“The great thing about the Marvel universe for the films,” says Shane Mahan who was Oscar-nominated for his work on the first film, “is that all of the answers are in the comic books.”Coming to Blu-ray and DVD on September 28th from Paramount, Shane Mahan talks with Killer Film about the film, the suits, and Stan Winston.

Jon Peters: Was there any trepidation coming back for the sequel after receiving an Oscar nomination for the first film?

Shane Mahan: No, and while that’s a wonderful thing, you have to just acknowledge the bottom line of that this is what we love to do. Having another opportunity to improve upon what you’ve already done is the thrill. It’s like anything in life where you build something the first time, you know what you can do to improve it for the second time. Make it better for the film, make it better for the actors, or visually or for the weight, so in the film business and especially in physical effects like we do, the time and resources given are basically building a one-time prototype. So it has to work. I look at it and our team looks at it in terms if there was any shortcomings the first time, to make it better for the director and the actors, making life on-set better. That was really our approach. Having done it the first time, we had a short-hand, avoiding the long experimentation period.

Jon: With making the suits lighter, was there anything done to War Machine, since that suit looked outrageously heavy for Don Cheadle?

Mahan: His suit was chrome-plated and there was an autopsy piece as well, so that wasn’t wearable at all. We lined the inner part with red, so you can fill the weight, making it able to balance the imagination of the weight of the suit. It was fun since we had an opportunity to build inside the suit, a loving study of what it might’ve been in real life. It felt plausible, so I was really happy with how it turned out.

Jon: Like you said, all of the keys are in the comics to make these movies. Can you explain the suit design for Whiplash, that was considerably different in the movie than in the comics?

Mahan: Whiplash’s design was from the director and the producers saying “look, this is who this guy is. He’s a low-tech guy. He’s doesn’t have the resources Tony Stark had.” It comes from a character place. You have Mickey Rourke playing a guy who’s down-and-out and kind of mad, and I think the suit should reflect that. Also, the artists worked with Favreau and John Eaves is one of the best concept artists I’ve worked with. We had phone calls and chit-chatted about ideas and how things should work. It was a really good union of minds. I thought Whiplash’s costume was great.

Jon: Was it easier this time for pre-production on the suits and the drones?

Mahan: The Mark III was a new design, so it was starting over. While you’ve done it before, it only makes it easier to streamline things, but it was all redone. All of the worrying of doing it, was gone, since we’ve knew what to do from the first film. We [on the first film] had to configure the proportions of the comic’s design into a 3D model, and turn it into a suit to put an actor in. The bottom line is you want to serve the film artistically, but you have to break down the film into three stages of production: pre-, shooting, and post. For me, it was all a blur. The on-set process was enjoyable, but you had to think of the general audience, to make it all work.

Jon: With the knowledge of what you’ve done on the first film, was there anything new to make it all comfortable for Robert [Downey, Jr.] and Don [ Cheadle]?

Mahan: Chris Swift and I knew to add things like buckles and pins to make it come on and off easier. By the end of the film, Robert just wanted to hop in and get his scenes done. Get in and get out, not being distracted. We had to make this able for him to get in fast so he can do his thing. Those were things we had to think about prior, for sure.

Jon: Did you have a lot of correspondence with the VFX team at ILM?

Mahan: Absolutely. We worked hand-in-hand with those guys. Those are your allies and it’s a team effort. It has to look cohesive and I don’t ever want the audience to detect one over the other.

Jon: Sadly, Stan Winston passed in 2008. Can you talk about him and the Legacy Effects (here) company that formed after his death?

Mahan: Stan, of course, was just one of the greatest influence we had and had great opportunity to work on the films that we did. It was a terrible blow to have him gone. We had to think about how this is what we do, it’s all we know how to do, and it was a matter of continuing the type of work we had been allowed to do on films. Creating Legacy Effects was a way to keep physical effects alive. We’re really thankful, but it all boils down to opportunities that came from Stan’s history and people know of that place, making a certain comfort level there. I think Iron Man 2 was a great project, in my opinion, and I hope the DVD soars.

