Terminator Genesis Trivia

Home

About

all trivia of Terminator Genesis

Paramount green-lit two sequels to this film before it even opened, because regardless of how well it would do at the box office or with critics, all film rights to the Terminator series would revert back to James Cameron in 2019. However, both sequels were canceled after the film’s critical and commercial failure, paving the way for Cameron to produce Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).

Helpful•1K

Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out for six months, about three hours a day, before shooting started, by which time he had the exact same body weight and muscle measurements as he had 12 years previously while shooting Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). Coincidentally, Schwarzenegger had done the exact same thing prior to Terminator 3, which had put him on the same weight and measurements as in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), so despite his age, his dimensions have remained fairly constant throughout the series.

Helpful•853

J.K. Simmons was stated to have improvised many of his lines. His description of a rocket to the T-800 (“Blows a door clean off. You know, for people who can’t do that themselves.”) even earns a stare of surprise from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Helpful•315

The body of young Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie (also seen in the film’s first trailer) is provided by actor and bodybuilder Brett Azar. Azar won the role following an open casting call looking for a person who can match the closest to Schwarzenegger’s physique in the first film. Azar never thought of the idea of being in this film until he was persuaded by his manager Mike Lyons to audition. According to Azar, aside from being judged having the closest physique (the first round of auditions involves body and muscle measurement), it was his audition video of him reenacting the Terminator’s arrival at the Griffith Observatory and his perfect lip-syncing of Schwarzenegger’s line, “Your clothes, give them to me. Now.” at the three punks resulted in him winning the role. His face was replaced with Schwarzenegger in post-production. Schwarzenegger was Azar’s bodybuilding idol and Arnold gifted him cigars and several bodybuilding magazines after the first day of shooting. He would serve this same role in the following film, Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).

Helpful•706

This is the first film that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not credited as “Terminator” in the ending credits. Rather, he is named “Guardian.”

Helpful•445

Tom Hardy was the first choice for John Connor.

Helpful•879

Emilia Clarke became a huge fan of the Terminator franchise after being forced to watch the first two films when she was 7-8 years old by her 9-year-old brother.

Helpful•161

Arnold Schwarzenegger did not dye his hair for this film. This shows his natural gray hair.

Helpful•600

The original director of The Terminator (1984), James Cameron, asked and got to officially endorse this film. He said he loved this so much, he personally considers this the official third film in the franchise. However, in 2017, Cameron stated that he doesn’t have much respect for the Terminator movies that were made after Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), but supported them because of his close friendship with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Helpful•683

This is Paramount studio’s first film in The Terminator series. James Cameron had first approached them to do The Terminator (1984) and they were very interested. However, the only stipulation was that Cameron did not direct the film, as they felt he would be over-ambitious with the budgets they could provide. Since this was Cameron’s pet project at the time and he wanted to direct the film, he respectfully turned down their offer.

Helpful•280

Emilia Clarke described working with Arnold Schwarzenegger as “definitely quite surreal. Everything you know about him on screen he brings in real life as well”. She grew up on his films and idolized him and couldn’t believe she was working with him. Clarke first met Schwarzenegger at the read-through and inwardly started geeking out. When she first heard him say “I’ll be back” it was a major moment.

Helpful•161

This is the first film in the series to not feature animatronic Terminators created by special effects artist (and dear friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger) Stan Winston, due to his death in 2008. Instead, the animatronics were created by effects studio Legacy Effects, a company formed out of Winston’s former workshop staff.

Helpful•330

Concerning his casting, J.K. Simmons admitted that although this was not necessarily the type of movie he was looking to be in, he liked the script enough to accept the role. Another reason to join the cast was for the opportunity to work with Jai Courtney, of whom his daughter is a big fan. After learning this, Courtney taped a special birthday message for her.

Helpful•47

Emilia Clarke took special weapons training to play Sarah Connor. Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t sure if Clarke had ever fired a gun before the film but thought her training paid off and handled herself well in the fight scenes and seemed believable.

Helpful•69

Costume designer Susan Matheson encountered trouble looking for brand new Nike Vandal shoes that Kyle Reese wears in the 1984 sequence. Her search online and other various avenues mostly had second-hand and worn Vandals for sale. For months, she approached Nike with the request of manufacturing that specific model of shoes but Nike wanted her to design an ID with an Air-Force base. Matheson refused because, as a person with knowledge of sneakers, she did not want to feel guilty of cheating the audience, especially eagle-eyed fans of the first film who can spot the difference between those two bases. It was only after intervention by Paramount that Nike agreed to shut down production and manufacture 25 pairs of Vandals solely for this film, in what could be called Matheson’s greatest personal moment in this film.

Helpful•614

(at around 42 mins) During the 1984 period of the film, the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger) loses the skin on his right arm. When Sarah later asks him why he can’t travel with them to 2017, he states “My flesh will take years to regrow”. Although Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) already established that the human tissue on a Terminator can actually heal, this is the first movie to confirm that the skin can actually regenerate completely.

