Friday, December 12, 2008

Trailer Deconstruction: Terminator Salvation Part 2

Time to pick up from where I left off yesterday deconstructing the latest Terminator Salvation trailer.

Just a reminder: some of the screen caps and conjecture below could be considered SPOILERS!


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John Connor holla-backs at Kyle Reese at the aforementioned concentration camp.

Connor and company get a running start...


...and go repelling off some debris-strewn precipice all hero-like.

Someone -- or something -- emerges from fiery, post-apocalyptic ruin into heavy rain. Nothing is more dramatic than a good rainstorm.

Where have I seen this before? I don't know what's going on here, but if I had to guess... if Marcus Wright is a decommissioned terminator from the future, this may be him after he emerges from the time-bubble. Hence why he's nekkid, and why his skin is slightly charred. McG may be portraying the electric mayhem that accompanies time-travel more realistically.

John Connor confronts Marcus Wright, who is restrained. Looks like Connor figured out he's Metal, somehow, and isn't thrilled about it. Check out the scarring all across Marcus's face. What's up with that?

It wouldn't be a Terminator film without giant, wicked-looking metal treads crushing human skulls.

I thought it strange, at first, that SkyNet would go through all the effort of capturing humans just to smush 'em in a giant trash compactor...

...but maybe the human-hating A.I. turns purées them and harvests the remaining blood and tissue samples to use in the construction of terminators.

I'm certain this is Marcus Wright getting knocked violently backwards. I don't know what caused it -- the Terminator in front of him is still docked on the assembly line harness.

But considering that he puts a major dent in that girder, it's safe to assume he's not human. A person would just bounce off it and fall to the ground in a heap. But not Marcus Wright. His bones are metal yo!

It looks like we'll be seeing a lot of Sam Worthington sans pants. Like the girder he crushed above, I think Marcus Wright is the only one strong enough to pick up the gatling gun and arm of a T-600. Plus, he's the only potential time-traveler and full-fledged terminator, so he ought to be the only one who's ever naked.

Not that there needs to be a reason to see Christian Bale shirtless.

Humans escaping from captivity. The pens in the background look like the ones I posted above, where the humans were getting smushed. Maybe this is part of Connor and Reese's legendary escape.

This movie is shaping up to be what movie critics call an "action-packed thrillride." So far we know Kyle Reese will take on a Harvester and moto-terminators, as well as escape from a concentration camp with John Connor. In this photo, he's driving a combat jeep while being pursued by some dangerous baddie or another. Just look at his face!

Moon Bloodgood, whose name is torn straight from the pages of a D&D novel, as "no-nonsense and battle-hardened" pilot Blair Williams. Rumor has it she like-likes Marcus Wright. Don't ask me how that'll work out...

I wonder what John Connor's looking at...

Oh. That's... not a good thing.

Blair Williams and Marcus Wright running from some bad news. I wonder if anyone takes a breather during this film... I guess Marcus doesn't have to.

Uh, yeeeaahhhh...

John Connor gets backed up pretty badly. That's no surprise, considering how many heroic stunts he seems to pull. Looks like he gets over his beef with Marcus Wright, too.

As far as I'm concerned, Bryce Dallas Howard makes for a much sexier and much more appropriate Kate Connor than Claire Danes. Too bad she has to see her hubby tortured by mental and physical anguish every five minutes. Good thing she's a doctor, now.

And, apparently, is preggers. Hrm.

This shot provides a really good look at the gruesome, downright terrifying T-600's. I think it's safe to say that McG accomplished his goal of portraying T-600's as "the bigger, grimier, nastier version that preceded the T-800."

I mean, just look at the thing. It's missing half its damn leg and is still standing. Literally.

Well, it was standing.

More daring heroics courtesy of Marcus Wright, this time saving his main squeeze Blair. Oh, you kids...
My guess? Marcus Wright pitchin' a fit in some terminator lab. My guess is that he's from the future, the latest terminator model. The human brain was installed to make terminators behave believably human, but something went wrong. Marcus gives them the big "fuck you" and sends himself back to help John Connor. This is all speculation, of course.

Another creepifyin' shot of the T-600. This is the one from the human prison posted earlier. This is what a terminator should be -- unsettlingly horrifying.

John Connor wrasslin' a hydro-bot. Finally, a John Connor who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty!

Someone done fell down. Since that's John Connor screaming his lungs out, I can only assume Marcus Wright, Barnes, or Kyle Reese has fallen. The skin doesn't seem dark enough to be Barnes, and the hair is too short to be Kyle, so... looks like Marcus Wright sustains seriously injury or bites it. Ruh-roh!

Annnnd the moneyshot -- the Harvester in all its giant, lumbering, Transformers-esque glory. Marcus and Kyle are going to have one helluva time taking this monster on.

There you have it, folks. The Terminator Salvation trailer picked apart frame by frame. It was a long-grueling process but one I had a blast enduring. I derive a great deal of entertainment trying to piece together the plot of upcoming games and movies, only to be proven wrong. That lets me use the debunked theories for my own writing. ;)

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