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 . It was also done in honor of the legendary special effects supervisor , four-time Oscar winner Stan Winston ( `` Jurassic Park , '' the other `` Terminator '' films ) , who passed away during filming last year . Watch the robots in action » . The director and three of his cast members -- Christian Bale , Bryce Dallas Howard and Anton Yelchin -- took a time out with CNN to explain why gravity and singed eyebrows both played a role in `` Terminator Salvation . '' Bryce Dallas Howard : That was something that was really important to McG ... when an audience member sees this film , that they can actually feel what 's occurring . I think that audiences are very savvy now . We can feel when something is CGI and that 's no disrespect to CGI -- we could n't do this movie without it -- but , whenever possible , in the tradition of Sam Winston , he wanted to build the robots . So a lot of what you see is real . McG : And if you drop something , we 've spent our whole lives watching physics in play , and if you say , just have the CGI do that , people can tell something 's off , and it releases you from being involved in the picture . So , we built all the robots , we built all the sets , we blew them up for real , a great many of us lost our eyebrows ! Christian Bale : It was kind of comical at times because something that 's meant to be so intimidating was actually surrounded by five guys with these kind of puppet rods I had to blank out or I would start laughing . But , the end result is something really formidable and you know , really iconic in movie history . Anton Yelchin : Now I 'm obsessed with the robots ! I 'm so [ annoyed ] that this guy or whoever it is that 's in charge of it would n't let me have one !
`` Terminator Salvation '' filmmakers decide to use many real robots . Idea to avoid CGI was partly in tribute to special effects master Stan Winston . Comment: