Terminator Salvation story
The film focuses on the war between Skynet's machine network and humanity, as the remnants of the world's military have united to form the Resistance to fight against Skynet's killing machines. Bale portrays John Connor, a Resistance fighter and central character, while Worthington portrays cyborg Marcus Wright. Yelchin plays a young Kyle Reese, a character first introduced in The Terminator, and the film depicts the origins of the T-800 (Model 101) Terminator.
15 total · 7 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| AI risk to civilization | major | John Conner led the resistance against the Skynet computer system, which had taken control of the Earth. |
| cyborg | major | Resistance fighters discovered that the executed man Marcus was actually a cyborg with a mechanical endoskeleton and a partially artificial cerebral cortex. |
| human vs. sentient machine | major | The Resistance fighters versus Skynet and its robotic minions. |
| personal identity | major | Marcus struggled with the reality that he was a cyborg who felt like he was a flesh and blood human being. |
| post-apocalyptic dystopia | major | The film was set in a post nuclear holocaust near future where humans were in a desperate war against the Skynet computer system. |
| resistance movement | major | John Connor lead a militant resistance movement against the Skynet system. |
| what if the fate of the world was in my hands | major | John Connor was destined to be the leader of a resistance movement against a robot extermination of humans. |
| autonomous weapons system | minor | The Skynet autonomous computer defense system. |
| autonomous weapons system killing everyone | minor | The Skynet automated defense system had initiated a nuclear war. |
| facing one's own execution | minor | The film begins with death row inmate Marcus Wright putting on a brave face before being executed by lethal injection. |