Comments on: Cyborgs: Terminator Salvation and Surrogates http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/2009/08/terminator-surrogates/ Sci-fi, comics, humor, photos...it's all fair game. Wed, 23 May 2012 18:19:33 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Mark http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/2009/08/terminator-surrogates/#comment-47809 Mark Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:57:33 +0000 http://www.hyperborea.org/journal/?p=4724#comment-47809 Yes, the way T3 ended was a bit of a slap to the face of T2... but it's worth noting that T2 was, in itself, a slap to the face of T1! One of the reasons T1 is so brilliant is that it actually addressed the time travel paradox by using circular causation (naturally, T1 was not the originator of this idea, but it was one of the few movies to have solved this problem) - Skynet sent back a Terminator to kill John Connor's mother, but Connor sent back Reese to protect her. Ironically, Reese ends up fathering John Connor - so John Connor would never have been born if Skynet never sent a terminator back in time to kill his mother. But then, Skynet would have never been created if it weren't for Cyberdyne studying the wreckage of the terminator. It's a very clever story, and T2 went in the complete opposite direction and introduced many a paradox. It's possible to read T2 as having characters who were incorrect about their possibility of changing the future, which is why I think T3 works fine, as it's just embracing the view of the first film. "There is no fate but what we make for ourselves." is a wonderful theme, but that's not what T1 was about... None of which is to say that T3 was a good film, just that I don't think of it as a slap in the face of T2:p Yes, the way T3 ended was a bit of a slap to the face of T2… but it’s worth noting that T2 was, in itself, a slap to the face of T1! One of the reasons T1 is so brilliant is that it actually addressed the time travel paradox by using circular causation (naturally, T1 was not the originator of this idea, but it was one of the few movies to have solved this problem) – Skynet sent back a Terminator to kill John Connor’s mother, but Connor sent back Reese to protect her. Ironically, Reese ends up fathering John Connor – so John Connor would never have been born if Skynet never sent a terminator back in time to kill his mother. But then, Skynet would have never been created if it weren’t for Cyberdyne studying the wreckage of the terminator.

It’s a very clever story, and T2 went in the complete opposite direction and introduced many a paradox. It’s possible to read T2 as having characters who were incorrect about their possibility of changing the future, which is why I think T3 works fine, as it’s just embracing the view of the first film.

“There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” is a wonderful theme, but that’s not what T1 was about…

None of which is to say that T3 was a good film, just that I don’t think of it as a slap in the face of T2:p

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