Fans can revisit the adventure on Blu-ray and DVD September 28th.

Hannover House and Red Bear Entertainment will release the film, at a bidget of $70 million dollars. Oh, and it’ll be in 3D.

Source: CS

Terminator Salvation

Yelchin is next to appear on the big screen alongside Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson in The Beaver, already set for release sometime this year.

In an interview with MTV, Worthington spoke about wanting to return and even has an idea as to how is character can come back:

“I had an idea that we’d go back in time to when Marcus was first put in jail,” the actor explained, referring to his character’s status as a death-row inmate years before being turned into a machine. “They broke Linda Hamilton out of jail in ['Terminator 2: Judgment Day'], out of the nuthouse. In this one, they’d have to go back in time and break Marcus out of jail. It’s the same kind of mirror image.”

“He would be more fallible, because he’s human; he’s not metallic,” he said. “He can get hurt. He still has the gung-ho attitude, but he can get hurt now.”

I do like the concept he gives, but I really don’t think it would be a good idea for the series to return to the time travel plot line. The fans have been wanting to see the future war for sometime and I think it would be best if they stuck with that concept. I’m always going to be of the mind set, that the series should have ended with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but since we are getting more films they should stick with the war and finish the story. I do admire his passion for the character a lot, but I think its best that he moved on to other roles.

Sam Worthington can next be seen in Clash of the Titans in theaters this April 2nd.

Here’s a little more of the legal details that Pacificor and Halcyon has mustered together, despite their legal entanglements they’ve both dealt with between each other in the past when it came to putting together the dough to make Terminator Salvation (Deadline Hollywood):

Halcyon will receive $5 million for every Terminator movie made from now on, as well as keeps the revenue streams from the movies Terminator 3 and 4. An arrangement also was made that the sale now wipes out the debt Halcyon owed Pacificor. The deal is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court. It will be presented to the judge at a hearing on Thursday.

Here’s the latest:

Sony’s joined Lionsgate in the bidding on the rights to the “Terminator” franchise.

The studio had no comment but a source close to the bidding confirmed that Sony submitted a bid Thursday, the final day for submitting offers.

Lionsgate stepped up last month as the first bidder for the rights to the “Terminator” franchise with a “stalking horse” or floor bid of $15 million and a 5% cut of future gross receipts.

Halcyon Group put the franchise up for sale in September-. The auction for the “Terminator” assets — which include the rights to future “Terminator” pics, TV series, DVDs and merchandise — will be held Monday at the offices of FTI Consulting in Los Angeles, followed by a bankruptcy court hearing two days later.

If Lionsgate doesn’t win the auction, it will receive $750,000 as a breakup fee from the winning bidder.

“Terminator Salvation,” the fourth film in the franchise, was produced by Halcyon with Warner Bros. handling domestic distribution and Sony taking international. It carried a production pricetag of about $200 million and took in $371 million worldwide.

Halcyon paid Mario Kassar $30 million for the “Terminator” rights in 2007, then filed for Chapter 11 as a result of a dispute with hedge fund Pacificor, which financed the purchase. At that point, Halcyon toppers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek told the bankruptcy court that they valued the “Terminator” franchise above $70 million.”

Source: Variety

Terminator Salvation mage an estimated $372 Million worldwide, pretty good for a film that had apparently a $200 Million dollar budget. Whether or not Lionsgate will end up being the winning bidder to grab the rights from Halcyon’s hands remains to be seen, unless somebody else steps up. At the moment Warner Bros Pictures and Sony Pictures have not shown any interest in wanting to purchase the rights.

The Film:

This is not the Terminator you once knew….

…and that’s okay for this outing. After Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines acted like there was a formula to follow, this film, while flawed, is perfectly unpredictable. That’s a tough feat to accomplish in sequels (or prequel?) now days, since everything is telegraphed into a pre-determined product for easy revenue. Don’t get me wrong. This film exists because of the past revenue this franchise has given Hollywood, and with hopes of more, but shall we knock it for that reason? No.

