Terminator Salvation: The Essential Edition
Updated
User reviews
10 reviews with 7-9 stars
21 reviews
Overall rating
9.1
Audio/Video Quality
9.4(10)
Audio Editing
9.9(9)
Visual Editing
9.7(9)
Narrative
8.1(9)
Enjoyment
8.4(21)
Overall rating
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
7.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Conceptually speaking I really like the idea of a Terminator movie taking place fully in the apocalyptic future rather than showing portions of said future and than spending the rest of the runtime in the past not that I had a problem with said narrative setups in the previous three films though I found the difference in narrative structure to be a nice and refreshing change of scene and pace, that’s not to say I didn’t have problems with this movie oooh I definitely had problems with it though Q2 has definitely fixed some of the issues in this edit.
The first of these resolved issues being the replacing of the theatrical and extended cuts version of Sarah Connors recording where the one from the original Terminator now plays strengthening both nostalgic value and continuity with both Marcus character arc and reveal of his origin being strengthened thanks to the erasure of certain scenes that only existed to undermine the revelation of what he turned out to be later on and since the whole desert heart surgery scene is no longer present this effectively leaves him alive as a new member of the resistance able to fully earn his second chance.
The small subtle music cues scattered throughout helped to give certain scenes and character interactions more meaning and the explosive titlecard graphic was very creative and suited the theme of the edit though I do think the transition to the first war scene was a bit on the erupt side, speaking of things a little on the erupt side I will forever be baffled by the studios insistence on the use of shaky cam, not just for this film but for most action orientated films in general and quite frankly shaky cam just doesn’t work for me it neither makes action scenes compelling nor does it increase the tension in any meaningful way.
As such well the action in this film and of course the edit is pretty solid for the most part the presence of the ever erupting and erratic shaky cam makes said scenes hard to sit through and I wish something had been done to either remove the camera shake or reduce the amount of visual shakiness though I know the ability to do so depends on ones software and NLE so it’s not the fault of Q2 as such I blame the studio and whoever conceived the idea of shaky cam in cinema, another technical aspect I wish had been smoothed over is the lightning in some scenes as there way to dark making it quite hard to see what was going on.
I often had to squint my eyes in some scenes just to see the full picture with an example of one of these scenes being where Connor and his soldier are in the valley of death and I get that dark lighting can make for a dramatic, atmospheric and at times impactful scene but it shouldn’t be dark to the point of near eyestrain though speaking of stuff relating to Connor I wish the scenes involving the higher ups ordering Connor about were axed as it doesn’t really make much sense why he’s taking orders despite previous films foretelling him as this great leader of the resistance (though the trimming and removal of the majority of the whole air strike sub thread was a good call as it’s presence only drew attention to the executive commanders rather poor levels of insight and intelligence.
Not only that but said scenes made things feel far to robotic and less human when the whole idea of the war is that through human perseverance the resistance will succeed, that and the sub threads removal makes said resistance easier to root for with the removal of the part where the machines identify Kyle Reese as Kyle Reese being a smart choice as it not only fixes a plothole at least partially but makes Skynet come of as far more competent than they were in the theatrical and extended cuts saying that though I do think the part of the scene with Marcus that shows which cell Kyle Reece is in should have been taken out.
Another scene that should have been taken out or at least trimmed or cut around was the one where Connor claimed that Marcus tried to kill his mother and tried to kill Kyle Reese as that raises questions as to how he knows Marcus is of the same model as the previous Terminator model in Terminator 1 or if he’s even the same model as the one in T1 and how the timeline placement and continuity in regards to these events even works in short it causes a bit of a headache though maybe I am overthinking it and there is a logical explanation to his statement.
This last point isn’t a criticism though it would have been cool if some of the interior and night scenes had that same blue tint as in Terminator 2 Judgement Day otherwise I would definitely say that this is a step up from the theatrical and extended versions of this time looping entry in the Terminator franchise.
The first of these resolved issues being the replacing of the theatrical and extended cuts version of Sarah Connors recording where the one from the original Terminator now plays strengthening both nostalgic value and continuity with both Marcus character arc and reveal of his origin being strengthened thanks to the erasure of certain scenes that only existed to undermine the revelation of what he turned out to be later on and since the whole desert heart surgery scene is no longer present this effectively leaves him alive as a new member of the resistance able to fully earn his second chance.
