Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Terminator DVD details, commentary clips

Save The Sarah Connor ChroniclesBlu-ray.com posted a review of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray]terminator bluray last week, along with a list of the special features (scroll all the way down).

The region 1 DVD comes out next week (Sept. 22). No details on the bonus material for region 2 yet. (The DVD doesn’t come out until November.)

Television Without Pity has revealed the winners of the Tubey Awards. The show won in 16 categories, including Best Drama, Best Returning Show, Most Painful Cancellation, Best Single Episode (Allison from Palmdale), Best Season Finale, Best Smackdown (Cameron vs. police station), Best Onscreen Death (Derek) and Favourite Actress (Summer Glau).

Next stop, the Scream Awards – if you haven’t voted yet, head over to Spike.com.

In the meantime, some preview clips from the DVD showed up on YouTube yesterday. Embedded below are the ones from Adam Raised a Cain, with commentary from Josh Friedman, Summer Glau, Thomas Dekker, John Wirth and James Middleton. Big thanks to Summer-Glau.net for posting them. (Make sure you visit for more clips.)

Finally, the Blu-ray extras:

Disc One

Disc one features a pair of commentary tracks, the first for the episode Samson and Delilah and featuring Executive Producer Josh Friedman and Actors Lena Heady, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau, and Shirley Manson. Commentary track two, available on Allison from Palmdale, features Executive Producers Josh Friedman, James Middleton, and John Wirth, and Actors Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau. Also included is The Storyboard Process: Cameron Goes Bad (1080i, 2:55), a brief piece that looks at the importance of storyboards to the filmmaking process, including a side-by-side storyboard vs. final product comparison.

Disc Two

While none of the five episodes found on disc two sport a commentary track, the disc does offer two “Terminated Scenes,” one each for the episodes The Tower is Tall but the Fall is Short (1080p, 1:04) and Complications (1080p, 0:26). Also included here under the “Behind the Story” heading is Cameron vs. Rosie: Fight Rehearsal (1080i, 5:27), an informative piece that looks at the process of bringing this fight sequence to life, featuring raw behind-the-scenes footage, interview clips with the crew, and storyboard analysis.

Disc Three

Only a pair of “Terminated Scenes” for Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point (1080p, 0:50) and Earthlings Welcome Here (1080p, 1:04) are included on disc three.

Disc Four

Like disc three, disc four features only a collection of “Terminated Scenes,” this time one from Today is the Day — Part 1 (1080p, 1:19) and four from Today is the Day — Part 2 (1080p, 2:50 combined).

Disc Five

Disc five contains the bulk of the supplementary material, headlined by another pair of commentary tracks. Track one, accompanying Adam Raised a Cain, features Executive Producers Josh Friedman, James Middleton, and John Wirth, and Actors Thomas Dekker and Summer Glau. The second track with the same participants is available for the series finale episode Born to Run. Collision With the Future: Deconstructing the Hunter Killer Attack (1080i) is an interactive piece that takes viewers on an in-depth tour of the many layers of work that came together to create the season’s climactic sequence. Viewers may choose from one of four boxes — one each for “Production,” “Direction,” “Special FX,” and “Visual FX” — from a main menu that features all four pieces playing simultaneously with an overlaying commentary with Creator/Executive Producer/Writer Josh Friedman. The Continuing Chronicles: Terminator is a collection of eight featurettes presented in 1080i high definition: Write the Future (12:39), Conceptualization (8:18), Blood and Metal (7:39), Designing Deconstruction (7:32), Choreographing Chaos (7:21), War Stories (9:15), Setting the Tempo (13:15), and Motivations (9:51). Rounding out disc five are three “Terminated Scenes” — two for To the Lighthouse (1080p, 0:43 & 1:32) and one for Born to Run (1080p, 0:27) — and a gag reel (1080p, 6:04). [Blu-ray.com]

Terminator update: The Freaking Big Push campaign

Season two of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles comes out on DVD and Blu-ray in two weeks (Sept. 22) and the fans at SaveTheSCC.com have launched a massive campaign — The Freaking Big Push — to promote the release.

With news that the show might come back as a straight-to-DVD film and that producer James Middleton is still working on making this happen, it is essential that the DVD sales are big enough to convince Warner executives that picking up the story where it left off would be a good idea.

From the site:

The Freaking Big Push is a massive campaign directed at Warner Brothers to demonstrate our love for the show and convince the WB to bring it back. According to a loyal, anonymous source, there is talk of a DVD movie. It’s our objective to convince the WB to make sure this happens. The campaign is broken down into various missions which will each launch on a specific date throughout the month. We can’t stress enough how important it is that everyone do these things on the same day. The only way to make a real impact is with strong numbers, pushing each avenue together on a daily basis, together.

