Stream it now Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Reset Status Want to Watch Already Watched Don't Want to Watch

This is yet another film #3 that has fans the world over up in arms over how it trashed an otherwise brilliant franchise. I've got news for the haters, Terminator 3 was fine entertainment, both when it was released, and even now. Sure, it falls short when you compare it to the likes of Terminator 2, but it's definitely better than Salvation was, and (this is a person opinion, and not shared by many others) I even liked it better than the James Cameron original. I could find nothing wrong with Nick Stahl, in fact, I like him better as John Connor than Edward Furlong. I also thought that Arnie was fantastic playing the T-800 again. He was just born to play a Terminator, plain and simple. Jonathan Mostow managed to give us some amazing action sequences, and the closing act of the film is quite touching. I thought it was very effective during the build up to Judgment Day. If you haven't seen Terminator 3 in a while, and you're of the opinion that it's a travesty, I recommend giving it another look.

While weaker plot wise and not as tense as its predecessors, T3 is still an exciting movie. Let's be honest here. The two main attractions of the Terimnator films are Arnold Shcwarzenegger and fantastic special effects. T3 delievers on both counts. We see plenty of Arnold and the action is very well handled. I enjoyed the fact that Mostow avoided using fast paced editing techniques, where one just sees a whole barrage of close-ups, blurred movement and then several big explosions. By avoiding this Mostow allows us to get a better sense of what is happening plus the action just looks better. A good example of this is the fight between the two rival terminators. A fight which of course

I thought the story was weak but not fatally so. The idea for the ending was good but I didn't believe it was handled well. It lacked conviction. I felt considering the events that had transpired and the events that were to come it needed to feel more bittersweet. There was death, destruction and sorrow yet hope for the future of mankind.

Overall, I recommend you see this movie and if you haven't seen the first two I recommend them as well.

No Linda Hamilton or drunk Edward Furlong. Nick Stahl is in Furlong's place as the new future leader of the world who must combat a girlie terminator that can flip her legs around to strangle you with them. Fancy.

I enjoyed it. It was total summer fluff action movie. It also had an awesome car chase scene. Car chase scenes bore me, but this one featured a huge crane truck thing barreling down the road, destroying everything in its path. It was awesome.

Also, Arnold did have great one-liners. I was just laughing everytime he opened his mouth. I thought the ending was kinda dumb, but well, I guess it made sense.

Okay, so Chris and I have this new thing where every other Wednesday we go to the movies and one of us gets to pick which movie. On Wednesday, however, my long-awaited DVD cabinet arrived so we put that together and instead of taking one hour like the package said, it took almost FOUR HOURS. So we didn't get to see the movie then SO WE WENT TODAY.

/end intro

Okay, so I hadn't seen EITHER of the first two Terminators.. Chris wanted me to watch them before we went but I was all WE'RE ONLY ON THE Gs OF THE MOVIE QUEST, UH UH I DON'T THINK SO. So on the way there he explained what happened in the first two.. I already kinda had the gist of it from when we went to the Terminator 3-D show thingy in Universal Studios Orlando. So anyway

I REALLY LIKED IT!! I didn't think I would but it was so action-packed and it was funny and Arnold didn't annoy me that much! And I re-love Claire Danes! For a while, after MSCL, I didn't like her anymore but she's back in my good graces. So yeah, if you like action movies, you'll love T-3! I think it was too short though. I hope there's a T-4. They definitely left room for it!

I must stop watching movies and focus on my schoolwork.

That said, Terminator 3 was surprisingly good. I'm almost sad that I didn't catch it on the big screen. Yes, the plotting was obvious, but I didn't really mind - watching the movie I felt like the creators had good intentions creating this movie, and I felt that it bled through to their work, if that makes sense. It's sort of like the feel good armageddon flick of the year. This is a movie that makes me smile.



The action was surprisingly good. Maybe even better than Pirates of the Carribean. I really liked how convinced they were that they were going to blow up skynet, and the way the futility of it was presented. All in all, an extremely worthy transition.

