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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Early Reviews - Terminator Salvation at 14% on Rotton Tomatoes

This would ruin my summer... I hope it is a statistical fluke and it turns around.

I guess X-Men isn't great either... @!#%!!!

Going to see "Star Trek" tonight.
 
Wolverine was what I expected, I liked Star Trek, and I'm betting Terminator Salvation will in no way live up its hype like most movies nowadays. Honestly if studios just toned down the marketing campaigns, most people would be more impressed by the final product. It's better to have low expectations and be impressed than the reverse.

I actually like going to matinees now anyways. Cheaper, and you get the whole day to think about the film.
 
Well sadly, most of these types of films are designed for one thing and one thing only -- to rake in cash. They are conceived and designed by the marketing departments at the studios, and the story is nothing but an afterthought. They just hire some nerd in LA or NY to write it.

Just look at Pirates of the Caribbean. A bunch of marketing execs dreamed up that money-making scam, based off of a boat ride at an amusement park. The script was only an afterthought that needed to be farmed out to a series of hack writers. "What's the story?" "I don't know.. just make something up."

The sad part is that the sheep lined up and dutifully withdrew crisp 20-dollar bills from their wallets, which eventually made it back to the studio marketing executives who dreamed the whole scam up... and who laughed all the way to the bank.
 
Tom said:
Well sadly, most of these types of films are designed for one thing and one thing only -- to rake in cash. They are conceived and designed by the marketing departments at the studios, and the story is nothing but an afterthought. They just hire some nerd in LA or NY to write it.

Just look at Pirates of the Caribbean. A bunch of marketing execs dreamed up that money-making scam, based off of a boat ride at an amusement park. The script was only an afterthought that needed to be farmed out to a series of hack writers. "What's the story?" "I don't know.. just make something up."

The sad part is that the sheep lined up and dutifully withdrew crisp 20-dollar bills from their wallets, which eventually made it back to the studio marketing executives who dreamed the whole scam up... and who laughed all the way to the bank.
Click to expand...
the more you post the better you go.
 
Never saw Wolverine yet, but Start Trek is awesome. The way they create the back story is brilliant, the acting is very good, and they use the exact star logs from the original series ( from what I've read...I'm no trekkie by any means)....but I thought that was pretty cool.

Terminator will hopefully go terminal, and should be Terminated.

:anti-old:

..I wonder what laughing all the way to the bank feels like?

...ahhhhh...to dream:)
 
Just saw it tonight at Archlight hollywood..... Little bummed out. Not as good as Trek but several million times better then all of the Pirates combined.
 
BTW, I saw the Pirates movies, too. They were entertaining to some extent. But my point was that these types of films are designed exclusively to extract money from wallets. In order to do that, the marketing execs know full well that they have to invest in the best visual FX, action set pieces, and good-looking Hollywood stars that money can buy. And in the case of Pirates, this investment and scheme worked perfectly, from a profitability standpoint.

Terminator 4 is following that formula. The one positive thing that the reviewers are saying is that the FX are superb. No surprise there. But the story sounds like an afterthought. "John Conner and his army battle robots in the future." I mean, this sounds like the most simplistic sequel/prequel idea that they could have come up with. The original Terminator concept was kind of inspired -- a robot sent back in time to kill the mother of its enemy.

What might have been really awesome for T4 would be to come up with an inspired twist on the basic story -- maybe that thanks to events in earlier movies, the future has changed dramatically and humans have stayed one step ahead of the machines, harnessing and racing to keep technological pace with a fledgling "rebellion" of machines that are the equivalent of an AI al Qaeda. Or maybe AI has led to a stunning new technology that allows for multiple realities, ala Feynman's sum over histories. Maybe the machines have become morally superior to humans and the audience sympathizes with the machines to win? Or perhaps the machines were whipped and have fled to the moon to set up new factories..... LOL. I dunno... something different! Something to make the picture worthwhile for a talented director to reboot.

