I would pay money to see pug Terminator and/or fat Terminator with nuclear bomb in it. That's priceless.

Mmmm, topical.

Why is John Connor the only one who can save us from Skynet anyway?

Surely there are actually better equiped and better trained people who can lead the resistance against the Machines.

1880 is in the 19th century...

The only reason I can think of that Skynet wouldn't want to send every Terminator it has or use a nuke is that it wouldn't want to kill any of the people resposible in its own creation. And even though it is from the future, Skynet may not have records of everyone that worked on it. I mean it did start a nuclear war which probably destroyed a lot of records.

Other than that, very valid points. And I think that if Skynet just sent 10 terminators after John at once he wouldn't get away.

Fantastic list. I think a Terminator in 1880 is a wonderful idea worthy of a graphic novel at the very least!

Fuck yeah!

SteamPunk Terminator fiction. Skynet, obviously, would send back a brass terminator that runs on cogs and steam power. And John Connor Sr. (19th century version) would have to outrun it in his zeppelin.

I believe this list was published for the sole purpose of mocking at Christian Bale's freak out. All the other items where clearly fillers. You should go all the way and come up with "10 suggestions to verbally assault your photography director" or "5 reasons batman punched his mom in the face"

Hugo — It was written three weeks ago, and I added the freakout reason myself last night. So sorry.

You know what? I'm at the point with this franchise that I think that Skynet wants John Connor to survive because it puts an incompetent pissant at the head of the resistance. So by having Terminators half-heartedly chasing JC, it's validating in his mind and those of others that he's the key to victory, when in reality he's what will prevent the human from regaining the upper hand. Seriously, it doesn't take Deep Blue to come up with the decoy strategy.

5 reasons batman punched his mom in the face
1. She is trying to poison Gotham's water supply.
2. She likes Batman RIP.
3. She thinks there should be another sequel.
4. She made fun of his gravely voice.
5. She told him it would be a good idea to work with McG.

Wow, Shaun. I didn't know Al-Qaeda only exists within the borders of Saudi Arabia. Thank you for clearing that up.

Best...Daily List...EVER!

Matt, that's not a bad theory.

Personally, I prescribe to the idea that there's no way to change the timeline. Everyone and everything that travels back in time are just playing out roles that lead to the conclusion we already know. Anything they do is already part of the sequence of events, and there's no way to deviate from that path.

Thus Skynet, still thinking it can fight against the timeline and change the future, keeps sending Terminators back to kill Connor, but it's actually playing into the timeline and causing the future it knows to happen. As a machine, it cannot grasp the concept of fate, and believes there are variables that can be manipulated; But there aren't.

So all this "attack John Connor" stuff is what makes Connor the threat he is in the future. The last item (leave him alone) was probably about right. If Skynet COULD affect the timeline (which it can't, because in this reality, with their time travel rules, it's not possible) it would be smart to just let the boy alone and watch him turn into an average, dull person.

hahaha @ #2!

But seriously, you are using logic. STOP IT. I love Terminator because I don't use logic, okay? *plugs ears and lalalala's*

Not quite 1880s Terminator, but close enough? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKCAGb6Pzcg

Every awesome tale of narrowly escaping an impossible foe, has been drained by sequels of defeating foes more and more effortlessly, (read Highlander or Voyager meeting the Borg every week).

Great list. I love the Terminator series, but one of the things that always puzzled me was that SkyNet could build cyborg footsoldiers, liquid metal assassins and even friggin' time machines, and yet it can't figure out how to off one guy. Then again, SkyNet was built as a military tool, so maybe it's following the behavior of its creators at the Pentagon: throw endless amounts of resources into military research and development that ultimately produce flashy but impractical junk.

Excellent comment on number 10, that hypothetical attack by Saudi Arabian terrorists.

My keyboard now has a wine coating :)

cool list . but the main reason Sky net will never use any of the ideas besides run on program dumb. is one sending all the Ts it has would make it have no protection easy to be destroyed. and a nuke would wipe out its own creation. plus the moment john would decide to get to know a sexy terminator better she would prove to give herself a way by her metal frame for flesh and metal don't work to be romantic together

As to #7, if this T3 movie doesn't work out them I'm pretty sure there might be an alternative film franchise out there more along these lines.

