The whole "Terminator" franchise is a work of fiction created by director James Cameron and Gale Ann Hurd, where a highly intelligent machine network and its robots battle out human forces led by their leader John Connor.
But for Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor who has portrayed the Terminator/Guardian for the past three "Terminator" films and another one this July, that work of fiction might as well be a reality, given people's dependence on machines and technology to get things done.
"A world that was actually very futuristic and very science fiction in 1984, it has now almost become a reality. That's the dangerous thing doing a 'Terminator' today, we're not dealing with something that is that far off in the future," he told IGN in an interview. "So we are there that the machines have totally taken over the world, the machines just haven't become self-aware."
There are some significant changes made by director Alan Taylor to "Terminator: Genisys," such as the fact that John's mother Sarah Connor (played by 'Game of Thrones' actress Emilia Clarke) has been raised by a version of Schwarzenegger's T-800, and they share such a good relationship that she calls him "Pops."
Plus, when Kyle Reese (played by 'Divergent' actor Jai Courtney) travels back to 1984 to save Sarah Connor, she is not the frightened and meek waitress portrayed in the original movies, but a tough woman who can fight her own battles.
Cameron has nothing but praises for Taylor's work, and even said that he felt like a "fanboy" when he finally get to see "Terminator: Genisys."
"I had no idea what to expect sitting down. I wasn't involved in the making of the film. I didn't direct it, I didn't write it. I'm just a fanboy. I'm in a dark theater, the movie starts...And I start to see things that I recognize," he said. "And all of a sudden it just swirls and I'm going on a journey."
He thought that Taylor truly respected his previous works and did justice to it with this "renaissance" of the "Terminator" franchise. Cameron is also a huge fan of how they tweaked the characters people have grown to love.
"The new film, which in my mind I think of as the third film, we see Arnold taking the character even further," said Cameron.
Meanwhile, "Terminator: Genisys" gave Sarah Connor more of an edge, but she is still someone people can relate to. "For women, I think she represents some kind of empowerment and yet there is vulnerability there because that strength comes at a price," he observed.
"Terminator: Genisys" will be released on July 1, 2015.
