In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?

Director:

McG
Popularity
2,039 ( 354)
2 wins & 14 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale ... John Connor
Sam Worthington ... Marcus Wright
Moon Bloodgood ... Blair Williams
Helena Bonham Carter ... Dr. Serena Kogan
Anton Yelchin ... Kyle Reese
Jadagrace ... Star (as Jadagrace berry)
Bryce Dallas Howard ... Kate Connor
Common ... Barnes
Jane Alexander ... Virginia
Michael Ironside ... General Ashdown
Ivan G'Vera ... General Losenko (as Ivan Gvera)
Chris Browning ... Morrison
Dorian Nkono Dorian Nkono ... David
Beth Bailey ... Lisa
Victor J. Ho ... Mark (as Victor Ho)
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Storyline

In 2003, in the Longview State Correctional Facility, the criminal Marcus Wright is on death row, and is convinced by the cancerous Dr. Serena Kogan to donate his body to her research and he accepts. In 2018, after an unsuccessful attack to a Skynet facility, only John Connor survives, but he discovers that Skynet is developing the powerful new model T-800. Out of the blue, Marcus appears naked and with amnesia in the location. Marcus befriends the teenager Kyle Reese and the girl Star who help him to survive the lethal machines and they travel together in a Jeep. Meanwhile the resistance discovers a signal that might turn-off the machines and John offers to test it. When Kyle is captured by a machine and brought to the Skynet headquarters, Marcus decides to help the youngster and heads to Skynet; on the way, he saves Blair Williams who suggests to him that he should meet John Connor first. But Marcus steps on a mine and is submitted to surgery, when a secret about his origins is ... Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

The End Begins See more »

Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

Certificate:

14A | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

At one point, the film carried the subtitle "The Future Begins." Coincidentally, the film Star Trek (2009) (which opened weeks before this movie) used the same saying as a tagline. Actor Anton Yelchin appears in both films. See more »

Goofs

Skynet is able to track and destroy the Resistance Command submarine when it broadcasts the signal but they are unable to trace Connor's signal when he is making his radio broadcasts. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Dr. Serena Kogan: Marcus. How are you?
Marcus Wright: Ask me in an hour.
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Alternate Versions

Released on Blu-Ray as an R-rated director's cut with about three minutes of extra footage:
  • When John Connor and company infiltrate the underground base, a sentry robot pops up and is quickly dispatched. This scene was present in the teaser trailer.
  • Extra dialogue between Connor and Ashdown on the submarine. Ashdown points a gun at Connor's head and says he doesn't believe in prophecy.
  • Blair bathes in the rain for a moment then sees Marcus looking at her. She covers herself and Marcus turns away.
  • The scene with the two marauders is more violent. Marcus is actually showing stabbing one of them in the shoulder with a screwdriver, the fistfight with the second guy is longer, and a bloody impact is seen when Blair shoots one of the marauders in the leg.
  • Longer dialogue from Blair during the campfire scene with Marcus.
  • The sequence of the man being shot trying to scale the fence at the Skynet processing center is slightly longer.
  • John Connor's speech to the remaining resistance forces is extended.
  • The fight between the T-800 and Marcus is a few seconds longer.
  • Marcus trying to revive John Connor is slightly longer.
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Connections

Referenced in Bum Reviews: Terminator Salvation (2009) See more »

Soundtracks

The Terminator Theme
Written by Brad Fiedel
Used courtesy of StudioCanal
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User Reviews

 
This was actually a decent film!
17 July 2009 | by sideriteSee all my reviews

Enough with the copycat comments! Everybody is so keen to criticize this film, while completely ignoring its good parts. Was there some plot weirdness? Well, yeah, we are talking humans winning versus machines here. But most of it was decent.

In this film you get to see more machine types, more character ambivalence (do you even remember the first Terminator? it was machine fascism!), more hints to the previous movies and, most of all, hints of the direction of the Terminator concept. I don't want to spoil it for you, but you must be blind not to see it is a good thing.

Other good things in this movie: Moon Bloodgood, the Oh-girl; Michael Ironside, just as fun as ever, even if having some scenes. And there is Sam Worthington, who is actually the main character and more like Help from BSG, but twice as cool, NOT Christian Bale aka John Connor.

I am surprised to see that both Terminator the series and the new Terminator are bringing some modernism to the old age concept of machine war. They are obviously not without flaw, but considering the alternatives and, even more, my expectations, I would say that saying this film was bad must be just some fashionable thing to say right now.

Bottom line: I liked it!


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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Official Sites:

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Country:

USA | Germany | UK | Italy

Language:

English | Italian

Release Date:

21 May 2009 (Canada) See more »

Also Known As:

Terminator rédemption See more »

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$200,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$42,558,390, 24 May 2009

Gross USA:

$125,322,469

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$371,353,001
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

| (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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