Helpful•150

This is the first film in the series to actually show characters being sent back in time, and the machine that does it.

Helpful•249

Was meant to be the first installment of a new trilogy of “Terminator” films, but due to lack of critical and commercial success, the next movie was written as a sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) instead of a direct follow-up to this one.

Helpful•611

James Cameron said this film was the natural follow up to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Arnold Schwarzenegger believed it exceeded Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) technologically, action-wise and in intensity. But when Cameron produced the next Terminator film Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), he decided to ignore Genisys’s storyline, opting for a continuation of his own Terminator 2 story.

Helpful•111

Filmmakers had to shoot Cyberdyne Systems on the NASA stage because there was not any other place in Louisiana tall enough to hold the set.

Helpful•176

(at around 27 mins) Although the phrase “Come with me if you want to live” is spoken in all four Terminator films previously (Kyle Reese – The Terminator (1984), T-800 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), John Connor – Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Kyle Reese – Terminator Salvation (2009)), this entry marks the first time Sarah Connor uses this dialogue.

Helpful•333

In the second trailer, where the Terminator meets Kyle Reese and says “Nice to meet you!” as he makes a big funny smile, Sarah states that she had been teaching the Terminator to blend in. The scene was written as a nod to a scene that was cut from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), where John teaches The Terminator to smile so that he can be more human and blend in; the Terminator imitates a man talking on a phone, but the smile is imperfect and crooked and John insists that The Terminator should try practicing in a mirror. This scene can be found when watching the Blu-Ray Skynet Edition of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Helpful•249

Christian Bale declined to reprise his role as John Connor from Terminator Salvation (2009), and was replaced by Jason Clarke. If Bale had returned, this movie wouldn’t have been a reboot but a sequel with much the same plot, but taking place over a decade after Salvation.

Helpful•336

(at around 14 mins) In The Terminator (1984), it was established that Terminators do not just wear living human tissue to blend in. They wear the living human tissue, so they can go through the Time Displacement Field. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) surmised that living tissue generates a field necessary for time traveling, as ‘nothing dead will go’. In this film, it is added that if a Terminator would go through without living human tissue, or if the metal underneath is exposed, it would quickly heat up the metal akin to a microwave, and blow up along with the Time Displacement Field. With the living human tissue, The Time Displacement Field cannot penetrate the Terminator’s endoskeleton.

Helpful•103

Jason Clarke is the sixth actor to play John Connor in the many portrayals of the character. This has lead to people referring to him as the “Rusty Griswold” of the Terminator series as five different actors have portrayed that role in the many films.

Helpful•239

Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis said that the main inspiration of the film was the second half of Back to the Future Part II (1989) where Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) ended up visiting an alternate 1985 after the older Biff Tannen’s (Tom Wilson) visit to 1955. They also used the best moments from the first two films as a base for their story. Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier originally turned down the offer to write this film three times because they did not like the storyline for the third and fourth installments without affecting the first two films.

Helpful•158

With Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) narrating the opening scenes of this film, all three members of the ‘Connor-Reese family’ have provided a voice-over in a Terminator movie: Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and her son John Connor (Nick Stahl) in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).

Helpful•24

(at around 1h 19 mins) The song that Sarah Connor is listening to on the cassette player is “I Wanna Be Sedated” by Ramones. The song was referenced in the original script for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) as what John and Tim were listening to during their introductory scene, but Director James Cameron decided to use “You Could Be Mine” by Guns N’ Roses instead. “Sedated” borrows a great deal from Alice Cooper (“Elected”).

Helpful•149

(at around 1h 35 mins) The Cyberdyne Systems headquarters is actually the Oracle Corporation campus in Redwood Shores California, with some CGI embellishment. You can see the “500” in the lobby window when they enter (500 Oracle Parkway). This movie’s producers David Ellison and Megan Ellison are children of Oracle founder Larry Ellison. However, they are not related to Harlan Ellison whose name is credited in The Terminator (1984).

Helpful•113

Emilia Clarke has in recent years admitted to Vanity Fair that production was not a smooth one. She noticed that making the movie took a huge toll on director Alan Taylor, who she knew from many Game of Thrones (2011) episodes. Stories of an unhappy and frustrating production spread so much in certain circles that the neighboring production of Fantastic Four (2015), notoriously troubled in its own right, had jackets made reading, “AT LEAST WE’RE NOT ON TERMINATOR.” Clarke also said that she was happy that the film became a financial disappointment, meaning that she would not have to reprise the role.

Helpful•71

(at around 30 mins) In one scene, Kyle Reese calls the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) a “skin job”. This is a nod to Blade Runner (1982), where Rick Deckard’s (Harrison Ford‘s) boss, Bryant (M. Emmet Walsh), refers to the Nexus 6 cyborgs as skin jobs. Schwarzenegger was considered to play Deckard before Ford landed the role.

