Terminator: Genisys Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

Terminator: Genisys Blu-ray Movie Review

There is no fate but what we rework, reimagine, and remake for ourselves.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 30, 2015

Sigh. This reviewer cannot think of a more appropriate one-word response to Terminator Genisys, a letdown of a sequel/remake/reimagining/reworking/whatever this movie purports to be. And that's coming from someone who holds the first two films close to his heart and grew up on them, enjoys Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and actually kinda loves Terminator: Salvation (an against-the-grain opinion to be sure but, what the heck, contrary opinions are part of what makes movie watching so much fun, right?). And as for Director Alan Taylor's (Thor: The Dark World) latest entry into the franchise? It's hardly a total bomb, and it has its share of great moments -- most of which come in the way of pitch-perfect shot-by-shot and line-by-line recreations from the first two films and a couple of nice surprises -- but it's also a grossly overworked, overthought, overly forced, and waywardly cast movie that's more concerned with humor and visual effects than it is the darker stories and deeper themes that have made the franchise heretofore such a massive success both cinematically and culturally. The movie is well made, polished, and all of that -- that's the easy, expected part -- but the film suffers from all of the above plus a cardinal sin that aims to turn the tables on franchise history but simply turns the stomach when it reveals the identity of its primary villain.

The leader.

Mankind's war for the future has ended. Led by the battle-scarred John Connor (Jason Clarke) and his top Lieutenant Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), Skynet -- the computerized force behind an army of robotic and cybernetic killing machines -- has been destroyed. But the battle was won moments too late. Skynet used its ultimate weapon, a time travel device, to send one of its soldiers back in time to eliminate Connor's mother. In response, Connor sends Reese back to the year 1984 to stop the Terminator and protect his mother, a woman who has yet to learn of her destiny or master the art of self-defense and self-sustainability. However, Reese returns to a fractured timeline where Sarah (Emilia Clarke) has been raised since her youth by a guardian Terminator she calls "Pops" (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and who is as tough as they come. Reese suddenly realizes his role in humanity's destiny, remembering key information from a childhood he never experienced, information that will prove vital to stopping Skynet before it launches in the year 2017.

Terminator Genisys starts strong. Very strong. The future war bits are fantastic. They're dark, scary, and violent. The action is well staged, the special effects are seamless (as they are throughout the movie), and seeing some of the heretofore behind-the-scenes details play out is a pleasure. It's even great as it painstakingly recreates -- down to the finest little details -- several shots from the original movie and surprises with a sudden curveball that tells the audience that this no remake, essentially turning those lovingly recreated scenes into teases that are quickly forgotten. Terminator Genisys essentially takes the Star Trek Into Darkness approach, at least in its first act, telling basically the same story and capturing the same essence but changing things up a great deal along the way. It worked for J.J. Abrams, but it doesn't really work here. The movie quickly loses its way, reworking franchise lore while, at the same time, desperately trying to tidy up its messes in a way that doesn't work at all. The two seem frequently at odds. Genisys wants to be the other movies but it wants to be its own movie. It wants to work its way into the fold while tearing up the instruction manual. It's a frustrating watch that grows ever more painful as it moves along towards a series of forced and fatigued action scenes and a dull ending that just promises another movie rather than portend an uncertain future, as did the brilliant closing shots of Terminator 2.

One of the most disappointing aspects of Terminator Genisys is its casting. None of the primaries fit very well in the roles. Perhaps it's a case of being so familiar with the likes of Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Robert Patrick, and to a lesser extent Christian Bale and Joe Morton, but Genisys' actors feel less organic, less attuned to the roles. That includes Schwarzenegger, sad to say, who has been turned into a comic relief father instead of a stoic and unstoppable guardian. Much of that blame lies with the script that asks the cast to recreate magic by regurgitating classic lines that they simply cannot replicate with the same memorable spark, enthusiasm, and cadence. The performances are flat as well, Byung-hun Lee's fantastic turn as a T-1000 notwithstanding. The actors don't add much life to either action scenes or dramatic content, and they're at their worst when they're forced to partake in the movie's epic failure of its seemingly ceaseless, and needlessly extended, forays into humor. James Cameron nailed the humor quotient and presentation in T2. Here it's forced and laid on so thickly that the movie borders on drifting into comedy or, worse, parody. The sexual tension between Reese and Connor, an issue which is often forced under the guise of that humor, feels inorganic, too, whether in their more intimate moments or when "Pops" interjects either as it pertains to the importance that they "mate" and create John Connor or acts as a surrogate father figure who doesn't trust Reese with the duty. The entire movie is just totally tone deaf. What a major disappointment.

