How 'Terminator Genisys' Recreates Arnold Schwarzenegger from 1984
https://youtu.be/kiqIhaCJ5Jc
It's no secret that it's been a few years - ahem, decades - since the original "Terminator" film hit the big screen, making Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guardian character an action film icon in 1984.
With that said, it was a little complicated to go back and try to recreate some of the same moments from that appear in the series' fifth installment, "Terminator Genisys."
"What was really challenging about it is the Guardian in 1984 is 20-plus years younger than Arnold, himself," producer David Ellison said in a behind-the-scenes DVD clip. "We actually scoured the earth to find, basically, a bodybuilder by the name of Brett (Azar). He was the only person who had that 50-inch back that Arnold actually had. But his biceps, his quads, everything else was slightly lesser than. And that served, really, as our proxy."
He continued: "When you shoot the fight sequence, everyone basically has something to interact with."
Schwarzenegger credits present-day "visual effects" technology for making a replica of a years-earlier scene possible, adding, "You can tell that story even better."
As for "Genisys'" biggest fight scene, the film's director Alan Taylor called it "wonderful," explaining, "It sort of reminds me of the encounter between the T1000 and Arnold in 'T2,' where they first face each other. There's something fun about watching them like massive Mack Trucks going at each other. So it's a human-scale fight with the punches being thrown, but each one is like a pile driver. The fight tilts one direction, because, let's face it, Guardian's been around longer. He's starting to show some wear and tear."
Overall, the legendary star's presence during the filming was looked upon in awe.
"You actually got to look around at the entire crew," Ellison said. "The age range is early 20s-to-60, and everybody's just grinning ear-to-ear because Terminator is on set."
Echoed producer Dana Goldberg: "It's something he was born to do. And he's phenomenal at it. It was like, all-of-a-sudden, you were stepping back in time and remembering where you were both for 'T1' and 'T2' every time Arnold walked on screen."
"Terminator Genisys," a reboot of the famed original "Terminator," is about a soldier's fight against an artificial general intelligence trying to destroy the human race.
Now available for pre-order, "Terminator Genisys" will be released on digital HD on Oct. 20 and Blu-ray on Nov. 10.
