Terminator Salvation

Terminator Salvation is an upcoming American science fiction post-apocalyptic war film set for release on May 21, 2009. Directed by McG, it is the fourth Terminator film and stars Christian Bale as John Connor and Sam Worthington as the Terminator Marcus Wright. It also introduces a young version of the first film's hero, Kyle Reese, played by Anton Yelchin. The film, set in 2018, focuses on the war between humanity and Skynet. It abandons the formula of previous entries in the series, which involved the Terminator and various other characters traveling through time to protect or kill John Connor. It is both a sequel and prequel to the previous films.

Premise
On May 23, 2008, Warner Bros. released the following plot summary for the film. The synopsis was modified on June 11, 2008:
Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), the man fated to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators, and the future he was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they find out a terrible secret that may lead to the possible annihilation of mankind.
At the beginning, Connor does not start off as leader of the human resistance, but he will work his way up through the ranks in the film. He is also mistrusted by other soldiers due to his extensive knowledge of Skynet. McG said that it will be about the development of the Model 101 Terminator as well: scenes involve humans being captured and studied by Skynet in order to perfect their cybernetic organisms and Connor explaining "[i]f we let these things go online, the war is over." Skynet captures Kyle Reese because it is aware Reese is Connor's father, and uses him as a bait to kill Connor.




Cast

• Christian Bale as John Connor: A young soldier waging war against Skynet after it destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, who is destined to become humanity's leader. Director McG deemed Bale "the most credible action star in the world" during development. Bale was the first person to be cast and signed on for the role in November 2007. McG talked extensively with Bale in England about the role while the latter was filming The Dark Knight, and they both agreed to move forward. Although a fan of the Terminator series, he was at first uninterested, until McG convinced him the story would be character-based and not rely on special effects. They kept working on the story every day, along with Worthington. McG said Bale broke his hand punching a Terminator prop during filming. Bale also spent six to eight hours each day with McG in the editing room to advise the finished product. During filming, Bale became angry at director of photography Shane Hurlbut, swearing at him and threatening to leave the film; audio of the incident was leaked in February 2009. Bale apologized publicly and said he resolved his differences with Hurlbut, and that when the incident took place they continued to film for a few hours.
  
• Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright: A resistance soldier who is plagued with vague memories and is discovered to be a decommissioned Terminator.His last memory is of being on death row, and Connor is unsure of whether Wright is from the past or from the future.Terminator creator James Cameron personally recommended Worthington (whom he directed in Avatar) to McG. Russell Crowe also recommended him to McG. McG decided Worthington looked tougher than the "great many of today's [waify] young male actors".[3] Worthington recalled Cameron told him "the Terminator to make is the one with the war". Worthington tore his intercostal muscles during the first weeks of filming, but he nevertheless insisted on performing his own stunts. McG once expressed interest in casting Daniel Day-Lewis or Josh Brolin in the part. Brolin did talk to Bale and read a draft of the screenplay, which he found "interesting and dark, [but] ultimately, though, I didn't think it felt right".
  
• Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese: A teenage soldier and admirer of John Connor. As portrayed by Michael Biehn in The Terminator, he was sent back in time to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor to ensure the survival of the human race, and he conceived John with her. Yelchin said he wanted to portray Reese just as Biehn did and not make him appear weaker just because it was a younger version of the character. The difference in his portrayal lies in showing Reese is intense, but not concentrated and focused until he joins the resistance proper. Yelchin tried to convey Reese's intensity by focusing on how fast Biehn appeared when running in the original film.
  
• Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor: John's wife, who is seven months pregnant. Charlotte Gainsbourg was originally set to play the part, but left due to scheduling conflicts with another film. As portrayed by Claire Danes in the third film, Kate was a veterinarian, but in this film, she is now a physician. Howard suggested, as part of the character's backstory, that Kate studied medical books and interviewed many surviving doctors after the events of Judgement Day. The film's subject matter reminded her of developing countries, devastated by war and lack basic supplies such as clean water, which "reflect[s] things that are going on currently in this privileged world that we're living in where there hasn't been an apocalypse and robots haven't taken over the world. I think that's something definitely for us to reinvestigate and that we continue to make choices for our own future to take that into consideration." Howard also focused on Kate "being accustomed to fear and loss" because the character was a military brat.
  
• Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams: A "no-nonsense and battle-hardened" pilot in the resistance suffering from survivor guilt. She will apparently be a romantic interest for Marcus.
  
• Common as Barnes: A resistance soldier and John's right-hand man.
  
• Helena Bonham Carter as Serena Kogen: The lead villain of the film. Tilda Swinton was originally considered for the part, but Carter replaced her just before filming. She accepted the part, as her partner, Tim Burton, is a big Terminator fan. Her role was a "small but pivotal" one and would only require ten days of shooting.[24] On August 22, 2008, Carter delayed filming by a day, and was given an indefinite leave due to the death of four of her family members in a minibus accident in South Africa.
  
• Arnold Schwarzenegger and Roland Kickinger as the T-800 Model 101: Schwarzenegger provides his voice, while the Austrian bodybuilder Kickinger was Schwarzenegger's double on set. Digital makeup was used to make him resemble the previous T-800 actor. Kickinger previously portrayed Schwarzenegger in a 2005 biographical film on the A&E Network. McG explained he wanted the T-800 to look like the younger Schwarzenegger in the 1984 film. Polish strongman athlete Mariusz Pudzianowski was also considered for doubling Schwarzenegger.
  
• Additional cast members include Brian Steele as a T-600, Jadagrace as Star, a girl in Reese's care, Chris Ashworth as Richter, Chris Browning as Morrison, Michael Ironside as General Ashdown, the resistance leader before John, Jane Alexander as a refugee, and Terry Crews. Linda Hamilton has been confirmed to reprise her role as Sarah Connor in voice-overs that opens and closes the movie; they are from tapes Sarah recorded before her death prior to the film's events to warn John of the future war.