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Etherdave (175)
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Taut, well-crafted political thriller
This pretty much sums it up.
Let's Talk About Io...
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The film intended to depict a peacetime American army composed of misfits, nitwits, and incompetents, with the odd career soldier (Warren Oates, who actually served 2 years in the Marines) thrown in for contrast.
You miss the point. This is a deliberately overblown, wildly hyperbolic, insanely insane film about people who led their lives like Greek or Norse gods, or at least like the heroes those gods favoured. Incest? What of it? Consenting adults, right? 5 times?, JUST 5 times? No wonder she killed herself... she just wasn't trying! How about Samuel's heart in a messkit? Or fighting a bear? Twice! The SAME BEAR!! I'm afraid you're simply supposed to pour yourself another one of whatever you've got in your hand, sit back, and just enjoy the ride. Premise? PREMISE?? This is for lesser films. This is 'Legends Of The Fall', the most overheated film in cinematic history. In the words of Jay Gatsby, 'It's all in fun, Old Sport'!
In the absence of time-displacement apparatus, I think he did a good impression of 1984 Michael Biehn.
The series establishes many models of Terminators, some of which are designed as infiltrators, some as mere one-off assassins, and some of which are clearly 'grunt' models designed as cannon-fodder; the Terminators are clearly becoming more capable of independant thought, and may come to resent their in-designed subservience to Skynet. Cameron is clearly designed off a lighter, less rugged chassis than other models; nevertheless, she is most heavily damaged by explosives, just as the original motion picture Terminator was.
Cromartie. This is Garrett Dillahunt's masterpiece, a Terminator whose great intelligence is undermined by his slavery under Skynet. As John Henry, Dillahunt plays an innocent child... who may not be that innocent.
There are numerous references to chess and chess theory in this series. Bobby Fischer was an American chess prodigy, with an uneasy relationship with his past and ethnic heritage, so he is perfect as a cultural reference in this series, which is as much about cultural divides as it is about malevolent computers trying to exterminate the Human Race. Fischer is famous for sacrificing his Queen in order to unleash an attack on an opponent, the so-called 'Game Of The Century'; he was 13. Fischer is also famous for his Openings, which were considered unpredictable and challenging to opponents; many described his play as that of a chess computer. The series is predicated by the development of a chess-playing machine called The Turk, which may ultimately become the malevolent AI Skynet. There are two characters introduced in the series: Andy Goode, creator of The Turk, who takes the name William Wisher to hide his identity in the future, and Charles Fischer, a watch repairman who colludes with Skynet and is branded a war criminal. John Henry, a childlike AI, enjoys chess-like games, as a means of learning; he is being developed in the present day by an advanced Terminator, ostensibly as an opposite to Skynet; he may or may not have benefited from the programming of The Turk, as well as a Terminator named Cromartie. The War between Humanity and Skynet is described as a chess-match, especially as prosecuted by the Future John Connor; Connor has been trained as an adolescent to empathize with the Terminators, possibly to encourage a negotiated peace, where both intelligences may survive. William Wisher is killed by Derek Reese, who travels back in time to murder Andy Goode before Wisher can exist. Charles Fischer is executed for his crimes, after fleeing to the past to ensure the survival of his younger self. Bobby Fischer died January 17, 2008, 4 days after the airing of the first episode of 'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'. Bobby Fischer is dead.
Sorry. The present owners of the franchise have no interest in continuing the television series. Personally, I smell a reboot.
You forget Cameron was programmed and sent to John by his older self from the future. Any such activity would have been anticipated and programmed by Future John. If your 15 year old self had his own female terminator, it's likely any interaction would be based on this principle. Advantage would not enter into the equation.
I'm pretty sure Catherine Weaver / T-1001 was investigating the possibility of reproduction, and whether or not Terminators could actually raise and nurture young, not simply simulate it as a means of infiltration. I'm pretty sure her 'pet' was part of that investigation, as well as Savannah Weaver.
Chinese opera is highly stylized, emphasizing enunciation, emphasis, and order in its delivery. Listen to English oratorio and chamber music of the Jacobean era, I think you'll see many similarities. Now, according to the original novella on which this film is based, Songlian and Feipu may be the only true intellectuals in the Chen household. Maybe Meishan really is a borderline singing talent (though it seems unlikely), and this simply makes no difference in the end run, since the household thinks whatever Chen thinks. He thinks she's a diva, and that's really all that matters.
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