Set in the post-apocalyptic year of 2018, Judgment Day has come and gone, leaving the human resistance to fight a desperate war against Skynet's army of machines. John Connor, destined to lead humanity, discovers that the future has been altered by the appearance of Marcus Wright, a mysterious stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. As Skynet prepares a final onslaught to eliminate the Resistance leadership, Connor and Marcus must embark on an odyssey into the heart of operations, where they uncover a terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States Germany United Kingdom Italy |
Premiere date |
May 21, 2009 |
Running time |
115 minutes |
Genre |
Sci-Fi Action |
Budget |
$200,000,000 |
Box Office |
$371,353,001 |
Crew |
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Directed by |
McG |
Produced by |
Moritz Borman Derek Anderson Victor Kubicek Jeffrey Silver |
Written by |
John Brancato Michael Ferris |
Music by |
Danny Elfman |
Cinematography |
Shane Hurlbut |
Edited by |
Conrad Buff |
Production Co. |
The Halcyon Company Wonderland Sound and Vision |
Distributed by |
Warner Bros. Pictures Sony Pictures Releasing |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Movie Collection |
Movie Order: #04 in The Terminator Collection
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The Plot
The Execution of Marcus Wright
In 2003, within the sterile, grim confines of the Longview Correctional Facility in Texas, death row inmate Marcus Wright awaits his end. He receives a final visitor: Dr. Serena Kogan, a representative from the Cyberdyne Systems Genetics Division. Kogan, battling cancer and driven by a desperate scientific curiosity, petitions Marcus to donate his body to science. She frames the request as a chance for redemption, suggesting his organs and tissue could contribute to a "noble cause" vital to the future of humanity. Cynical but resigned, Marcus agrees to sign the consent forms, demanding only a kiss in exchange. Shortly after, he is strapped to the gurney. As the lethal injection courses through his veins, his vision blurs, and the last image burned into his mind is Dr. Kogan standing silently over him.
The VLA Assault and a New Threat
Fifteen years later, in the war-torn year of 2018, the world has been ravaged by Judgment Day. John Connor, a high-ranking soldier but not yet the supreme leader of the Resistance, leads a major assault on a Skynet VLA network. His unit’s objective is twofold: rescue human prisoners destined for experimentation and secure classified data vital to the machine network. Having successfully infiltrated the base, Connor discovers computerized schematics for a terrifying new evolution of the enemy: the Series 800 Terminator. The intelligence is alarming, as the T-800 was not predicted to go into production until 2026. This acceleration suggests Skynet is advancing far faster than anticipated.
Connor is ordered to return to the surface to check on the troops guarding their extraction transport. He emerges to a massacre; his men have been slaughtered. He watches helplessly as a massive Skynet Transport takes flight, carrying the prisoners he meant to save toward Skynet Central in San Francisco. Determined to pursue, he boards a helicopter, but a massive explosion detonates beneath the VLA facility. The blast wave crashes his chopper and obliterates his entire unit, leaving a mushroom cloud towering over the ruins. Amidst the wreckage, Connor is suddenly ambushed by a damaged, legless T-600. The machine, relentless despite its injuries, nearly kills him before he manages to destroy it with a machine gun barrage.
The Signal and the Kill List
Recovered by a Resistance extraction team, Connor demands an immediate audience with the leadership. When denied, he takes drastic action, leaping from his transport helicopter into the ocean to swim down to the Resistance Headquarters, which is concealed within a submerged submarine. Inside, he confronts General Ashdown, reporting the accelerated development of the T-800. The leadership, skeptical and impatient, reveals they have acquired a "hidden frequency" capable of shutting down Skynet’s machines remotely. They plan to launch a global offensive using this signal in four days.
However, the urgency is compounded by an intercepted Skynet transmission: a "kill list" broadcast to all terminators. The list dictates that the entire Resistance command staff is to be eliminated within the week. John Connor is ranked second on this list. The primary target, ranked Number One, is a civilian named Kyle Reese. Connor realizes the stakes immediately: Skynet knows that Kyle is destined to become his father and travel back in time to save Sarah Connor.
The Ruins of Los Angeles
Back at the VLA impact site, Marcus Wright awakens, gasping for air and clawing his way out of the mud. It has been 15 years since his execution, yet he hasn't aged a day. Dazed, confused, and screaming primal cries into the void, he strips the clothes from a dead Resistance fighter and wanders into the desert. His journey leads him to the skeletal remains of Los Angeles. The city is a desolate graveyard of skyscrapers, seemingly devoid of life.
While exploring the ruins, Marcus is targeted by a T-600. Before the machine can terminate him, he is saved by a young Kyle Reese and his mute child companion, Star. After crushing the Terminator under a trap of heavy rubble, Kyle explains the reality of the post-apocalyptic world: Judgment Day happened, and machines now hunt humans. Kyle, aspiring to join the Resistance, laments their isolation. Marcus, eager to repay the debt, repairs an old shortwave radio. By chance, they tune into one of John Connor’s broadcasts. Connor’s voice, offering tactical advice and hope to survivors, resonates with them, and they decide to leave the city to find him.
