*Note: Terminator 4 director McG has apparently come out in his blog and said that only three people know how the film ends. However, he was very vague about it and does not completely debunk the ending that is floating around the Internet at the moment. Many people still believe that this is the way that Terminator 4 will end.*
*Also, I will not go into the ending spoiler until the middle of the post. It is carefully marked as a spoiler. So feel free to read to that point if you don't want anything spoiled for you*
We don’t really post on much film news (or rumors for that matter) here at YDKS but this one is just too good and insane to pass up. I was in the /Filmcast last night via /Film when Peter Sciretta got a notice from CHUD saying that the Terminator 4 Ending Rumor posted earlier that day on Ain’t It Cool was in fact true and therefore a spoiler. After giving a spoiler warning, Peter then told everyone what the rumor was and everyone was pretty much astounded by it. It made for some good discussion and has currently been getting pretty torn up on the Internet for the past day or so.
Let’s get one thing straight: I haven’t been excited for Terminator 4 ever since it was announced. James Cameron’s The Terminator and T2: Judgment Day were complete masterpieces of the science fiction genre and are irreplaceable. The story should have stopped with T2 (and Cameron has stated multiple times that that is where his story does stop) but in 2003 director Jonathan Mostow released Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines to mostly mixed reviews. While I enjoyed Terminator 3 for what it was worth (a purely fun popcorn flick with a pretty ballsy ending IMO), it definitely wasn’t up to par with the first two Terminator films. Honestly, it wasn’t even a Terminator film. In my opinion, it’s just not the Terminator without Director James Cameron. I could care less if Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the film or not. Arnie really doesn’t bring much to the Terminator character without Cameron’s excellent direction. Without Cameron, he’s nothing but pure presence. And that’s just not good enough.
So, as you can see, I wasn’t too offended when I learned that Arnold wasn’t going to be in Terminator 4 as a main character (though there is a rumor that he may do a small cameo). However, I was offended by the news that hack director McG (yeah… he’s one of those guys that goes by one name… real hipster) of Charlie’s Angels fame was directing. Then the fact that the film was going to be rated PG-13 hit the fan and I gave up all hope. And yes I do think that it’s important that the film be rated R. Don’t give me that “PG-13 is the new R” bullshit. It’s not. If it were, then it would just be rated R. The Terminator series has always been rated R, why the hell should you change it now? Oh yeah, that’s right, it’s just a product now. It’s just about the money.
The Terminator films should always be rated R. It’s always been a pretty gritty series full of violence and bad language, why wimp out now? After all, we’re going to finally see a film set in that always glimpsed into future where it’s man versus machine (which offers pretty interesting stories honestly). I would imagine that this is a pretty violent future that would require an R rating. But I guess I’m wrong there. After all, my name’s not McG (and thank God for that).
And don’t give me that Live Free or Die Hard argument. That wasn’t even a Die Hard movie in my opinion. Die Hard is rated R. That wasn’t. Therefore, that film, no matter how entertaining it was, did not feel like Die Hard. Just like this film will not feel like a Terminator film.
I’m really getting off-topic. Man, I’m bad about that. However, you can’t say it’s not a little fun to read my ranting. Come on, admit it. It’s a little fun…
However, there was some news that got me somewhat interested in this film: the casting of Christian Bale as leader of the future resistance John Connor. When I first read this casting rumor I honestly thought it was a joke because, let’s face it, Bale doesn’t really choose crap projects. So that got me wondering: what is it in the T4 script that made Christian Bale sign on? Yeah, he gets to play THE John Connor… but come on, there’s gotta be more than that to sign on to a three picture deal for what looks to be a terrible, uninspired, cash-in film. With the news that his role would mostly be in the background of the first film, my brain really got to wonder. What was going on here? Was Bale on crack? Or did he know something that we all didn’t? Well, after reading this pretty shocking rumor / pretty much confirmed ending spoiler for Terminator 4, it looks like he did. Here is the SPOILER, as posted on AICN:
“Alright so the main character is a cyborg named Marcus. For some background, Marcus was a criminal who was executed in 2003. He donated his body to Project Angel, which was involved with SkyNet. They take his body and make a terminator out of him so he’s a terminator skeleton but has living muscle/skin and a beating heart too. At the end of the movie John Connor is fighting a T800 model 101 and loses. He dies and the top resistance people come up with a plan to help the resistance keep fighting on. The resistance feels that it’s important to keep the image or idea that John Connor is still alive so the resistance keeps going. So they rip off Marcus’ skin and put John Connor’s on the skeleton so now Marcus is John Connor.”
