the shots of the bombs going off that was taken from Battlestar Galactica. I didn’t notice any other issues until the end…when Connor is being carried out of the Skynet facility at the end, the picture lookeda bit blurry, and the framing seemed off, almost as if the picture had been zoomed in on. Also, there was some interlacing on the final shots in the helicopter before Connor set off the fireworks show. And then…the strangest thing happened…the picture was amazingly sharp and clear during the helicopter finale and to the end. I was…confused. Finally, the final shot of Kyle at the end looks a bit stretched out.
Audio was great. Even on a stereo setup with my laptop speakers, I could still hear some directional sound effects and the like. Good show. I only noticed (read: remember) one hard audio cut, where the fire scene with Blair and Marcus was cut.
Now, for the edit: I didn’t notice anything (aside from the fire scene and the T-600 attacking Connor at the start), so all was good. However, there was a minor inconsistency in the edit: T-HOPE states that he cut the T-600 popping up behind John because, and I quote, “If a Terminator pops up behind you, you should be dead as its mechanical hand should already been ripping out your heart.” A very sound point…but shouldn’t that same point apply to the Terminator that pops out of the water during the opening base raid? Food for thought. Also, the fadeout to Marcus’s nightmare was…eh. Not sure how I felt about it. The filter on the dream was questionable as well. However, the second nightmare sequence during his “reveal” was probably my favorite sequence in the entire edit.
Overall, a very solid effort. The video stuff I mentioned earlier is really holding me from giving a higher rating. Perhaps it will look nicer once burned to a disc and played on a different system. However, editing is mostly sound, story was solid for the most part, and audio was close to perfect. THIS is what T4 should have been (or a very close approximation) the first time around.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Video: 6/10
Audio: 8.5/10
Overall: 7/10
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