The Terminator Trilogy on HD

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 04 Sep 2007, 19:28

The Terminator 4.5/5

This is a classic movie that still holds up well over 20 years since it was made,superb action sequences and great performances all round. Michael Bien should've been a bigger star than he became.

blu-ray transfer 2.5/5

This was one of the first blu-ray releases,on a single layer disc using mpeg2 compression. i have to confess to being a little disappointed with the transfer which offers a minimal upgrade on the sd SE. This film will never look great due to it's low budget nature and cheap film stock but i feel a better release is coming someday.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day 4.5/5

Superb sequel is louder and brasher than it's predecessor and never lets up during it's 2 and a half hour run time.super stunts and great performances all round make this one of the best sequels ever made.

hd-dvd transfer 4/5

this movie has already had 3 hi-def releases,the one i have is the uk director's cut on hd-dvd.it looks superb,a definite upgrade on the dvd which looked pretty good as well.some scenes look a little soft but by and large this looks great.

Terminator 3:Rise Of The Machines 3.5/5

this movie could never hope to match the greatness of the first 2 but i thought it was a pretty good effort.Kristanna Lokken is hot as hell as the female terminator and Arnie is great.Nick Stahl as John Connor is a little bland though.some great action scenes and a decent addition to the series.

hd-dvd transfer 4/5

Again an excellent transfer,a definite upgrade on an already decent dvd.and unlike the first 2 movies the hd-dvd carries over all the dvd's extras (i think).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Sep 2007, 20:16

Nice work there Salty.

So I presume you would say it's not worth upgrading the Terminator DVD (unless the BD can be found very cheap)? How does the PCM hold up? Presuming you can hear it it should sound better to the DTS found on the DVD at least.

It's a shame Sony didn't hold this one back until they'd sorted out Dual Layer, that and their since improved remastering methods would've really made this one shine. It's a shame they've not re-released it like they did for The Fifth Element.

As far as Terminator 2 I've read the German HD-DVD will be different to the one used in France (and then re-used in the UK). The Germans are creating a new and improved master. I hear it will beat the French master.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 04 Sep 2007, 20:21

If you can find Terminator for a tenner or less yes but only if you aren't bothered by the loss of extras compared to the dvd.the sound is excellent btw. Of all the hd-dvds & blu-rays i've bought this ranks with American Werewolf as probably the most underwhelming transfer i've seen. AS for T2 i thought the transfer was awesome so it'll be interesting to see if the german release tops it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 04 Sep 2007, 20:25

Can you listen to PCM at it's full bit-rate Salty? I interested to hear how it compares instead of listening to it from a surround point of view.

Cheers Salty.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 05 Sep 2007, 09:25

I won't be buying any releases of these films in HD until they are released with all of the extras from the DVDs, including the seamless branching on Terminator 2: Judgment Day for the 3 different versions of the film.

Oh, and I'd like seamless branching on The Terminator also, to reinstate the deleted scenes...

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 05 Sep 2007, 11:53

IronMonkey wrote:I won't be buying any releases of these films in HD until they are released with all of the extras from the DVDs, including the seamless branching on Terminator 2: Judgment Day for the 3 different versions of the film.

Oh, and I'd like seamless branching on The Terminator also, to reinstate the deleted scenes...

could be a long wait...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Sep 2007, 12:57

T3 already has all the extras.

I'd give up on your hope of deleted scenes being added back in, they've never been done before so why now? Besides if they were T2 wouldn't make sense any more.

As for T2 with Seamless Branching ONLY the original Artisan R1 has that, so until Lionsgate re-release it it won't be happening any time soon. The UK DVD only has the Extended Cut and the French DVD has 2 cuts on separate DVDs, as is already the case with the French HD-DVD. The third cut is almost identical to the Extended Cut anyway, with just a couple more scenes.

Terminator 2 is one title I'll be getting as soon as I can play HD, the German HD-DVD should be out by then. Terminator I'm waiting until a re-release comes and T3 is not high on my to buy list.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 05 Sep 2007, 13:27

bradavon wrote:As for T2 with Seamless Branching ONLY the original Artisan R1 has that, so until Lionsgate re-release it it won't be happening any time soon.

Wrong, the R1 Extreme Edition has both cuts seamlessly branched as well, the TC is hidden.

The third cut is almost identical to the Extended Cut anyway, with just a couple more scenes.

Wrong again, third cut also uses the alternative Future Coda ending.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Sep 2007, 14:08

Good point, it's still from the same studio though. My point being only Artisan/Lionsgate have ever released T2 with any kind of seamless branching.

EvaUnit02 wrote:Wrong again, third cut also uses the alternative Future Coda ending.