The campaign has been supported by people related to the show. Thomas Dekker recorded a message for the fans the other day (visit the Sarah Connor Society for the video) and Ashley Miller has helped spread the word on Twitter.

For updates and all the info you need about the campaign and what you can do to help, head over to SaveTheSCC.com. The September calendar is here.

If you are looking for a place to start, the show has been nominated for several Scream Awards (Best TV Show among others). You can vote on Spike.com.

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In related news, the British Royal Academy of Engineering puts John Henry on trial, Swiss robots learn to lie and cheat, and Noel Sharkey channels Sarah Connor.

Terminator,Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles,Save Terminator

Also, you can (pre-)order Terminator on Amazon.

News roundup – August

Okay, since I haven’t posted that many updates last month (vacation) and news just keeps piling up, here is a quick roundup:

The Last House on the Left was released on DVDThe Last House on the Left (2009) and Blu-rayThe Last House on the Left a couple of weeks ago. The region 2 DVD will be out on October 19.

The Road will premiere in Venice on September 3. That’s tomorrow. It will then be shown 10 days later (Sept. 13 & 14) in the Special Presentations program at the Toronto Film Festival. The listing is here. There are also rumours that it will be screened at Telluride (Sept. 4-7) so if you are in the Colorado area, keep an eye on the festival’s official site. The film opens wide on October 16.

Oliver Sherman starts filming in about a month. A couple of weeks ago, they were still casting a whole bunch of characters.  The casting call is here.

On the TV front…

Life: Season Twolife season two was released on DVD on August 25. You can find a review and the DVD details here.

The Burn Notice season three finale will air some time in March. Ausiello at Entertainment Weekly describes Garret’s character  as a “scary-smart new client of Michael’s (Jeffrey Donovan) — and perhaps the first person to outsmart him.”

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles might still return as a movie. Here is what Thomas Dekker told the TV Addict the other day: “They’ve spoken about doing a TV movie. Well, not a TV movie, but kind of like a direct-to-DVD movie. Obviously it’s difficult because the show is based on a movie and they just had one come out, so it’s kind of hard to make a movie with our show because everyone has kind of forgotten about us. But they’re hoping, at least when I spoke to [Producer] James Middleton that’s where they are with it.”

The teaser for the CSI season premiere is online, as well as the press release and some pics from the episode (of Jorja Fox mostly). The show returns on September 24.

More updates as they come.

Cromartie up for Best Villain at Television Without Pity

Television Without Pity has rolled out a list of nominees for the Tubey Awards and Cromartie is up for Best Villain. You can only vote in these 10 categories this week, so don’t wait too long before hitting the link below. Terminator is also mentioned in Most Painful Series Cancellation and Least Villainous Villain categories. No need to register and there doesn’t seem to be a limit on the number of votes you can submit either.

Link:

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/tubeys/nominees.php

(Go to “Fans Have Their Say.”)

For the full press release, go here.

And for all the Cromartie screencaps you’ll ever need, click on the picture below:

Cromartie,Garret Dillahunt,Terminator,The Sarah Connor Chronicles,Brothers of Nablus

Terminator DVD & Blu-ray special features

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season Two, DVDWarner Home Video has announced the full list of features that will appear on the Terminator season two DVD & Blu-ray sets. Season two will be released on September 22. See the details from the press release below.

Josh Friedman talked to Sci Fi Wire this week. Here are a few quotes:

For you, over the two seasons, what storylines took on their own life, maybe in a way you didn’t expect?

Friedman: I was pleased by how much we got out of Cromartie/John Henry [Garret Dillahunt]. Most of that is due to the genius that is Dillahunt—there’s a reason David Milch couldn’t leave him dead in Deadwood. I always knew we’d have a Terminator body aiding in the A.I. development, but I’ll admit it wasn’t always the Cromartie body. We explored other ideas there, but ultimately we couldn’t stand removing Cromartie from the chessboard.

The ending could be looked at as an actual end to the series or as a cliffhanger. Was it difficult to come up with the finale? Why did you want to end it on such a big note?

Friedman: The finale wasn’t really any more difficult than any other episode. Frankly, “Adam Raised a Cain” almost f–king killed the writers’ room, so the finale was a vacation compared to that. I’d known for quite a while where we were headed, so once we got to that point it was pretty organic. I don’t think I set out to end “on a big note,” but I knew I wanted John Henry to be attacked, and the drone seemed the most dramatic way to hit that beat. I needed to drive people to the future, and making the present an extremely dangerous place to be seemed like an important part of the equation.