Helpful•142

Ever since Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the T-800 portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger has not killed a human being. However, it is possible that the driver of the semi tanker truck that Pops blows up dies.

Helpful•74

In one scene, Kyle asks John how he knew so much about the machines and future events. The irony in this question, is that John’s knowledge comes from Kyle himself in a twisted “loop” of inherited knowledge. Kyle learns all he knows from watching John seemingly “predict” events and having inside intel on the machines. When Kyle goes back to the past, he tells Sarah all that he knows. Sarah eventually tells her son all that she knows and eventually lives it out in front of Kyle.

Helpful•21

Emilia Clarke‘s Game of Thrones (2011) co-star Lena Headey previously played Sarah Connor on the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008).

Helpful•399

(at around 27 mins) The line “Come with me if you want to live” said by Sarah Connor in the trailer marks the fifth consecutive time this line or a close variation has been used in the series. Kyle Reese says it in The Terminator (1984), the reprogrammed T-800 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), John Connor says “Do you wanna live? Come on!” in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), and Kyle Reese says it again in Terminator Salvation (2009).

Helpful•159

Arnold Schwarzenegger considers this the real Terminator 3, even though he enjoyed making Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).

Helpful•57

Emilia Clarke, Brie Larson and Margot Robbie screen-tested for the role of Sarah Connor. Larson was almost chosen by the executives, but director Alan Taylor suggested picking Clarke, as he directed her in Game of Thrones (2011-2019).

Helpful•200

(at around 1h 35 mins) When the Terminator/Guardian is looking over a new type of ammo, he mentions that he read about it on gunsandammo.com. In preparing for the first The Terminator (1984) movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger trained every day for weeks on weapons handling and, as a result, wound up garnering a compliment in Soldier of Fortune magazine for his realistic handling of the guns on camera.

Helpful•163

The first film in the series to be shot digitally, as well as the first to be shot with anamorphic lenses.

Helpful•132

It was rumored that the following film will be Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s last as the Terminator. The financial failure of Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) likely seals the deal on this vow.

Helpful•250

Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s first movie for Paramount Pictures, although Paramount has owned “The Running Man” since its 1999 acquisition of Spelling Entertainment Group, the successor to the film’s production company Taft Entertainment. In the same acquisition Paramount gained the US TV rights to most movies by Carolco Pictures, some of which starred Schwarzenegger including “Terminator 2”.

Helpful•206

Arnold Schwarzenegger was skeptical that they could recreate sequences from The Terminator (1984) with technology; they hired Brett Azar, a bodybuilder for the naked scenes who Schwarzenegger said had a great body; Schwarzenegger did the fight scenes with him and was blown away by how accurate those sequences were without taking away a single frame from The Terminator (1984) that belonged to a whole other director without infringing copyright; it created a whole new entertainment.

Helpful•44

Emily Blunt was considered for the role of Sarah Connor.

Helpful•131

It was thought Robert Patrick who played the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) makes a cameo as a man at the hospital reception area in the hospital fight between Terminator Pops and John Connor and is seen talking on a mobile phone. However, Patrick confirmed that “I am not in the new movie”.

Helpful•86

Jai Courtney (Kyle Reese) and Emilia Clarke (Sarah Connor) were both born in 1986, which makes them 30 years younger than original Reese and Connor actors Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton from The Terminator (1984). Biehn and Hamilton were both born in 1956. This also means that Jai and Emilia are one year older than Biehn and Hamilton when they portrayed their respective characters (since Terminator Genisys (2015) was released 31 years after The Terminator (1984)).

Helpful•100

(at around 14 mins) In The Terminator (1984) Kyle Reese tells Sarah Connor that he would die for John Connor. In this film he does the reverse; he tells John that he would die for Sarah.

Helpful•19

On January 21, 2017, it was announced that James Cameron was returning to the Terminator franchise and that he was planning to reboot the Terminator franchise again. Tim Miller accepted the offer to direct the next film, Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), passing on the chance to make Deadpool 2 (2018).

Helpful•48

Arnold Schwarzenegger thought Emilia Clarke did an extraordinary job following in the footsteps of Linda Hamilton which is really tough to do. Clarke said Sarah Connor is the most iconic female action figure ever, but she thought she was naive to accept the role so early in her career.

Helpful•43

Justin Lin was the first choice to direct but could not do so due to his commitment to Fast & Furious 6 (2013).

Helpful•68

Bringing back Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator for the reboot and for the current timeline was heavily influenced by Star Trek (2009): Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy) enters an alternate timeline and meets his younger self (Zachary Quinto) and a younger Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine).

Helpful•151

Shot over 90 first unit days.

Helpful•84

The title “Genisys” refers to “SYS”, a computer term referring to the “System” or critical files that the system depends on to function properly, as well as “genesis”, a beginning or start (in context, the core of the story hinges on time-travel to where the war begins).

Helpful•183

Arnold Schwarzenegger signed up after reading the script and thought the script was well-written.

Helpful•158

Emilia Clarke loved the script for this film because this was based on what James Cameron created with his Terminator movies but the new backstory allowed the cast to put a whole new spin on the characters and even reinvent them.

Helpful•35

It was rumored that the following film will be Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s last film playing the Terminator and that his son Patrick Schwarzenegger will take over the role.

Helpful•209

Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s favorite moments from the Terminator franchise are when the Terminator tries to be human because it’s something funny and not just action and violence and the most important thing to the Terminator is to blend in, and when he does he fails miserably and that always gets a big laugh from the audience.

Helpful•56

J.K. Simmons is the first Oscar-winning actor to appear in the Terminator franchise, having won his Oscar for Whiplash (2014) while Terminator Genysis was in post-production. Although Christian Bale is also an Oscar winner (for The Fighter (2010)), he had not yet won it when appearing in Terminator Salvation (2009).

Helpful•25

In The Terminator (1984), Kyle told Sarah that when he was a boy, he was enslaved by SkyNet and forced to work in the factories, until John Connor came along and taught him to fight back. In this film, Kyle meets John when John saves him from a Terminator.

Helpful•66

This movie was filmed under the working code name “Vista”. Some people on set had theories on what the working title “Vista” meant, while others just thought it was simply a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s signature line “Hasta la vista” from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). However, this could also refer to one of the versions of Microsoft Windows operating system.

Helpful•155

Sarah (Emilia Clarke) states that Pops (Arnold Schwarzenegger) saved her in 1973 when she was 9. This would mean that Sarah was born in 1964 and she was 20 years old in 1984 and she would be 53 in 2017.

Helpful•35

Megan Ellison acquired the series rights in June 2011 after a very much aggressive bidding contest put up by the creditor Pacificor LLC for the price of $20 million, fending off the closest bidder, Lionsgate Studios, who offered $15 million. In order to concentrate on producing art-house based films on her Annapurna label, the rights were then transferred in early 2014 to her brother David Ellison. Previous rights holders Victor Kubicek and Derek Anderson were forced to relinquish the rights due to Halycon’s debt issues, which was a result of an investigation by the FBI of their company over an alleged hedge fund fraud discovered during financing of Terminator Salvation (2009). Harlan Ellison sued James Cameron for the rights to The Terminator (1984). See trivia for for The Terminator.

Helpful•80

(at around 20 mins) The Griffith Park scene at the beginning of both The Terminator (1984) and Terminator Genisys shows three punk rockers. In the original, Bill Paxton‘s character has blue spiky hair, but his replacement has a full head of black hair. The Brian Thompson character (whose heart is ripped out in the original) has blonde spiky hair; his replacement in this timeline sports a blonde Mohawk. Clearly some things don’t change in the timeline, but these ones do.

Helpful•19

(at around 10 mins) Upon finding the Time Displacement Device, a Resistance member asks “What is that thing?”, and John Connor replies “Fate”. He is referring to his creed “The future is not set; there is no fate but what we make for ourselves” that was first mentioned in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), meaning that he sees the device as a means to change humanity’s future.

Helpful•19

Despite being considered a reboot that nullifies the existence of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Terminator Salvation (2009), the final film resembles the plot of the proposed sequel to Terminator Salvation, with the exception that Judgment Day has reverted back to 1997 as opposed to 2004.

Helpful•47

This is the third film in which Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s character comes face to face with a duplicate of himself.

Last Action Hero (1993): Jack Slater meets the actor who played him in a theater at the premiere of Jack Slater IV.
The 6th Day (2000): Adam meets his clone counterpart at the school.
Terminator Genisys: The Guardian fights his younger self in 1984.

Helpful•33

Boyd Holbrook, Wilson Bethel, Sam Reid, Jai Courtney, Taylor Kitsch and Thomas Cocquerel tested for the role of Kyle Reese. Also considered were Nicholas Hoult and Garrett Hedlund, but they refused to test for the roles and the producers looked for lesser-known names. The final two actors for the role were Holbrook and Courtney. After numerous screen tests, Courtney was later cast as Kyle.

Helpful•105

This was the first American movie that did not gross over $100 million domestically, but later went on to gross over $100 million in China.

Helpful•39

Depending on point of view, this is the first Terminator film in which Arnold Schwarzenegger appears but Earl Boen does not. Boen played Dr. Peter Silberman in The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), but not Terminator Salvation (2009). It can, however, be argued that Schwarzenegger himself did not physically appear in Terminator Salvation either, as his presence there was created through digital special effects. In that case, Terminator genisys is the first.