Is John Connor the prophetical leader that will lead the humans to overcome Skynet? Terminator Salvation might seem like its plot has already been determined, but something about this future is different. Skynet may have a new secret weapon to unleash. That’s all I really want to say about the plot. The less one knows, the better the aforementioned unpredictable qualities are. Quiet scenes are interrupted abruptly by action set pieces, one of the film’s strong points, and even situations between characters are unpredictable. Whatever Sarah Connor thought a post-Judgment Day world would be like, she really didn’t have a clue.

The film is filled with great Terminator mythology moments: seeing the rubber-skinned T-600s Kyle mentioned in the first film, the birth of the T-800, a young Kyle Reese, these things do not hinder the picture, as sometimes they do to other films, but in fact, adds to the overall enjoyment, especially since this film is a prequel to the 1984 classic. In a way, the Terminator world is coming full circle, and for long time fans, I suspect they’ll enjoy it. Terminator was one of the first R-rated films I’d seen, and something that I never forgot. While the film had some gore and violence, those things never bugged me. It was the scene where Arnold is cleaning out his damaged eye, only to reveal his robotic nature, that started a love affair with these films. I was wide-eyed; I’d never seen anything like that before. I was 8.

Then came Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a film that holds a personal record in my life as one of the films I’ve seen the most theatrically. Don’t get me started on my home video views. It was another film like the first, that had my eyes peeled wide open, as it delivered unexpected action and drama. I almost had that feeling here too. Terminator Salvation delivers in wide-eyed action, excitement, and, dare I say imagination? This world feels destroyed. It’s fully realized world where humans are the prey. If anything, the final 20 minutes are so incredibly fun and reminiscent of the previous films, I felt like this was how a homage should be handled.

Now, I did say almost. The film is flawed. First of all, the characters are not developed enough to have the drama of the story enhance the action the way the James Cameron films did. Yes, John Connor’s character, and perhaps his future, are pretty much well-known, but he was less interesting than Marcus’ (Sam Worthington) character, something that should at least be in equal. This world, and all of its stories are about John Connor, so why do we care not about him (it’s no fault of Christian Bale)? Because Marcus is so much more developed, yet alone more interesting than any of the other characters. I think Bale can enhance any two dimensionally written character he’s given, but John Connor cannot compete with who and what Marcus is. Also, forget about any of the other characters, they’re thinly written as well.

This maybe be a flaw not intentional of that of the production, but it feels like Terminator Salvation is just a warm-up to something bigger and maybe, better. The film also has, at times, problems balancing a few stories together, trying to juggle them with each other, some scenes feel as if they end abruptly (I smell deleted material-more on that later), but I’ll say this, and I cannot believe I am, McG-the man who sends groans throughout anyone’s expectations for a film-directs the living hell out of the picture. Sorry, haters, he does.

No way in any shape does the first hour feel like what one would expect a Terminator film to be like. I say good, as T3 felt way to formulaic, and it’s about time we get to see this inevitable war. From the fun Easter eggs, to cameos, to the incredible special effects, to just having Terminators back on the big screen, Terminator Salvation pleases. Now, the next film should be epic. Let’s hope that they focus on the drama more, as one leaving the theater feels like this franchise is just warming up.

Hopefully, in that case the future is written.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Warner Brothers brings this film home with a stunning high def transfer. From the early scenes of Marcus, that are highly detailed, to the day time action scenes, you’re in for a stunner. Now, the film is devoid of a lot of colors, particularly primary, but that is the intent of the director. If someone can find an error, you’re nitpicking, I’d say, because it is that good. Bright, detailed, sharp, c’mon, it’s a newer film, what else would you expect?

The audio is perhaps better, if that’s possible, than the picture. This is what I call an “apartment killer”. I mean, if you live in an apartment or something similar, your neighbors will hate you and your landlord will kick you out. This is one punishing track. Extreme lows in the bass, an agressive surround mix, every musical cue, explosion, gun shot, is just here to kick your eardrums in. Pure action audio bliss.

WB gives us a 3-disc set. Disc 1 is the 114 minute Theatrical Cut, Disc 2 is the 3 minute longer Director’s Cut, and Disc 3 is the Digital Copy.

Maximum Move Mode: If you checked out WB’s awesome Watchmen Blu-ray, you would have experienced this feature before. Director McG stands in front of two screens, one has the movie playing, while the other features behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and the like. This gives us a thorough, yet personal director’s commentary. I really think this is a great supplement idea, and while one can access some of this in individual segments, it’s also interactive with a Terminator time line, storyboards, making this a one-stop shop for all things about the making of this film.

Reforging the Future: This runs about 20 minutes and shows us how they crafted this Terminator film, yet tried to be true to the franchise. We get the run-around on the robot designs, FX, set design, and the like.

The Moto-Terminator: This featurette talks about the film’s newest killing machine from concept to conclusion.

Now, the million dollar question: What’s in the Director’s Cut? When I saw the film, I felt there were some scenes that ended abruptly, and McG has been quoted as saying that there’s like 30 minutes worth of new footage he originally wanted. Sadly, and obviously, this isn’t the case. Running three minutes longer, we get a few scene extentions, Moon Bloodgood nudity, and some added violence. Does it make the film better? Not really, but it does make it feel a bit more finished.

Conclusion: The newest Terminator film is a lot of fun, in nothing else. The film does have some interesting thematic elements in place, it is loyal to the three films prior, and despite Christian Bale’s triad that we’ve all come to know and love, the film was one of the better summer films in 2009. The WB Blu-ray rules all with superior picture and audio, and a thoroughly involved Maximum Movie Mode extra.

The Film: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

So the Terminator rights are up for sale and McG is still saying that he’s going to direct the next two films? Either he’s drifted off into a greatly delusional land or there is something that none of us know about. What do you think? Do you think that McG is out of his mind, that maybe he’s planning on scooping up the rights? Or do you think that this might just be a huge slew of publicity so people can buy the Blu-Ray?

Terminator Salvation

You know, I wonder if people dismissed this film because of McG, and solely McG? I thought it was a blast from start to finish. Of course, Christian Bale’s awesome tiraid is left out of this disc’s extras, I think in time, many fans will appreciate how it ties into the mythos of Terminator and hopefully, we’ll get a sequel to see what this was setting up. I know I am the minority here, but I loved it. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Buy    Donny says: Rent

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

A needless sequel, but it has the uber-cute Amy Adams! This is the film our own Mike Cook gave 3 1/2 stars too, and we have never left that fact alone…until he gives me crap for loving Terminator Salvation. Ah, the friendship here on Killer Film! (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Rent   Donny says: Rent

Paper Heart

Michael Cera is growing into an irritation for me, and the trailer looked like young, artsy emo kids falling in love, and in art class, I was annoyed with those kids.  (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Avoid   Donny says: Rent

A Christmas Tale: Criterion Collection

Tired of all those silly, goofball Christmas comedies? Here’s a depressing Christmas film for ya! Heard it’s good, well-acted, yet it’s 3 hours long. (Formats: Blu-ray/DVD) Jon says: Rent   Donny says: Rent

New to Blu

Gremlins

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels

Mask of Zorro

Snatch

Gimme Shelter: Criterion Collection

Keep it here for more news and reviews on these discs and more, only on Killer Film!

Disney annouced Fantasia, Fantasia 2000, and  Beauty and the Beast for release in 2010. I’m thinking March and October for these, we’ll keep you posted.

Angles and Demons comes to you November 24th.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape streets November 17th from Sony.

Orphan, Dark Castle’s summer horror hit comes early in October right before Halloween on the 27th, from Warners.