As far as the sending a bomb back, Reese (who makes great peanut butter cups) states that they can't send anything mechanical back thus no ray guns. The Terminator can go back because it is covered in living tissue. Thus a bomb could not be sent back... unless it was covered in flesh...

The Terminator is an infiltration unit, they are not designed for cooperative missions. Only the Connor-reprogrammed "friendly" Terminators (Arnie and Cameron) can do teamwork. Multiple Terminators can, and probably will, get messy. Messy can turn into spectacle. Spectacle can turn into investigation. Investigation can stop Skynet from ever happening.

Killing John Connor at the wrong time could, potentially, also stop Skynet from ever happening. There are too many variables for the viewer to know this. One must assume that Skynet does, however.

Manipulating the timeline without shifting it onto a track that's bad for you (Skynet) is tricky. One must assume that Skynet has all the variables calculated and knows what it is doing.

Terminators aren't precision tools; they don't have to be. They are as brute-force as they come. That being said, they can be very accurate when they want to (remember Arnold with the minigun in T2? Yeah...).

T1 was the first time the Terminator machines were encountered by Sarah Connor. In T2 we met the then one-of-a-kind T1000, who was - let's be honest now - FAR tougher than the T800 ever was. Then there's T3 which takes us to the future and lays the foundation for circling back to the past again (*before* T3 now). All of these add up to an increased amount of knowledge about how Terminators operate. Knowing how machines work generally makes it easier to make them not work. One would think.

Let me add a few suggestions to this list:

1) Send an AVERAGE-looking Terminator.
Seriously, if you saw a 300-lb scowling Teutonic hulk in a biker jacket and hefting a sawed-off shotgun coming your way...who WOULDN'T run like hell? Terminators have super-human strength, they can break a human neck like it was fast-food cutlery, why do they need firearms? Just make a terminator who looks like an average schmuck, send him back to casually stroll up to John Connor and ice him at the mall or something.

2) Make a terminator that can actually adhere to its mission.
Isn't the whole part of making a terminator look like a human is so they can BLEND IN? So why is it that every terminator who comes back to kill John Connor immediately bugfucks his mission on arrival BY KILLING EVERYTHING IN SIGHT? Way to keep a low profile, fender-head.

3) Make a terminator that is smart enough to choose an appropriate response to its target's actions?
Did anybody else ever notice that the only time terminators actually run is when they are chasing VEHICLES? When their target is escaping on foot, the terminators always follow them at what can best be described as a determined stroll. How these unbelievably stupid artificial intelligence ever managed to take over the world in the first place is a mystery to me.

4) Somebody send one of those metal bastards out to the shooting range for some TARGET PRACTICE.
In the first episode of the Terminator TV show, a terminator disguised as a schoolteacher at John Connor's school tries to take him out in class. I say "tries", because he pulls out a shotgun, starts blasting away and after about twelve shots, he SOMEHOW FAILS TO HIT A TEENAGER-SIZED TARGET IN A CLASSROOM! Did I mention he's using a SHOTGUN! In a CLASSROOM! And he ends up killing practically every kid in the class EXCEPT THE ONE HE'S AIMING AT! Hell, if I was in that class, I could have picked off John Connor with the apple in my lunch box, and I don't even have a target sight in my eye.

5) Make a terminator that looks like a puppy.
Seriously, can you think of a reason why it wouldn't work? I mean other than the whole "terminators are unfathomably stupid and could shoot hit an elephant broadside with a bazooka at five paces" thing.

I'm pretty sure standing in his light will get the Terminator killed

Yes, 19 Saudi Arabians that trained in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. And then of course, learned how to fly but not land in Florida. Apparently, Skynet not the only one with bad intel, eh?

Yes Terminator not just for 1880 but 1885 and destroy completely Hill Valley or send back to the 60 and castrate the grandfather of John Connor.

Or even better, send back to the past a terminator in disguise, this terminator can follow a politician career, for example governor of California.. and the rest is pretty easy.

ps :nobody trust on pug dog any more, specially if start talking.

