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Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (Widescreen Edition)

Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (Widescreen Edition)

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: T3- One of the Best Action Films!
Review: "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" is one of the best action films I have ever seen. This is a great entry into this legendary series. It has great acting and a great plot. I highly recomend this movie and the whole series is fantastic! Rent all three and have a blast!

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Terminator Movie
Review: Terminator 3 Rise Of The Machines Is By Far The Best Terminator Movie Ever I Like Arnold's Role As T-850 The Action Was Intense And Kristanna Loken(T-X) Was HOT Though Endoskeleton Scenes Will Scare Younger Kids And The Cats

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better than the original, didn't top the second.
Review: Teminator 3: Rise of the Machines is to the most climatic point that u could get in the TerminaTOR seris. The thing that I didnt like about it was that the morals completly changed. The moral of t1 was: "U can choose ur destiny." And in t2 they kept repeating "No fate, but what we make for ourselves." But now they tryed to bring out "U can't escape ur destiny." Personally, I donm't beilve in fate, but I beilve that everything happens for a reason.., Anyway,, I dont wanna find enlightenment, all I'm saying is that they need to stick with a common moral..
But It really was quite entertainig.
Lots of ction and plot galore.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: So much FUN!!!
Review: I was a little wary of renting T3, for the simple reason that I adored the first two movies, and I had heard some mixed reviews from other fans of the series.

Happily, I can now state that any mostly-bad reviews really aren't right - this is one of the absolute best action flicks of the last decade, and definitely one of the best movies of this century.

In a day where Hollywood keeps on churning out special-effects-laden soulless tat, it's such a nice change to see a movie with a sense of tongue-in-cheek humour about itself, and a hefty dose of heart. Picking up some years after the Godlike T2 left off, T3 sees our hero, John Connor (Nick Stahl) teaming up with childhood friend Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) and old buddy the Terminator (Arnie. on top form again, which is nice to see) against the T-X (Kristanna Loken), the latest and most deadly of the machines sent back in time to kill him.

The direction and special effects are fantastic, not because of how real they look (and they do look real), but becuase of how breathtaking and funny they are. There's something so hilarious about evil-fembot-gets-cracked-on-head-by-chopper/urinal/bit of building, or one particularly wonderful sequence at the start of the movie where poor Terminator is pushed through a long building by a truck-mounted cherry picker. It's like adrenaline, you can't quite believe what you're seeing, but it looks so plausible, that you have no choice. Sort of like a feelgood flick with big explosions and flashing lights.

The actors do credible jobs with their roles - Arnie's as tough and as great as ever as the Terminator, and Kristanna Loken is excellent as the Woman Of Steel you love to hate. Danes, in a return to the big screen, does a great job as the female lead, and Nick Stahl does a very good job in the role of beleagured John Conor.

There's not as much of a snese of Impending Doom as there was with the first two films, though. Remember that sense of living-on-the-edge cool, that sort of pre-Apocalyptic road-movie feel of T1 and T2? It's not here so much anymore, but for followers of the storyline, loose ends are tied up nicely, sequels (please let there be another!) are hinted at, and there's a nice plot twist at the end.

This widescreen version is the best to own, in my opinion, as movies of this standard should be viewed in all their cinematic glory. Audio-Visuals, as you might expect, are top-notch, and the special features are pretty decent.

All in all, you can't go wrong with T3. Fans of action, spectacle and the inexorable Blockbuster will feel totally satisfied with this wonderful flick.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Better than expected
Review: In the era of CGI as a substitute for story-telling - an era ironically given birth by this film's predecessor - Terminator 3 is a refreshing departure. Certainly there are enough explosions, chases, gunfire, and jaw-dropping CGI effects to satisfy the visceral desire for excitement, but T3 also features memorable dialog, a well-constructed plot, and a philosophically satisfying answer to the question of determinism vs. free will posed by the first two films.

James Cameron's lack of involvement with this production is actually a plus: like Steven Spielberg, he can't resist the urge to pull heartstrings by sometimes force-fitting contrived "touching" situations. Termitator 2 is a terrific movie, but I still wince when Schwartzenegger's T-101 says "I understand now why you cry. But it's something I can never do." Some people found that moving. I just thought it was corny.

