Customer Reviews

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Seasons 1 & 2 [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While I enjoyed the two year run of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, and was sad to see it go, I could see why it didn't last. In fact I was shocked that it got a second season, although seeing as how Terminator: Salvation was hitting theaters that summer, it was only natural that it would at least get a second season in order to cross-promote the two programs.

Lena Headey was a capable Sarah Connor and portrayed the requisite strength (both physical and mental) needed for this iconic character. And she seemed to realize she couldn't replace Linda Hamilton in the fan's mind, but she did do a very good job.

Summer Glau was surprisingly good, and came to the show with enormous "fan-boy" cred having starred in shows like Firefly and the film spinoff Serenity, not to mention various guest appearances in shows like The 4400. And although we know going in that she's the terminator that's protecting John, it's still kinda cool to see her take a chest full of bullets and still show up to give the iconic line "Come with me if you want to live".

The real weak point though is Thomas Dekker as John Conner. While in T2, Connor was kind of an annoying kid and kind of whiny, it comes off a lot worse when it's stretched out over the course of two seasons.

Dekker as Connor tends to do things in the series that's so mind numbingly stupid, that it makes you wonder if the writers realized "hey, this is a guy who's been chased before." He makes decisions entirely based on emotions, such as sneaking away "off-grid" so to speak to chase after some girl he likes, even though he should know by now that the Terminators are looking for him.

He doesn't seem to comprehend that the entire fate of the world is at stake, while he's out thinking only of himself. And yes, he's a kid, but at a certain point it seems he's not taking in any of the heaviness of the situation.

And that's pretty much the main issue I had with the show, that over the course of the two seasons John would continue to do the most insane things causing the viewer to yell at the screen, and quietly hope that the Terminator would just kill him and get it over with.

A high point of the show has to be, surprisingly, Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills 90210) as John Connor's uncle who comes back to protect him as well, and harbors a heavy mistrust and despising of Glau's Terminator.

The sub-plot for Green involving another member from the Future gets old fairly quick, but it DOES have a pretty nice wrapup.

Also a fantastic performance by Garrett Dillahunt (Deadwood, The 4400, Life) as the Terminator looking to kill John Connor elevates the show past Dekker's annoying portrayal of Connor.

I recommend this show for the action that is often quite amazing. In fact the high point of the first season is in the finale which the police raid on a motel room where Dillahunt's Terminator is staying. There's a great camera shot from the bottom of the swimming pool, and you see it focused up towards the sky as one after another police bodies fall down from the second level and into the water.

It's quite amazing to see, and I watched it several times on DVD.

I would recommend however you get Season 1 and Season 2 DVDS separately, rather than the "Combo Set" because the pricing is absolutely criminal!

They tend to do that for some reason. Pushing Daisies was also insanely high as a "two pack" when you can get them for a third of the price or half the price buying them separate.

The creativity, character development and imagination gathered together in this magnificent production is second to none. Cancelling this thoughtprovoking masterpiece after two seasons will someday rival the mistake of cancelling the origonal Star Trek.

I don't like action films and didn't plan to watch The Terminator, the SF film with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character, thinking it was about a cyborg from the future, loose in 1984 LA in a killing spree.

But when my friend Pilar rented it claiming it was a love story, I reluctantly watched it with her. And she was right. Yes, the pesky Terminator is there wrecking mayhem. He was sent by Skynet, the artificial intelligence network that had almost annihilated humanity in the future to destroy its last threat, John Connor, the human leader of the resistance by killing his mother Sarah before he's born.

But the movie is also the story of Kyle Reese, the resistance fighter from 2029 sent to protect Sarah from the Terminator. As things happen, Kyle and Sarah fall in love and have a son, who, in one of this cool mind benders of time travel, is/will be John the leader of the resistance.

I didn't watch the next two Terminators movies, but I did watch and loved The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a TV series that ran for two seasons on Fox (2008-2009).

