Set in the year 2018, Terminator Salvation depicts a “dirty, gritty, difficult” world set in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust where human survivors are preyed upon by lethal robots. Directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol and staring Christian Bale, the fourth instalment of the Terminator film series promises to “push the envelope” with its hi-tech visual effects. At a recent special preview of the movie held in central London, attended by McG (McGinty), a five-minute trailer presented an action-packed montage of explosions and stunts, and revealed the range of robots featured in the film. Terminator fans can look forward to encounters with two-wheeled machines dubbed Mototerminators, tentacled Hydrobots and giant, armoured Harvesters.

According to Hollywood director McG, the new Terminator movie is set to “reinvigorate the franchise”. With Bale on board as John Connor, leader of the resistance against the cyborg army, “I knew we had the chance to do something special,” McG told reporters at the London preview. Despite the many rumours that Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to appear in the new film, McG was still unable to confirm the extent of Arnie’s contribution to Terminator Salvation.  “The T-800 is a big character in the film,” he said referring to the serial number given to the ‘Arnie’ Terminator model. Refusing to reveal more McG said “let your imaginations run riot” fuelling reports that rather than appearing in the film, Schwarzenegger has allowed his likeness to be digitally mapped onto a Terminator’s face. Playing down comparisons with last year’s Transformers film, McG told a BBC News website “Transformers is an excellent movie, but our film is not about big robots. I wanted it to have lots of hardware and velocity, but I didn’t want to hang the whole movie on it.” James Cameron’s The Terminator (released in 1984) was followed by two film sequels and a TV series: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. With Christian Bale apparently signing up for a total of three Terminator films and plans for two more instalments in the pipeline, things look promising for a second Terminator trilogy. Stan Winston, the special effects pioneer who designed the original Terminator endoskeleton, worked on Terminator Salvation prior to his death in June this year. McG intends to dedicate the movie to Winston’s memory. Terminator Salvation will be released in the US on May 22 and in the UK on June 5, 2009. It will compete for box office success with the forthcoming Star Trek, also due for release in May 2009.

Credits: Director: McG Producers: Derek Anderson, Victor Kubicek, Jeffrey Silver, Moritz Borman Starring: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington. Anton Yelchin, Bryce Dallas Howard Distribution North America: Warner Bros Distribution International: Sony Pictures Entertainment