Nope that's what I already said. That is one of the scenes, with the other being the T1000 searching John Connor's room. I like that scene but the "happy ending" is just awful.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Sep 2007, 15:52

The "alternative future coda" is not on the SE (I thought?)
You're right in that in that the happy ending sucks.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Sep 2007, 16:10

It's obviously on the R1 SE (not the Extreme Edition though) and I believe it's on the UK SE as a deleted scene.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 05 Sep 2007, 17:20

It is on the "Extended Special Edition" but not the "Special Edition" cut of the film.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 05 Sep 2007, 18:12

I meant SE DVD not SE CUT. I try and avoid just sill titles as as just proven it gets confusing. It's Theatrical Cut and Extended Cut to me, plus Super Extended Cut

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 05 Sep 2007, 20:11

there's also a fan edit of the super extended cut, but with the theatrical ending (ie no happy ending) ! LOL

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 05 Sep 2007, 21:16

dvdvision wrote:there's also a fan edit of the super extended cut, but with the theatrical ending (ie no happy ending) ! LOL

No one gives a shit about fan cuts. With the exception of Star Wars OT fanboys.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 06 Sep 2007, 06:23

You have to admit the original Phantom Editor SW versions were way superior to Luca$h ones.

Also Never Say Never Again Eonised, with actual John Barry music, was way better.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 06 Sep 2007, 08:56

EvaUnit02 wrote:No one gives a shit about fan cuts. With the exception of Star Wars OT fanboys.

I have all the Terminator fan edits & I care about them.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 06 Sep 2007, 09:01

IronMonkey wrote:
EvaUnit02 wrote:
dvdvision wrote:there's also a fan edit of the super extended cut, but with the theatrical ending (ie no happy ending) ! LOL
No one gives a shit about fan cuts. With the exception of Star Wars OT fanboys.
I have all the Terminator fan edits & I care about them.

I have the extended Terminator fanedit (which is just the deleted scene cut in the movie, so it make the original terminator a little better), and T3: THOPE version. T3 THOPE is a better T3 film, then the original cut, I prefer that version.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Sep 2007, 13:20

dvdvision wrote:You have to admit the original Phantom Editor SW versions were way superior to Luca$h ones.

What happens in that?

slasher13 wrote:I have the extended Terminator fanedit (which is just the deleted scene cut in the movie, so it make the original terminator a little better)

That sounds a bit pointless to me. The Terminator is already perfect to me. Sure it sounds interesting but not enough to watch it in lesser picture quality.

Besides the ideas in the deleted scenes were already more than covered in Terminator 2. Brining them up early you lose all the surprise of what happens in Terminator 2. Surely it no longer makes sense too? Sarah says they should go and destroy Skynet, it's then never mentioned again.

slasher13 wrote:and T3: THOPE version. T3 THOPE is a better T3 film, then the original cut, I prefer that version.

I've just read about that. It cuts loads out (including some pretty crucial stuff), even if some of the cuts are for the better. I wonder where they got all that extra footage though. How much time does the footage add up to?

Are there any Terminator 2 fan cuts that alter the film so much? I'd be interested to see those.

dvdvision · Post by **dvdvision** » 06 Sep 2007, 15:35

The original Phantom Editor cuts of SW I & II just beat the Lucases cuts in all dept, you even have the editor explaining on the DVD, in audio commentary or multi-angles bonus, why he did cut and what he did change and why it as to be that way to stay true to the spirit of the original trilogy editing and storytelling, and it's all a great lesson in filmmaking.

I suggest you get those on fan edit dot org. Heard that Lucas invited him to the ranch, told him how great his cuts were, and, get a load of this, showed him his fan edits of other director's movies !!!

Now that one wild trip

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 06 Sep 2007, 17:58

So they're editor's commentaries and not a new cut of the films right?

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 06 Sep 2007, 18:19

bradavon wrote:That sounds a bit pointless to me. The Terminator is already perfect to me. Sure it sounds interesting but not enough to watch it in lesser picture quality.

Yes, The Terminator is perfect in its theatrical cut but we as movie fans do like a choice! I love the fact that I can choose to watch the theatrical cut or the extended cut of The Terminator depending on what mood I'm in...

Oh and by the way, the extended Terminator fan edit is downloadable as a dual-layer DVD image which retains the exact same image quality as the original DVD. It also features the choice between the original mono track (woo!) and the 5.1 remix (boo!).

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 06 Sep 2007, 19:12

Mono haha

Balls to that.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 06 Sep 2007, 19:37

We've gone from discussing Terminator HD releases to bootleg dvd fan edits

:mrgreen:

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 06 Sep 2007, 20:47

romerojpg wrote:Mono haha

Balls to that.

LOL nope, I'd rather have the original mono than the remixed 5.1 with changed foley effects! If MGM had remixed into 5.1 without changing the sound effects I'd have been very happy, but unfortunately they were not true to the source, so the 5.1 is worthless in my book.

Anyway, we've been over this a million times...