Director Jonathan Mostow is, by contrast, more even-handed, if less technically astute (Cameron has a degree in physics). Even the humorous bits ("Talk to the hand", the running sunglasses gags) come off as organic. He is a skilled action director who doesn't ignore the human aspects of his story, and takes great pains to integrate them seamlessly with the genre tropes we have all come to expect.

The performances by Nick Stahl as John Connor (taking over for the troubled Edward Furlong), Claire Danes (radiant as his love interest), Kristanna Loken as the ultimate dominatrix-model terminator, and the ageless Arnold Schwartzenegger are top-notch. Danes' performance is especially impressive when you consider that she was cast in the film and started shooting with literally no time to prepare.

Mostow's take on the story is less about the evil of big corporations like Cyberdyne, than about the destructive qualities of human nature amplified to apocalyptic proportions by our own machines. For me, that is really the heart of the Terminator mythology, and he hits his target dead-on with an ending that is as poignant as it is surprising for a summer action flick.

The DVD is well produced. The extras are mixed, with a so-so making-of documentary, a fairly funny gag reel, and a sleep-inducing attempt at an interactive special-effects lab. It could have done without most of them.

The reason to buy the film is not the extras; it's the film itself, which, for the completist, belongs without apology next to the first two films on your DVD shelf.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Fun Popcorn Movie
Review: T3 has all of the elements that made T2 a thriller--desperate plot, wild action scenes, and, of course, ah-nold. This movie was rumored to have the highest budget of any film in history, and every dime shows onscren. The stunts in the chase scene that dominates the beginning of T3 is worth watching inself. it's an impressive bit of cinema.

T3 was a summer movie, and thus has a fairly barebones plot. They get right to the action with very little development of the characters or story. The reactions of most characters, particularly Claire Danes', just didn't seem all that plausible considering the deaths of her family and friends she faces as well as learning about her future. One shuld not expect an accurate psychological thriller when watching T3

Nevertheless, despite its rushed pacing and story, T3 is worth seeing. The special effects, especially of the Terminatrix in exoskeleton form are even more impressive than in T2. Expectations for T3 to wrap up the whole Terminator storyline might have been just too high to satisfy regardless. T3 does a good job of ending the trilogy while leaving the door open for more.

Watch this movie if you want to see thrill a minute action or if you want closure for the whole Terminator story. It is likely that T3 will be Arnold's last action movie considering his ew political position. T3 was certainly not a bad note to go out on.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Give me a BREAK!
Review: Whoever rated this more than 3 stars should really take some movie/art appreciation classes or at least watch the first two. For anyone who watched the first two you know that they were just trying to make a fast buck here. With the wildly successful Matix/Lord francises, the Terminator guys tried to slide this one in and it flopped. Production was alright, but the story was just .... .... sorry I fell asleep trying to remember it. Anyway I have to admit I did enjoy it when watched it....that's because I was on a 15 hour flight and watched it for free on a 4 inch tv. I recommend that scenario to anyone who wants to enjoy this movie.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: T3 doesn't add much to the Terminator legacy
Review: It's one thing to require that the audience suspends their disbelieve in the premise. Hell, an occasional slip here and there is also acceptable - but T3 falls into that dreaded category of films where the writers took a hiatus and used whatever device was available to advance the narrative. You wind up with a movie where you need to come up with absurd explanations for every scene. There were just too many holes throughout the movie, with the big catch being that the evil Terminator is a woman! Wow!!!

This is definitely a movie where cars play a major role, and as such, here are two actors that should have received closing credits: Mr. Car Chase and Mr. Unnecessary Effects.

The first 35 minutes of the movie are one long, useless chase scene. If you listen to the audio commentary, even Arnold calls this "one of the biggest scenes in the movie, the biggest scene in the movie" Is Terminator a car chase movie? Should this be the biggest scene in the movie? Arnold states that they were over budget at the time of filming the chase scene - yet he wanted more stunts. Why? Arnold states that they were looking to make this the "the greatest chase sequence in any movie," but unlike the chase scenes in T2, where though the stunts are implausible, they are used to drive the narrative and get the characters to their next location, , here they serve no purpose other that to show a lot of explosions and wreckage. Car chases are not what the Terminator series are about.