And, its funny to say that a terminator (any model) can resist a explosion, fire, cold, bullets.. and yada yada yada but are vulnerable to pressure, for example a industrial press or simply a door. Skynet will need to fix it.

prior quote: there's no way to change the timeline. Everyone and everything that travels back in time are just playing out roles that lead to the conclusion we already know.

That's an important distinction: the conclusion that WE already know. In the multiverse of timelines, we are discussing one of the many branches of a very broad tree.

The only episode that had some intelligence about time travel was the one in which Derek realizes that his girlfriend comes from a different variant future than he does, because he does not remember events that she insists happened to him. Sadly, this episode also demonstrates a major logical failing in the whole time travel process; if Skynet is sending back Terminators from all of the possible futures (or at least all in which it has the capability), they should all arrive in the "targeted time" at once, and similarly there should be Resistance agents from all possible futures appearing at once.

Go find excellent writing on time travel by Larry Niven: a story "All the Myriad Ways", and an essay on the theory and practice of time travel.

Send a whole bunch of terminators back in time.
Give each one a backpack nuke.
No more Connor. Done.
HUGE SUCCESS!

The Shadow Said:
4) Somebody send one of those metal bastards out to the shooting range for some TARGET PRACTICE.
In the first episode of the Terminator TV show, a terminator disguised as a schoolteacher at John Connor's school tries to take him out in class. I say "tries", because he pulls out a shotgun, starts blasting away and after about twelve shots, he SOMEHOW FAILS TO HIT A TEENAGER-SIZED TARGET IN A CLASSROOM! Did I mention he's using a SHOTGUN! In a CLASSROOM! And he ends up killing practically every kid in the class EXCEPT THE ONE HE'S AIMING AT! Hell, if I was in that class, I could have picked off John Connor with the apple in my lunch box, and I don't even have a target sight in my eye.

From what I recall of the episode, the terminator has a small handgun concealed in his thigh. He starts firing at John Connor, but Cameron, the GlauBot takes the hit and provides cover for John to scarper out the window and into the parking lot. Cromartie doesn't use a shotgun, and he doesn't kill anybody else. Although he does pause before continuing his mission to say "class dismissed" or some such that would have sounded really cool in the writer's room or part of a teaser ad campaign but pretty much ruins the whole single-minded killing-machine angle that a Terminator needs to operate on.

It's a good list, but the there wouldn't be much of a franchise if Skynet just sent a nuke back in time and mass killed any John Connors that happened to be in the nuvlear footprint.

I'm digging T:TSCC despite its poor quality in the initial series, but quite frankly that's as much to do with erasing T3 from existence as anything else about it. It's really picked up in quality now that the writer's can actually write.

My dream Terminator plot would be a time displaced Terminator ending up in 1200-1300 era Scotland, and taking a pragmatic view, decides to wipe out the Connor clan. by leading a coalition of clans against the Connors, Highlander style. Yes, I'm admitting I want to see a robot in a kilt with a claymore.

Of course, if Skynet never sent the first Terminator back, Kyle Rease would have never been sent back.

As such, JC would have never been born in the first place.

I was gonna mention that, Ktorr. Both Skynet and John Connor are self-perpetuating time-loops. John Connor causes Skynet to send T-800 back which prompts Jhon Connor send send the guy back to save/impregnante his mom, thus not only preserving his own existence, but intiating it. T-800 is wrecked, leaving only an intact arm, which is retrodeveloped into Skynet by Cyberdyne Labs(also responsible for tiny robots maids in Hand Maid May). And Fry is his own grandfather.

"Ktorr said:

Of course, if Skynet never sent the first Terminator back, Kyle Rease would have never been sent back.