Helpful•109

In September 2017, it was announced online that James Cameron would return to the Terminator franchise and produce the sixth Terminator film Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), which was to be the final film of the Terminator franchise. Deadpool (2016) director Tim Miller was hired to direct. Arnold Schwarzenegger (who turned 70 on July 31, 2017) came back and play the Terminator one last time, and Linda Hamilton was also confirmed to appear. Emilia Clarke announced that she would not play Sarah Connor again. The younger version of Sarah Connor indeed appeared in the sixth film, but through digital de-aging.

Helpful•39

In one of the final scenes of the film the young Kyle Reese is seen working on a motorbike while twisting the throttle. This is identical to the scene in which John Connor is introduced in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Helpful•8

The first Terminator film in which the time machine is seen. Scenes were scripted for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) to show the Time Displacement Device (as it was called), but it was decided that these scenes were not important enough to justify the costs of building additional sets.

Helpful•49

James Cameron once stated that he saw the battle between the T-800 and the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) as a confrontation between East and West, meaning that the T-1000 resembled the sleeker Oriental designs of machines, and the T-800 the traditional, more bulky Western designs. In this movie, this is taken to literal levels, as the T-800 is played by a European actor (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and the T-1000 by an Asian actor (Lee Byung-hun).

Helpful•50

After Arnold Schwarzenegger finished his governorship, he was asked to do a fifth Terminator movie. He said he would if the script was good, which took two years to be written. Schwarzenegger liked the script because it had great surprises and emotional values, which is what James Cameron did so well with his Terminator movies; you were awed by the action but moved by the characters.

Helpful•28

The Golden Gate chase was filmed on location in Louisana because no filming is allowed on the real bridge because of all the traffic, which can’t be closed off. This was such a nightmare trying to recreate it what with the writing, direction, stunts and visual effects that it surpassed the drain chase in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Helpful•27

Video game developers were on set for a few days in order to get all the details right for whatever video game they would be developing alongside the movies.

Helpful•93

The first Terminator sequel to gross less than $100 million at the U.S. box office, followed 4 years later by Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).

Helpful•23

The song featured in the trailer is “I’d Love to Change the World” by Jetta. The song was used in the second trailer for the movie Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) which also featured Jason Clarke.

Helpful•82

During the chopper chase scene, Pops blows up a tanker truck to cause an explosion to slow down the T-3000. You’ll notice the logo is J&G Oil Com., the exact same truck that the Terminator in the first movie hijacks to mow down Sarah Connor which led to it being blown up and burning off the Terminator’s flesh.

Helpful•14

Kyle Reese was born in 2004.

Helpful•102

In the film, it’s revealed Kyle Reese was born in 2004 and is 25 years of age when John Connor sends him to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor.

Helpful•10

Although this fifth installment was supposed to be the first part of a new trilogy of Terminator movies, for the next (sixth) installment Terminator: Dark Fate (2019), producer James Cameron and director Tim Miller chose not to continue Genysis’ story, due to its disappointing critical and commercial reception. The sixth film is rumored to be Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s final time in the role, although Paramount is open to finish their intended trilogy with a seventh installment.

Helpful•62

The 1984 Griffith Park scenery was recreated in a New Orleans area parking lot, along with the future war sequence. New Orleans also stood in for most of the downtown Los Angeles setting and the abandoned power station, since Los Angeles itself had been modernized too much since the 1980s.

Helpful•18

Jason Clarke starred on the television series All Saints (1998) as a character named Eddie Furlong. Edward Furlong starred as the first John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Helpful•86

Throughout the Terminator saga (movies and television series), the actresses portraying Sarah Connor are shorter and shorter: Linda Hamilton is 5′ 6″ (1,68 m); Lena Headey is 5′ 5½” (1,66 m) and Emilia Clarke is 5′ 2″ (1,57 m).

Helpful•68

In January 2016, it was announced that Paramount Pictures had decided to not to go ahead with the planned two sequels, in favor of Baywatch (2017), a feature film based on the television series Baywatch (1989). Later, Paramount came back on its decision, stating that it would produce Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) with the collaboration of original creator James Cameron, with an option for more sequels.

Helpful•42

The police car that the T-1000 drives has the license plate number that was used on the police car on Adam-12 (1968).

Helpful•44

Kathryn Bigelow, who was a one-time wife of franchise creator James Cameron was considered to direct the film, but she turned down. J.J. Abrams, Jonathan Lieberman and M. Night Shyamalan was also considered, but they decided not to do due to commitments to various projects.

Helpful•6

Shot in New Orleans and San Francisco, including some pre-Judgment Day scenes on the beach.

Helpful•47

Matt Smith passed on the opportunity to play Alex in this film three times. His mother finally convinced him to take the role, saying he would be stupid to pass on such a chance.

Helpful•38

In this film, Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese travel across time to alternate 2017. In January 2017, James Cameron announced he is going to make his first Terminator film since Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and that the sixth Terminator film will be the final Terminator film.

