Line #22 Trivia/TerminatorSalvation


1	* BillingDisplacement: Despite receiving prominent billing, Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter only gets five minutes of screentime.
2	* CastTheRunnerUp: Earlier drafts of the script before rewrites focused a lot more on just Marcus Wright and Kyle Reese, with John Connor making an appearance in the last few scenes. Creator/ChristianBale was first offered the role of Marcus but took more interest in the character of John so rewrites took place to give him more of a substantial role throughout the film.
3	* ChannelHop: The producers of ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' were planning a fourth movie, then started feuding among themselves and The Halcyon Company purchased the franchise rights to get the thing done. Amusingly, in a way, the "Channel" didn't change, as like the predecessor, Creator/WarnerBros released it domestically while Creator/ColumbiaPictures did so internationally.
4	* CreatorBacklash:
5	** Co-writer John Brancato, who wrote the first script alongside partner Michael Ferris (which is why both are the only ones credited in spite of other scribes contributing), [[http://johnbrancato.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-to-beat-twice-dead-horse.html had lots of bad words about the film]], specially regarding how the original ending was discarded (see WhatCouldHaveBeen below).
6	** Creator/ChristianBale [[https://www.slashfilm.com/christian-bale-regrets-terminator-salvation/ initially]] rejected the role three times but eventually accepted it to spite haters, and laments that Jonathan Nolan's initial script was scrapped due to Nolan being called away to other commitments because of the Writer's Strike.
7	** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Arnold-Schwarzenegger-Blunt-Opinion-Terminator-4-70677.html was glad he passed on the movie and thinks it sucked]].
8	** On his return to the franchise with ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'', Creator/JamesCameron criticised the ''Terminator'' films he wasn't involved in, stating, [[https://www.screendaily.com/news/james-cameron-plans-to-produce-three-new-terminator-films/5120302.article "I don't have a lot of respect for the films that were made [after T2]."]]
9	* CreatorKiller:
10	** The relatively low intakes ($371.4 million, about a third from the US) compared to the huge $200 million budget sent the Halcyon Company into bankruptcy.
11	** This film also proved to be a serious blow to [=McG=]'s career. His next two films, ''This Means War'' and ''3 Days to Kill'', would also under-perform or bomb, and all his next projects have been direct-to-Creator/{{Netflix}} affairs.
12	** The video game adaptation of the film also ended up killing its developer, Swedish based GRIN, not at all helped by the similar failures of ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' and ''VideoGame/WantedWeaponsOfFate''.
13	* DeletedRole:
14	** Creator/TerryCrews plays Jericho, a Resistance soldier and Barnes' brother, in a DeletedScene. Similarly, Greg Plitt's brief role as a hybrid similar to Marcus was deleted after a general plot change.
15	** Creator/StanWinston had a cameo as a Resistance Soldier fighting a Hydrobot that was cut.
16	* DeletedScene: [[http://www.hopeofthefuture.net/deletedscenes/t4del_index.html There were many scenes that didn't make it to the screen]], ([[MissingTrailerScene some of which were in the trailer]]), including (see WhatCouldHaveBeen as well):
17	** An OpeningNarration by John:
18	--->''"The future is not set. I've been told I said that once. Many years from now. It was a warning. That I was going to hell. But if I fought hard enough, I could escape. I believed it for a lifetime. Now I pray I was wrong. Because now I am in hell. We all are. And the future I used to dread is the only hope I have left."''
19	** Marcus' infiltration of Skynet Central was originally longer and involved an HK-Tank destroying a church.
20	** Serena Kogan appears as a Hybrid and has a conversation with Marcus, but the scene is replaced with Skynet talking to Marcus.
21	** Several scenes involving actors cast to play Hybrids working at Skynet Central were cut following the removal of the Project Angel subplot.
22	** A scene was filmed involving Reese burying Marcus after the surgery, which response to Kyle's line to Marcus "Nobody will bury you" early in the film.
23	** A scene of John telling Command about the Series 800 at the USS Wilmington.
24	** Kate Connor had a subplot of being pregnant. She discovered she was pregnant shortly before the battle at Skynet Central, at a point where it wouldn't impact the plot.
25	** The original cut of the film included a topless scene when Blair and Marcus are warming themselves by the fire. [=McG=] said that it was meant as a ShoutOut to Kelly [=McGillis=]' topless scene in ''Film/{{Witness}}'', but that it ultimately felt exploitative and would have flouted a PG-13 rating. The scene is reinstated in the DirectorsCut Blu-ray.
26	** A longer third act had John and Kate having a longer conversation before he leaves on the mission to rescue Kyle; appearances by T-700's, more footage of Marcus infiltrating Skynet, prisoners escaping during the attack, the T-800 trying to use the T-600's minigun, and [[spoiler:Kyle burying Marcus and finding Sarah's Polaroid in John's jacket]].