How TX (the evil Terminator) acquires John Conner's location during the chase is unbelievable. Without giving too much away, just how could the cars which she commanded see without her presence? What absurd "nano-technology" could be used to explain this? The engines of the cars operated on a mechanical principal rather than through computer control. Is it that she can control other machines, regarless of whether they are computer controlled or not? Where's the science behind this? And that just it - there are scenes after scenes in this movie where I sat there and asked myself, "Wait a minute - what's going on? Wouldn't it make more sense if they had done..."

There are so many inconsistencies and and holes in this movie that to discuss each one would give the entire movie away. Let's just say that there are times when you need a plane and the very model that you know how to fly happens to be nearby. We also learn in T3 that military bases don't bother with security - anyone can walk right into the command center. I can only attribute this and other annoyances to sloppy writing and an understanding by Hollywood that many SF fans out there are too caught up with the fictional part of SF rather than the science or consistency.

TX is supposed to be the ultimate Terminator, a Terminator's Terminator - more intelligent and more deadly than any other model. And yet the liquid metal Terminator in T2 was a much greater rival to Arnold's character. You felt that the liquid Terminator could not be stopped no matter what you thew at it. And it couldn't! What ultimately got to it was being at the wrong place at the wrong time. How TX is dispatched doesn't hold up to her being so indistructable.

John Connor's character, who was quite cocky, intelligent, and brash in T2, becomes a nihilist loser whose not too sharp. In no way at any point in T3 does John Conner show any sense of leadership or bravery. You wind up asking yourself, this is supposed to be the future leader of mankind? What caused him to change?

T2 made it a point to show John's development and control. T3 just gives you a premise and forces its viewers to invent the reasoning.

Arnold's acting was stilted. Somehow I imagine his involvement in the film being driven solely by the large pay-day he received.

Arnold also states in the audio commmentary how serious the Terminator is about his sunglasses. I allways took the sunglass motif a device to show the Terminator's lack of humanity. We don't know what's going on behind them. In T2, as his character becomes more human-line, they dispose the glasses, while as Sarah O'Conner's character becomes more determined and deadly, she puts hers on. Arnold - do you honestly think a robot cares about what sunglasses he wears or what happens to them?

Claire Dane's character is tossed quickly out of her semi-normal life into an amazing situation. One would think that she would be a bit more upset and overturned by the course of events. Instead we see her angry and barely introspective. And what exactly is her character's job? She states that she's not a vet, yet she drives the vet's truck and is the one who answers emergency calls.

There are some light humor scenes in the movie, but I doubt the director's intent was to make the whole movie a parody or a tribute to the earlier films.

The title of movie is also somewhat misleading, as it makes you wonder if you're going to witness the rise and start of the machine empire rather than a continuation of the pre-armageddon saga. The writers would have done better to fill in the background of what happened to Sarah and Joh O'Conner and how/why armageddon took place, and have the movie take place with John leading the resistance, leading up to the transportation of the first Terminator.

I would recommend this movie only because of it's legacy and as a continuation of the series. Standing on it's own, this movie would have gone nowhere. After you see this movie, ask yourself if it wern't for the other two Terminator movies, would this movie inspire you to see T4? I bet not. And that's a shame.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Ok to watch this once...
Review: This was a good movie to watch... once... especially if you saw the first two movie's...& who hasn't... but it wasn't as good as the first two, & I probably wouldn't buy it or even watch it again anytime soon.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Worthy Entry in the Series
Review: Terminator 3 lacks the inventiveness of T1 and the style and panache of T2; however, T3 is ultimately a very gratifying entry in the series. The movie opens as a sexy female Terminator (Terminatrix) arrives from the future and begins systematically eliminating people (much of it off-camera - the movie is not especially gory). As with the shape-shifter from T2, the Terminatrix has some ingenious new features. Nick Stahl replaces Edward Furlong as John Connor, now age 20. He's been on the move since T2 and the subsequent death of his mother, never staying in one place or developing relationships. He and Claire Danes become entangled and gradually we begin to understand her involvement. Of course, Arnold arrives along the way - what would a Terminator movie be without him?

The plot is clever and filled with humor, much of it courtesy of Arnold's quips. There are also some excellent stunts, particularly a chase scene involving a crane that seems to destroy much of LA. T3 is much more straight-forward and brisk than T2. In a strange way, the movie is a *comfortable* action film; we know what to expect from the series and it delivers. The ending is also satisfying while also clearly leaving the door open for T4. Overall, it's a solid action movie.


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