Terminator: Genisys Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Terminator Genisys features a rock-solid 1080p transfer. There's some interesting contrasts in the film that see it switch from pervasively dark and gray to bright and cheery with a slicker, cooler tech sector façade present near the end. The film's dreary post-war open looks great. Black levels are deep, skin and armor details are as precise as can be considering the surrounding bleakness, and purple laser blasts and bright orange fireballs contrast nicely against the prevailing darkness. Scenes taking place in the past -- the film's bulk -- offer a precisely detailed world. Brighter, better lit scenes reveal plenty of fine facial textures, whether human skin or carefully applied makeup that shows battle wounds or the exposed Terminator endoskeletons. Various bits of cool-blue technology and slick accents in the Cyberdyne officers are sharp and precise. The bright blue "Genisys" countdown readouts are strikingly colored, too. Flesh tones never appear wayward and black levels are nicely deep and detailed. The digital source leaves the movie looking a hair flat in spots, particularly in its darker moments, but the transfer handles what comes its way with a professional polish. Trace amounts of banding appear in a few places but prove of little concern.

Terminator: Genisys Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Terminator Genisys arrives on Blu-ray with a Dolby Atmos (core Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless) soundtrack. This review pertains only to the 7.1 mix. The sound is expectedly dynamic and all-invovling. Right from the get-go, the Paramount stars push through the stage with a crisp, well defined heft and effortless movement along the stage. The recreated nuclear war that opens the film offers tangible heft to missile launches and explosions, again with plenty of intricately moving sound parts that fill the stage with the horrors of modern warfare. As the action shifts to a climactic battle in the war between man and machine, various explosions deliver healthy, meaty wallops while laser blasts push through the stage, Hunter-Killer drones zip around overhead, and various other pieces of wartime din surround the listener. In the film's "past" timeframes, the action remains well defined with various crashes, crunches, and flying debris creating immersive, detailed, and precisely chaotic action. Gunfire is crisp and heavy. Music enjoys excellent, speaker-vanishing clarity and wide placement. Dialogue is precisely prioritized and enjoys a few occurrences of natural reverberation when the environment demands.

Terminator: Genisys Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Terminator Genisys contains three featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy are included with purchase.

• Family Dynamics (1080p, 15:51): Cast and crew discuss the franchise, the international cast, characters, and the qualities the performers brought to their roles.
• Infiltration and Termination (1080p, 25:29): A detailed look at shooting in New Orleans and San Francisco, including New Orleans standing in for 1980s Los Angeles, shooting the future war sequences, set construction, crafting some of the film's key moments in its most important sets, some more details on performances, and more.
• Upgrades: VFX of Terminator: Genisys (1080p, 15:07): As the title suggests, this piece looks at the detailed process of crafting some of the film's most challenging visuals, including the future war, digitally creating a young Arnold, T-1000 effects, and some of the new surprises the movie has on tap.

Terminator: Genisys Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Terminator Genisys is, in many ways, its own worst enemy. The film desperately wants to reunite the old with the new, and it brings the old back into the fold so precisely that audiences cannot help but feel let down that the rest of the movie isn't just more of the same, isn't just slipping on that comfortable old pair of shoes for another round of time-travel action. The movie raises the bar by calling upon the astronomically high standards James Cameron set and then moves the goalposts with an insurmountable number of shenanigans, well-made but boring "seen it before" action scenes, and a truly disappointing twist in making the villain one of the three people who should never be a villain in the Terminator universe. If nothing else, the movie is a fun enough two-hour diversion but it's easily the least of all the Terminator films and one this lifelong franchise fan won't be returning to all that often in a future that, as far as this movie is concerned, is very much set. Paramount's Blu-ray does at least offer excellent video and reference audio. A few extended featurettes are included. Rent it.