I’m going to assume that 99.9% of us have seen at least The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, if not Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines as well. If you have not, and you’re planning on seeing Terminator Salvation this week, then Geeks of Doom is your place to make sure you at least have some kind of an idea of what the hell is going on.

Keep in mind — I can absolutely promise you that Salvation and any others ever made will not be anywhere near as good as the first two, and I strongly urge you to see them first; but if you just don’t have time and have to get you some Christian Bale action now, hopefully this will help out a little.

Before you continue here, be sure to check out our own BAADASSSSS!’s in-depth and thoughtful retrospect of 1984’s The Terminator — A Look Back At James Cameron’s “˜The Terminator’. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

OK, now that you’ve read up on the first movie, here’s the promised quick recaps of both T2 and T3 so that you can complete the Zelda tri-force and be fully prepared to see Terminator Salvation!

THR has an interesting report regarding Terminator Salvation, director McG, and superstar lead Christian Bale. Apparently, the original script for the fourth film in the franchise was built around the main character of Marcus Wright (now being played by Sam Worthington), with the role of John Connor not being that large. When McG went to meet with Christian Bale, it was in an attempt to get him for that main role of Marcus, not Connor. This is where the project was seemingly grasped by Bale and taken from McG in a sense, as Bale decided that he wanted to play John Connor and add him into the story more.

This news got my brain to turning and wondering, how much has Christian Bale affected Terminator Salvation, whether positively or negatively?

On one hand, there’s the possibility that Bale was the one that recognized flaws in the story and demanded the changes that could make Terminator a critical success as well as the box office blockbuster it’s already destined to become.

Apparently this weekend was the national Directors Confirm/Deny/Elaborate Rumors day.

Two of the more news-worthy bits that had come about recently, involved two of this summer’s big blockbusters. One involved Rob Zombie‘s H2: Halloween 2, in which we were told that Michael Myers would actually be mask-less for the majority of the movie (Read: Wait, What? Michael Myers To Be Without Mask For Most Of ‘H2’?). Then there’s Terminator Salvation, which has had a couple of big stories regarding the movie’s ending — one involved some insanity with John Connor (Christian Bale), the other being when director McG made it very clear that some people would probably hate how the movie ends, hinting at a big cliffhanger.

/Film had the opportunity to have a little chit-chat with Mr. Zombie recently, where he cleared the air on the whole mask-less Myers rumor for everyone who was worried.

This should be a relief to most fans. There was an image that was recently going around in which half of the iconic mask was missing…I wonder if that may have been what was meant of the original statement.

Even better, and much more insane, are the details regarding all of those Terminator Salvation ending rumors. Unfortunately, while the endings in question will not be featured in the final film, there is a chance that they will turn up on the DVD. Because of this, the spoiler warning is officially in effect!

Click over to the other side to see what madness McG had in mind for his ending originally.

Terminator Salvation and many fans (including myself) aren’t exactly on speaking terms right now. After the embarrassment of a PG-13 rating rained down — throwing the integrity of the entire franchise in front of the sacrificial blade of the financial profit gods — you just can’t help but feel like your girlfriend is cheating on you in front of your face while pointing and laughing for good measure.

Heartbreak aside, Film Journal International had a long chat with director McG, where they spoke about many things. Most of the conversation consisted of stories and information that have been told and re-told over the months, but some of the chat included some incredibly interesting information, including what McG is expecting the next chapter, Terminator 5, will hold. Let’s just say…some of us may not be dancing after reading it.

McG again mentions the possible inclusion of an aged Robert Patrick being included, so that sounds like a solid idea that they’re running strongly with. Aside from that, it’s all new information, and whether it’s a legit idea for the sequel, or is McG is screwing with us hard, is really yet to be seen.

Click over for more, including McG’s words.

It has been a topic floating around Hollywood and picking up rumors almost as much as the participation of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: will Linda Hamilton return to her iconic role of Sarah Connor in Terminator Salvation. We’ve known all along that if she did, it would likely only be in some form of voiceover capacity, but even that was exciting enough.

While still no confirmations have shown up, Hamilton confirmed that she has indeed been in talks to reprise the role.

Hamilton stated: