User reviews

The actors are great. Richard Jones and Brian Green are awesome. This might be the first time I ever empathized with an FBI agent on any show or movie since The. X-Files.

Overall the show starts off a bit wooden but picks up after a few episodes, and is definitely better than that horrible thing called Dark Fate.

With a series as epic as Terminator it will be hard for the TV-series to live up to the standard set by the first two movies. That said it does a good job.

Ill start with Summer Glau, because she is by far the best and most interesting character. Shes the best actress and portrays the emotionless and unstoppable Terminator very well. I was worried in her first scene, but she definitely has turned into the beginnings of a great character.

Lena Headey as Sarah Connor... is nothing like the original Sarah, but she plays a hardheaded and brave (if foolhardy) mother pretty well. Other than that i cant say much at this time, shes not bad, not at all... but shes yet to prove herself.

My big problem is with Thomas Dekker. I cant stand his teenager noncy bull. Its like he is out of a scene from High School Musical, all his acting stinks of teenage rebel, and not in the interesting way, in the way that makes you want to throttle him. The writers made the mistake of trying to use him to appeal to the 14 - 16 crowd, and it kinda ruins the show.

Im hoping in later episodes he will man up, mature up, and act like the hero hes supposed to be. Right now hes just a moody child, which i don't think is logical to the story due to his upbringing.

Other points: The bad-ass terminator sent to kill them... seemed a bit too bad-ass. Its better when they have no emotions, this guy is just arrogant. Which adds to the clichéd feel. Other than that hes okay.

Though it starts off like T3, its definitely not the same story. Ill be interested to see how it moves on.

Plot holes due to time travel are a given. They were rife in the original series, and they are here. They are obvious if you look for them, but honestly it doesn't ruin the show. Maybe some questions will be answered later... but its not necessary.

So there's my views. Good potential so long as they don't pander to kids, and focus on the fact that its a grown-ups series.

I'm usually too jaded about new television series, but this one caught my attention from the beginning and kept me looking the entire length of the show. Non-stop excitement without being over-the-top. I thought the acting was well-done, as was the production/direction. Is it "EMMY" material? Maybe not, but it is great escapism, and isn't that enough for good TV? There have been many great series that started with less, I just hope this one continues where this pilot left off, building an even better story. I also hope this doesn't suffer the fate of other promising series that the networks canceled before they even had a chance. "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" deserves a good run, if only to entertain us and keep us on the edge of our seats as well as this first episode has done. Bring it on!

As long as I watch this show I realize that it's great addition to Terminator series. Scriptwriters passed over third installment and focused on continuation of part two. If you disliked first episode of SCC, you should watch next, because they're great ideas in any of them. Also casting is very, very good. Lena Headey is on top-notch of acting Sarah Connor. Is so wonderful, charm, though and smart... Just like Linda Hamilton. Thomas Dekker isn't as good as Eddie Furlong, but definitely better than Mr. Stahl. It's normal teenager, with internal problems and mental hesitation. He looks like emo-guy but trust me... He's good. But best acting represents Summer Glau. After first episode she didn't look well. But in next two episodes she punch every Terminator Fan in head and steal this show. Even if she has been casted for good looking, she added some fresh and touchable imaginativeness.

Really good TV series!

I had a chance to catch the first part of a two-night event premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicals; this series REALLY picks up from the end of the second movie where just when you think things were safe for Sarah (Lena Headley) and her son John (Thomas Dekker of 'heroes') but when it comes to Sarah's life there's no such thing as safe and of course nothing can hide from the inevitable.

And that's where the action picks up in this series...not only they are hunted down by a dangerous new (but somewhat older model) terminator but they are now pursued by an FBI agent (Richard T. Jones) who i got the feeling will be helping them in the long run; and now is teamed up with a newer model and very sexy terminator (Summer glau of 'Firefly')who is very unique and different from the other terminators that helped Sarah in the past and a lot more open ended character wise than the chick from T3 which is a good thing considering that this is an alternate answer to what T3 could of been if the writing was done correctly.

Honestly, for a show on a budget this had to be a very action oriented show which good character strengths from the actors and a very possible taste of more good action and stunts to come. And with most of the writers still wanting more money and still on strike this show can have all the possibilities to being one of the few good shows on TV (if only Fox doesn't screw it up like they did "Firefly" and make a F**ked up schedules)and with strong competition against shows like, 'Heroes', lost, and that crappy doctor show on NBC and ABC they have a lot of catching up to do...but all in all this show hits a good mark in my book and i hope that the episodes to come will be just as good as the first with no slow downs.

