Rating: 
Summary: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
Review: When you mention "The Terminator" We always tend to think of a cyborg from the future, someone running for their life, lots of action and of course, Arnold's one liners. This movie lives up to all these aspects every bit as well as the other two movies but still a few things baffle me. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines seems like a movie to keep you busy for a while. I recall at the end of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, that Judgement Day was ended. Well in T3 it seems that Judgement Day was only "postponed". My initial reaction was of course "How can that be we saw the chip get tossed into the liquid steel in the second movie." Surprisingly enough T3 does a good job at meritting why it serves well as a sequel (It's ALL explained) but there still doesn't seem to be the need for it. Clearly what REALLY stands out is how much later after T2 the movie takes place. Nick Stahl plays John Conner, now a man rather than a kid, who has to survive through this mess to lead the humans to victory against the machines. Kristanna Loken plays the Terminatrix out to kill him and of course Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator sent to protect him. To be truthful, this is basically Terminator 2 with an older John Conners. Its the same basic story but told differently. There's just a twist. The Terminatrix has been sent from the future not just to kill John, but his officers as well. This quickly gets his friend Kate involved (who was actually MENTIONTED in T2!) played by Claire Danes. John, regardless of what The Terminator has told him, still thinks he can prevent Judgement Day and therefore decides to try and take out Skynet, a super computer that controls the machine world, before Judgement Day can begin. Unfortunately the movie does have its backlashes. Claire Danes plays a great Kate but the movie does't develope the characters enough. For example, there is actually supposed to be some sort of love interest between Kate and John that doesn't come out until the end of the movie. The two never express feelings for one another and because of this its impossible at first to see how these two have ANY chemistry whatsoever. Also, the movie is ruined about halfway through. When The Terminator reveals basically everything that's going to happen it makes the movie predictable. When The Terminator reveals that you can't stop Judgement Day from happening it basically ruins the entire movie in the sense that our protagonists really DOESN'T stop Judgement day from happening, which in turn caused a very sad and depressing ending, that also opens up for a fourth Terminator movie. Be that as it may, Terminator 3 is still a good movie. It doesn't keep you on the edge of your seat the way T2 does, but it is still enjoyable to watch. Not worth to see multiple times in the theater but certainly worth the buy on DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasant Little Surprise...
Review: When I first heard that T3 was coming out I was terrified. I mean, no James Cameron? No Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton)?? A new guy (Nick Stahl) playing John Conner??? A female terminatrix???? An ancient Arnold creeking along as the terminator????? Boy, was I scared of the potential catastrophe this flick could've been! Well, my fears were unnecessary. T3: RISE OF THE MACHINES was a pleasant surprise. First, though Cameron would have done a completely different film with Linda Hamilton, they both opted out (of T3 and their relationship w/ each other) and there was no hope of their being involved. Jonothan Mostow does a great job, keeping the action at an insane pace, making T3 an excellent 2hr rollercoaster ride. Claire Danes is wonderful as the unfortunate Kate, sucked into the vortex of John Conner's destiny. Kristanna Loken is the perfect ice-cold assassin as the TX Terminatrix. She's beautiful, lethal, and indestructible. The perfect date for yours truly! Nick Stahl is John Conner. I liked him and found him quite believable. That leaves Arny as everyone's favorite cyborg. I was frankly amazed at how good he looks! This future governor of la-la-land looks physically like he did in the first two terminators! Either he's wearing a rubber body, or Arnold is in peak condition. Either way, he IS the terminator and always will be. He delivers his trademark T-101-liners with typical Arny style. As for the storyline, I was so caught up in the explosions and chase elements, I almost forgot what it was all about! It seems that judgement day has only been postponed and the TX has arrived to seek out and destroy John Conner. The T-101 intervenes again, this time protecting both John and Kate in an attempt to save the remnant of humanity from skynet's planetary conquest. Can they escape the TX? What secret does Kate's dad hold? Will Arnold take time off from his office job to do T4? Only time will tell. The only complaint I have is that it could have been longer. Another 20 minutes or so to flesh out the story would've been nice. However, I digress...
