A wreckage-strewn post-apocalyptic landscape of crumbled skyscrapers spreads out over the world. Machines originally designed by humans have rebuilt themselves into a force called 'Skynet' that dominates the planet; but here and there rebels continue to battle for survival.

In the first film of the series, 1984's "Terminator," a robot assassin traveled back in time with the mission to kill Sarah Connor before she could give birth to John Connor who, if he survived, would grow up to lead the resistance. In 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Connor escapes again with the original robot an unexpected ally. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003 finds Connor still fighting to stay alive as the resistance begins. In this latest film he is in the thick of battle and Terminator Salvation director McG feels it is important that all of the stories are connected.

"There have been three great movies that talked about present-day environments with Terminators coming back in time," he notes. "This picture takes place in the future after Judgment Day and that is the primary defining characteristic of why we felt it was worthwhile to move forward. So we wanted to honor the mythology of the earlier pictures, but we wanted to begin again with a different look and a different feel because the bombs had gone off. We did a lot of research regarding what a world would look like and we created a film stock to try to reflect that. In a great many ways that was liberating for us to tell the story we wanted to tell."

Welsh-born Christian Bale brings his customary intensity to the character of John Connor; but he also recognizes that audiences for a Terminator picture are not necessarily there for the characters.

"You're an idiot if you don't recognize what the bigger picture is," Bale says. "People want to see great action. They want to see the machines and, all right, if the people [in the movie] wind up being interesting enough, great, good, you know; but it's not like we're making a little character analysis piece which people can sit when they are depressed watching at home by themselves. This is a movie made for watching with hundreds of other people."