Helpful•23

Jason Clarke studied passages from William Shakespeare and a speech by Steve Jobs to prepare for his role as John Connor.

Helpful•52

Ang Lee was in negotiations to direct the film but a deal could not be reached. Lee was also offered Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), but he chose to do Hulk (2003) instead. Other directors considered to helm the film included Rian Johnson and Denis Villeneuve.

Helpful•48

(at around 1h 26 mins) This entry continues the franchise tradition of having chase sequences involving large vehicles. A truck chase at the end of The Terminator (1984), the T-1000 pursuing John Connor in a truck in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), the sequence involving the mobile crane during the chase between the T-X and the reprogrammed T-850 in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and another chase scene in apocalyptic Los Angeles which saw Marcus Wright and Kyle Reese attempting to escape the machines in Terminator Salvation (2009). Now this entry’s contribution is a chase scene on the Golden Gate Bridge which sees Sarah, Kyle and Pops fleeing in a classic yellow school bus from a pursuing T-3000. The same bridge had also featured very briefly in Terminator Salvation (in a half-destroyed state), during John’s mission to save Kyle from Skynet.

Helpful•34

Arnold Schwarzenegger said James Cameron “did an extraordinary job creating that character (The Terminator) and whole phenomenon. I never thought we would do a sequel, catchphrases like “I’ll be back” or “Hasta la vista baby” would catch on and be repeated or think that 30 years later I would be asked to come back to a franchise like this playing the Terminator, unlike Batman or James Bond”.

Helpful•19

First Terminator film in which the 4 main characters are played by non-American-born actors.

Helpful•19

(at around 55 mins) The weapon used by the Terminator to rescue the young Sarah Connor is a Carl Gustaf 84mm recoil-less rifle. It has been in service since 1948.

Helpful•8

This is the second film in the Terminator series to have a PG-13 rating in the United States. This is the third film in the series to have a 12A rating in the United Kingdom. This is also the first time Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in a PG-13 rated Terminator film.

Helpful•58

This is one of the few films in the series that does not mention the term “cybernetic organism” in reference to the Terminators. Instead, the protagonists mainly refer to them as “cyborgs”.

Helpful•26

For the movie’s New Orleans location leg of the shoot, Emilia Clarke rented friend and Game of Thrones (2011) co-star Michiel Huisman‘s Louisiana home.

Helpful•29

Tom Hardy, who was considered for the role of John Connor, succeeded Mel Gibson in the role of Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). James Cameron, the director and creator of the Terminator franchise, had cited Mad Max 2 (1981) as one of his influences behind The Terminator (1984), and Gibson was offered the title role in The Terminator (1984).

Helpful•102

(at around 1h 26 mins) Most of this movie takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area in the year 2017. There is a shot of a rainbow painted tunnel. When shooting wrapped in 2014, and as recently as July 2015 this had been named the Waldo Tunnel. But legislation just passed to rename it to the Robin Williams Tunnel to honor the actor after he died in August 2014 and as a result this would bear his name in 2017.

Helpful•72

It has been speculated that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), the television series based on the Terminator films, was an influence behind the film. The television series, which takes place after Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) are alternate events, which Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Terminator Salvation (2009) never happened. Cameron Phillips, the female Terminator in that series (Summer Glau), states that she comes from the year 2027 and that Skynet got activated and started the nuclear apocalypse in 2011, not 1997. When Sarah, John and Cameron travel ahead to 2007 they arrive naked in the middle of a freeway, and Catherine Weaver is revealed as a T-1000 Terminator who killed the real Catherine Weaver, the head of Zeira Corporation, and took her place.

Helpful•15

The first cinematic science fiction film franchise to star Emilia Clarke. She also stars in the 2018 Star Wars spin-off film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).

Helpful•18

Matt Smith previously starred on Doctor Who (2005), another sci-fi series well-known for not only featuring time travel but also villainous metal cyborgs, not unlike the Terminator robots.

Helpful•134

The actors who portray Sarah and John Connor in the film share the same last name in real life, Clarke – though the actors are not related.

Helpful•89

When Otto Sanchez and J.K. Simmons previously collaborated on Oz (1997), both played prisoners. In Terminator Genisys (2015), they both play detectives.

Helpful•33

Arnold Schwarzenegger was impressed with Emilia Clarke‘s performance as Sarah Connor and admired her for doing a terrific job with the role.

Helpful•16

Adam Hart reprises, from the previous “Terminator” film, his role as stunt double for the actor portraying John Connor.