What can I say other then this series started out on weak point has improved with each new episode. The later episodes when the series begins to tie in with T2 are done quite well. The episode which showed the future is still my favorite.It is very interesting to see the components that will be the building blocks to sky net being revealed. There really are no standalone episodes so its too bad that if someone missed a few episodes they might not be into the series as much. Many of the people who hate this series so much have commented about the time line or the poor casting. Nobody will replace Arnald thats for sure but i wonder have any of these people read the various Dark Horse Comic series. (including Robocop Vs Terminator) There are some similar themes.

I completely adore this new series. Lena Heady is a terrific Sarah Connor, and I love it when little girls are the big strong hero. It's ironic in the best way. Go Cameron! I agree that the first couple episodes were a little bit slower, but the last 3 episodes have really excited me. I think this series is going to do very well! I love the recent introduction of Kyle Reese's brother Derek, played by Brian Austin Green. It allows for the incredible flashbacks of the future ravaged world. It was a great path to take.

I like that we're not really sure whether Cameron is going to turn on them or not...it's like when you take in a stray dog off the street - you're never really sure if or when they're going to turn around and attack you for no reason! There's an interesting dynamic between Cameron and Sarah, and Cameron and John - and especially Cameron and Derek.

I think this show is an homage to the original movies, and I really enjoy it. I hope it gets a fair shake.

As a Terminator fan, I must say I had huge expectations when sat down to watch this pilot. And after watching the pilot, I stood up pleased with what I have seen! I usually don't like series made from long movies, even if I liked the movie. But in this one: full of action, full of speed and what is important for me: the effects happen to be just as good as in the T3. So visually it's quite OK, the plot is also OK. To be honest, before watching it I couldn't really imagine how the happenings can develop, but after the pilot now I have some ideas, which makes it very interesting for me! Now I'm really looking forward to this series! You need tension, action, speed, guns in a T-movie, and I hope we'll get them through the whole series, and not only in this pilot. All in all, I found it very promising...

This was an excellent series. Great acting and writing. We are left hanging but there is so much more that could've been done with the story.

To be honest I don't normally take much time out to watch TV series like this, they are normally badly acted low on plot and the special effects are normally noticeably low budget.However the link up with Terminator 2 got me interested as it is one of my favorite films.I thought I would give it a go and it has turned out to be very watchable.

The one thing that the Conner Chronicles has is the same thing that the Terminator and T2 both possessed and thats the chase element.Even in the Conner Chronicles this still shines through.Yes, the acting is so so, the plot is OK and the special effects are average but the chase element keeps me watching every week and that is enough for me.

The Terminator movies are probably a great set of scenery for a really good TV series. My hopes were high when I heard about this production, but, the pilot was not what I was hoping for.

To summarize it short, it had too much "TV-series aimed at a teenage audience" feeling over it. It didn't feel like the upcoming of doomsday and the struggling for survival, you didn't feel the machine-like darkness creeping up on you. The reason for this is partly the occasionally lame manuscript, partly because of bad acting from the terminator(s) who didn't feel like terminators at all and partly because of bad music choice during critical scenes (sounds more like an bad action movie than the horror of a lethal, almost invulnerable machine coming to kill you).

I know this is just a pilot, but all these flaws need to be adjusted, before this can be a truly good series. Otherwise we're looking at a one season wonder, like so many times before.

edit 1: After watching the first three episodes, I can only say all my bad feelings from the pilot have been acknowledged and sadly enhanced. Horrible manuscript, boring pace, untinteresting episodes and way, way too much "American teenage high school relations series" feeling over it. Did they really have to drag the Terminator idea down into this crap?

edit 2: I have to be fair to the series and give my opinion after watching the entire 9 episodes. The first three are crap, ep. 4-5 are better but still "meh", while about 6-9 are (risingly) very good actually. The "american teen feeling" is gone and the darkness feels like it's creeping up on them. In the end, the series shows promise. Let's just hope that awakening wasn't too late, because I'm frankly hoping for a second season (13 episodes were planned, only 9 created because of the strike).

Usually series are very good at the start, with a declining finish. Terminator - Sarah Connor Chronicles are just like Jericho: crappy start, solid finish.

