Here’s What We Saw At Terminator: Dark Fate Panel

I’m what you call a fair-weather fan of the Terminator franchise. I love the first two movies, but am pretty content to pretend the other three films and the TV series simply did not exist. Yes, I know you Sarah Connor Chronicles fans are out there and as rabid as ever — and that’s totally cool — but that isn’t me.

And I guess that’s not Paramount either, as everything apart from the first two Terminator films have been effectively expunged from the canon of the franchise, meaning that it’s okay for me to continue to be a cynical asshole about it. Going into this panel, I have all the hope in the world that everything they showed us was worth wading through three films of garbage.

So, what did we see?

The panel started off with a live video James Cameron from the set of Avatar 2, 3, and 4, telling us about the origins of the project, and him only wanting to do the project if it brought back Arnold Schwarzenegger. He mentioned the big question of bringing back Sarah Connor, and the fact that “there is no Sarah but Linda [Hamilton.]” He went on to talk about what it took to convince her to join the project, and one big pro he brought up to her is that “people love you as this character,” and want to know what she’s been doing since the last film.

He also revealed that Edward Furlong would be reprising his role as John Connor…which I’m not entirely sure that’s been revealed until now. Cameron then went on to discuss his role as a producer. He hires the best people (in this case, Tim Miller), he works as a sounding board when needed, but when the cameras start rolling, he isn’t around and fully trusts the crew he helped hire.

We then dive into a featurette where Tim Miller discusses his disbelief that he’s actually directing a Terminator movie. We some killer action footage and Linda Hamilton’s character mentions that she “hunts Terminators.” Badass, yo. Badass. Then from there, we have all the cast and crew discussing how while this follows in the tone of the first two movies, it’s a non-stop, white-knuckle ride, and the footage shown off, I can see why.

UPDATE: They released the footage below:

They also did not hold off on the swearing, and there were three or four F-bombs dropped in the featurette alone, indicating that this film will very much be an R-rated fare. 

Moderator Grae Drake then came out and helped pumped up the audience for the talent to make their way on the panel. Tim Miller is then brought out onto the stage. Fun fact. He’d never gotten into Hall H except for when he directed Deadpool and was on stage. 

He then talks about getting involved in the project. It all started with Deadpool post-production when David Ellison, who was impressed by what he saw in the movie and asked if he was interested. He then discussed his own fan trepidations if he’d heard of a sixth film being announced. As a fan, he’d be rolling his eyes since we’ve seen so many of these movies…unless there was something new, which he hints at.

He dives into time travel with multiple realities…he’s not a fan. He loves Endgame, but he isn’t generally a fan of multiple realities since you lose stakes. As a result, Terminator only has one timeline, and everything that’s happened changes the future. As far as the story goes, it’s about Sarah Connor living with the consequences of her decision in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Miller also confirmed that “Yes, it’s officially R-rated” to numerous cheers from the audience. “The DNA of Terminator is an R-rated f**king movie, so to not do it R feels disingenuous to the source material. We knew that’s what the fans wanted, we knew what we wanted to do. I got so many takes of Linda saying ‘F**k,’ it’s amazing…But none of Arnold. Robots don’t curse.”

They go on to talk about Linda Hamilton’s involvement and why she decided to come back before bringing her onstage. Apparently it took her a long time to decide to actually come back to the film…so what was the factor that made the difference? She went on to say that she gave it careful consideration because she had an opportunity to rest on her laurels. But she was intrigued by seeing what had happened with the passage of time, and that it changes everything, and she wanted to explore what had changed…”and rock it from a certain age.”

It took Hamilton a good year to get trim and fit enough to actually take on the role. She then discussed the dark places she had to go since this was a character whose life hasn’t necessarily gone so well. She called Miller “the most honest and true” director she’s ever worked with, and if you had a chance to see his very casual and F-bomb-heavy presence on-stage, you’d understand exactly what she meant.

She then brought out the remaining cast of Natalia Reyes, Diego Boneta, Mackenzie Davis, and Gabriel Luna. Starting with Reyes, she started off by saying “you are too many and know too much” to the audience, and that she was terrified to be on stage. She discusses her character’s normal life in Mexico…before a Terminator tries to kill her and she’s saved by Davis’ character.

Boneta expressed his excitement at working on a film so heavy in VFX, and yet one that the audience can still care. “Because if you don’t care about the characters in the explosion, it doesn’t matter,” as Miller told Boneta repeatedly. 

Davis discussed her trepidation at joining the project because she had an old-timey expectation of a director and a megaphone yelling at her to give him more tears. Luckily, that didn’t end up being the case. Miller said when he first introduced what he wanted Davis to do, he expected her to say, “you know what? F**k this,” but she ultimately ended up working really hard to take on the role. 

Luna shared some fun stories from the set, working with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and how Schwarzenegger pushed him to keep up and apparently get a ridiculous amount of stuff done. 

And then…Schwarzenegger came out. When asked why he came back, because unlike the Terminator, he didn’t NEED to come back. He disagreed with her. He responded “I NEED to come back. I’m addicted to Terminator. Terminator is the film that launched my action movie career.”

He then talked about how the film launched his career and how proud he is that he played a character that can simultaneously be one of the most terrifying villains and the most beloved heroes. He saw the film three weeks ago and says he was “blown away by it.”

As another fun aside, apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to quote himself from his own movies. The number of quotes brought up in the panel is hilarious. Everything from “Who is your daddy and what does he do?” to “Get to the chopper!”

And then…more footage!

It starts out with an extended version of the car chase scene from the first trailer before diving straight into another full trailer, which gives us a great look at ALL the characters in the film. As a fan of the first two movies, this one really nails the character aspect, getting me to care about all of them.

Linda Hamilton’s response to seeing the footage for the first time: “F**k, I’m old.”

Also of note is that Natalia Reyes was selected for the role by Hamilton, and Reyes went on to talk about how generous Hamilton was on-set and how inspirational she was.

Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters on November 1, 2019.

Don’t forget to share this post on your Facebook wall and with your Twitter followers! Just hit the buttons on the top of this page.

—–

Have you checked out LRM Online‘s official podcast feed yet The LRM Online Podcast Network, which includes our flagship podcast Los Fanboys, our premiere podcast Breaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, and our morning show LRMornings? Check it out by listening below. It’s also available on all your favorite podcast apps!

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts |  Spotify  |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play

Night Terror Banner   GenreVerse FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoGBreaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple PodcastsSpotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
Share the Post: