Quite a few opinions on ciao for this one but I thought I'd add my 2 cents worth.
You all know the plot I would assume, but in case you don't it's simple - humanity will be just about wiped out by a supercomputer called Skynet, and John Connor (Nick Stahl) will be the leader of the human resistance who leads them to victory. Cue two Terminators sent back through time, one sent by the machines, one sent by the resistance. The one the humans send, the T-101 (Schwarzengger) is inferior to the machines' model the T-X or Terminatrix (Kristanna Loken), setting up an aginst the odds battle to save the life of Connor. However, the machines have no record of where Connor lives at this time, as he lives as a roamer with no records, so the T-X is sent to wipe out his lieutenants instead.
Like the previous Terminator movies, Schwarzenegger re-enters the role of the cyborg, a robot with living human tissue surrounding it. The Terminatrix is similar to the T-1000 in Terminator 2, in that it can change into any person it likes, although it too has a robotic body rather than being formed of liquid metal. It also has the power to control machines.
The action doesn't take too long to set-up, and rarely relents. This exposes glaring plot holes as the director tries to keep the pace of the movie upbeat. For example, at the beginning, we see the T-101 acquire his clothes, then when he reappears moments later to confront the T-X, he has a shotgun - where did he get it? In the car he stole? Up his cybernetic butthole? These errors keep cropping up throughout the movie and are really annoying.
Some of the action set-pieces are spectacular, including the massive car chase scene involving a tow-truck, a fire engine, the destruction of about 50 cars and the utter demolishing of an office block.
The characters themselves are a mixed bag - Nick Stahl has a permanently stoned expression on his face (making a mockery of claims Edward Furlong wasn't hired because of his drug problems) but fits into the role of John Connor quite well, showing the leadership skills he will need as a future resistance commander. Claire Danes as Katherine Brewster adds some vulnerability that the first film had in Linda Hamilton, before she got buffed up and pissed-off in T2.
Arnie's Arnie, but the main disappointment of the cast would have to be Kristanna Loken. In T2 there was a palpable sense of menace whenever Robert Patrick was on screen, enhanced by his glaring looks and use of sharp pointy objects he made out of his hands and arms. Loken looks like a department store mannequin masquerading as a menace to society, nay the world, and the fact she has weapons built into her somehow doesn't make her as sinister as Patrick.
The dialogue throughout the film is simplistic and dumbed down for a summer audience, peppered with comedy - the T-101 is invited to "Talk to the hand" - he breaks it, then does just that. These light-hearted moments carry on from T2's "Chill out, dickwad" etc. moments and lighten the mood between battles.
The title music from the previous two movies is missing - in fact, the whole movie is devoid of any sort of music for the best part, making for a pretty sterile aural experience, with just explosions and dialogue there to please the ear.
Jonathan Mostow is a decent director - I really enjoyed Breakdown - but up against the two previous films he just doesn't have the pizazz and the general "coolness" of James Cameron. I can't quite put my finger on it - except that Mostow is a craftsman, working from instructions, while Cameron is an artist, twisting and turning the end product in his image. Cameron also managed toup the ante from the first to second movie a great deal, something which Mostow has tried but failed to do here.
This is not to say I didn't enjoy the movie - far from it, I actually quite liked it. It just had to measure up to an all-time great picture.
Tried hard, could do better.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2007 - Action/Adventure - Director: Paul Greengrass - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Joan Allen, Edgar Ramirez, David Strathairn, Paddy Considine, Albert Finney
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machinesstarts in high gear and never slows down. The ... more
apocalyptic "Judgment Day" ofT2was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacingT2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being p...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machinesstarts in high gear and never slows down. The ... more
apocalyptic "Judgment Day" ofT2was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacingT2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being p...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machinesstarts in high gear and never slows down. The ... more
apocalyptic "Judgment Day" ofT2was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacingT2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being p...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
A decade has passed since John Connor (Nick Stahl) helped prevent Judgment Day and save ... more
mankind from mass destruction. Now 22 Connor lives "off the grid" - no home no credit cards no cell phone and no job. No record of his existence. No way he can b...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: Good acting and direction; action sequences; special effects; the unexpected ending. Disadvantages: The film suffers from some minor flaws and a lack of what made the first two classics.
![Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Single Disc Edition) [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78514688.jpg "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Single Disc Edition) [DVD] [2003]")
![Terminator 3 - Rise Of The Machines [DVD] [2003]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/80196201.jpg "Terminator 3 - Rise Of The Machines [DVD] [2003]")
![Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Two Disc Set) [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78546904.jpg "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Two Disc Set) [DVD] [2003]")
Aug 24th, 2003
very helpful by (96%):
helpful by (4%):