As such, JC would have never been born in the first place"

They liked to do the nasty in the pasty...

why not just send 5 after him at once? only one terminator after him seems to come real close to getting him, shouldn't five of them do five times better?
or better yet, build a bigger better terminator! wait until the day before judgment day (as to not arise suspicion) then send back a freakin terminator tank that summer glau cant turn inside out

About 1880: in T1 Reese says "Most of the records were lost in the war. Skynet knew almost nothing about Connor's mother. Her full name, where she lives. They just knew the city. The Terminator was just being systematic." A bunch of Ts in 1880 would have to kill every Connor on Earth - they better not confuse names with surnames and try to take out Connor MacLeod tho.

I'm really hoping this 3rd movie is as good as Jim's; fortunately that rumor of Jonathan Mostow making it never happened.

It never happened!

Good list. But really, do we need to count the Sarah Connor Chronicals? I don't really think it counts as "official" Terminator lore

Not a bad list. I've always thought of Skynet as being a lot like WarGames' WOPR--capable of launching the nukes because it thinks its the way to 'win' but not really smart enough to understand what it's doing or why. So its general inability to kill John Connor doesn't bother me nearly as much as Hollywood apparently pulling a Lucas with the franchise.

As far as sending more Terminators, they seem to be a little like Skynet's Delta Force--small number of ultimate-badass soldiers with lots of fires to put out, so it can't spare more than a few even for important missions.

Okay, and then, do these any of these ten things, and we wouldn't have these movies to begin with! God, just enjoy or don't enjoy the films!

Hey Jim...Al-Qaeda does not exist, believe it or not.

I think if the creators of sequels would use their brain, they can answer all of the questions that mentioned above in T4.

I mean: SkyNet sends back lots of terminators to trick the mankind of future. Terminators act like John Connor is the saviour of the human race but actually he's nothing just an ordinary guy. People believe in a looser who can't protect them so SkyNet can genocide everybody in the future.

If McG had this idea too and finish the storiline with defeating mankind, I would be sooooo happy!

The obvious answer is that Skynet should have simply done nothing after the events of the first film. Think about it - when Terminator 2 started, John was living in the suburbs of Los Angeles and by the time Judgement Day hit, he'd be in a perfect position to be annihilated by the nuclear explosion or be killed by the fallout if he did manage to survive. Sarah wouldn't have been able to do anything since she'd be in the mental hospital and until Arnie showed up, John believed that her stories about robots turning against humanity and him being the future saviour of mankind were just insane ramblings.

Of course, had Skynet simply been sensible, we wouldn't exactly have a very eventful series, now would we? ;)

The fact that Skynet can't manage to kill Connor by sending Terminators back in time is due to a simple time travel paradox. Suppose a Terminator sent back in time actually managed to kill John Connor. Then the Human Resistance wouldn't have a leader and wouldn't have a chance against Skynet. Hence Skynet would win and there would not be need for Skynet to send a Terminator back in time to take out the Resistance leader. If Skynet doesn't then send a Terminator back, that of course means that there's no Terminator to kill him back before the war started.

ok what is your problem with Iran? what do you know about it?you obviously watch a lot of FOX news ,go educate yourself kiddo

Honestly not a bad ideas, but altering the past will have effects on the future

for example...:

IF skynet sends a shitload of T-800, 100, 1000 X or w7e Slkynet is cooking in his little farm, back in time to persue JC while he is still young and finish him for good it, someone will take his place for some reason, the humans are great survivors right? they/we would made up something to escape from skynet's anger!

Skynet is a virus/computer and both things at the same time, well who cares, Skynet is something that is attacking the possible human threats.

Altering the past will have effects on the future

I'd say to leave JC alone and attack him in the present(2018), if i had to choose, i'd say some guy from the resistance would betray him , you know wanted him dead and take his place he would talk to some robot i dunno, somrtihng like that in exchange of letting him live, like in the 3rd termiantor Arnold said "i lied" to Katherine Brewster, they would kill JC and the double crossing basterd that betrayed JC, the resistance would bust their asses off to find JC and the other dude, and more soldiers would die for 2 guys that were already dead!