Wow. How insane is that? Just digest that for a minute or two. Because, if this is true, it changes everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
Ever since the original Terminator, we have been hearing about how John Connor is supposed to be the leader of the resistance that eventually will give hope and defeat the rise of the machines. He is mankind’s last hope and, without him, we would all be enslaved, killed, and become nothing. The machines would win. This plot point has been the driving force behind all of the Terminator movies so far with the machines sending cyborgs back to try and kill Sarah Connor before her son’s birth and then John himself.
So now, we finally get to see John leading the resistance and pushing himself to the brink in order to save humanity. The story really has a lot to offer the more I think about it. I mean, think about it. The guy goes into this apocalyptic future knowing that he has to lead this huge resistance. He has to do it. He always has had to do it. How does he even start? John has always seemed, despite some leadership qualities, really normal and kind of unfit for the job. He really just seems like your average kid or everyman (depending on what film you see him in). Now that he’s facing this war, how would his character change? Would Bale portray him as unsure of him and a troubled leader? How vulnerable would he be? Would he project himself as a strong leader in public? Would it just be an image thing?
And now all this comes into play. John Conner isn’t the leader of the resistance that we’ve always been told he would be. It’s like being told Santa Claus isn’t really real; that it’s just your parents putting your presents under the tree. Except, in this case, it’s a damn robot.
The first time I heard this spoiler/rumor/what-you-wanna-call-it in the /Filmcast last night, I think my first reaction was a slight kind of devastation. John Conner dies? Really? I mean, that’s pretty heavy stuff to swallow.
Then, I was just pissed off. It all sounds pretty ridiculous. It doesn’t make any sense regarding the rest of the Terminator films. It basically renders the first three films as purposeless. Plus, in Terminator 3, Arnold was the cyborg that apparently assassinated John in the year 2032. Terminator 4 takes place in 2012. Also, SkyNet would not be able to make a realistic T800 model 101 by 2012. Plot holes?
Well, maybe. Or maybe not. The more and more I’ve thought about this possible ending, the more it seems to be plausible. First off, it would be a good reason for Christian Bale to sign on to the project. Think about it. Not only is he playing the fabled leader of the resistance but he gets to play the cyborg that has to imitate and put Connor’s name into the history books. That’s a pretty interesting role to slip into: a cyborg that has to become the most important man to the human race. The irony is insane. It is a cyborg that actually leads the resistance against the machines… not a man. What about his relationship with Kate? Will she know John’s now a cyborg (well… technically it’s Marcus with John’s skin thrown on top of him… but that just sounds kind of gross)? Will she learn to love him that way if she does? The acting possibilities for Bale are endless. Now only if he had a good director…
It really is tragic. John grows up his whole life hearing that he’s going to be the one that leads the human resistance and saves humanity. Then, he is cut down way before his prime. However, it is not the man that matters anymore… but the idea of him. He’s the legend. It’s kind of deep if you think about it. Most people that become legends really aren’t that great or special. However, it is the idea of them or what they came to stand for that we remember. And it looks like that is the main idea behind this little twist. If done very carefully and skillfully, it could work and lead to some really interesting concepts and commentaries on the way our own leaders are looked upon today. I dunno, maybe I’m just rambling by this point. Maybe I should stop.
Okay. So yeah, I have mixed feelings about this possible spoiler. At first, I thought it was ridiculous and would ruin the already-failing series even more. However, the more I think about it, the more I see that could be done with it. The possibilities are literally endless if they don’t drop the ball with it. Unfortunately, even if it’s true, they probably will still screw it up. After all, McG is directing. God… how did he get hired anyway? I mean, really?
Overall, this makes me slightly more interested in this sequel than I was. At least they might be trying to do something slightly different with it. It still should be R though. And McG should still be shot. Hey, maybe that could be the ending instead. I’d be up for it.
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