LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Thirty-eight years ago, Joseph McGinty Nichol was a boy in Kalamazoo, Michigan, playing with toy robots. Many of the robots in "Terminator Salvation" are real machines, which increased realism, the cast says. Today "McG," as he is better known, builds and blows up real robots. The prominent filmmaker is the driving force behind one of the season's summer blockbusters, "Terminator Salvation," which is filled with very expensive and very explosive robots. The choice to use real robots when possible, instead of CGI (computer generated images), was deliberate, McG said. According to the director and the film's stars, the decision to use real machines was a testament to the growing sophistication of the moviegoing public, whom they believe can "feel" the difference between actors standing in front of a green screen versus actors interacting with the real thing.
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"Terminator Salvation" filmmakers decide to use many real robots
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Idea to avoid CGI was partly in tribute to special effects master Stan Winston
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Film is the fourth in the "Terminator" series
Bryce Dallas Howard: That was something that was really important to @placeholder ...  when an audience member sees this film, that they can actually feel what's occurring.