Do you ever see the story continuing, perhaps in a comic book or another format?

Friedman: I don’t own this franchise or control it in any way. I can’t just go make a deal to do a comic book or a DVD movie or anything like that. The people that control the franchise need to be interested in another iteration of not just Terminator, which clearly they are, but TSCC, which at this point they are not. I’ve tried to pull this proverbial band-aid off as quickly as I can, but I don’t want that confused with me giving up on the show. It’s been my entire creative existence for years, and nothing strokes my ego more than hearing about people clamoring for more TSCC and e-mailing network executives to that effect. But I want people to have a realistic understanding of what’s going on. I owe them honesty.

Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans?

Friedman: I don’t think there’s much I could say to fans that I haven’t already said. TSCC has been my life for almost four years, and the fans have been a huge part of that experience. Nothing exists in a vacuum, and television is nothing if not a social compact—I’ll try to make something worth watching, and you’ll try to watch it. It’s a handshake, and you don’t want to leave the other guy hanging. Hopefully, we’ll try again soon.

Bigger Terminator screencaps are up. Pics from individual episodes are all linked here: TERMINATOR IMAGE GALLERIES.

Season two can be pre-ordered on Amazon. DVD & Blu-ray details below.



DVD and BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • The Continuing Chronicles featurettes
  • Write the Future – An inside look at creator Josh Friedman and the writing process and how it guides the creative decisions for each episode
  • Conceptualization – Visual Effects supervisor James Lima and others discuss the production challenges of bringing the sci-fi world of Terminator to television
  • Blood and Metal – Go behind the scenes with special makeup effects artist Rob Hall and the cast as they reveal the process of creating realistic cybernetic organisms
  • Designing Destruction – Production Designer Marek Dobrowolski and others discuss the challenges of combining real locations with futuristic sets to create a world in which the present fights to avoid a horrific future
  • Choreographing Chaos – See how Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director Joel Kramer and Special Effects Supervisor Steve Galich work closely to create the stunts and on set effects that add an undeniably kinetic quality to each episode
  • War Stories – From an unexpected earthquake on the jam-packed Santa Monica pier to the intricacies of filming underwater sequences, the producers and cast reflect on some of the most memorable production challenges from Season Two
  • Setting the Tempo – Composer Bear McCreary and the producers explain the process of taking cues from the Terminator mythology and incorporating them into the score. Bear, Josh Friedman and Shirley Manson also talk about the process of recording the season opening song “Samson and Delilah”
  • Motivations – The producers and cast discuss the themes of Season Two and how these informed both the writing and acting
  • Terminated Scenes
  • Cameron vs. Rosie: Fight Rehearsal – The raw fight rehearsal and choreography session between Summer Glau and a contortionist is interwoven with storyboards and interviews explaining this intricate battle sequence
  • The Storyboard Process: Cameron Goes Bad – The production team outlines the process for mapping key sequences from the show in Storyboard format
  • Audio Commentary with Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau and Shirley Manson and Executive Producers Josh Friedman, James Middleton and John Wirth
  • Gag Reel

BLU-RAY ONLY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Collision with the Future: Deconstructing the HUNTER KILLER Attack – Interactive exploration of the climactic Hunter Killer attack featured in the Season Two finale. Four simultaneous points of view show all elements of the filmmaking of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles from Production, Direction, Visual Effects, and Special Effects. Additional focus points allow the viewer to explore even more elements of what it took to create this dramatic stunt sequence.

EPISODES FEATURED

1. Samson and Delilah
2. Automatic for the People
3. The Mousetrap
4. Allison from Palmdale
5. Goodbye to All That
6. The Tower is Tall But the Fall is Short
7. Brothers of Nablus
8. Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today
9. Complications
10. Self Made Man
11. Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point
12. Alpine Fields
13. Earthlings Welcome Here
14. The Good Wound
15. Desert Cantos
16. Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
17. Ourselves Alone
18. Today is the Day (Part 1)
19. Last Voyage of the Jimmy Carter (Part 2)
20. To the Lighthouse
21. Adam Raised a Cain
22. Born to Run

BASICS
Street Date: September 22, 2009
Running time: Approximately 1,012 minutes

DVD
Price: $59.98 SRP
Language: English, Portuguese
Subtitles: ESDH, French, Thai, Portuguese, Spanish
5.1 Audio

Blu-ray
Price: $79.98 SRP
Language: English, Japanese
Subtitles: ESDH, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Japanese
5.1 Audio