Linda Hamilton Returns as Sarah Connor for 'Terminator: Dark Fate'

It hasn't been an easy couple of decades for fans of James Cameron's Terminatorfranchise, but the just-dropped trailer for Dark Fate looks like the magic might be back.

Released in 1984, writer-director Cameron's The Terminator didn't do much at the box office, but the sci-fi action flick became a sensation on pay cable. The low-budget special effects look dated, but still good enough to move the girl-power story along to its necessary conclusion. Then in 1991, Cameron came back with a huge budget, groundbreaking digital special effects, and a true cultural phenomenon with Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

How many lines can you recite from that movie? I think my wife and I mouth the whole script each time we watch it.

Then everything started going to hell.

The franchise went dark for a dozen years before Terminator 3: Rise of the Machinescame out in 2003. It wasn't a bad flick by any means, and even had a nice twist or two, and the action sequences were as creative and well-shot/edited as ever. The downbeat ending I thought was a particularly brave choice. But something was just not completely fulfilling about T3. I'm not sure Nick Stahl was quite right as twentysomething John Connor. Or maybe there was just no good way to cast Connor, who previously had either been a young boy or an unseen near-legend from the future.

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