Terminator: Dark Fate - How Much James Cameron Is In It?

My Terminator Dark Fate review was one of the most divisive videos i've posted in a long time! I wanted to do a follow-up to explain why I think many are being too harsh on it... using James Cameron's own words and involvement. The first half of this video has No spoilers, but I'll give you a warning when I delve into some spoilers about the beginning of the film.

Have you seen the film yet? What did you think? Chime in below...

H O W T O S U P P O R T :

S O C I A L M E D I A :

Popcorned Planet is the part of the Purple Pill Network, a group of channels that instead of focusing on constant extremes, offers a more centered view on all things Movies, TV & Pop Culture including more socio-political topics.

C O N T A C T / B U S I N E S S :

[karantov]

The spoiler opening is so dumb. And Cameron just joins a long line of creators who destroyed their own lines. Ridley. Lucas and now Cameron. The Prometheus of the Terminator series.

[jwilkins]

I'm still hearing many words that make me sad. "Its ok", "not that bad", "cgi is ok" etc. Terminator 2 type quality would be a billion dollar movie easy now a days.

[plo]

James Cameron endorsed Terminator Genisys. So his credibility can be questioned. It seems obvious to me that he doesn't care about this franchise anymore, other than profiting from it. So his words, contradicting what he wrote in his own story, means nothing.

[NebadonAdams]

Everything about this movie looks like what George Lucas would call a "Retro" movie.
What is new here? The Rev-9 and Legion instead of the T-1000 and Skynet?
The Gender?


It's the same story again, so I see no reason to see it.

[moserfugger]

Andy, I really like how you engage in a conversation with your audience. There are very few channel where it works so well. For me it's one of the main reasons to watch your videos regulary. Although I'm often not sharing your opinion, it's always interesting to listen to your arguments, especially if they are really well researched like in this recent video.

For me DARK FATE was an okay movie. Not a huge disappointment, but also nothing special in any way. It was nice seeing Linda Hamilton come back. She did a convincing job and I really missed seeing her in bigger movies. Also it's always fun to watch Arnie playing the T-800. The way they wrote him in DF was a little too cheesy sometimes, but overall I had no problem with it and even liked some of the funnier moments ("Carl's Draperies" *lol*).

Compared to SALVATION the new movie just doesn't offer enough interesting and fresh ideas. SALVATION might have its flaws, but it was a really ambitious movie and took the franchise in a direction I wanted to see further explored. It wasn't just another "Good Terminator vs. Bad Terminator". The only new thing DF did was switching genders and ethnicities for some key roles. For me that's just not enough for a franchise that originally brought so many innovations to the genre.

Greetings from Germany! :-)

[NebadonAdams]

Who is this movie for?
The Spoiler from the beginning tells me it's for a "New Generation, " but that New Generation has no connection to any of this. To be stuck in a holding pattern (instead of doing the Future War properly) seems like a wasted effort to me.


Why would any filmmaker be drawn to telling this story over any other story?
It's all such a waste of time - it smacks of either:


a) Cash-grab (duh) or


b) A need to extend the license/copyright for Terminator before it fully reverts to James Cameron.


Nothing in this seems original. You could say that the first five minutes are a break from form, but for the past few years we have seen the same exact treatment of OG characters from franchises.


There's just nothing here to make me care.
I don't begrudge people their enjoyment of a "popcorn" movie, but let's not kid ourselves by saying this movie has any real merit beyond bigger explosions/set pieces and gender/current year politics.

[purexisdelirium]

If you can't change the past....then what the fuck is the point in sending a terminator back in the FIRST PLACE!!

[dagazrune]

1) You do not disrespect / destroy legacy characters. This movie completely destroys the ending of the previous two movies and makes them unnecessary.

2) Dark Fate is nothing but a retread of the first movie. The plot is the same with changes that just destroy the originals.

3) The movie is full of agenda from presenting all males as evil or foolish to makes all women look virtuous and physically powerful. Strong women are not just cut and paste from male heroes.

[glyyytch]

Just because Cameron says something is cannon (i.e. the time travel issue) does not make it logically consistent within the universe. That's the core issue here with the beginning of this movie. If you care about logical consistency with how concepts like time travel works, the opening of the movie completely destroys the first two movies of the franchise. If that same logical consistency isn't as important to you, it might not ruin the franchise. You're allowed to like what you like, but "Cameron says" isn't a defense of a legitimate criticism of the writing.

[plo]

It was a decent action film, but a terrible Terminator film.

[MikeMolden]

It doesnt make sense that Conner lead the resistance in the future but is dead now. I think its as simple as that. I dont think it matters what the creators wanted. What they wanted first was to capitalize of the name and success of Terminator through a sequel. I think its fair to expect coherent story telling in a "sequel" I mean its a continuation of the story. The main issue many film creators have with sequels is that they forget. While consumers watch and rewatch films over and over, I have to wonder how often film directors do. It just feels like they always have to check these boxes, but none of the boxes ever say to respect the source material. I expected to see John eventually START THE RESISTANCE.... Hes dead now....

[richardtpgusa]

I'm a big fan, and I see this as another time thread in the terminator universe. I've loved every movie, and I give this a 7/10 score. It's just the life of the character. Yes, I did think the beginning clip to set up for the rest of the movie Shot in the shin. But it's a movie...cheers

[doshi]

the you people think star wars is dead? lol while yes TLJ had its problems it never went as bad as the terminator franchise, if you still think star wars is worse then your having your head under the sand, lol

[evilmandrake]

Everything happens for a reason? If anything, the point is that even trying to change anything is pointless. Because of this movie, nothing matters. No matter what they do, they can't save a damn thing. This could be an interesting line to explore in its own franchise, but not one so beloved by so many people.

[un]

its like watching thundercats but instead of thundercats char and visual and storyline, we got paw patrol char, visual and storyline, sure it looks nice and colorful but we want to see thunder, thunder, thundercats and not paw paw paw paw patrol

[LorcanaControl]

At this point people are no longer judging a film on its merits. Both sides look at whos in it or what its about andjust love or hate it for that. Honestly this wasnt terribile and joker wasnt the greatest movie ever. Watch a movie and then judge it.

[BigRedTECH]

I'm going with "It's a bad movie from a franchise that should have never been"

[BIGSITV]

I enjoyed it. All the hate isn’t deserved. Most people decided that didn’t like the film before they viewed it.

[slingersindel]

When it comes to terminator, I can't count past 2. Don't kill the legacy character

[LorcanaControl]

Loved the begining i cheered just like at the endof avengers endgame. Time to move on.