Here are the stats according to IMDB:

  • The Terminator – 1984 – 8.1
  • Terminator 2: Judgement Day – 1991 – 8.5
  • Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines – 2003 – 6.4
  • Terminator Salvation – 2009 – 6.7
  • Terminator Genisys – 2015 – 6.8

I have read some reviews which blame:

  • The fact that the story (particularly the time travel elements) makes no sense
  • Some claim that Jai Courtney lacks charisma

For me the problem is the choice of the terminator.

The step up in the terminator between T1 (the T-800) and T2 (the T-1000) was obvious. That made perfect sense. Then they seemed to struggle to know how to step things up for T3.

I saw an interview with Arnie at the time of T3 and he was praising the idea that the terminator would be a woman! What a ridiculous idea! Even the name T-X is stupid.

I don’t remember much about T4 – a bit of an indictment in itself! So I don’t really know what the premise was.

But in the new movie they decided that the terminator would be John Connor. Not a terminator who looks like John Connor, but John Connor himself. The problem with that is that it’s an obnoxious idea. I hated it. My 10 year old son hated it.

They say in the Hollywood Reporter that the movies poor performance at the box-office may have killed plans for 2 more movies. I think that is probably for the best. They seem to have no idea how to move things forward from the first two movies.

Having said that, I just read on IMDB that the rights to the terminator series revert to James Cameron in 2019. So maybe there is still some hope.

Here ‘s a picture of Emilia (one of the Sarah Connors) and Arnie (one of the T-800s). Ain’t time travel (and sequels) confusing!

TERMINATOR GENISYS