Rating: 
Summary: The machines may rise....but the plot goes down
Review: I never like seaqulls that dont bring back the same cast. This movie prooved it. Only Shwartzenegger and whoever the shrink docotor is have returned for the film from the previous 2 great action blockbusters. And it certinly IMO suffred with out the original creator James Camron. The plot takes place 10 years or so since the last blockbuster movie T2; Judgment day. John Conner is a loner, his mother has passed away and he is his familly Toto! I strongly beleive the intrest to this film is the fact that there is a female terminator, and theres guys enjoying seeing her in tight clothing. That kind of image never works for me so the movie failed in its attempt to sell scenes in a uncalled for way! I'd like to see alot more woman become action stars, there sure isnt enough of them, but this new terminator is hardly threatning at all, and unlike in T2 with the t-1000..this soupposed new upgraded terminator looks more downgraded! A new Terminator has been sent back to not just kill John Conner but also another leader of the resistance and a bunch of other people too! And of coarse Arnold is sent back once more as a terminator to protect them. The movie suffered in alot of plot ideas IMO, I dont care that Arnold returned...with few SFX shots gave some great action seaqunces, the SFX where no where near as impressive as the ground breaking SFX that T2 provided us with! This plot also rueins the whole genre of the Terminator. Particuly the most i did not like was the ending to this film. The ending IMO has been rueind, and has created a non beleivable ending, unlike the last 2 movies. If they make a 4th movie, they should consider highly about going back in time to prevent the events that happend in this film, other wise this movie has rueind the terminator story lines IMO. Rent it first, many people judge this movie on Arnie and a female in tight cloths to sell a sexy image rather then concentrate on important and significant things to make the movie beleiable. The begining is kind of cool, then it drifts, then its going no where, then it picks up, then the end ruens the entire saga! Only a 4th movie can fix the bad idea on how to finish this film IMO! Bonus features are forgetable, and its no wonder they cut a few of the deleted scenes, if they had have been included the movie would have done harm to the terminator saga even further!
Rating: 
Summary: Terminator 3 is really quite good
Review: I pride myself on my ability to sniff a bad movie out before it hits the screens. After seeing so many movies, reading so many magazines (like Time, Entertainment Weekly, and Cinescape) and listening to so many interviews, you start to realize before a picture even hits the theaters when something is wrong. I'm also a big fan -- I helped create the Terminator: Future Fate D20 Modern campaign setting. What, you haven't gotten a copy? It's free! Go! Go right now and get it (under Freebies)! With Terminator 3, my Spidey sense was tingling. The majority of interviews all centered on "how great it is to work with Mr. Schwarzenegger." Uh huh. That's nice. Whenever a director talks about how great the movie is, I get suspicious. Then there's the, "we've made a new Terminator and she's a BAAAAAAAABE!" This idea already hit the comics and novels. But really, why? Why make her a beautiful woman? Is this going to be The Hidden all over again? The Hidden was great -- but it gave a reason for why the bad guy took on a luscious female form. And don't even get me started on calling her a Terminatrix. And why bring Arnie again? My idea, which was used in the Terminator series of novels out now, was to have Arnie play himself as a human character in present time who is the model for Terminators. Glad S.M. Sterling agrees it's a good idea. So, with all those thoughts going through our heads, Maleficent and I took in a matinee. Whenever we suspect a movie might suck, we go to a matinee so we don't feel like we were suckered. And... We were pleasantly surprised. Terminator 3 is really quite good. It is not as good, in my opinion, as Terminator 2. Maleficent liked Terminator 3 better (she hated the squeaky punk in Terminator 2). This movie follows a T-X (get it, Terminator-X or Terminatrix, although that's a term used only by Connor) who has gone backwards in time to kill all the lieutenants of John Connor since Skynet can't find him. Right away, we know something is different. The T-X has a blue lighting scheme. Her interface looks more like a Windows environment than the old red-code Terminators. She moves with the same eerie patience that the T-1000 did. For the most part, she's expresionless. When she reacts at all, it's disturbing. A scary, beautiful woman. Go figure. The reason for the change is because the future has changed. Skynet's birth came and went. If you saw the last two movies, the world was supposed to have gone to nuclear war already. But thanks to Sarah, Judgment Day didn't happen. Not yet, anyway. Arnold is unbelievably bulked up. I thought maybe they digitally inserted his head on a younger man's body. Nope -- it's him. Naked. 50 years old and the man is bulked. I fear anyone dating his daughters (does he even have daughters?). The movie doesn't take itself too seriously. It focuses on the chase scenes, the running combat between the two Terminators, and the slow recognition of the whole scary plot by Kate Brewster, John's future wife. The movie makes several propositions, which I found interesting. For one, it implies that history is self-correcting. Although John didn't meet Kate right away, he met her again a decade later anyway. Although Skynet wasn't built as a mechanical fortress, it was created as a virus over the Internet instead. In short, the future is NOT what you make of it. It all HAS to happen. It's just a matter of WHEN. The director, Jonathan Mostow, recognizes his core audience. We've all seen Terminator 2. We know how Arnie got his clothes last time. This time, he walks naked into a bar with another fat guy with another shotgun guarding the entrance...and he says without blinking an eye, "You're early, go around back." Now the audience is confused. Why isn't he surprised Arnie's naked? We get the answer in a strip club for ladies who are hooting and shouting at the stripper on stage -- who just happens to match Arnie's dimensions. You've got to appreciate a movie that's willing to laugh at itself. Although it has an "R" rating, this movie isn't that gory. The moments of possible nudity are actually covered up (no, you don't get to see frontal nudity on the Terminatrix). Almost like they were trying hard to make it acceptable for parents to bring their kids to see it. Hmmm. The ending is very well done. I say this a lot -- this is one of those movies that had the strength of its convictions. There's a logical, unpopular conclusion to the events going on in Terminator 3. The movie embraces them. If you're looking for a good popcorn movie and want to see robots beat each other up, this is a film worth seeing. If you're a Terminator fan and want to see more adventures set in the wild and wacky timeline that is constitutes the Terminator universe -- this is a MUST SEE.