When we met Sarah in the pilot episode, she's a single mother raising a 15 year old boy she knows one day will save the world, but that right now is just an 'emo' teenager giving her grief. She is also pursued by the authorities that think she's crazy, and by another cyborg from the future sent to kill John. This time the future John sends a girl-cyborg to protect his younger self. With her help they escape being killed by jumping through time to 2007.

In this new future their leap has generated, Sarah and John work against time to stop Skynet from being created, fighting cyborgs, hindered or helped by characters both from the present and the future whose alliances shift as the show progresses.

I liked the intrigue of switching alliances, the teasing aspects of the time travel paradoxes, and the questions the plot rises about what makes us human. But what really hooked me to this story was Sarah.

Unlike the naive girl of The Terminator movie, this Sarah is a tough, resourceful woman. A mother fighting for her son against insurmountable odds. She is the kind of woman I want to be when I grow up.

At the beginning of the second season, John who has till then donned long hair and an 'emo' attitude, shaves his head. From them on, the mother/son relationship changes. John starts making his own decisions. And even, as he makes mistakes more often than not, he's in the way to becoming a man, the leader that will, I hope, one day defeat Skynet. And I say 'I hope' because the show was not renewed for a third season.

But if you want to watch the first two seasons you can do so now on DVD, with the advantage that, if blood is not your cup of tea, you can skip the gore, as I do.

Not as good as the Feature Film Terminator or T2, but for network television, the series was quite good. It also managed to develop the story line and characters a bit more, with some plot twists. The cast in the series worked well, also. Although, the show did not return to television for a third season, due to poor ratings.

There is a very real possibility of this show coming back in some form, with the original cast and some of the writers and producers.

Brian Austin Green and James Middleton are attempting to bring TSCCs back. Thomas Dekker and Brian Austin Green have confirmed that funding is available. While it is unlikely (though remotely possible) the series will be picked up by Fox, WB, or SyFi for another season or two, Warner Brothers apparently already has an interest in either a feature film or direct to bluray/dvd release, and possibly sequels if these are successful. Much of the early outlines for the continuation were underway when season 3 was not picked up. Right now this is all tentative, though.

Lena Headey is pregnant and wouldn't be involved with it for, I would assume, a few more months. But very late 2010 or early 2011 production could begin if they choose to wait for her. Considering the last episode ended with Dekker's character in the future, it's possible the first installment could be done without her... but that there is my speculation. Summer Glau said in the NY Post she actually misses working on the show and she knows the rest of the cast would come back for it. You see the kind of heart and care they put into this series? That's what I'm talking about!

If you have a desire to see this series continued in some way, with these people that put so much of themselves into it, then make some noise. Buy the disks. Give them as gifts. Post on forums. Post on the Terminator Wiki. Write letters. Pass this information along. Keep talking about this series. Throw some TSCC bluray-watching parties. Remember what happened with Firefly? This needs some momentum, otherwise it might just fizzle.

This package is sold as all episodes of Season 1 and 2.

The Season 2 pkg is nice. It's in a binder type package and it contains all 6 DVD of all 12 episodes.

But Season 1 pkg is just 1 DVD which is #3 of 3. There is only one DVD in the clamshell and there is no place for DVD #1 or #2. I advised the vendor of this and they resent the entire order, but it still does not contain DVD #1 or #2 from Season 1.

The shows are great and that's why I'm ordering both, but the package is mismarked.

These DVDs are great. Our family has enjoyed watching them and following the Sarah and John Conner story. It is a little twist on the Terminator movies which we loved and left us wanting more!

this so called tv follow up to terminator 2 has john connor and his mother still chased by terminator machines(quit contradictory to the ending of terminator2)with arnold schwarzenegger wannabe terminators and bad c.g.i effects .but the real insult comes from the "terminator" sent as an "allie" for them. what they get is "teen terminator"(perhaps she was sent to help john connor with his raging hormones!!!.). it just does not get any worse than this , or mayby it could ?.what would be next a toddler terminator ?. this is just another pathetic excuse to make more money from the terminator franchise. thankfully this show was cancelled after the second season.(there should not have even been a first season!!!.)