Helpful•8

Had Christian Bale had returned as John Connor for this film, this may have been considered a continuation of the previous film, Terminator Salvation (2009) and this would explain how Terminator Pops (Arnold Schwarzenegger) knows about Kyle Reese, the T-800 Terminator that got sent back to 1984 and the events of The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Helpful•36

Virtually every “Terminator” film has been released by a different movie studio. The original film The Terminator (1984) was distributed by Orion Pictures. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) was co-released by Tri-Star Pictures and Carolco Films. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Terminator Salvation (2009) were both released by Warner Bros. This film was released by Paramount Pictures.

Helpful•28

(at around 1h 11 mins) In the hospital fight between Terminator Pops and John Connor, both Terminator Pops and Connor bump up against a Pepsi Max vending machine. This is a nod to a scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), in which the T-800 meets John and fights the T-1000 at the Galleria. The T-800 is seen passing a Pepsi vending machine. Clearly this is continuing product placement paid by Pepsi.

Helpful•40

In The Making of ‘Terminator Genisys’ Behind The Scenes, costume designer Susan Matheson confirms that this movie takes place in an alternate 1984.

Helpful•7

Released by Paramount Pictures, which also distributes the Star Trek series. Several actors have appeared in both franchises: Paul Winfield, Edward Furlong, Thomas Dekker and Anton Yelchin.

Helpful•38

After filming was completed, Matt Smith worked with Emilia Clarke‘s Game of Thrones (2011) co-star Lena Headey in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016). Lena Headey played Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008). Smith would eventually star in House of the Dragon (2022), a spin-off series to Game of Thrones.

Helpful•77

Tom Hardy was considered to play the role of John Connor, but ended up playing Mad Max in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). Sam Worthington played a significant part in Terminator Salvation (2009). Before Hardy, Worthington was considered for the title role of Mad Max, and Mel Gibson (the title character in Mad Max 2 (1981) was offered the title role in The Terminator (1984).

Helpful•66

This film is actually Paramount’s second time being involved in the Terminator franchise. They have owned TV rights to the second film since 1999, when they merged with Spelling Entertainment Group including Worldvision Enterprises. Thus, Genisys is the first film in the series they have fully produced.

Helpful•5

It was rumored and speculated that J.K. Simmons would be playing Dr. Silberman, originally played by Earl Boen in The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). However, Dr. Silberman did not feature in the film at all; Simmons plays the older version of officer O’Brien instead.

Helpful•43

Emilia Clarke is the second Game of Thrones (2011) star to play Sarah Connor, following Lena Headey, who played the character in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008).

Helpful•9

Emilia Clarke watched films and television series with strong female characters to help her get into character; she did the same on Game of Thrones (2011).

Helpful•12

The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Star Trek (2009), TRON: Legacy (2010) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) are considered influences of the film.

Helpful•30

The T-3000 is based partly on the Borg, the main villains of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) (and its spin-off series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and the film Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Both the T-3000 and the Borg infect its host subject where the damage is irreversible.

Helpful•17

The film was nominated at the 2015 Golden Schmoes Awards for Worst Movie of the Year and Biggest Disappointment of the Year.

Helpful•20

Jason Clarke and Christian Bale (who both played roles in Public Enemies (2009)) have now both played John Connor in the Terminator movies.

Helpful•47

Billboards of Angelyne were bought but never made it to the final cut. She and Arnold Schwarzenegger both ran for governor of California in 2003; the second eventually succeeded.

Helpful•6

Near the end of Reese’s arrival scene when Sarah enters the department store driving the armored bank truck, she commands Reese to “come with me if you want to live”. Sarah then proceeds to unload her handgun on the T-1000.

The handgun used is a modified Beretta 93R, similar in styling (minus the heat-sink) to the modified Beretta 93R “Auto-9” used by RoboCop (1987).

Also on passenger seat of Sarah’s truck is a Beretta M82 rifle with explosive rounds powerful enough to kill terminators, as Sarah tells Reese that “those bullets will kill him (pops)”.

The M82 rifle was the basis for the OCP Cobra Assault Cannon used in RoboCop (1987). Because the Cobra Assault Cannon (also) delivers explosive rounds, RoboCop (1987) also uses this weapon to easily destroy the seemingly indestructible ED-209.

The two similar weapons used in Terminator Genisys (2015) may have been a nod and slight ‘return’ nod to 1987’s RoboCop (1987), where the Orion Pictures trailer for Robocop used numerous portions of Brad Fiedel‘s movie score from 1984’s The Terminator (1984).

Helpful•6

(at around 1 min) The little boy in the plane who looks out of the window when Skynet launches the missiles, is playing with a Nintendo Gameboy handheld console.

Helpful•33

Co-writer of Terminator Genisys (2015), Laeta Kalogridis, has previously worked on James Cameron‘s Avatar (2009) as an executive producer and worked as writer for another acclaimed project of Cameron Alita: Battle Angel (2019). As both are Sci-fi features closely and durable projects held by Cameron, Battle Angel was announced as a cyborg epic movie. Laeta Kalogridis worked on the TV-series Bionic Woman (2007) and is working as a writer for another sci-fi feature Altered Carbon (2018). The last one is set in the future and subjects the digital alteration of man and machine.

