"Know thyself and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe."

[ehowton]

On a whim, I picked up Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles first season last week, for something to watch until the fifth season of NCIS came out Tuesday. There weren't but a handful of episodes in the first season, and it was relatively inexpensive. I wasn't expecting much, especially after the the forgettable third movie, but I was wrong. It was fantastic!

First of all, Summer Glau plays the same creepy/gorgeous chick we've all come to know her as; being typecast sometime works very, very well. And because this is a television show, there's not a lot of budget for over-the-top action scenes or cut-rate CGI, leaving plenty of time for good plot development. The stories were well-told and believable, falling just after the events of the second movie. And if you're like me, you were wondering just WTF the casting director was thinking with the milktoast dude they chose as John Connor in the third movie. While the actor in the series doesn't yet seem comfortable in his role (or even as a good actor) he does manage to pull off the duality of teen angst coupled with the global responsibility he carries.

Another treat was the score - during the first episode I paused it and closed my eyes; bringing an invisible baton up and recreating what I'd just heard. "Sounds like Battlestar." I said to my wife (with heavy Brad Fidel overtones, to be sure). She agreed and I was surprised to see that the composer was indeed, Bear McCreary! Bonus.

Now, this isn't Cameron's Terminator but I greatly enjoyed the pace of the show, the new characters, and the actors quickly grew on me. And with Summer Glau a prominent part of the cast, its a great watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Comments

[mr-dowg.livejournal.com]

I am glad that you liked it. I watched it on TV last year and loved it....always hated it when a new one wasn't on and it ended way too damn early! I can't wait for the next season to come on, I was worried that they would cancel it because it wasn't a popular show but I have already read that there will be a second season!!!!!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

And par for the course, while the first season was $22 at Target, the second season will run me $50! Grrrrrrr. Well, if you want to re-watch the first season again before it starts again this fall, just let me know. I'll be finished with the last disk early this week and you can borrow the whole thing.

The episodes do seem to go by awfully quick, don't they? I get so excited between the "commercial" breaks. My wife thinks its a man-show. Hot chicks + guns + robots. She may be right.

[mr-dowg.livejournal.com]

I will definitely take you up on that offer! It will be good to re-watch the first season before the second one starts!

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

They did cancel it, but then miraculously it got a second life!!!

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

Hmmm! I could have sworn I told you Summer was in this series playing a "kick ass" role again. Maybe I didn't though. Enjoy!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

You probably did, but you know me...I'm not an early adopter. I gotta chew on things awhile. And "kick ass" just about sums it up!

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

I told you as well but your getting forgetful in your old age!!!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Look, I knew she was in the series. What I didn't know was that the series is GOOD. You also told me that Katee Sackhoff is in Dionic Woman. Fantastic. Will I think its worth watch watching? Exactly.

[swashbuckler332.livejournal.com]

...Terminator mix...?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Your avatar: Bill Paxton - in the first one. Took me a minute. Well played!

Do you jest? Wouldn't a coherent Terminator mix be akin to the difficulty of your No Escape mix? Admittedly I'm not intimate enough with all three scores to make that assessment, but now I'm itching to toss them on the iPod and listen to them back-to-back. Perhaps once there are a couple of seasons under his belt a television series soundtrack will be released. La La Land Records, perhaps?

I continue to scour the web for any incidental music or demos which have been released of the theme.

[swashbuckler332.livejournal.com]

I was also thinking about the James Cameron connection... until melancthe bequeathed me a Stryker icon, I also used my Fenster icon for X-Men related posts/comments because of the Bryan Singer connection. But I'm weird that way.


A coherent Terminator mix would be very difficult, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be a project for the immediate future. I know the Brad Fiedel music from the first two films pretty well, the Marco Beltrami score from the third somewhat less so, and I haven't heard anything from the television series. And, of course, there is no composer yet attached to Terminator: Salvation, although with McG directing the film, there is a chance that we might get an Ed Shearmur score (which would be just fine by me, his score for Reign of Fire is a personal favorite).

However, I would venture to guess that the Bear McCreary music from the series would probably mesh best with music from the second film. This might be a case where I'd have to do what I did with my Alien Quartet (which is still pending me taking it apart and redoing it with the remastered Alien tracks), and make sequential suites out of each score.

Either way, until La La Land releases selections from McCreary's Sarah Connor Chronicles and whomever releases Terminator: Salvation, this is all pure speculation.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

I hadn't even heard about Salvation until today. Nice cast. McG? Charlie's Angeles meets Terminator? This could get interesting.

So four films and a television series. Done Telarc-style (or, as you mentioned along the line of Alien Quartet), it could make a nice listen. Though I'll leave the arrangement up to your creative juices. I'm working from home tomorrow which means I don't have to xfer the songs onto my iPod, but its definitely going to be a Terminator day. All three, back-to-back...and more time to hunt rips from the series.

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Don't even get me started on Whatshisname from the third movie. He was such an annoying whiner that I spent most of the movie wanting to punch him. Gah.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

He was horrible! He was like...that Hans Christian Andersen dude who played Anakin Skywalker. "Gah" indeed!

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Now I want some John Connor/Anakin Skywalker crossover smutfic.

Wait, it'll be too whiny. Scratch that thought.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Wholly appropriate given their wooden acting abilities.

[melancthe.livejournal.com]

Heh. You said "wooden".

*is twelve today*

[lehah.livejournal.com]

The show... doesn't connect with me at all. In fact, it sometimes goes into seriously trite territory (Naming the Federal Agent Ellison? How middle school are we, folks?) and while the voiceovers have the right idea, the actress can't convey anything that Linda Hamilton had.

Also - if they're in the future, shouldn't John Connor already be in that future where Terminator 3 is... wait... because... Terminator Salvation... but...

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Temporal distortion fabricated an alternate timeline? No, wait...that's Star Trek.

[swashbuckler332.livejournal.com]

Actually, my understanding is that the series is supposed to be an "alternate timeline" from the latter two films.

[irulan-amy.livejournal.com]

When Bear McCreary mentioned in his blog that he was scoring this show, I was intrigued. Then I found out Summer Glau was in it. Now your review seals it, *adds to Netflix queue*

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Creepy kick-ass hot chix r0x!

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Are you talking about irulan_amy ???

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Welcome back.