Back To The Future

HE’S BACK. SHE’S BACK. AND SO IS THE FRANCHISE THAT WENT OFF TRACK FOR THE LAST 27 YEARS. TOTAL FILM HEADS ON SET OF TERMINATOR: DARK FATE TO FIND OUT HOW YOU REALLY FOLLOW UP JUDGMENT DAY.

- Paul Bradshaw

Lights are flashing. Smoke is swirling. Factory workers are running in all directions as Sarah Connor slowly steps out of a doorway cradling a shotgun. The T-800 limps behind, riddled with bullet holes, and another figure stalks them from a gangplank above, silently vaulting down to face them. If it wasn’t for the sound of a production assistant screaming “blah blah blah” through a megaphone, mimicking the sound of an alarm, the whole scene couldn’t feel more T2 if it tried.

Total Film is on a soundstage in Origo Studios, just outside Budapest, in the autumn of 2018, but it might as well be in a steel foundry in ’90s Los Angeles. There’s Linda Hamilton, armed to the teeth. There’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, being Arnold Schwarzenegger. And there’s something in the air that feels familiar again. As the scene finishes, a slate is held up bearing the working title of “Phoenix”, and the metaphor couldn’t be clearer – this Terminator isn’t just rising from the ashes of Judgement Day, it’s rising from the ashes of a franchise that hasn’t lived up to its potential since 1991. Skipping over Rise Of The Machines, Salvation, and Genisys to form a direct sequel to one of the greatest action movies ever made, this is what Arnie meant when he told us he’d be back.

“If I was just a fan, standing outside all of this, I’d say, ‘Terminator 6? Why? Why the fuck are they making another one?!’” Director Tim Miller doesn’t mince his words. No stranger to a challenge after making his debut with 2016’s Deadpool, Miller’s greatest strength is that he really is a fan, tactfully describing the last few sequels as “misfires”.