The small subtle music cues scattered throughout helped to give certain scenes and character interactions more meaning and the explosive titlecard graphic was very creative and suited the theme of the edit though I do think the transition to the first war scene was a bit on the erupt side, speaking of things a little on the erupt side I will forever be baffled by the studios insistence on the use of shaky cam, not just for this film but for most action orientated films in general and quite frankly shaky cam just doesn’t work for me it neither makes action scenes compelling nor does it increase the tension in any meaningful way.
As such well the action in this film and of course the edit is pretty solid for the most part the presence of the ever erupting and erratic shaky cam makes said scenes hard to sit through and I wish something had been done to either remove the camera shake or reduce the amount of visual shakiness though I know the ability to do so depends on ones software and NLE so it’s not the fault of Q2 as such I blame the studio and whoever conceived the idea of shaky cam in cinema, another technical aspect I wish had been smoothed over is the lightning in some scenes as there way to dark making it quite hard to see what was going on.
I often had to squint my eyes in some scenes just to see the full picture with an example of one of these scenes being where Connor and his soldier are in the valley of death and I get that dark lighting can make for a dramatic, atmospheric and at times impactful scene but it shouldn’t be dark to the point of near eyestrain though speaking of stuff relating to Connor I wish the scenes involving the higher ups ordering Connor about were axed as it doesn’t really make much sense why he’s taking orders despite previous films foretelling him as this great leader of the resistance (though the trimming and removal of the majority of the whole air strike sub thread was a good call as it’s presence only drew attention to the executive commanders rather poor levels of insight and intelligence.
Not only that but said scenes made things feel far to robotic and less human when the whole idea of the war is that through human perseverance the resistance will succeed, that and the sub threads removal makes said resistance easier to root for with the removal of the part where the machines identify Kyle Reese as Kyle Reese being a smart choice as it not only fixes a plothole at least partially but makes Skynet come of as far more competent than they were in the theatrical and extended cuts saying that though I do think the part of the scene with Marcus that shows which cell Kyle Reece is in should have been taken out.
Another scene that should have been taken out or at least trimmed or cut around was the one where Connor claimed that Marcus tried to kill his mother and tried to kill Kyle Reese as that raises questions as to how he knows Marcus is of the same model as the previous Terminator model in Terminator 1 or if he’s even the same model as the one in T1 and how the timeline placement and continuity in regards to these events even works in short it causes a bit of a headache though maybe I am overthinking it and there is a logical explanation to his statement.
This last point isn’t a criticism though it would have been cool if some of the interior and night scenes had that same blue tint as in Terminator 2 Judgement Day otherwise I would definitely say that this is a step up from the theatrical and extended versions of this time looping entry in the Terminator franchise.
User Review
Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
P
Overall rating
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
9.0
Audio Editing
9.0
Visual Editing
9.0
Narrative
8.0
Enjoyment
8.0
Quality - Good. A little soft for my liking, but perfectly fine.
Visual editing - pretty much flawless, except that the fades on the flashback to the prison cell felt unnatural to me (might be a true black thing?).
Audio editing - excellent for the most part. Although, once again, the flash back to the prison didn't really work for me. Narratively, it was fine. But it was the only part of the editing that just felt off - plus, the audio on Sarah's tape was a bit too quiet and difficult to hear. A direct comparison to the audio from the other tape scene shows a relatively big difference.
Narrative - good. An improvement? Not so sure. Q2 fixes some problems, but creates others. The removing of the rain scene robbed Marcus and the girl of development, and made both the attack seem abrupt and the "I'm cold" scene feel rushed. The removal of her willingness to offer antibiotics also just felt off to me and robbed the scene of a conclusion (she shoots him in the leg, but we don't see him exit?)
I was pleased to see that the twist that Marcus is a Terminator delayed, but it also felt that as a result the reveal of how he came to be what he is was less clear. Its a case of picking the lesser of 2 evils, unfortunately.
Enjoyment - Good. I enjoyed it. I recognise Terminator Salvation as a flawed film, but I've never thought it as bad as many people seem to. It's by no means a work of art, but it's competently made, has decent effects, good action sequences, a reasonable story (granted, with holes) and a good twist. I think both this cut and the original have thier strengths and weaknesses.
Terminator Genysis - now THAT'S a bad film.
