MOVIE NEWS – The Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has finally revealed which film in the iconic franchise is his least favorite. Without hesitation, Schwarzenegger picked Terminator Salvation as the worst, a 2009 movie plagued by on-set chaos, a ballooning budget, and disappointing fans—so much so that its studio went under. It’s still one of the lowest-rated Terminator entries, sitting at 33% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, with an audience score of just 53%.

While Schwarzenegger has been the face of the franchise since James Cameron’s 1984 original, he hasn’t appeared in every film or TV show. During a Watch What Happens Live web interview with Andy Cohen—while promoting FUBAR Season 2—the actor was asked to name the worst Terminator movie. His answer? The one he technically isn’t in:

“I would say the worst was probably the number four (Terminator Salvation). Because that was done during the time I was governor, and I was not in it. How do you make a Terminator movie without me being in the Terminator movie? It doesn’t make any sense. It’s impossible.”

Schwarzenegger was half-joking, playing along with the show’s tone: “I called immediately, I said ‘I’m going to pass a law, it is forbidden to do movies that suck.’” But his opinion lines up with many fans and critics from when Salvation was released.

Is Schwarzenegger Right—Is Salvation Really the Franchise’s Low Point?

Despite earning more than $371 million worldwide, the film’s $200 million budget was simply too much to recoup. Critics were tough, but the film has since found a cult audience. Roger Ebert famously wrote: “It gives you all the pleasure of a video game without the bother of having to play it.”

Directed by McG (Charlie’s Angels, The Babysitter), Salvation went through several script changes and production troubles, with rights held by the Halcyon Company. Unfortunately, what stands out most today is Christian Bale’s infamous on-set blowup, which went viral online.

Of course, it’s hard to argue with Schwarzenegger—at 77, he’s still as unstoppable as ever—but not everyone agrees. Salvation isn’t a perfect film, but with Bale leading a grittier, war-torn vision of the Terminator universe, it’s at least more memorable than Genisys, the franchise’s lowest-rated entry on Rotten Tomatoes (26% critics, 52% audience).

Source: MovieWeb