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Terminator Quadrilogy Blu-Ray Box Set Review

Terminator Quadrilogy Review

Terminator Quadrilogy Blu-ray Box Set is available in the UK but works in regions A B and C= Region free!

We’ve had the the double/duo, the trilogy, the Anthology; now the Quadrilogy is here again on Blu-Ray upgraded from DVD…

The release is a basic and easy way to own the first four Terminator movies in one box set for an affordable price. If you haven’t upgraded from DVD yet we recommend this be your first purchase in transitioning as a Terminator fan.

Comprising of 4 discs (obviously for each movie). The disc box comes with a card sleeve to protect it featuring a nice close-up graphic of the Endoskeleton skull in that original design fans will ALWAYS love the most; the endoskeleton part of the sleeve is indeed shiny silver and the silver letters are embossed on the card itself… beyond the sleeve the box art itself is EXACTLY the same (much like many a hardback book) and upon entering the box itself you will be presented with 4 discs and although the discs feature very familiar artwork (aside for the new edition of The Terminator) there is no form of Artwork or inlays inside… it would have been nice to at least have a booklet inside talking about the legacy of Terminator or something that would have made this release somewhat more significant and individual to a collector who has already bought more or less the same editions previously on Blu-Ray/DVD with the anthology or quadrilogy.

However it isn’t all doom and gloom!

The Terminator:

This version of THE TERMINATOR is the recent release with the new disc art from the release,- of Arnold crouching with transparency, so you can see his Endoskeleton inside! The 2015 edition with DTS-HD sound (Master Audio 5.1) and HD 1080p resolutuion. If you haven’t seen The Terminator on Blu-Ray before then you need to see it this way, if you still haven’t made the transition from DVD to Blu-Ray then the first major difference you are going to notice is that the dialogue at the start of the movie is no longer reduced to horrid block subtitles at the bottom of the screen they; are presented how they were supposed to be… in glorious full screen.

The Terminator is the purest form of a Terminator movie you are likely to ever get as studios just can’t seem to replicate the magic ‘machine’ with any form of originality or success anymore.

The sound is clearer thanks to DTS HD and the picture running at 1080p as we said takes Terminator to a crisper level but it still manages to retain its iconic retro feel. The disc itself is not void of special features but sadly they will be familiar to people who have bought previous editions of the movie. The main gripe I personally found is that the movie auto-plays and doesn’t have any form of animated menu, you will have to access the sub-menus yourself via your remote control.

Fans still complain and wish for the original gunshot sounds to return. These gunshot noises were changed for The Terminator Ultimate Edition DVD released back in 2002- hopefully they will make a return one day.

Special features:

Creating The Terminator. Visual Effects and music

Terminator: A Retrospective

Terminated Scenes

T2: Judgment Day:

Well get ready for a shock; the downside is that this T2 disc has NO special features the Up side is that this is the special edition of the movie in 1080p but like all deleted scenes sometimes there is a good reason they are removed and having to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger smile has become a major irritant to us,- in fact as a Terminator fan; getting older does damage to T2 in my opinion … the one liners… the child friendly cash in… this movie was the very transition to the aspects hardcore fans hate… Arnold Schwarzenegger-hero-Terminator-comedy bullshit.

Linda Hamilton brought a realism and grittiness to T2 which helped to make it a great movie.

The only thing remotely close to special features is sound and subtitle options which are a basic on any release these days and not really worth mentioning. T2 really isn’t done justice with this release and there is no option to watch the movie without some of the awful deleted scenes… If you are a fan of T2 you are going to need to seek out a worthy edition,- which will be next on our agenda.

Special Features:

None bar the feature movie being the Director’s Cut, also known as the ‘Special Edition’ or originally titled the ‘T-1000 Edition’ released way back on VHS.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

T3 is the only movie on this release not running at 1080p and instead runs in widescreen format.

It was a contractual obligation that Arnold return as a good Terminator yet again… the movie itself is poor and usually the crane chase has been continually referred to/cited as the movie’s saving grace but I even thought that was overrated… Yes, watching the movie on Blu-Ray is a breath of fresh air- for all of 5 seconds before the crisp picture reveals even more flaws that you didn’t notice before. Sadly I have had enough of this movie and after watching John Connor fall of his bike and whinge about his life I had to hit eject and put this horrid movie back in its plastic box prison.

T3 is the proof that not even Arnold can save a Terminator movie from being shitty, in fact he can help make it shittier with his request for script re-writes to feature MORE one-liners. Did you know that the original script for Terminator 3 was void of them before Arnold reportedly asked… “WHERE ARE THE ONE-LINERS?” and then a reasonably ok script got butchered and became a mediocre one.

