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Terminator writer: Time paradox? What time paradox?
John Brancato, who co-wrote the screenplay to Terminator Salvation with partner Michael Ferris, told reporters that the duo took inspiration from the original film's central time-travel paradox. In James Cameron's original 1984 Terminator, John Connor sends Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) back in time to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and conceive John. (Spoilers ahead!)
In Salvation, a grown-up Connor (Christian Bale) must rescue young Reese (Anton Yelchin) from Skynet so that he can later fulfill his destiny as depicted in The Terminator.
"That's so much of what the whole series is about, the idea that you'd actually have to find your own father to save his life to create you," Brancato said in a group interview last Friday in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Although, of course, that's totally paradoxical, because there you are. You're not, like, suddenly going to dissolve, like in Back to the Future, probably, but you sort of have to play the necessity of the Terminator world."
If fans have an issue with the logic of Connor's removing an obstacle to his own conception, Brancato says Cameron started it. "I don't know that there's any more paradox than was established probably in the first Terminator film," he said. "John Connor exists because he sends his own father back to create him, so he's basically setting up his dad with his mom, which is kind of an interesting situation."
Brancato added that he felt no need to "correct" any logical holes in the franchise storyline. "It seems that that's so central to the whole mythology," he said. "I mean, they didn't have to [have it] in the first Terminator film, with the straight time-travel paradox the way they did. It was kind of cute that they did. Somebody in the process pointed out this is maybe the first film that's both a prequel and a sequel, which is kind of a nice thing about time travel."
The time-travel device also presented the writers with a problem as to when to set Terminator Salvation in time. The year 2018 is far enough away in our real-world future but early enough in the mythology that the film would not have to address technology that could render the story overly complicated.
"During the production and the development process we went in different ages, different times," Brancato said. "How much technology is there? Are they, like, working on simple liquid-metal stuff? Is there a little time travel? A lot of that just fell away. We just took it to a more nuts-and-bolts feel."
Terminator Salvation opens May 21.
By xdeathknightx at 7:55 AM ON 05/14/09
He is right, the first terminator had a paradoxial and ontological paradox and the same goes for 2 and 3. And then they even went into alternate timelines really. So I wouldn't mind too much
By Justo at 8:19 AM ON 05/14/09
None of it ever made any sense in my mind. If they sent back the Terminator, they'd know immediately if it worked or not, because it would have "already" happened the instant the terminator's back in time. So why would they think "Lets try again later, with just one terminator, again". Even if they waited to send another back, why not send it back to the same moment the first was sent, increasing the odds of success? Was this ever explained? Seems like a pretty big logic hole to me.
By Klijpo at 8:35 AM ON 05/14/09
Each time the time machine is used it creates a new reality. Forget the grandfather paradox, and think parallel worlds. It's how the Sarah Connor Chronicles did it, and it works sublimely. It's how the new Trek does it too.
It's actually more logical than the single timeline...
By Jamal D B at 8:56 AM ON 05/14/09
I'm sick of the whole paradox thing, when quantum Physics claim of several million potential universes, but what if those universes don't exist until some moron goes back in the past and tries to change something.
In that regard the Kyle Reese that coited John existed in a parallel universe, Bale's promos said that something's change, something's different. Therefore the point that caused his existence clearly exist in a previous time line, if things were changed that drastically Conner couldn't exist. We all feel that killing one's grandfather would make that person non existence, I say nonsense. A time quake can not shatter the fourth wall since, it would need the same process of travel to reach you in the future as you used to go in the past, confused? Trust me, I'm always right.
By Shaggy at 10:45 AM ON 05/14/09
Way I figure it, the whole series had them continually push the arrival of Skynet back, but ultimately it would happen anyway. That was the underlying premise of the third film, and so even though things are different, what has to happen will happen.
By Tarnwood at 11:12 AM ON 05/14/09
This has happened before (but in a different time) and it will all happen again.
By pocketdoom at 12:53 PM ON 05/14/09
You are all missing the point of the time travel part of the story. Just because we watched 1, 2, 3, and the Sarah Connor Chronicles in that order does not mean that the Terminators came back in that order.
Skynet sent it's most advanced Terminator to the time right before it came online, T3 movie.
T2, realizing that T3 did not work as planned, it sent liquid metal guy back to get John when it could find computer records of his existence.
T1, last ditch effort because it is losing, all advanced models of terminators destroyed, it sends back Arnold which it got out of mothballs. Which is why the humans send those to the other time periods. They are just sitting around collecting dust. Easy to reprogram.
Chronicles - bit of a mystery. Takes place before Skynet but when Skynet still has the time travel machinery. Skynet is unaware of John at this point in the future. Skynet is seeking to make sure it is made in the past. Technically I think that Skynet is unaware of John in the future. Skynet is not aware that the humans will win. It has the time travel machinery but is still working on itself not trying to kill Past and Present John
By Malachi at 8:52 PM ON 05/14/09
Pocketdoom they mention the years in which the Terminators are sent back. It happens in the order of the movies. They also mention this in the movies themselves. T2 mentioned that Skynet failed and is sending its most advanced at the time to take John out personally.T3 even stated the reason why he was able to kill Conner was because of his childhood fondness of the unit.
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Malachi:
Pocketdoom they mention the years in which the Terminators are sent back. It happens in the order of the movies. Th...More »