Rating: 
Summary: Depresssing Ending!
Review: Robots taking over the world thanks to an evil supercomputer. The way technology is going, I could see this very possibly happening. The only problem is, what would the robots do with the world after they take it over and kill all humans?
This was the 1st terminator movie that I have seen that was in the theatres. My only other terminator experience was T2: 3D that's at the Universal theme parks, but the movie didn't have the most complex storyline, and I knew the basics, so I figured out most of it. How was the movie? The special effects were great. Industrial Light and Magic did it again. Besides from that, the dialogue was weak, the story was very predictable, and they told you what would happen next in the movie constantly so there were no suprizes. It also seemed like Arnold wrote himself out of the series if they do make a next one by killing his robot self and the world was basically destroyed at the end of the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: One more great thing defiled
Review: This movie is pretty atrocious. The wuss they dredged up to be John Conner ought to actually be shot by a terminator. The sharp, wannabe-machine-like motions need to stop. The woman-terminator thing was idiotic, given it's just a pathetic gimmick and the fact that it wasn't intimidating at all. The technological advances of the T-300,000,000 or whatever it was were not amply described or developed, not to mention the moronic little concept to have nanomachines control cars is just plain boring; we've seen all that nonsense before. The plot was actually decent i daresay, but was mostly botched due to the absolutely relentless pace of the movie. On top of all this, i just got the sensation while watching it that the subject wasn't being dealt with seriously, nor was i as an audience member. The clever little surprise ending also was incredibly weak, given what could have been done with it. The movie seemed like a 1st graders art collage, with a thousand different pointless things glued on with no rhyme or reason, and in the end leaving an ugly, haphazard mess. My favorite two scenes were these: 1) the bathroom fight-scene, which was really stupid, but, i hesitate to admit, also funny as hell 2) a scene in the mobile home where claire danes gives an absolutely gorgeous smile. And i think that says it all. This is an action movie, yet my favorite scene was just that because of a woman smiling. You just gotta do better than that. Thanks, whatever nobody directed this, for taking a serious, and compelling subject and reducing it to more hollywood moneygrubbing tripe bloated with special effects but destitute of substance and impoverished of human emotion of any kind. The thing that made Terminator and Terminator 2 so good was that they weren't composed solely of fluff, but they had a message, and it was carried through an excellent medium. Where those two movies both riled our hearts with excitement and touched them with a sense of empathy and concern, this one does neither, and leaves us feeling empty.
Rating:
Summary: Same old stuff
Review: Lots of special eefect, women in sexy outfits and Arnolds dumb one-liners. I actually slow in some parts. No fun at all.
Rating:
Summary: I miss Linda Hamilton!