.. T2 was indeed the gateway drug for this comedy infested nightmare of a childrens Terminator movie… before you say “but T3 was Rated R”… Hollywood is full of liars and thieves so I have no interest in debating that T3 could be perceived as anything but the most extremely watered down R ever; a pre-governmental clean image Arnold Schwarzenegger campaign courtesy vehicle… the good Terminator, the loveable hero; your next election choice as people think “it would be so cool if The Terminator was Governor of California”… Arnold did not deserve the pay he got for this movie and his performance was weak, obviously he had other matters on his mind. He was obviously focused on his campaign and I felt money was the name of the game and not heart or soul for the project.

There are plenty of special features that most of you will have seen before on the original DVD release but there are a couple of new features like the BD Live and the Cinechat modes if you need to re-inject life into T3. The special features are the strongest part of this Blu-Ray but the strongest T3 experiences TheTerminatorFans.com would recommend are the T3 videogames, they add more thought, dimension and originality to the ‘world of T3’ than the movie ever did. A trailer for one of those videogames does feature in the special features although ‘Redemption’ will always reign supreme.

Special Features:

BD Live

Cine Chat

Terminator Vision: Picture in Picture Visual Commentary

Commentary by Jonathan Mostow

Commentary by Mostow, Schwarzenegger, Stahl, Danes and Loken

Documentary

Storyboards

Dressed to Kill

Toys in Action

Sgt Candy Deleted Scene

Terminator Flaws – Gag Reel

Making of Video Game

Trailers

Terminator Salvation:

Although Terminator Salvation is a flawed movie we can’t help but look on it in a better light since seeing Genisys and after T3; walking out of the theater after seeing this movie was not as heart breaking… the Blu-Ray is as nice and crisp as it ever was at 1080p.

Terminator Salvation showed us that it is possible to make a Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger and I would rather the CGI Arnold was not in the movie at all… Yes, Terminator Salvation is classed as a fail and it was wrongly executed but it was better than T3 and Genisys in my opinion and Christian Bale did have some presence to carry the movie but just not enough with the material he possessed… now maybe if we can find actors/leads with charisma we could see many more Terminator movies in the future regardless of Arnold’s involvement/non-involvement.

While the execution of this movie was wrong some aspects were done right and I can take more appreciation from subtle things from this movie than I can from the latest installment (Genisys) or T3… I definitely would rather have the movies continue on in this world than where the series was heading in after this installment. Yes we have some shit casting, a total lack of R Rating but it had no comedy, it took itself a little more seriously. The plot rewrites were continuing even in production, it took its toll, the studios obviously turned the movie PG-13 when the concept was R… when you fuck with the ingredients the cake will collapse in the oven.

There are plenty of special features and the Maximum Movie Mode surely is interesting even though regularly McG name checks multiple movies related to kids stories, desert movies and books (High Plains Drifter, The Road, Lawrence of Arabia, Alice in Wonderland and more) and it becomes apparent he is trying to make any movie but a Terminator movie; even though cast state he is trying to make a Terminator movie… why is the director citing multiple other movies as points of inspiration and influence?

Special Features:

Maximum Movie Mode/Focus Points

Focus Points: Digital Destruction, Enlisting the Air Force, Molten Metal and the Science of Simulation, Building the Gas Station, Creating the VLA Attack, Exploding Serena’s Lab in Miniature, Hydrobots, An Icon Returns, Terminator Factory, Stan Winston Shop and Napalm Blast.

Cine Chat

Reforging the future

The Moto-Terminator

Trailers

Summary:

Overall the quadrilogy is the perfect way to own all the movies in Blu-Ray in one purchase but it doesn’t beat the presentation and features of the Anthology release a few years back, although slightly lacking in extras for the first two films it is still nice to have ‘them all’ in one release… yes, the boxset contains two fine movies and two not so fine movies… I’d class T3 as an horrific movie personally but I am sure some Arnold Schwarzenegger enthusiasts out there would disagree…

T1 and T2 are weak in special features while T3 and Salvation are strong with them… this will again be down to those legal issues that plague the franchise and T3 and Salvation were both distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and Columbia Pictures and probably explains why these two releases have full extras.

It will only be a matter of time before the quad becomes a 5 disc release… what on earth will they call that ‘Terminator Genesis’ with Genesis spelt correctly? Sadly the bad will then outweigh the good, but if you’re a collector you’ll want to own it anyway; it’s part of the job description to a certain degree.

Terminator Quadrilogy is available to buy now on Zavvi

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