Terminator Salvation

It’s no small feat to take an established movie franchise and breathes new life into it. That’s just what has happened with Terminator movie series with the introduction and re-imagining of the classic future Armageddon series where machines rule the planet and systematically eliminate humans.

Christian Bale stars as future resistance leader John Connor in a future unlike he was prepared for. Something has changed the future and it is now more horrific and terrifying than before. Connor and his ragtag band of resistance fighters are in for the fight for their lives as man meets machine in a headlong battle for world domination.

Titan Books presents Termination Salvation: The Official Movie Companion as written and compiled by Tara Bennett.

Inside, readers follow the creation of the film from its pre-production sketches and planning to its final chilling images seen on the screen. Along the way you’ll see what it takes to make such a blockbuster film with photos and text about special effects, both physical and digital, Terminator mock-ups and models, stunts sets, actor interviews and much more. I especially got a kick out of the many different types of Terminators and the incredible attention to detail given to each one. Filled with color photos, the book is a visual journal on the making of the film.

Similar is scope is The Art Of Terminator Salvation, also by Tara Bennett. It too is filled with color photos form the film but with on difference. Many of the photos are of models, pre-production paintings, digital images and design and the creation of the overall look of the film.

If you’re into the meat and bones of film-making then this is the book for you. It’s like going through a visual candy store. It’s pure eye-candy and especially enjoyable to a graphic designer and artist like myself.

The book demonstrates where the real work of the film begins resulting in the culmination of spectacular visual and digital effects, set construction, costume design and the ‘visual feel’ of the film.

A Terminator Salvation novelization is also available from Titan Books by the legendary science fiction writer Alan Dean Foster.