Summer action romp "Terminator Salvation" hits DVD and Blu-ray today. Continuing the story started by James Cameron back in 1984, "Salvation" forges new ground for the series by serving up a story after the apocalyptic Judgment Day we've been hearing about for all these years. John Connor (Christian Bale) is the leader of the human resistance and we finally get to see him bring the fight to the evil robots of Skynet.

The universe created by Cameron has become a truly rich one, spawning a (criminally underrated) television series, comic books and novels. It's the last one that I'm here to feature today. "Terminator Salvation: Cold War," from Titan Books, is freshly arrived on store shelves. Set in two locations at two different times -- Russia 2003 and Alaska 2018 -- the story follows a different front in humanity's war against the machine armies. In the excerpt after the jump, read as a loen Terminator dispatches a hulking grizzly bear with ruthless efficiency. Read more...

For the record, I didn't dislike "Terminator Salvation." It was far from perfect and it felt more like a reboot than a continuation, but it was a fun action flick with good-borderline-great special effects and a promising performance from soon-to-be-everywhere Sam Worthington. None of that matters now though, as it seems the franchise is up for sale. Again.

There have been as many "Terminator" franchise owners as there have been movies, a trend that will continue at least through the fifth movie, according to the Los Angeles Times. Halcyon Holding Group heads Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek purchased the franchise rights in 2007. As the company now inches towards bankruptcy, Halcyon is looking to sell. They've valued the property at $60 million -- more than double the $25 million they paid in 2007 -- but with home video releases incoming and additional spin-off and/or sequel possibilities, the number might not be too far off. Read more...

Opinions are like a Terminator-filled post-apocalyptic future -- they're absolutely everywhere.

On the matter of "Terminator" as a film franchise, opinions on the recent "Terminator Salvation" are fairly widespread, though the general consensus seems to be disappointment with the theatrical cut. A potential remedy might be on the way courtesy of the "Terminator Salvation - Director's Cut" home video release however. UGO reports that the MPAA has rated McG's cut of the film with a hard R for "some violence and brief nudity." Might this version of "Terminator Salvation," the one that McG wanted us to see all along, be enough to change the commonly held dissatisfaction with last May's release?

Possibly... but probably not. Read more...

Sam Worthington is a peculiar Hollywood story. The Australia-born actor is already a common name in geek circles thanks to his work on "Terminator Salvation" and "Avatar," but one of those films was critically panned and the other one hasn't even been released yet.

Still, there's something undeniably refreshing about a guy who can identify a rotten egg even if it came from his own barn, so to speak. Sci Fi Wire caught up with Worthington during a group interview, in which the actor spoke about "Terminator"'s shortcomings in pretty specific terms. Aside from admitting to the film's complete lack of humor, Worthington pointed out some continuity gaffs that one wouldn't expect to hear from the movie's leading man. Read more...

History was made on Friday when Ryan Reynolds officially became the first actor to star as both a Marvel and DC Comics character. Fresh off of his spin-off spinning turn as Deadpool in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," Reynolds is now getting to headline a “Green Lantern” film.

The "Van Wilder" star is just one of many actors who have made the smart –- and profitable –- choice to double-dip in the biggest and the best film franchises. Here is a look at a few of Hollywood's other famous double-dippers. Read more...

The first thing I should probably do is explain exactly what machinima is. It's a style of filmmaking that makes use of 3D graphics engines, the sort you see being used to power most modern video games. While machinima is typically a fan's pursuit, some high-profile projects have been embraced by the originating development studio, such as Bungie Studios with Rooster Teeth's "Halo"-inspired "Red Vs. Blue" series.

All of this means that what The Halcyon Company and Warner Bros are doing with "Terminator Salvation: The Machinima Series" is completely unprecedented. For the first time, we have a machinima series produced in-house by a production company to coincide with the release of both a film and a tie-in video game. Moon Bloodgood's Blair Williams character is the focus of the six-episode series (launched on May 18), which is set several years before the events of "Salvation." Check out the EXCLUSIVE video below for an inside look at how the whole thing came together. Cool stuff.

Did “Terminator Salvation” thrill you, bore you or simply tick you off? No matter how you feel, you’ll definitely want to take a look at a feature we just took live over on the MTV Movies page, in which director McG answers some burning plot questions from you guys.

And thanks to the power of the Movies Blog, here are four more questions McG was eager to sink his teeth into. Think of them as bonus features, minus the DVD:

Q: In the earlier movies, Skynet is not aware of Kyle Reese. So, why are they aware of him now? Read more...

Here's an interesting bit of information revealed by "Terminator Salvation" director McG in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. The talk concerns an alternate ending to the movie, a decidedly dark one which sounds as though it was never filmed. The article even states that the studio signed off on it, and that Christian Bale -- who plays humanity's savior John Connor -- was its staunchest defender.

Needless to say, spoilers ahead. So don't say I didn't warn you. Read more...

I decided to brave the New York City holiday weekend crowds on Sunday morning so I could check out "Terminator Salvation," the latest in that much-loved series from my childhood. "Terminator" and "T2: Judgment Day" have long been personal favorites; not so much with "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," though I think it's better than the sizable group of haters would like people to believe. As for the TV series, I've already discussed my disappointment at the cancellation of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" here on the blog.

Okay. Back to "Salvation." Needless to say, spoilers are to come. If you want a proper review, I encourage you to check out Kurt Loder's more detailed assessment on MTV.com. It's an interesting beast, "Terminator Salvation." All previous incarnations of the franchise have dealt with protecting the Connor family and preventing mankind's fall at the "hands" of a global artificial intelligence gone rogue. Always, there was this possibility that the nuclear holocaust might be diverted, that Skynet might be made to lose before its winning was ever a possibility. Then the bombs fall at the end of "Rise," and destiny becomes reality. Read more...

Editor's note: Last week, we asked you blog readers to submit questions for McG and the cast of "Terminator Salvation" to address. Well those queries have been received, processed, asked and answered. Here are your responses.

FROM MTV.COM: Whether you're a casual viewer or someone so hard-core that you've got an Arnold catchphrase tattooed across your "I'll Be" back, the "Terminator" franchise can get pretty confusing. With millions of soon-to-be-harvested humans having now seen "Salvation," we took some of their burning (and spoiler-heavy!) questions straight to the stars.

Q: In "Salvation," was John Connor aware that time travel would someday exist? Was he just waiting around for it?

Continue reading "Terminator Salvation" Stars Answer Your Burning Questions