At the time of writing, the ’50s-themed “The Terminator” trailer has been viewed about 1.3 million times since it was uploaded in April 2024, and fan feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. A number of users commented on what they felt made the AI-generated clip so creepy, with @ArmourBlanche writing, “The aesthetics and vibes make the terminator [scarier] than in the latest movies” and @markd.9538 accurately commenting, “Man… this is so meta. AI creating a trailer for a movie about AI. Its so eerie.” Multiple viewers remarked that the video reminds them of “Thunderbirds,” a British sci-fi TV series from the 1960s that dealt with futuristic themes. 

Inevitably, some commenters made comparisons to “Fallout,” the Amazon series that’s blown everyone away with its own blend of retro and futuristic elements and its faithfulness to the video games that inspired it.

Overall, though, it seems a large percentage of users simply wanted to commend Abandoned Films for creating yet another 1950s-style movie or TV show pastiche through AI technology. Aside from “The Terminator,” the YouTuber has similar concept videos for series such as “The Walking Dead” and “Vikings,” films like “Robocop” (which also looks awesome in a ’50s setting), “Shrek,” and multiple “Star Wars” installments, and even the “Warcraft” and “Diablo” video game franchises, among others.