Visual editing - pretty much flawless, except that the fades on the flashback to the prison cell felt unnatural to me (might be a true black thing?).
Audio editing - excellent for the most part. Although, once again, the flash back to the prison didn't really work for me. Narratively, it was fine. But it was the only part of the editing that just felt off - plus, the audio on Sarah's tape was a bit too quiet and difficult to hear. A direct comparison to the audio from the other tape scene shows a relatively big difference.
Narrative - good. An improvement? Not so sure. Q2 fixes some problems, but creates others. The removing of the rain scene robbed Marcus and the girl of development, and made both the attack seem abrupt and the "I'm cold" scene feel rushed. The removal of her willingness to offer antibiotics also just felt off to me and robbed the scene of a conclusion (she shoots him in the leg, but we don't see him exit?)
I was pleased to see that the twist that Marcus is a Terminator delayed, but it also felt that as a result the reveal of how he came to be what he is was less clear. Its a case of picking the lesser of 2 evils, unfortunately.
Enjoyment - Good. I enjoyed it. I recognise Terminator Salvation as a flawed film, but I've never thought it as bad as many people seem to. It's by no means a work of art, but it's competently made, has decent effects, good action sequences, a reasonable story (granted, with holes) and a good twist. I think both this cut and the original have thier strengths and weaknesses.
Terminator Genysis - now THAT'S a bad film.
T
(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Enjoyment
8.0
August 19, 2012 @ 3:55 am
Q2′s work has served as an introduction to fan edits for me. I’ve always wanted to make one myself, but didn’t find this community until recently.
My first exposure to fan edit was Q2′s Phantom Menace. An amazing job technically (the pod race was an exceptional improvement), but unfortunately that movie just has a poor story line. I had high hopes but was moderately let down, due in no fault to the work of Q2.
Terminator Salvation, however, is a movie that exists for no other reason then balls to the wall action. Bale is psycho status in this one. For me, that’s a good thing. The film runs on pure adrenaline, and story comes second. All it needed to do was stay out of the way of the action. Leave it to McG to mess up a sure thing.
Yet now, somehow, this film has been redeemed. It would be impossible to remove every single cliché, wink/nudge, or poorly delivered line of dialog, but what Q2 has created is a VASTLY SUPERIOR film to the one I first saw in theaters 3 years ago.
The edit is absolutely seamless. The pacing perfect. At no point was I bored. Eye rolling was at a minimum. The new intro set the tone and clip perfectly for the rest of the film. And the new conclusion works better then I could have imagined it.
The only complaints I have left are aimed at the original film makers more then anything else. I still wish Helena Bonham Carter’s character could be completely eliminated. But I realize this would be extremely difficult to pull off (impossible?). And Anton Yelchin was horribly miscast. He becomes Michael Biehn? I think not.
Addressing other reviewers concerns:
I suppose the inability of Skynet to properly identify and handle Kyle Reese is a bit of a hole. It would make more sense if they never knew they even had him. Q2 addressed this somewhat, but there is still that one scene where it shows what cell Kyle is in.
I think the canceled attack of Skynet was handled beautifully. It cuts out an over the top speech (didn’t we already have enough of those?) and honestly, it was redundant in the first place. The commander on the sub explains it for us when he blatantly says “They wont attack unless Connor gives the order” If your dialog is unabashed exposition, at least don’t make it repetitive exposition.
Finally, the transition to the attempted rape of Moon Bloodgood’s character seemed totally fluid to me. Not really sure where people’s complaints are coming from on this one.
Wrapping up, I’d give the original movie a 6/10. I’d give Q2s version an 8/10.
I’ll be burning this copy for all my friends. (Yes they own the original) And I cant wait to see what else this community has to offer me. Cheers!
Q2′s work has served as an introduction to fan edits for me. I’ve always wanted to make one myself, but didn’t find this community until recently.
My first exposure to fan edit was Q2′s Phantom Menace. An amazing job technically (the pod race was an exceptional improvement), but unfortunately that movie just has a poor story line. I had high hopes but was moderately let down, due in no fault to the work of Q2.
Terminator Salvation, however, is a movie that exists for no other reason then balls to the wall action. Bale is psycho status in this one. For me, that’s a good thing. The film runs on pure adrenaline, and story comes second. All it needed to do was stay out of the way of the action. Leave it to McG to mess up a sure thing.