The Harvester Attack
As the trio heads north through the desert, they are scanned by an Aerostat drone. Though they manage to destroy the probe, their position is compromised. Seeking supplies, they arrive at a remote 7-11 outpost inhabited by a group of survivors who survive by "keeping their heads down" and refusing to resist Skynet. While an elderly woman named Virginia offers them food, the peace is shattered when a massive Skynet Harvester—a colossal machine designed to collect humans—attacks the location.
The Harvester tears through the settlement, capturing Virginia and several others. Marcus, Kyle, and Star attempt a daring escape. They try to destroy the giant machine by detonating a fuel tanker near its legs, but the Harvester survives. The chase spills onto the highway, where the Harvester deploys Moto-Terminators—autonomous motorcycles—to pursue them. despite a high-speed battle where they manage to destroy the pursuers, the Harvester eventually intercepts them. Kyle and Star are captured and thrown into a Transport. Marcus attempts to board the flying vessel to save them but is knocked off by the Harvester, plummeting into a river below.
Magnetic Mines and Betrayal
Meanwhile, John Connor is baffled by reports of Skynet taking prisoners, a deviation from their usual protocol of immediate extermination. Having detected the machine activity in the LA Basin, the Resistance dispatches two A-10 Warthogs to intercept the Transports. The mission is a disaster; Skynet air defenses shoot down the jets. Pilot Blair Williams manages to eject, landing in the desolate terrain where she is soon surrounded by scavengers. Marcus, having washed ashore, intervenes and rescues her, fighting off the attackers with brutal efficiency.
Grateful, Blair agrees to lead Marcus to Connor’s base. During the two-day trek, they bond, and Blair begins to trust the stranger. Upon reaching the Resistance perimeter, Blair guides Marcus through a hidden path in a minefield composed of magnetic explosives designed to latch onto machines. As they navigate the hazard, a magnetic mine suddenly rips from the ground and attaches itself to Marcus’s leg. The resulting explosion critically injures him, and he is rushed to the infirmary.
The Cyborg Revealed
In the field hospital, Kate Connor begins to treat Marcus's wounds. As she cleans away the blood and shredded skin, her expression turns to pure horror. Beneath the flesh, she sees a metal endoskeleton. She immediately orders Barnes to incapacitate him. Marcus is knocked unconscious and wakes up chained above a ballistic missile silo, suspended by heavy iron restraints. John Connor and Kate study him with a mix of fascination and revulsion.
Kate explains the anomaly: Marcus possesses a human heart and brain, but the rest of his body is a cybernetic chassis. When questioned by Connor, Marcus violently insists he is human. To prove the reality of his condition, Connor releases the chain holding Marcus's head. Marcus looks down at his own chest, seeing the mechanical servos and wiring exposed beneath his torn skin. He lets out an agonized scream of disbelief. Despite the evidence that Marcus is a machine, Connor senses a difference. He tells Marcus that he won't simply terminate him like a machine, ordering him to be kept restrained for study.
The Deal
Blair Williams, unable to reconcile the man who saved her with the monster the Resistance sees, covertly releases Marcus. The escape triggers a base-wide alert. During the pursuit, Blair allows herself to be captured to buy Marcus time. Connor pursues Marcus in a Huey helicopter, tracking him to a river. However, the water is infested with Hydrobots—serpentine machines that swarm Connor’s low-flying chopper, causing it to crash. Connor is dragged underwater, moments from death, when Marcus dives in and rips the machines apart, saving Connor’s life.
On the riverbank, an uneasy standoff ensues. Marcus persuades Connor not to shoot, revealing that he knows Kyle Reese is being held in Skynet Central. He proposes a deal: if Connor lets him go, he will infiltrate Skynet (which will recognize him as a machine) and help Connor rescue Kyle. Connor, knowing the importance of Reese’s survival, agrees to the plan. He gives Marcus a communication device and allows him to head toward San Francisco.
Into the Heart of Skynet
To uphold his end of the bargain, Connor devises a plan to enter the heavily fortified Skynet Central. He lures a patrolling Moto-Terminator on a highway by blasting loud music, drawing it into a tripwire trap. As the machine crashes into a line of cars, Connor pounces, hacking into its CPU and reprogramming it. Utilizing the bike's transponder codes to bypass automated defenses, he rides across the ruined Golden Gate Bridge and infiltrates the facility.
Simultaneously, Marcus walks directly to the perimeter wall. As predicted, the automated turrets scan him, register his cybernetic signature, and stand down. He enters the mainframe control room and interfaces with the system, disabling the perimeter defenses to clear a path for Connor and the coming Resistance air support.