Helpful•25

At 1:07:08 as Pops takes Kyle by the throat you can clearly hear Darth Vader’s breathing sound (breath in – breath out) – an homage to the force choke that distinguishes Vader’s character.

Helpful•7

A book about the war was later published called “Terminator Salvation: From the Ashes” by Timothy Zahn. In the book, Skynet attacks the Resistance base.

Helpful•10

The working title for the movie was Vista. The area where the movie was filmed on sound stage was named Chalmette Vista.

Helpful•20

Arnold Schwarzenegger liked the film because this had good and bad Terminators and plenty of surprises and this was like a rollercoaster.

Helpful•13

Several homages to Superman (1978) are seen in the film:

the lower rotating rings used with the time displacement field is similar to the one where General Zod, Ursa and Non were on trial where they were found guilty and sentenced to exile in the Phantom Zone.
A school bus hangs off the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge.
A helicopter falling over the edge of a tall building.

Helpful•16

(at around 1h) Jerry D’Arcy, the San Francisco policeman who sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America” during the World Series at AT&T Park, has a brief non-speaking role in this film as one of two San Fransisco cops who enter the emergency room.

Helpful•17

Emilia Clarke worked with Lena Headey and Jason Momoa on Game of Thrones (2011). Jason Momoa played Conan in Conan the Barbarian (2011), the reboot of the film Conan the Barbarian (1982) which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator). Lena Headey played Sarah Connor on the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), which is based on the films. Summer Glau, who played the female Terminator Cameron Phillips in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, worked with Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey’s “Game of Thrones” co-star Peter Dinklage in Knights of Badassdom (2013) and Jason Momoa worked with Summer Glau‘s Firefly (2002) and Serenity (2005) co-star Jewel Staite on the television series Stargate: Atlantis (2004).

Helpful•59

158

This marks the second time Alan Taylor has worked with an actor who previously portrayed Doctor Who: Matt Smith as the T-3000. Taylor worked with Christopher Eccleston on Thor: The Dark World (2013).

Helpful•17

Although they have the same last name, Jason Clarke (John Connor) and Emilia Clarke (Sarah Connor) are unrelated. Also, he is from Australia and she is from the United Kingdom.

Helpful•15

Screenwriters Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier also worked on Scream 3 (2000). Laeta did uncredited rewrites and Patrick edited the movie.

Helpful•22

The resistance base had a lot of antiques but anything that could play music was highly prized.

Helpful•13

Not the first time Emilia Clarke has appeared nude on-screen as she has appeared nude on Game of Thrones (2011). Although Sarah Connor is naked in the film, no frontal nudity is seen.

Helpful•37

117

(at around 47 mins) When Kyle Reese is talking to Sarah Connor about John Connor, he is reminiscing about a time they unsuccessfully tried to make moonshine. Jason Clarke who plays John Connor also portrays Howard Bondurant a successful moonshiner during the Prohibition Era film Lawless (2012).

Helpful•10

The main Resistance base is in California.

Helpful•10

Adrian James was offered a role but declined due to scheduling conflicts.

Helpful•22

In this film, Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese travel across time to alternate 2017. In January 2017, it was announced that creator James Cameron will return to the Terminator franchise and make the sixth and final Terminator film.

Helpful•8

(at around 1h 35 mins) While looking at weapons, O’Brien (J.K. Simmons) tells the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) that a rocket he’s holding is a new breacher. Schwarzenegger played John “Breacher” Wharton in the action film Sabotage (2014).

Helpful•31

142

Emilia Clarke and Matt Smith attended the 2016 BAFTA Awards Ceremony. Together, they presented the Best Visual Effects segment, which was won by Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015).

Helpful•8

J.K. Simmons and Otto Sanchez were also in the HBO series Oz.

Helpful•2

A year before the film’s release: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) the 7th X-Men film was released. In the film, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) travels back 50 years in time as he and a young Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) set out to stop Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) whom created the Sentinel robots that took over the world 50 years in the future. The film’s plot had many comparisons to The Terminator.

Helpful•4

At one point in the movie O’Brien is referred to as Optimus Prime. Optimus Prime is of course the leader of the robotic Autobots from the Transformers franchise.

Helpful•2

A T-800 is quicker than its predecessors.

Helpful•8

Despite having the same last name, Emilia Clarke and Jason Clarke are not related.

Helpful•2

Terminator Pops saves 9 year old Sarah Connor in 1973. Lena Headey, who played Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008) was born in 1973. Headey co-starred with this film’s Sarah Connor, Emilia Clarke in the series Game of Thrones (2011).

Helpful•7

From 1:00:33 -Hollywood cliché #019: a lock can be picked with anything.

Helpful•1

Spoilers