27	* DisownedAdaptation: After ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'''s production, this film is one of the three ''Terminator'' movies that is completely turned away by Creator/JamesCameron.
28	* FakeAmerican:
29	** All three leads, though it's worth mentioning that Russian-born Creator/AntonYelchin has lived in the United States since he was six months old.
30	** General Ashdown is played by Creator/MichaelIronside, who's Canadian.
31	* FocusGroupEnding: The film originally ended with John Connor dying, and his skin grafted onto Marcus so that Marcus would impersonate him from then on. Test audiences hated it. The "heart transplant" ending saving his life was a quickly filmed re-shoot to change the ending into one that audiences would accept.
32	* FoilerFootage: There is an alternate scene John shoots the T-800's face off. The scene is created in case Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger refused to lend his likeness to the film.
33	* HostilityOnTheSet: During production, Creator/ChristianBale infamously went off on [[https://youtu.be/0auwpvAU2YA a furious and profane rant]] directed against director of photography Shane Hurlbut, telling him to get off the set because he was blocking the shot and calling him unprofessional. The audio of the incident went viral and has since become [[MemeticMutation one of the most oft-quotes and -remixed viral videos of the 21st century]]. Bale later [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/feb/09/christian-bale-apologises-for-onset-rant issued an apology]] and both he and Hurlbut claimed to have made up shortly after the incident.
34	* InMemoriam: The film is dedicated to Creator/StanWinston.
35	* LyingCreator: Pre-release publicity played up Roland Kickinger's role as the new T-800 actor. What said publicity conspicuously failed to mention was that Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's head would be rendered on top of Kickinger's body.
36	* MemeAcknowledgement: Both Creator/ChristianBale and [=McG=] have approved the [[MemeticMutation meme popularity]] of Bale's infamous rant and the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bale_Out "Bale Out" remix,]] the latter claiming to have a copy of it.
37	* MissingTrailerScene: The humans escaping from the Skynet Work Camp was filmed for use in the film and could be seen on the trailer; however, for an unknown reason, these scenes were cut from the final film. Also, the T-RIP picks up and uses the Series 600 Terminator's minigun. The scene is not featured in the film.
38	* OldShame: Creator/ChristianBale [[http://www.indiewire.com/2018/01/christian-bale-terminator-salvation-turned-down-role-statement-1201915441/ admitted that he turned down the role of John Connor at least three times]] before signing on and only accepted to prove that he could bring something to the role. Bale ultimately regrets his now-infamous on-set rant and was ashamed the film failed to re-ignite the franchise.
39	* TheOtherDarrin: Since the film follows ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', Creator/ChristianBale replaces Creator/NickStahl as John Connor and Creator/BryceDallasHoward replaces Creator/ClaireDanes as Kate Brewster.
40	* PropRecycling: Of sorts. Recreating the face of a younger Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger was made possible thanks to moldings of his face that were preserved since ''Film/TheTerminator''. Those served to create the animatronics back in the day.
41	* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Creator/AntonYelchin was uncanny as a young Kyle Reese, who was originally played by Creator/MichaelBiehn.
42	* TroubledProduction:
43	** The film's script was extensively rewritten at least three times, both for Bale's ExecutiveMeddling and testing audience's reactions. Then filming was delayed for four months when Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter lost members of her family in a car crash and had to attend to her relatives in England.
44	** The lead producers have alleged that elements of the production team deliberately made the film a ''[[Film/TheProducers Springtime for Hitler]]''-esque FailureGambit to bankrupt the production company so they could swoop in and scoop up the company's assets for cheap. Whether or not that's true or just sour grapes is only known to the lawyers and accountants.
45	* ViralMarketing:
46	** ''Welcome to [[http://www.skynetresearch.com/ Skynet Research]]...''
47	** "[[http://resistorbeterminated.com/ Resist or be terminated.]]"
48	* WagTheDirector: Creator/ChristianBale was offered the part of Marcus, but wanted John Connor. This expanded the role, and kind of threw things off-balance. Of course, the most infamous case involving Bale was the rant he delivered at Shane Hurlbut, the director of photography. In the leaked audiotape, Bale chews out Hurlbut for changing the lighting levels while he's in the midst of performing a scene, and subsequently tells [=McG=] that he will not have it happen again. Bale would later go on to apologize for the rant sometime later of his own volition, and most cast and crew reaction when asked about it was, "You don't change the lighting during a scene."
49	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: See the franchise's [[WhatCouldHaveBeen/{{Terminator}} page]].
50	* YouLookFamiliar: Michael Papajohn, who played a paramedic in ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', appears in this movie as Carnahan, the leader of the gang who harasses Blair.

Context Trivia / TerminatorSalvation