The Trojan Horse
As Marcus syncs with the Skynet mainframe to lower the defenses, the connection overwhelms him. His eyes roll back, and he blacks out as data streams into his neural net. When he awakens, his physical wounds have been completely repaired. A monitor descends, displaying the digital avatar of Dr. Serena Kogan. Skynet speaks to him, revealing the horrific truth of his existence: he is an infiltration prototype, the first of his kind.
Skynet explains that Marcus was a Trojan Horse, engineered with a human appearance and subconscious to gain the trust of the Resistance. His sole programming directive was to locate Kyle Reese and John Connor and lure them to Skynet Central for termination. Skynet gloats that he has fulfilled his mission perfectly. It expects him to accept his nature and rejoin the collective. But Marcus rejects the machine logic. Tearing the data-link hardware from the back of his skull, he snarls, "Watch me!" and smashes the screen. He chooses humanity, fleeing the chamber to find and assist Connor.
The Trap and the T-RIP
While the infiltration unfolds, General Ashdown aboard the command submarine orders the activation of the "shut-down signal." The Resistance leaders watch the screens with anticipation, but nothing happens. The signal was a trap planted by Skynet—a location beacon. Immediately, a Skynet HK-Aerial tracks the signal to the submarine and drops a depth charge, crushing the hull and killing the entire command staff.
Inside the factory, John Connor locates the detention cells and finds Kyle Reese. However, their escape is blocked by a T-RIP (Resistance Infiltrator Prototype)—a fresh T-800 Model 101 lacking its skin sheath. The Terminator relentlessly chases them through the industrial labyrinth. Kyle and Star are separated and cornered by a damaged T-600. Showing his growth as a fighter, Kyle jams a metal rod into the T-600's exposed motor cortex, disabling it. The T-RIP arrives moments later, casually destroying the T-600 to clear its path. Connor engages the T-RIP, firing several 40mm "Hellhound" grenades. The explosions slow the machine and burn away remnants of its synthetic flesh, but it keeps coming. They blast a hole in a wall to escape into the factory floor.
Fire and Ice
The T-RIP corners Connor, overpowering him with superior strength. Just as it prepares to deliver a killing blow, Marcus intervenes, tackling the machine. This buys Connor enough time to get Kyle and Star to safety. A brutal hand-to-hand combat ensues between the hybrid and the pure machine. While Marcus is strong, the T-RIP is designed for combat superiority. It identifies Marcus's biological heart as a weak point and delivers a devastating punch to his chest, stopping his heart and leaving him incapacitated.
The T-RIP resumes its hunt for Connor. John, realizing conventional weapons are failing, shoots a vat of molten metal above the Terminator, showering it in liquid fire. The machine glows red-hot but continues to crawl forward. Thinking quickly, Connor shoots a liquid nitrogen coolant line. The freezing gas hits the superheated metal of the Terminator, causing a rapid thermal shock that freezes the T-RIP solid. However, in the seconds before it freezes, the machine lashes out, clawing deep gouges across the left side of Connor's face, creating the iconic scar he will bear for the rest of his life.
Sacrifice and Salvation
With the enemy frozen, Connor rushes to Marcus. He tries to revive him with CPR but gets no response. Desperate, Connor rips a live high-voltage wire from the wall and shocks Marcus’s chest, acting as a defibrillator. The jolt restarts Marcus’s heart. However, the heat from the electrical surge thaws the T-RIP. The machine breaks free from its icy prison and, seizing the moment of distraction, impales John Connor through the chest with a jagged steel bar.
Enraged, Marcus grabs the same steel bar, wrenches it from Connor’s body, and drives it through the T-RIP’s neck, twisting it until the machine’s head is severed, finally destroying it. Supporting the critically wounded Connor, Marcus leads them to the extraction point where Kate and Barnes arrive with a helicopter to evacuate the prisoners. Before leaving, Connor takes the detonator for the explosives he rigged earlier around the factory's nuclear fuel cells.
No Fate But What We Make
As the helicopter lifts off, Connor triggers the detonator. The Skynet facility is consumed in a massive nuclear fireball, obliterating the base and the T-800 production line. However, the victory is dampened by Connor’s condition; his heart is failing rapidly from the injury. At a remote base camp, the field medics determine he cannot survive without a transplant. Marcus, knowing his life as a cyborg has no place in this world, offers his own heart. He tells Blair and Kyle that everyone deserves a second chance, looking at Connor. Marcus willingly goes under the knife, giving his life so the leader of the Resistance can live. Before the surgery, he passes his Resistance coat to Kyle Reese, a symbolic passing of the torch.
John Connor survives the transplant. He recovers and stands ready to continue the fight. The film concludes with Connor flying in a helicopter amidst a fleet of Hueys, his voiceover broadcasting to the remaining humans. He quotes his mother, Sarah: "There is no fate but what we make." He warns that while this battle was won, Skynet remains strong, and the war is far from over. The fight for the future has only just begun.
