ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

This has got to the wildest ride since Mr. Toad stole the model T.

The special effects don't look dated twenty-four years after the movie's release, because when you get 'em right they never look old. They just keep on looking right.

Edward Furlong as young John steals every scene until Linda Hamilton opens her mouth and steals it right back.

Arnold uses his minimalist acting to good advantage, completely convincing us he'd kill us in heart beat if our name was on his list, even though deep down he really cares about us -- right after we adjust his CPU.

I've always felt the music was a little too focused on the unstoppable Terminator theme. But maybe a more complex, rousing score would have been a little too enjoyable when we're supposed to be watching John and Sarah living in a waking nightmare, chased by a walking mass of oozing mercury that can turn its hands into cutlery that never gets dull, never gets tarnished, and never needs washing.

If you've never watched the special edition that has the scenes deleted by people who should be terminated, you've never seen the real movie. The "thinking" parts of the story are in those scenes, and that's always the parts I like best in any movie.

I used to crack up my 2nd grade students when I'd put on my sunglasses, make my face real stiff, and say in a deep voice --

"I am the Ed-ju-cator. Come with me if you want to learn."

Bear in mind, they were only seven years old . . .
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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My daughter posted a new picture of herself on Facebook. The first thing I thought of was this movie . . . . and what a nice parody of the poster I could make with her picture.

So I did.



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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Robert (Butch) Day]

I definitely see the family resemblance. It must be the sun glasses!


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Common Sense ISN'T Common

[ralfy]

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day is 25! Here are 9 things you never knew about the supercharged sequel"

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/terminator/feature/a799882/terminator-2-judgment-day-facts-25th-anniversary/

"Aliens, Terminator 2: how James Cameron crafts his sequels"

http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/movies/aliens-terminator/41954/aliens-terminator-2-how-james-cameron-crafts-his-sequels

[Bud Brewster]

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Whoa, thanks ralfy! Those are terrific facts about this awesome movie. I didn't know about the "alternate happy ending". Impressive stuff.

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_Terminator 2: Alternative Ending - Deleted Scenes


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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IMDB has 215 trivia items for this movie. Here’s a few of the ones I found the most interesting, in the blue text.
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A female passerby actually wandered onto the biker bar set thinking it was real, despite walking past all the location trucks, cameras and lights. Seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger standing in the bar dressed only in boxer shorts, she wondered aloud what was going on, only for Schwarzenegger to reply that it was male stripper night.

Note from me: I predict that the young lady was extremely pretty . . . and no rocket scientist. She didn't realize a movie was being made, and the man she asked her question to is one of the mostly well-known stars in Hollywood.

(at around 1h 40 mins) The T-1000 has four arms while in the helicopter: two for flying the helicopter and two for firing and reloading the MP-5K submachine gun.

Note from me: I will definitely be looking for this moment the next time I watch the move.

The steel mill effects were so convincing, some former workers from the plant (which had been closed for over ten years) thought it was up and running again.

Note from me: Wow. A movie that takes a closed steel mill and does enough to it to make it look like it's in full operation. Impressive.

The artificial substance used instead of melted steel (which would have been far too dangerous to use, or even impossible) actually needed to be kept pretty cool to maintain the right density. This meant that the temperature on set was quite cold, so the actors had to be sprayed with fake sweat in between takes.

Note from me: Well, I'll be damned. I would never have guessed that the "molten steel" was actually a substance which had to be kept COOL! How did they make the substance glow as if it was red hot?

On the DVD, by highlighting "Sensory Control" and pressing the right navigation button five times until the words "The Future is Not Set" appear, then selecting the phrase, the menu will alter, offering the Theatrical Version of the film instead of the Special Edition for viewing.

Note from me: Interesting, I suppose. But the Special Edition version with the additional scenes which explain how the T-800 is modified to learn from its experiences gives the story much greater depth and intelligence. (No pun intended . . . )

In the fight scene in the steel mill between the two Terminators, the set was literally dressed with rubber so the actors would not hurt themselves when being flung around.

Note from me: Fascinating. But they could have just staged the climax in a rubber factory and saved a lot of trouble. (Just kidding . . . )

(at around 7 mins) For the scene where the nude Terminator walks into a biker bar, Arnold Schwarzenegger was actually wearing a pair of purple board shorts.

Note from me: Uh . . . let me get this straight. When Arnold walks into the biker bar naked, he's actually got a CGI ass?

Denzel Washington turned down the role of Miles Bennett Dyson - "No offense to Jim Cameron, but when I read the script, I thought: All he does is look scared and sweat. I had to pass."

Note from me: Denzel tends to be very quiet and dignified in most of his roles, so I have trouble imagining him doing as well as Joe Morton as Miles Dyson. Joe nailed it.

It is revealed on the DVD audio commentary that the Terminator's alternate source of power in the steel mill comes from thermocouples, which convert the heat from the surroundings into electrical power which Terminator can use.

Note from me: The next time I see this movie I won't wonder why Arnold came back to life several minutes after "dying", instead of having that emergency reserve kick in right away. Cool!

An alternate ending for this movie was filmed but cut, which saw an elderly Sarah sitting at the park, telling the story about the Terminator, watching John playing with his daughter and tying her granddaughter's shoes. Director James Cameron decided not to use the ending and replaced it with the "unknown road" ending that was used in the final cut.

Note from me: Interesting, but I think Cameron was right not to use the happier ending. And it certainly teased us with the promise of sequels!

The next two items concern the happy ending as well.

James Cameron fought over the ending with Mario Kassar. Cameron wanted to end the film with an alternate Coda Ending (that showed the older Sarah in future) as a bookend, but Kassar wanted to end the film in an another way (as a measure for possible sequels). Cameron eventually relented when test audiences and Kassar himself reacted negatively over the coda ending, and he went with the existing one, commenting that this coda was way too positive compared to bleak and dark tone of the rest of the movie.

In an alternate future coda with an elderly Sarah and John as a U.S. Senator, Sarah would originally see a young, non-veteran Kyle Reese walking by, to whom she regrettably cannot say anything. This idea was dropped very early on, as it simply raised too many questions about how this alternate Reese could have fathered John Connor.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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More great trivia items for this movie!
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~ An alternate coda was filmed, with an elderly Sarah and John as a U.S. Senator sitting peacefully in a park, in a future where Judgment Day never happened.

Sarah would originally see a young, non-veteran Kyle Reese walking by, to whom she regrettably cannot say anything. This idea was dropped very early on, as it simply raised too many questions about how this alternate Reese could have fathered John Connor.

The entire ending was ultimately deleted, in favor of a more ambiguous and less cheery ending, also because a juvenile delinquent like John could not plausibly have become a Senator. The idea did survive in some form: in the novelization of the film, Sarah hires a private investigator to find Reese for her, without success.

Note from me: Yes, indeed, if Judgement Day never happened, then Reese wouldn't come back in time and do the "jungle monkey dance" with Sarah, thus preventing the existence of John Connor. But just like the producers of Back to the Future did with the unavoidable paradoxes in that wonderful story, T2 simply avoided calling attention to logical paradoxes the story ended up causing.

~ In the first film, William Wisher portrays a police officer, "1 L 19", who witnesses the T-800 being thrown from Kyle Reese's car after he and Sarah escape Tech-Noir. He is then attacked by the T-800 and has his car stolen.

In this film, Wisher appears in the mall following the battle between the T-1000 and T-800. After the T-800 is thrown through a store window, Wisher can be seen photographing him as he is climbing to his feet, and his facial expression shows that he recognizes the T-800 (not knowing that this is a different machine).

James Cameron confirmed that this is the same character as the police officer in the first film.

Note from me: I'll have to keep an eye out for these scenes the next to time I watch either of the movies.

~ After the escape from the mental hospital, the Terminator mentions that his internal chip is a learning computer, so the more time he spends with humans, the more he can learn. This was meant as an explanation as to how he picks up more and more human traits from John over the rest of the movie.

However, the scene originally continued, with Terminator explaining that Skynet had set the chip to read-only, preventing him from thinking too much and becoming too independent. John and Sarah then reset the chip by surgically removing and reinserting it. The scene was omitted from the theatrical version but restored in the Special Edition.

Note from me: I think the extended version is a far better story, because it explains why the Terminator eventually becomes so human at the very end. Without this fascinating and dramatic aspect of the story, the scene of the Terminator's self-sacrificing behavior at the end is just schmaltzy emotionalism.

~ During the climax, after T-1000 has pushed the T-800's arm into the gears, the T-1000 can be briefly seen 'glitching'. Although the theatrical version does not explain why this is happening, a few scenes restored in the Special Edition reveal that the android was damaged while being frozen in liquid nitrogen; it has problems maintaining its form and color, so it regularly has to 'reset' itself.

Note from me: These restored "glitching" scenes also add a interesting element to the story — which is why I will never again watch the theatrical version, because the extended cut is so much better!

~ When John and the T-800 are looking at the message that Sarah carved into the table, the T-800 is sitting down slightly hunched over and with his hands resting in his lap similar to a human, as opposed to sitting completely upright and still similar to a robot. This is a subtle hint that the T-800 is slowly becoming more "human-like".

