Welcome to Weekend Watch, a recurring feature where we highlight some of the best geek-related videos around the web. Whether it’s short films, behind-the-scenes clips, video essays, or top 10 countdowns, the only requirement is that they are about our favorite geeky topics!
In this light and fluffy edition of Weekend Watch, we’re celebrating the release of Terminator: Dark Fate with a grab bag of content related to the film. First up, we have a great video that recaps all five Terminator films. After that, we showcase an essay that explains how the franchise has evolved throughout the years. Following this, we have a video of James Cameron and Tim Miller discussing the inception of the new sequel.
Afterward, we’ll showcase nearly an hour of cast interviews for Terminator: Dark Fate. We also have a series of featurettes that focus on the characters and production. Finally, we’ll close things out with a showcases a bevy of B-roll footage from the film.
The Complete Terminator Recap For Dark Fate
Kicking things off, we have a video from Screen Junkies that recaps the entire franchise leading up to Terminator: Dark Fate. Although the latest film is sure to retcon everything after Terminator 2: Judgement Day, the video is an entertaining refresher on the franchise. While this video oddly ignores Terminator 2: 3D and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, it’s still an excellent way to brush up on the franchise before Dark Fate.
How the Terminator Movies Have Changed
Now that we have a baseline for the franchise moving forward, this video from Georg Rockall-Schmidt explores how it has evolved. Although this video doesn’t include Dark Fate, it’s a wonderful reflection on how the franchise has changed throughout the years. As it appropriately points out, The Terminator is “an ultra-violent, no-nonsense thriller about a bulletproof man who drives a truck through a police station.” In other words, it’s essentially a perfect premise.
All kidding aside, the franchise has also drastically changed throughout three-plus decades of its existence. There’s no doubt that Terminator 2 indeed represents the apex of the series. Ultimately, this video does a terrific job of analyzing why each subsequent entry has attempted – and failed – to recapture the magic of the first two.
James Cameron and Tim Miller on Terminator: Dark Fate
Moving forward, this exciting interview with THR features James Cameron and Tim Miller discussing the inception of Terminator: Dark Fate. Even though this video was released around the time that the sequel was first announced, it’s fascinating to see how it evolved throughout the development of the script. Cameron and Miller are naturally vague about plot details at this point. However, it’s also interesting to note how the duo convened a writer’s room to map out an entirely new trilogy.
While this type of hubris is nothing new to the franchise-filmmaking machine that drives Hollywood, let’s hope that they can make one good movie first. Otherwise, the video also contains some interesting philosophical questions surrounding AI. More specifically, how this film will integrate those ideas into the new story. It will ultimately be up to audiences to decide whether the proposed trilogy eventually comes to fruition.
Terminator Dark Fate Full Cast Interviews
This lengthy video from Flicks and the City Clips compiles all of the EPK interviews from Terminator: Dark Fate. Most of these interviews contain relatively stock answers from the cast members. At the same time, it’s honestly just fun to see Cameron, Linda Hamilton, and Arnold Schwarzenegger discussing revisiting the franchise.
Terminator: Dark Fate Featurettes
Up next, we have a series of featurettes for Terminator: Dark Fate that comes straight from Paramount Pictures. The first four focus on the film’s characters, both new and returning. While the featurettes on Sarah Connor and the T-800 feel a bit redundant, the latter two are far more interesting.
The final featurette is far broader, focusing on the production of Terminator: Dark Fate. Even though this featurette was released a few months ago during SDCC, it’s ultimately worth revisiting for the variety of B-roll footage alone.
Terminator Dark Fate B-Roll
Speaking of B-roll, we’ll finish with an excellent video from FilmsActu that features some BTS footage from Terminator: Dark Fate. Right off the bat, perhaps the most surprising thing is how much of the action is accomplished practically. Although it certainly leans into heavy visual effects elements, it’s nice to know that there are still some practical effects in play. Whether those effects will be in service of a worthy story, however, remains to be seen.
What are your thoughts on Terminator: Dark Fate? Are you excited about the future of the franchise? Make sure to let us know in the comment section below!
