[kagenaki koe]

what's missing was an all out epic destruction derby saving private ryan type battle at the end (just like in the beginning of the movie). at least that's what i would have wanted. the movie just seemed a lot more epic in the first half or so, then became, i guess...counter-epic?

i'll have to disagree on the elimination of T3. it seems to me that even the writers of T:S, tied in some of their ideas from all 3 movies, and even a large chunk of the story (or you could say, the "twist") references T3.

first, there's no way you can look at Edward Furlong's character and say he really looks like the guy who grows up to be Bale's portrayal of him as an adult. in Nick Stahl's John Conner, we at least get to see a guy who really had a fear of a future he wanted to avoid happening. and you'd also have to consider that technically at the end of T2 they stopped Judgement Day from happening...that doesn't really transition that well into "well the bombs went off anyway years later, so now heeeere's The Salvation story arc!". T3 also happens to fill the gap of what happened to Sarah and John after they blew buildings and shit up in T2 (they were later considered terrorists of sorts). this gives more weight to how weary and heavily burdened John's life had been by the time we see him in T:S.

back to the "twist" or major reveal in T:S that directly references T3, i'll try to make this as spoiler free as possible (but it would mean that you'd have to watch T3 all over again). in T3, Arnold explains why he was sent back...he actually killed John, then got reprogrammed by Kate Connor...he also explains how Skynet pulled that off in the future. i bolded that part for a reason, since John in T:S is well aware of that "plan" by Skynet. which is again mentioned by Skynet (using Dr. Kogan as the "face") in the "twist" (they knew they had to change things up a bit since John IS aware of a plot to assassinate him). some hints: you have the hunter/killers and their "purpose" or mission; harvesters and their purpose; terminators terminate; and then the OTHER class, which was the big reveal moment in T:S (which also happens to be the original mission of Arnold pre-reprogramming by Kate).

but back to T:Salvation. the thing that probably bugged me the most is about Kyle Reese's overall "importance" to the story. again avoiding spoilers, what he means to John in this movie. or maybe Sarah didnt think of at least telling this part of the story: John was succeeding in the original "tale" from T1 before all the time-travel business and he and Reese existed in the same timeline (and they still exist in the same timeline in Salvation). it's the "which came first, chicken or egg" thing that never was really explained in Jim Cameron's original tale.

also ron howard's daughter looks way too young for the role of Kate (who is supposed to be the same age as John)