I have to be honest. I'm not really impressed with the Robert Patrick/T1000, but the T-850 Terminator looks awesome. It's too bad they had to take three seperate scenes from the movie and combine them into one, as in like, it's too bad there was no ONE scene that was that bad, by which I mean good. I'll see if I can get some more pics...
I love this shot. The sparks really make it.
Nice shot of the T1000 with all the molten steel and sparks reflecting off his quicksilver skin.
The best for last. This scene is still one of the greatest shoot outs in the history of movies. It has the awesome factor, and it isn't over the top. (The only errors are the useage of incorrect sound effects at times - sometimes it makes assault rifle noises when he is actually shooting his shotgun -, and Arnold shoots too many rounds with the Assault Rifle, though he only fires eight shots with the shotty, exactly how many his weapon could hold!)
More images with more analysis. This time it's endoskeletons. The T800/850-type endoskeleton appears in all three movies (albiet only briefly in the sequals).
Terminator used a combination of stop-motion miniatures, full-size poseable models and an articulated upper-torso puppet that was worn by a crew member.
In this shot we can see the stop-motion Terminator model. Note the solid feel of the Terminator itself. There is something wrong with the image and you can tell it's "fake." This is because composite imaging back then was not as good as today. With computers today a stop-motion miniature is indistinguishable from what the real thing should look like (see the aliens in ID4).
All the same techniques used in the first movie were used in T2 to slightly better effect. The endos here were well articulated and fairly believable. The only break through in computer effects were used with the T1000.
I like this shot in particular. Ideally I would like a high-res image of a full endoskeleton, but this is good enough. Of particular interest is the detail of the legs, pelvis and gut which are rarely seen in the first movie, since the puppet was the upper torso only.
Terminator 3 only briefly reveals the endos in what appears to be an entirely CG future war sequence. This is a mistake in my opinion. Missing are the resistance fighters, the HK tanks, and the battle scenes from the previous two. Instead we have Terminators using British-style Revolutionary War tactics, essentially marching in a straight line, hoping their guns kill all the humans. The CG also isn't good enough yet. It's getting there, but the Terminator's just don't feel solid.
My suggestion? T3 should have used a stop-motion miniature and taken advantage of the computer in making a really excellent composite image. IMO, that would yeild the most realistic results, possibly less costly as well since they could obtain the same stop-motion figures from the first two movies.
Here is an image from T3 of the endos in action.
The final verdict? Terminator 2: Judgment Day had the most believable endoskeletons. The original Terminator is a second, and sorry, but T3: Rise of the Machines is dead last. The computer affects on Arnold and Kristanna were fantastic, so one has to wonder why they look so bad on the endos.
Very nice screen grabs chris, ultimately I suppose those involved with T3 were so caught up with the idea of using CGI on another Terminator film that they forget when and where it was necessary to use it. I could easily see both CGI (background, HK's, etc.) and models similar to the ones used in T2 being utilized for the opening sequence of T3.
I like the action scenes in T1 the best just because they are more grounded in reality. Arnold's handling of the weapons in the first movie is about spot on. In T2 he plays to the camera a lot, not that there is anything wrong with that, so it's just a different style. It's also a bit more interesting because in the first one he has no problem killing people so he isn't just futily shooting at a bullet proof Terminator or blowing up police cars.
Here is a pretty cool shot from the first movie that I took on accident and decided to keep.
Nice pics there Prophet. Anything T2-3D is good. (Though I see it as an even more illogical diversion from the series then T3) The T-70s however are so awesome. Those are REAL prototype Terminators. They should have made a cameo appearance in T3.
Anyway, I found a Japanese website that had some high-res images of various Terminator models. The endoskeletons were the most interesting, particularly the T-X which is hard to find full-body shots for.