Review: He promised he'd be back, and he is in "Terminator 3-Rise of the Machines," the third and probably final installment in the franchise that made Austrian weightlifter turned actor turned politician Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name. Why do I think this film is the last in the series? Because, primarily due to Arnie's abrupt reversal in his views about onscreen violence. "Terminator 3" isn't a great film. Before he had kids and decided to run for public office, Schwarzenegger had few problems blowing away hundreds of people in films like "The Terminator," "Commando," "The Running Man," "Predator," and several other 1980's actioners. What a difference a few years make. I knew Arnold had taken a turn for the worse when I witnessed the horrific "Junior," but the disintegration had begun years before. Schwarzenegger's dogged pledge to minimal onscreen killing essentially doomed any "Terminator" sequels. Granted, number two worked well because it employed Linda Hamilton, had James Cameron at the helm, and worked wonders with special effects. Sadly, "Terminator 3" does not have Linda Hamilton, does not have James Cameron at the helm, and the special effects aren't as good as what we saw in the second film. What a pity. John Connor (Nick Stahl in this outing) survived the events in the second film and is now a young adult with serious issues. Always fearful of any unexpected robotic deliveries from the future, he's dropped out of society in a big way. Connor doesn't have a phone number, avoids credit cards and other traceable technologies, and floats from menial job to menial job. His mother Sarah died of leukemia several years ago in Mexico, thus leaving her son to fend for himself in a world that he fears. John can never shake the feeling that he and his mother failed to prevent Judgment Day, and he is about to discover feelings have a way of becoming real. Sure enough, a termination unit appears on the scene. This time out, it's the new and improved T-X machine (played by sexy Kristanna Loken), a robot wrapped up in the guise of a female capable of controlling other machines and sprouting weapons from its body. Fortunately for John Connor, the humans in the future managed to send back another Arnie terminator to serve as a personal bodyguard. From here on out the movie is your typical chase and destroy vehicle, as Arnie and the T-X battle their way through various settings. The plot makes a few digressions with the introduction of Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), an old childhood sweetheart of John Connor who just happens to meet up with her old flame when John robs the veterinary clinic where she works. Moreover, Brewster's Dad just happens to be the military guy in charge of Skynet and a new generation of robotic weaponry instantly familiar to fans of the first two films. See how it all comes together? Arnie ends up protecting Brewster and Connor from the deadly attentions of the T-X. When queried by Connor and Brewster about Judgment Day, Arnold explains that nuclear annihilation is inevitable, and that Sarah and her son only postponed the inevitable when they destroyed the T-1000 in the second film. Since the world is about to go into the wastebasket, it is Arnold's mission to get Brewster and Connor to a safe location before the bombs fall. Predictably, our heroes aren't about to accept the fate of the world lying down. They convince Arnie to escort them to the military base where Kate's father is about to put Skynet online. If they can get there in time, they might succeed in averting disaster. Meanwhile, the T-X stalks them with relentless, ruthless precision. The conclusion to the film displays lots of explosions, nicely done special effects (again, not as good as the second film), and a few mild twists and turns. "Terminator 3" could have been a great film. I fervently hoped it would attain greatness. Alas, the movie achieves only a rating of merely good. Of course, the biggest problem is Arnie's inability to mow down people. Let's face it--we all loved Schwarzenegger's early films where he wreaked massive destruction on scores of heavily armed thugs. You won't get any of that here. What further hurts the film is the absence of Linda Hamilton. She always gave the series a solid foundation, and the film suffers without her. They could have at least given us a cameo from Michael Biehn or Robert Patrick to serve as a touchstone to the earlier movies. Nope. The only person we see from an earlier film is the guy who played the psychologist, and even then his appearance doesn't work as well as it could. Plenty of other problems abound, including plot holes like Arnold just showing up at the veterinary clinic out of the blue, (In the other two movies, Cameron showed us HOW the terminator tracked down John and Sarah Connor. Here, he just shows up.) and the over reliance on comedic elements throughout the film. What works? That chase scene with the crane was cool, and the fistfight between the T-X and Arnie is worth watching more than once. Give "Terminator 3" a chance if you liked the first two. I've sort of knocked on the movie in this review, but I probably would watch it again if I had the chance. It's sad, though. The filmmakers could have made an ultra dark, nihilistic science fiction film instead of this comedic parody of what made the franchise such a winner from the start. I blame Arnold Schwarzenegger for the film's failures; it's obvious that in order to get him to do another film, the filmmakers had to give Arnie free rein to do what he wanted instead of giving the fans what they craved. Let's hope future installments--highly unlikely, regrettably--will return to the roots of the original.
Rating:
Summary: A Standard Arnie Action Flick
Review: My expection are very high because I am a big fan of the original Terminator and T2. But once I saw the trailer, I knew that this last title of the series will not live up to the previous two.
I must admit that when I watch it, I really enjoyed myself. The actions are superb. But not worth for a repeat viewing. So buy the DVD only if you really like complete your Terminator collections or have spare money to spend.
Rating:
Summary: Exactly what the franchise needed...
Review: Terminator 3 is NOT like Terminator 2, but you know what, thats ok. Terminator 2 is great, but at times it's a little too much. Terminator 3 brings the fun back into the franchise. It has an extremely interesting plot (and figuring the end of Terminator 2 it did a good job explaining what was going on) and in my opinion, Terminator 3 has the best ending out of all of the movies. It's a great surprise that a lot of people weren't expecting that takes the Terminator franchise to a whole new level. Arnold of course is great and so is Nick Stahl as John Connor. The TX is beautiful yet dangerous at the same time and the fights between the TX and the T-850 are unbelievable. I HIGHLY reccomend this movie to a terminator fan or a fan of action movies in general. It should be noted that you can still enjoy this movie even if you haven't seen the first 2 terminators.
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