Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series [DVD]

I am a big fan of the Terminator universe, for good or bad. I have been a fan since the first time I seen Terminator 2 in the cinema as a young teenager. I have all the films on both DVD and Blu-ray including both The Sarah Connor Chronicles seasons, all the soundtracks, books and comics, plus figures and so much more. I'm very much like a T-600 in that way, I seek out everything and anything Terminator. So you can imagine my joy when by accident I came across this DVD (Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series), I wasted not a minute more and ordered it here on Amazon.

"But is this DVD any good or adds anything new to the film, all you Terminator fans out there may ask?"

"And after viewing this DVD I can say from my point of view, yes on both accounts!"

A little about the story. The Machinima Series, is set two years before the advents of Terminator Salvation. The year is 2016, the Resistance fighter Blair Williams (Voiced by the beautiful Moon Bloodgood) embarks on a deadly mission into the city overrun by Skynet and it's killer Terminators, to seek out and terminate the threat that is weakening the Resistance's defenses. But soon she finds out that the threat to the Resistance may not only be from the machines, but from one of their own. This is the untold story of how the Resistance was made aware, of the signal of hope from Terminator Salvation.

I really enjoyed this series, and I feel it makes a very suitable companion piece to Terminator Salvation. One of the reasons why I enjoyed this series so much, is because it's Blair Williams time to shine as the whole series is one of her back stories. I felt that the character of Blair Williams didn't have enough screen time in the film, but this story does her justice. Moon Bloodgood's voice over work is excellent, again she brings a lot of depth and humanity to the character of Blair Williams. The other voice over cast also do a first rate job too!

The series is made up of six episodes. The series is done in CGI, using the Terminator Salvation video game engine and graphics, so the character models and environments can look a bit ugly at times, but they get the job done and the overall effect gives the series a unique identity. The series also introduces us to some new Terminators that didn't make it into the film and the series is also produced by the film's director McG.

The extras on the disc are two informative featurettes on how the series was made, directed and put together.

So, if your thinking of buying this DVD, then please do! Because it's a great chapter in the Terminator universe!

Produced by the team of Warner Bros, The Halcyon Company, and with the supervision of both McG(who directed the movie) and cohorts such as Mic Rogers(Director Universal Soldier 2), this collection of six short 15 minute animated chapters is one of many related Terminator Salvation spin-off products to be cast as a `prequel' story to the events of that picture. We have already had two pulp paperbacks and a graphic novel, now we have the Salvation DVD itself and this little curio - The Machinima Series. Machinima.com produce the animation for numerous computer games' in-game movie segments as well as the game play movement itself. Previously available on the internet around the time of the movie, this 6-part animated story has audaciously bagged itself a DVD release. It is surprising that this was granted considering the animation is not really up to the standard of what you would expect, even for a straight-to-DVD production. That this DVD has received little advance word or publicity is perhaps acknowledgement by it's distributors that they are aware of this and have merely put it together as an added extra (and revenue raiser) for the Terminator fans. One element in the production's favour however is the presence of Moon Bloodgood again portraying her character of Blair Williams, though only in vocal form this time.

The story follows her character as she narrates her own story of existing amongst the ruins of post-judgement day earth and fighting Skynet and it's Terminators. She appears to be very much a Lone-Wolf, fighting on her own and not bowing down to any bureaucratic command. Her mission after inexplicably having to bail out of her trusty Thunderbolt II (nicknamed Warthog) aircraft is to locate and destroy a target known only as `The Ghost', a source that appears to have been responsible for a series of mechanical and electrical failures in a particular area of the city. After wasting a hearty number of Skynet's various drones; Moto-Terminators, Aerostats, T-600's, Hunter-Killers and bizarre spider-like contraptions, Williams finds herself rescued at the last moment by the deployment of a killer signal that appears to interrupt the cognitive systems of AI units long enough for them to be destroyed or, at least, long enough for a resistance fighter to make their escape. Realising that the signal was responsible for her aircraft's crash, and is in fact man-made - That the `The Ghost' is in fact a person, both needing to be extracted and taken to central command, Blair ignores orders to `terminate' him and drags him through the post-apocalyptic ruins to the extraction point. The idea of the `killer' signal of course will become the major plot point of the Salvation movie when it becomes entrusted to the care of John Connor.

As a fan of the Terminator series I was very keen to order this and add it to my collection. To slot it on the shelf next to the other DVDs'. For those of you who are not Terminator fans - though the story and vocal talent are of good quality - you may very likely find this rather amateurish due to the basic animation on show. Though you have relentless HK's hovering through spooky misty cityscape landscape engines and some cool backdrops, coupled with consistent action - the limits of this budget animation gives little reaction in terms of emotion. Indeed you may spend some of the time distracted by the zombie eyes of the principle characters. But this does explain the low key nature of this release (I had never heard of it until I viewed it on Amazon). Any higher a profile and any criticism may have seen it laughed off the shelves. This series would have benefitted greatly from a little emphasis on motion capture. But that is not really the point. All this is a minor concern to those who would buy the DVD: The Terminator fan. We are, let's face it, the only ones who are likely to purchase this anyway. For us the fan, its great to spend as much time as we can in this world. There are 2 documentaries on the Disc. One focussing on the production, and one looking at the character of Blair Williams. The contribution of the gorgeous Moon Bloodgood is most welcome here!

Learning more about Blair Williams and her personal battle with Skynet before she hooked up with John Connor in Terminator: Salvation was always going to be interestng, but the main point of interest here is the "Ghost" who has discovered a way of disrupting Skynets Command and Control functions-at the price of disrupting Resistance communications in the process. It's Blair's Mission to track down and deal with the "Ghost" by whatever means necessary here, but when she discovers that the "Ghost" is a human being she has a decision to make...

If you've played the "Terminator: Salvation" computer game you'll recognise the scenery and the graphics in this, but I rather enjoyed the game so that's not a problem for me. There are also treats, if you keep your eyes open, when Blair encounters-unknowingly-characters who later appear in both the game and the film. The Plot is solid enough, as is the reason Blair eventually ends up with Connor, but longer would have been better, so that we could have gotten more of a feel for Blair as a character in this Post-Apocalyptic world. Maybe in a sequel?

Regardless, I thought that Blair Williams was one of the most interesting new characters in Salvation and this mini-series bears that out. If you enjoy the Terminator series you should enjoy this. Anyone else?