One little test of the theory that the director is the key to this kind of franchise reboot is Robocop. Aronofsky, who is probably one of the most talented guys we have, is set to direct a reboot of the 80s classic. This will be a serious test of Aronofsky's talent. He must have something up his sleeve if he agreed to do it.
 
Tom said:
What might have been really awesome for T4 would be to come up with an inspired twist on the basic story -- maybe that thanks to events in earlier movies, the future has changed dramatically and humans have stayed one step ahead of the machines, harnessing and racing to keep technological pace with a fledgling "rebellion" of machines that are the equivalent of an AI al Qaeda. Or maybe AI has led to a stunning new technology that allows for multiple realities, ala Feynman's sum over histories. Maybe the machines have become morally superior to humans and the audience sympathizes with the machines to win? Or perhaps the machines were whipped and have fled to the moon to set up new factories..... LOL. I dunno... something different! Something to make the picture worthwhile for a talented director to reboot.
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Now THOSE are some good ideas for a sequel!!!
...sounds like someone has a writing itch? :)
I have no doubt....write it Tom, and they will come! :)

Just goes to prove that it's not hard (with some personal god given talent of course) to come up with plausible ideas for a story other than the crap that hits the screen. Turning it into a script that works is another thing, but at least theres some sort of respectable foundation to start with.

I have no real desire to see the T4 movie but I will go to see what all the hoopla is regarding the special effects. That interests me more than it's story - or lack of one.
 
I won't go into it here due to potential spoiler territory but have you heard of the original ending to Terminator: Salvation that leaked online a couple of months ago, Tom? Now that was a daring step which would have greatly benefitted the movie and the mythology of the previous films to boot. LINK with MAJOR spoilers. (BTW, I'm referring to the ending of "intermediary darkness" not the even more retarded ending they may have shot for the DVD).
 
Vince K said:
Now THOSE are some good ideas for a sequel!!!
...sounds like someone has a writing itch? :)
I have no doubt....write it Tom, and they will come! :)

Just goes to prove that it's not hard (with some personal god given talent of course) to come up with plausible ideas for a story other than the crap that hits the screen. Turning it into a script that works is another thing, but at least theres some sort of respectable foundation to start with.

I have no real desire to see the T4 movie but I will go to see what all the hoopla is regarding the special effects. That interests me more than it's story - or lack of one.
Click to expand...

The ideas are kinda cool. But what studio exec`s want are copies with enhanced visual effects shit, not altering the "essence". It`s forlorn as trying to sell a new coca cola with the taste of bananas, might be a fresh and unique idea, but the hordes just want the old coke in a newly designed can at best.
 
Vince K said:
...sounds like someone has a writing itch? :)
Click to expand...

Heh, you got me! I actually have begun writing a script that I will finish this summer that is very, very ambitious along these same lines. It's a political/military/espionage intrigue story that deals with AI. I have been interested in these topics for years, after reading the ideas of Vernor Vinge, Ray Kurzweil, and many of my fellow Singularitarians. I just need a couple weeks sitting beside a picturesque creek in the High Sierras with a cooler full of beer, a bag of weed, a blank yellow pad, and a pen. :sifone: :thumbsup:

It's interesting to note that James Cameron has moved way beyond the simple story of T4 and is literally reaching for the stars with Avatar. It will be interesting to see if he has come up with an idea that is inspired.
 
I was under the impression this one was more than just an action flick but instead explored the trans humanist conflicts of software vs soul.

That in a us vs them war it's never actually clear where the dividing line actually is.
 
I don't know the plot of T4 at all. Perhaps you are right. I've been avoiding all spoilers.

In terms of human vs transhuman intelligence, the reality is that any intelligence spawned by humans will only be an extension -- good or bad -- of our own consciousness and intelligence. The only thing that will prevent greater-than-human intelligence is some type of cataclysm, plague, or massive nuclear annihilation.

The reality is that some day machines will replace biology, or that machine intelligence will help to create enhanced biology that can keep pace. This to me is not a good or bad thing, just reality.

LOL, BTW, this is why this forum is so awesome. It only takes 10 posts before we are off onto an interesting tangent!
 
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