Starring Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, Richard T. Jones, Brian Austin Green, Dean Winters
Written By:
Directed By:
Studio: Warner Brothers
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Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles surprised me. I thought it was going to be lame but it ended up being one of the favorite TV shows last season. Sure it has its flaws, but what show doesn’t? If you’re a fan of the Terminator franchise, then be sure to watch this DVD/Blu Ray of the first season of the TV series!

The TV series takes place after Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Sarah (Lena Headey) and John (Thomas Dekker) are running from the authorities, along with other enemies from the future. Sarah is seeing this ambulance driver named Charley (Dean Winters), and they are also living with him as well. He asks her to marry him and she freaks & leaves him. While on the move, they get chased down by the latest Terminator. But this time they get some help from Cameron (Summer Glau). A female Terminator who’s hot on the outside, but a bad-ass robot in the inside. In the second movie, it appears that Sarah & John stop Judgment Day but we find out that they only delayed it. Instead of running away, they decide to go after Skynet. Only problem is there are lots of other creepy Terminators after them. Plus, there’s an FBI agent (Richard T. Jones) hot on their tail, who may or not believe that Sarah isn’t a looney. Besides that, Sarah Connor preps and prepares John to become the future leader of resistance. There are 9 episodes in total for the season, which isn’t a lot for a US show but it certainly makes you anticipate the 2nd season.

When Sarah Connor Chronicles first aired, I started to watch the show intently. Then somewhere along the line I started to just watch it half-assed. There’s no reason for it really, maybe I just got wrapped up in too many TV shows? I did get tired of the high school drama stuff but thankfully that took a backseat towards the end of the season. You’re on the run, why the hell would you enroll in a school? The school systems out there aren’t going to teach John how to lead a resistance. So that part of the show was a little stupid. I think as soon as Brian Austin Green came on the show, the show got very interesting. Surprisingly, he’s one of the best things about the Sarah Connor Chronicles. I hope they continue to show his back story, or future story. I believe he’s a regular cast member in the 2nd season.

The main characters are good and interesting enough that you care if they die or not. Thomas Dekker playing John Connor does a better job at it than Edward Furlong but I think Nick Stahl has been the best John Connor so far. I’m sure Christian Bale will be the best one in Terminator Salvation. I think Lena Headey pulls off Sarah Connor quite well. I was skeptical that she wouldn’t be better than Linda Hamilton but she definitely has the acting chops for it. And she’s not that bad to look at either. I was happy to see Summer Glau get chosen to be one of the lead characters because I’m a huge Firefly fan. She obviously looks amazing compared to what she was made up to look like in Firefly. She plays the Terminator all right, sometimes her robot speech is inconsistent. The pilot episode she talks like a normal person but when we find out she’s a machine, she then talks like a machine. I like the character agent Ellison because he’s someone that’s not bad but just trying to do his job at capturing Sarah Connor. Sort of similar to Tommy Lee Jones’ character in The Fugitive.

I’m hoping the second season focuses more on the task at hand, instead of John Connor’s teenage troubles with school. If they move away from that, the show should be excellent in the 2nd season. I just hope they don’t give John some love interest, or have him and Cameron get down to some robot loving. That’s gotta chafe the willy! If you like the show, there are some bonus features worth watching. There’s a bunch of deleted scenes like Charley asking John if he thought of Cameron in the way as I described above. There’s a dance rehearsal with Summer Glau, which is for the ballet scene in the TV series. Also included on the DVD set is commentary on 3 episodes, an extended cut of The Demon Hand, a gag reel and a 3 part featurette of the series.

If you’re a fan of the Terminator movies, then be sure to watch this refreshing look of the franchise created by James Cameron. The DVD only has 9 episodes on it so it’s not gonna take you that long to catch up before the 2nd season starts to air in September.

Features:
– Commentaries on 3 Key Episodes by Executive Producer Josh Friedman and Cast/Crew
– Creating the Chronicles: 3-Part Look at the Series’ Production Process
– Both the Broadcast Version and Extended Cut of Episode 7, The Demon Hand
– Cast Audition Tapes
– Terminated Scenes: Unaired Moments
– Storyboard Animatic
– Summer Glau Dance Rehearsal
– Gag Reel

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
PORTUGUESE: Dolby Digital Stereo

Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai

Favorite Scenes: Pilot, Dungeons and Dragons, Vick’s Chip, What He Beheld
Rating: NR
Running Time: 394 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: