10 Epic Movie Trailers That Set The Bar Too High

At a time when people were still excited for Terminator movies, the franchise's fourth entry was the first to offer something a bit different. After Terminator 3 rehashed its predecessor and disappointed audiences, attention shifted to its direct follow-up.

As the first Terminator film to ditch the chase formula and take place within the future war, the trailer treated us to a weighty preview. With a booming rock piece and sumptuous visuals backing the action, the flick looked to deliver a rousing, action packed battle between man and machine. Taking place in the early days of the war, the film could have slowly built towards James Cameron's original vision.

While Terminator Salvation is far from the worst entry in the milked franchise, it still fell short of the franchise's once mighty pedigree. In spite of solid action and passable performances, the narrative didn't make too much sense and missed the thought-provoking nature of the originals. It certainly wasn't as epic as the trailer made it out to be.

On top of that, audiences came to see John Connor rise to leadership, who ended up taking a backseat to human-android hybrid Marcus Wright through much of the runtime.

In hindsight, some have argued the filmmakers should have continued in this direction. As the least lacklustre of the sequels, the potential displayed in Terminator Salvation's marketing remains untapped over a decade later.