Note from me: I never noticed that before. Cameron certainly knows his craft.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Krel]

Lance Henriksen was suppose to be in the movie. He was to play his character from "The Terminator", who had survive the attack on the Police station, but was in a wheelchair because of his injuries.

I don't remember why it didn't happen.

David.

[Bud Brewster]

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I don't normally like to watch those videos that show how the cast of a movie looks "then and now", because it saddens me to see what age does to the folks whom I've enjoyed in great movies.

But the video below shows us that the cast of T2 has, in most cases, aged quite well (except perhaps Edward Furlong . . . )

__Terminator 2: Judgment Day Cast Then And Now 2022


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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I had a conversation recently with a fellow sci-fi fan about time travel stories.

We discussed the idea that if a time traveler goes into the past and makes a change in the time line, it allegedly "splits off" into an alternate time line which incorporates the new "effects" which are caused by the change.

That seems to suggest that we now have two time lines — the original one and the alternate one. I really don't care for that version of time travel.

I prefer the more straightforward version which states that when a change is made in the original time line, it creates a domino effect in that time line.

Since the original time line was created by all the events prior to the change the time traveler made, changing something in the time line completely rewrites history from that moment forward — with differences that can range from a little to a lot.

But no "alternate time line" is created. After all, why should it?

Yeah, yeah, I know. All that is hard to imagine. So, here's an easier way to explain it.

Suppose I traveled back in time just one minute and took a single beer from the six pack in my refrigerator. Then I return to the present, beer in hand, and looked in the fridge.

There should be five beer in there now, right?

But . . . if taking the beer created a alternate time line because I removed the beer, that means I did NOT return to the original time line from which I departed. I went to the time line created by the removal of the beer.

Meanwhile, in the originator time line, I simply vanished from existence, and the six beers are still in the fridge — but there's no longer a Bud Brewster to drink them!

I submit that the whole "alternate time line" idea is illogical and unnecessarily complicated.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bud Brewster]

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Okay, gentlemen. Let's put this matter to rest, once and for all.

Is the Terminator franchised doomed to be endlessly rebooted, re-imagined, and resurrected forever, simply because there's no logical way end the threat of Skynet?

Well, call me crazy, call me arrogant, call me a genius-wannabe . . . . but I think there's a way to prevent the threat of Skynet's destruction of mankind once and for all. It relies on the fact that Skynet considers mankind a threat to its existence, based on the fact that when its creators activated it and then realized that it had achived self awareness, they tried to shut it down.

That, of course, was not our first mistake. Our first mistake was creating a superior self-aware life form that was in full control of our nuclear arsenal.

Well, on second thought, our FIRST mistake was in creating a nuclear arsenal.

So, here's a few suggestions for mankind which might prevent our horrible demise, caused by the A.I. system we created and then foolishly put in control of a weapons system capable of ravaging the Earth.

Naturally all these suggestions employ the time travel device that allowed both the resistance and Skynet to do the things we see in the movies. The difference here is that all the previous attempts to prevent the apocalypses have failed.

So . . . let's try this instead, shall me?
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~ Nip it! Nip it in the bud!

Send agents back in time to assassinate Albert Einstein before he comes up with E = MC2. If the atomic bomb is never invented, and nuclear-armed missiles don't exist, Skynet is a toothless tiger. (Then again, maybe we could tell Albert what a bad idea it would be — and show him photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)

~ Prevent the invention of the time machine!

Build a time machine whose sole purpose is to target the creation of the original time machine and prevent it from happening! This would require a repeating temporal loop, in which a time machine designed to detect the moment of it's own creation would send back agents (or robots) to that moment and destroy the first machine — thus resetting the time line. (If that sounds confusing, don't worry. I don't really understand it either. )

~ Use birth control to prevent the “birth of AI”.

Go back and show the entire world just how dangerous AI is so that it will be outlawed! (We’re getting close to this today, just because of this movie!)

~ Nuke it from orbit (figuratively) because “that’s the only way be sure.”

Determine the exact location of the Skynet super computer and then send a nuclear weapon forward in time to that location. Of course, we’ll just ignore all that crap about how machines can be sent back in the time machine unless its “surrounded by organic material” (Oh brother . . ) But if necessary we’ll simply pack the nuke in a big blog of Spam!

~ And ounce of prevention is worth a pound of Spam.

Put a nuke in a B-1 bomber and fly it over the location of the Skynet computer on the morning of the day it's brought on line. Yes, this will kill a lot of people — but Skynet is going to nuke them and everybody else later that same day anyway, so this option is harsh, but a whole lot better than the alternative![/size]
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)