Yet now, somehow, this film has been redeemed. It would be impossible to remove every single cliché, wink/nudge, or poorly delivered line of dialog, but what Q2 has created is a VASTLY SUPERIOR film to the one I first saw in theaters 3 years ago.
The edit is absolutely seamless. The pacing perfect. At no point was I bored. Eye rolling was at a minimum. The new intro set the tone and clip perfectly for the rest of the film. And the new conclusion works better then I could have imagined it.
The only complaints I have left are aimed at the original film makers more then anything else. I still wish Helena Bonham Carter’s character could be completely eliminated. But I realize this would be extremely difficult to pull off (impossible?). And Anton Yelchin was horribly miscast. He becomes Michael Biehn? I think not.
Addressing other reviewers concerns:
I suppose the inability of Skynet to properly identify and handle Kyle Reese is a bit of a hole. It would make more sense if they never knew they even had him. Q2 addressed this somewhat, but there is still that one scene where it shows what cell Kyle is in.
I think the canceled attack of Skynet was handled beautifully. It cuts out an over the top speech (didn’t we already have enough of those?) and honestly, it was redundant in the first place. The commander on the sub explains it for us when he blatantly says “They wont attack unless Connor gives the order” If your dialog is unabashed exposition, at least don’t make it repetitive exposition.
Finally, the transition to the attempted rape of Moon Bloodgood’s character seemed totally fluid to me. Not really sure where people’s complaints are coming from on this one.
Wrapping up, I’d give the original movie a 6/10. I’d give Q2s version an 8/10.
I’ll be burning this copy for all my friends. (Yes they own the original) And I cant wait to see what else this community has to offer me. Cheers!
D
(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Enjoyment
8.0
September 18, 2011 @ 10:05 pm
Just finished watching this edit & I have to say it’s a big improvement over the original. I applaud Q2 & as of now it is my master version of Terminator Salvation.
There were two stand out problems with the edit in my mind.
#1. There was a problem with the video in the Marcus flashback prison sequence where I had a green line appear & disappear on the right side of the screen. Could be a burn problem IDK.
#2. I really liked the way Q2 tweaked the story but as TV’s Frink mentioned above the scene where Marcus finds the cell where Kyle is held is the big stand out problem since skynet hasn’t identified him yet so he shouldn’t be in the database. If there was a way to cut the whole let me know what cell kyle is in part it would be better but I realize the problem of John just stumbling across kyle by chance. Not sure how this could be resolved.
So because of this story problem I have to give this edit a score of 8 & it is a part of my Terminator film collection.
Just finished watching this edit & I have to say it’s a big improvement over the original. I applaud Q2 & as of now it is my master version of Terminator Salvation.
There were two stand out problems with the edit in my mind.
#1. There was a problem with the video in the Marcus flashback prison sequence where I had a green line appear & disappear on the right side of the screen. Could be a burn problem IDK.
#2. I really liked the way Q2 tweaked the story but as TV’s Frink mentioned above the scene where Marcus finds the cell where Kyle is held is the big stand out problem since skynet hasn’t identified him yet so he shouldn’t be in the database. If there was a way to cut the whole let me know what cell kyle is in part it would be better but I realize the problem of John just stumbling across kyle by chance. Not sure how this could be resolved.
So because of this story problem I have to give this edit a score of 8 & it is a part of my Terminator film collection.
M
(Updated: September 05, 2012)
Overall rating
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
10.0
Audio Editing
10.0
Visual Editing
10.0
Narrative
5.0
Enjoyment
5.0
December 10, 2011 @ 4:50 am
I originally rated this back in December 2011 and am writing a review in September 2012, so I don't remember everything. The tech quality (as is usual with Q2 edits) was spectacular. The entertainment and story on the other hand were still painful as hell for me to watch the entire movie. Not enough was cut for my tastes. So if you more or less liked T4 (as opposed to hating every second of it) you'll probably get a kick out of this edit.
I originally rated this back in December 2011 and am writing a review in September 2012, so I don't remember everything. The tech quality (as is usual with Q2 edits) was spectacular. The entertainment and story on the other hand were still painful as hell for me to watch the entire movie. Not enough was cut for my tastes. So if you more or less liked T4 (as opposed to hating every second of it) you'll probably get a kick out of this edit.
N