I also think it would be fine if they ended here: showing John assume his role as a leader really completes the character arc begun in the second film. All throughout numbers two and three we hear his self-doubt: the climax of terminator 3 is less in the action and more in the realization John experiences as he hears those poor Montana bastards. One could go as far to say that it follows with the greek tragic play's tradition of having recognition and the progress from ignorance to knowledge be a critical juncture of the tragic hero's reversal of fortunes. In fact, I'd say that it follows that particular guideline Socrates talked about in his "Poetics" rather well.

Also, I was pleased to see that my predictions for the origin of skynet were true.

"Admit it... I'm damn sexy!"

The action is incredible and the small twist is a nice touch. I just watched T3 for the 2nd time and it's held up well in a repeat viewing. It now takes the 2nd place spot in the trilogy. My only real gripe is that I wish it was a bit longer.

Out of ****

1.T2 - **** (Action Masterpiece)
2. T3 - ***1/2
3. T1 - ***1/2

I would also like to state that the Champion Crane Chase is the best action sequence of 2003. It puts ANY scene in the Matrix sequels to shame!

The next few weeks are going to be extremely busy. This Saturday I'm going to New York City to see the musical Rent with my girlfriend. On Sunday, I work nearly all day. Next week is tech-week for our high school's one-act play productions, and Friday (11/21) and Saturday (11/22) are our performance nights. Finally, I'm having surgery the day before Thanksgiving. I'm really looking forward to Master & Commander, but I don't know when I'm going to be able to see it.

In honor of the DVD release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, here is my review of that film...




Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Rated R

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken

Written John D. Brancato, Tedi Sarafian, and Michael Ferris

Directed by Jonathan Mostow

After the death of his mother, Sarah, John Connor (Stahl) has taken to living in the streets. A new terminator, T-X (Loken) has been sent back to kill John. As in Terminator 2, a T-101 unit (Schwarzenegger) has been sent to protect John and one of his future lieutenants (Danes).

Director Jonathan Mostow does a reasonably ample job of filling James Cameron's immense shoes. His film does not have the emotional or dramatic weight or epic quality of Cameron's films. It also lacks the intensity and edge of its predecessors. Never-the-less, Mostow has crafted a solid film loaded with wall-to-wall action set pieces; the highlight of which is a chase sequence composed of mostly physical visual effects as opposed to computer generated effects.

Mostow is given a solid, albeit contrived screenplay to work with. There are some inconsistencies with the characters from T2, particularly the T-101 and its capabilities. This is done largely for comedic effect, but the humor comes off as misplaced most of the time.

Nick Stahl does a more than adequate job of replacing Edward Furlong in the role of John Connor, and Claire Danes is a nice addition to the Terminator company. Kristanna Loken's T-X is a solid villain, but she lacks the cold and chilling menace of Robert Patrick's T-1000. Another issue I had with her character is that her "swiss-army knife" capabilities seemed out of place.

The visual effects, while not ground breaking, are believable. The CGI and physical effects blend nicely. The film is hampered by some hasty pacing, however. But, the haunting and daring finale leaves room for a possible sequel open.

Terminator 3 is a solid summer action film that is sure to keep fans at least moderately satisfied. T3 is unlike this year's The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions which strive to be more than what they are. In trying to be poignant and philosophical, those films come off as being shallow, pretentious, and bland. T3 knows its place. It doesn't shoot far, but it hits its mark.

The weakest of the series, but still pretty damn good. So much work was done to Schwarzennegar's body (digitally, probably) that I'm not sure what's real and what's not. The action sequences were awesome...loved the whole part in the military headquarters with the primitive versions of terminators.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines



Screw everyone who says differently, this movie rocks the house. Arnold may be done as an action star, but at least he's gone out with a bang. Yeah, it's the weakest of the Terminator movies, but if this is the worst they get... I'm happy.

Read my full review or I will terminate you!

...and it just wasn't good.

Most of the action scenes were boring, the dialogue was corny, I didn't like the TX, Nick Stahl was a terrible John Connor, and even actions by the characters (the TX, mostly) were cheesy (TX grabbing Arnie by the balls, for example). However, the Champion Crane Chase scene was cool. One of the most overrated movies of 2003.


:rotten: 3/10 D+