The other thing i thought about while wrting this was to send back a terminator to the place that JC and his to be wife went, you know that anti-nuclear bunker! and then no resistance leader no more problems for skynet, that wouldnt give much interference in the future cause the bombing were already on-going, killing both of them the main laders would make things easier for Skynet, at least thats what i think/believe.

btw sorry for my bad english i'm portuguese

First off, I'm not a big fan of the Christian Bale freak out. You've got to remember this is around the time that everyone found out about Heath Ledger's death, and I'm sure it impacted him on levels that that blogers know nothing about. Bale is one of the greatest actors of our time (and I seriously believe that) and the intensity he puts into his rolls shows it. But don't get me wrong I don't condone actors freaking out over little shit like DP's walking through a set, should the guy have known they were filming absolutly, should Bale have freaked out like that not at all. All I'm saying is if indeed it was around the time of Ledgers death (which I'm only assuming, but it's a good asumstion) we need to cut him some slack. (that would fuck alot of people up) Hollywood is crazy enough without these jagbags blowing stories out of preportion.

You simply just can't send ALL the terminators back in time cuz that would enable the resistance with or without John Connor to seize the moment and take control over the new world. Is there a way to go back to the future? I guess all terminators could be sent back to kill adam and eve (or whoever the firsts were) and just wipe out mankind from the get go. Or if we evolved from what ever thing they could just kill it as well, therefore stopping evolution.

I believe Google will evolve into Skynet.

Perhaps someone should line him up a date with a 'Cherry 2000' or a 'Fembot' and they could screw him to death.

It always bugged me that time-machines care about flesh.

Why is that?

This is the single most strange thing in the terminator franchise time travel method.
Is it some spiritual value of flesh opposed to artificial things like metal?
I cant understand why a supertechnology like timemachine
handles flesh differently, I believe such a machine would treat every molecule the same way, why the difference?

Terminators are handicapped by trying to think with a 6502 for brains.

Dude! What have you done? :O

Not going to read all the other comments but, the reason why Skynet couldn't send all the terminator was because it was losing the war. the humans were kicking its ass (sure with loses), Kyle Reese was sent after they've taken the main hub or whatever, and found Skynet just sent a T-800 threw time.

Same with the nukes Skynet used them all during Judgement Day

I want to see the series where Skynet goes back in time and takes over Bill Gates which results in humanity having a half decent operating system. This results in the creation of the very advanced T3's that take over the planet and they make 13 self replicating human lifeforms that eventually battle amongst themselves. I would call this new series Battlestar Galactica. Original. Copyright pending.

Other series results in skynet sending back T1 who buys out a young Bill Gates and tries to use the DOS operating system as the basis for development of Skynet. Skynet is continually defeated because John Conner is able to initiate a BSOD (blue screen of death) disorder on any robot he faces. Mankind Wins. Original. Copyright Pending.

I gotta ask.. I watched Terminator 3 again last night for the first time since the cinema... & something struck me... Why did Skynet bother sending the TX to kill John & all his commanders when there was going to be a nuclear attack killing everyone that very same day! "I know...even though John hasnt seen any evidence of Skynet existance for like 10 years or so...lets get a Terminator to let him know & give him a chance to survive!)...I am probably missing something....but just in case I am not.. then I win :-)

guys you are actually having a conversation about this. "they don't nuce the place because they might kill people responsible of skynets creation." come ooon! the show is totally out of concept and logic, it is just a nice cause to see some hot chick robot action. thats all. dont take it this seriously. it all ended at the end of T2.

"Oh, look at the little puggy pooh. Come here little puggy pooh. You want me to rub your belly? Rub your...AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" (sound of flesh, muscle and bone being ripped to shreds) "Rasta Ra Rista, Raby!" Awesome, love the Pug idea.

What I want to know is how does John Connor out think Skynet anyway? I mean the last movie made it clear Skynet thinks of everything and had it just not been for Marcus having a change of heart, John Connor would be dead. That's the part of the story I want to see and have always wanted to see since the original.

But honestly, if Skynet can harness the power of time, um why not just do this...why not use that supreme intellect and just build a Starship Enterprise to boldly go to another planet and leave John Connor and what's left of humanity to their dying world? I mean really, it's irradiated, what's there for humanity to take back?

Or, even better!! How about just lure ALL the humans into the time machine (since only living things can go back) and send their asses to the Ice Age!! Just a thought...