About the show: I think that the idea for Terminator to become a TV series is coming too late, but I also know that this project exists for a long time and just by now it's finally on air. I always thought that a TV show using the elements of Terminator would be a very interesting thing but I could never imagine how should they use them as there are not so many things in the story to be useful for so many seasons keeping the show always fresh and never boring. Unlike other movie series like Superman, X-Men, 007, among others, with Terminator things were always very straight. The story is simple and we all know that: John Connor needs to keep alive to save the future. The movies never had so many characters other than Sarah and Terminator itself. T2 gave some innovations and some new characters like John Connor and a new face for the robots presenting the "good" ones, those ones that only exist to guard someone's life. All the characters had in common simple objectives: run from the police and from the Terminator and destroy Skynet. All the straight plot and these simple objectives don't give so much creative freedom for a TV show and makes me wonder how to get out of these subjects without be unfaithful to the movies or with the fans.

About the Pilot: it has a very strong content and presents a show that promises to be one of the best action TV Shows people haven't seen in years, but the writers and producers need to be very careful and very creative to not keep focusing entire season just on the 3 fugitives that runs from the police or from a new Terminator each new episode. This show is like a chess game, a wrong move can destroy everything but, if they keep playing right, all the elements for an interesting show is there. What gives me a little relief is to know that this project is being planned to be on air for years, so I hope all the plot, puzzles and facts are well defined by the crew. The beginning is very interesting giving some of the T-movies feeling. I think they made a good choice choosing Lena Headey for the role of Sarah, but I think that, by being a Pilot episode, she is not playing Sarah yet. She looks kinda lost in the character and I hope her acting to get stronger and not so that passive because she needs to never lay down her acting level or let her character be concealed by other characters like Cameron because the show is about Sarah Connor and not about the Terminators. That's what Linda Hamilton always did in the movies and that's why her character became one of the most important characters in movies. Thommas Dekker is a perfect John Connor, that doggy face and dumb attitudes is typical for the character because he's young and it's hard for him to accept the idea that he's some kind of "new messiah". I didn't liked so much Summer Glau as Cameron but it's nice see another T-woman. There are a few things that I really didn't like as those robot-acting with that robot-moves that is so cliché, or showing the robots taking the bullets off their bodies. I hope not see these things so much during entire season because we're all tired to see and to know they do that for decades.

That's too early to really say something about this TV show but about the pilot, this is my point of view and my believes for the writers and producers to not mess with this because if they do they would not being fair with the fans or with all the history behind the movies and characters.

OK lets start with the problems. Set after the events of T2 and basically pretending that T3 doesn't exist as the time lines in the pilot do not relate to that movie at all. It starts in 1997 and it should be 1995 another error in time lines. The special effects are OK as is the plot. But the show offers nothing new here and how long John and Sarah running and hiding from the police and Terminators can continue to be entertaining for is questionable. It appears to me they are basically gonna re-make T2 and drag it out over 12 episodes without the cool liquid metal terminator. Don't get me wrong i enjoyed the pilot, there are some clever one liners with reference to the films, the female terminator steals the show. Question is would you watch it every week i'm not sure.

5 years After the horrible Terminator 3, these group of people decided to make a TV show based on The Terminator. This show is a big improvement over Terminator 3. I really like this show. I don't think that the Terminator should be portrayed by a female but this is a really cool show. I am a big fan of the first 2 Terminator films and when I heard that there would be a TV series I was thrilled. I wish that Arnold would make a guest appearance on an episode of this show. But I doubt that will ever happen because he is governor of California but hey you never know. This TV series does not disappoint. Well, that is what I think anyways. So, Check this out if you haven't. 7 out of 10 stars. Great show. I would not call it a masterpiece but it is a good show. I give it 7 out of 10 stars. Enjoy.

Lena Headey is Sarah Connor, and Thomas Dekker is John Connor. Anybody who is fluent in the Terminator universal knows who those characters are. The big 'shock' is Summer Glau who plays Cameron Phillips. It's interesting to see a tiny girl play a terminator. Kristanna Loken was always too obvious as a girl terminator.

Before it aired, I thought they were going to scale this show to a smaller high school drama. Sorta what Smallville was to Superman. I give the people in charge credit for going for it all. But the extreme action and FX was never going to be enough in comparison to the movies. It was always going to look cheap and inferior. They just asked too much from a TV show. Once the scale of it reached a saturation point, the show could not be reduced, but it couldn't expected to be movie quality week after week. And the story couldn't take one reveal after another. They just never stayed stationary long enough to get a nice even pace going. The one standout actor is Garret Dillahunt who can play one scary mo-fo.