Speaking of Warners, expect salvation on December 1st with Terminator: Savlation in a huge 3-disc set.

Leon: The Professional comes from Sony on November 17th also.

Sadly, Warner annouced that the November release of the entire Lord of the Rings triology will be pushed back to Spring 2010.

Finally, the John Wayne war film, The Green Berets, will street January 5th, 2010 from Warners.

Look for more news soon as well as reviews. Most of these, you can re-read our theatrical reviews.

Source: Blu-ray

It now looks like we will get to see this R-rated version soon when it hits Blu-ray, although, keep in mind there hasn’t been an official date announced. I’m betting before Christmas. In this cut we will see some extended bits of violence and nudity. Key scenes will be Marcus stabbing some thugs with a screwdriver, that was deemed to violent for the PG-13 rating, and the extended love scene with  Moon Bloodgood topless. More to come on what makes the new MPAA rating an R, so keep it here.

Source: Blu-Ray

In a recent interview-and a really good one I might add-McG talks about the fifth Terminator film, the TV series, and what they got right and wrong in Terminator Salvation. Here’s a few samples:

[On the status of T5]: “Yeah, we’re working on it right now. We’re very far down the line with the story for that – for the next picture, and even the picture after that, and feeling good and we’ll see where that takes us…I mean, we’re making it. Warners is excited about it. Sony is excited about it. And we can’t wait to get back at it and show the world what becomes of that war and how we master time travel because we stayed away from time travel in Salvation and I missed it. We decided it was the right thing to do and we did a lot of things right in that movie and we did many things wrong in that movie.”

[On what went wrong]: “I think the film missed some of the fun that Jim [Cameron] brought to the early pictures…”

No street date has been announced for the DVD and Blu Ray of Terminator Salvation. Click here for the full IGN interview.

Source: RT

Ben Stiller’s sequel Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian dropped to second place with $25.5 million, still not a bad chunk of change for a sequel that has now taken in over $105 million.

The horror flick Drag Me To Hell didn’t open as well as Sam Raimi’s other movies, opening with $16.6 million.

These are the estimated ticket sales from Friday to Sunday according to Hollywood.com. Final profits will be released later today.

1. Up – $68.2 million

2. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – $25.5 million

3. Drag Me to Hell – $16.6 million

4. Terminator Salvation – $16.1 million

5. Star Trek - $12.8 million

6. Angels & Demons - $11.2 million

7. Dance Flick – $4.9 million

8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - $3.9 million

9. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past - $1.9 million

10. Obsessed - $665,000

But what Elfman offers here is dark and brooding material using some of his signature cues. “Opening” sets the mood for the film as well as the soundtrack. Most of the tunes underline the action, like a score does for a summer big budgeted action film should do. Tracks like “The Harvester Returns”, “Hydrobot Attack”, and “A Solution”, are like this. Some tracks don’t cross much past 90 seconds. I will say the film, after seeing it, drowns out most of Elfman’s work from time to time, but listening to it in full here, you’ll appreciate the strings and thumbing menace hidden. We get a couple of themes, which are sweet, soft acoustic guitar being plucked softly, as heard in “Broadcast”, but menacing strings lurk not to far behind.

At times one might feel as if a few cues are homaging Fiedel’s scores from the first two films. That’s okay, Elfman makes it his own most of the time, as the overall soundtrack is aggressive using the percussion rhythms he likes to use. “Final Confrontation” and “Salvation” are a nice two part track that finish off the score, but highlight every major mood and action from the film. Loud crashing pipes and strings echo Judgment Day in theme. Curiously, the score feels as if it builds towards the CD closer, “Rooster” by Alice in Chains. Elfman fans will enjoy his latest score, that feels a bit different than most of his other work, though not as progressive as Milk was. If you’re not a fan, you might not like it. McG offers some words in the booklet on the idea behind getting Elfman on board to score and what he wanted.

Terminator Salvation is an action film, scored by some heavy, dark themes. Recommended.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars