Terminator 3 - Rise Of The Machines Reviews

[Highly rated reviewer]

Missing somthing?

This is in no way a bad movie. In fact it is better than most movies in its genre. The problem is that it is following on for two of the best action movies Hollywood has ever produced and with that to live up to, like Oceans 12 and Star Wars Ep.1, nothing was ever quite going to match peoples expectations.

The story has moved on and Sarah Conner has died, he son (now 23) is living 'off the grid' in case the future does not turn out how he expected, which it inevitably does. Once again a Terminator is sent back in time with the goal of killing him and his future resistance leaders and its the old T-101's job to save him.

Once again this leads us off into 90 minutes of action and mild violence with plenty of product placement. The story is fair, with what I think is a strong ending (making a T4 an interesting production if ever made). For many the problem is that it lack the raw and 'real' action of the first to with the over use of CGI and the different, less experienced, director. However for me that is not the issue. For me the problem is the clear change in mood and setting. This is because the original two were almost completely set during the night adding an additional fear to the scenes. This is lost in T3 with almost all action now taking place in the day. On the good side the CGI is strong, much like the acting (as far as emotionless cyborgs go I guess) and like I said the ending is in my opinion a good one.

In short: - This is easily the weakest of the three Terminator movies, but that said it is still a good one in its own right and manages to achieve all but the sternest critics requirements, especially on a second viewing.

where's James Cameron?

What can i say?

I can say yes this is a good film in its own right,good SFX,Arnie always good for a laugh......whats missing?

What made T2 stand out from the crowd was James camerons passion for the terminator and his collaborations with Arnie.T3 shows just how a lot of people misinterpret an idea.instead of taking on board the lessons learned from the first,script driven,low budget terminator and the development of that into T2,we have t2 number 2.

i felt dissapointed and betrayed as did a few million others who all knew the next film would have to take place in john connors post-apocolyptic timeline as seen in T1 and T2.

Aside from that a good effort but i found the main human characters to be wooden,lifeless and lacking the emotional attachment to their situation as so aptly demonstrated by Linda Hamilton in T2.

Come back james whereever you are.

Top Stuff

Had to watch this twice at the cinema it was so good. If you liked T2, then you'll love this. Sharper filming, and much more brutal than its predecessors. Unlike many sequels the plot fits perfectly.... Oh, and if you have a subwoofer, or 5.1 surround sound, crank that baby up!

Not Up To Scratch But Entertaining Nonetheless

I'm a big fan of T1 and T2 and when I heard there was to be no James Cameron for this movie things started to look bleak. The film in itself is highly entertaining, far superior in sequel terms compared to Aliens 3 and 4 but alas hollywood decided to make more cash by lowering the rating and thus delivering it a fatal blow. Terminator is meant to be a dark, violent futuristic thriller and while it retains more of it's predecessor's traits than you might think this movie was hobbled from it's inception.

Good, action blockbuster.

John Connor (Nick Stahl) has not forgotten why he is so important to the human race so has been living his life ‘off the grid’. With another pivotal moment for mankind looming, a Terminator (Arnie) is sent back in time to protect John Connor from termination at the hands of a particularly nasty T-X model (Kristanna Loken).

I enjoyed this film and all our favourite bits of ‘Terminator 2’ are here once again. Like Terminator ‘shopping’ for clothes and cars, Terminator driving etc. The two humans being protected are engaging, and Arnie pulls off another good portrayal as the machine who has been ‘hacked’ into helping mankind.

The special effects, as you would expect, are pretty good but the highlight for me was the crane scene. I didn’t feel the T-X was as menacing as the foe in ‘Terminator 2’ and this is slightly compounded by now having experienced the excellent Agent Smith in ‘The Matrix’ films.

However, all-in-all, good fun viewing.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Very disappointing. James Cameron, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong etc avoided anything to do with this shameless money-spinner and so should you. The script and plotting were thought up by circus monkeys. Completely belittles the previous 2.

Terminator 3

Omg! Why is this film so under-rated?! I have just wathced it and thought that it was absolutely amazing. Arnie is a legend!! How can people say that this film is rubbish, it is beyond me!! Don't read the other reviews and decide against renting this film, rent it and see for yourself, you will not be dissapointed!!

Judgement Day

Speaking as a Terminator fan:

The film is a tragic attempt at getting money from a franchise that should have been closed on the film front after the Universal Studios attraction was made.

There isn't anywere else for the storyline to go.

I got the film because I HAD to see it no matter how bad it was reviewed and it looks like the critics were right.

The humour lacks the same style as John Conners attempts to teach Arnie english in the second one and I found myself cringing at the attempts of humour in this film.

The film lacks the heroic characters of the first 2 and hopes its special effects and including a beautiful women will win over the audience...

It doesn't...

Speaking as a film on its own:

It is a good action film. It has amasing visual effects along with some stunning action scenes is well worth a watch. With some quirky humour thrown in I would say this is more of a family Terminator film.

Theres no point in this film ever being made...

Keep it Real!

Such a Shame

Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I really wanted to rate this film with one star for the fact that as a Terminator sequel it absolutely stank! But in fairness, as a stand alone film it is OK.

But, we've all seen T1 and T2 and we know what Terminator films are all about - Dark, Serious, Ultra-Violent, Cat and Mouse Chases. And in the previous films that is what we got, we had killing machines hunting their prey and destroying anyone and anything in their path, it was visceral, brutal, a machine operating without emotion and to show this in all its glory the film had to be an 18, or at the very least a 15. What happens here? We get a film aimed at children, a 12! Thanks a lot, sacrifice a a films integrity to make a few extra bucks - I think not, they screwed up and people will fail to pay out like they did for T1 and T2 in the long run.

The first two films were beautifully shot, the scenes were brilliantly put together, the locations - perfect. The 80's nightclubs, neon light, dark corners and metal, cheap motels, computer labs with automated assembly lines - hinting at the dark future run by machines. The minimalist cool blue hue that tainted every shot of T2 matching the coldness of a robot without feelings. This film had none of that, there was no atmosphere, the shots were lazy and immature.

Arnie is too old, yes we all love Arnie in his best role, but he is looking ancient and only fit for the scrapyard. T3 has him delivering terrible lines, the jokes in the film are horrid, Terminator films are not for laughing at, a wry smile maybe, but no comedy.

The TX (or Terminatrix if you will) was a good idea, for all of about 5 seconds. Yes a female terminator could have been scary, but she wasn't. She was eye candy, big deal.

The effects were good.

Excellent is what we require though.

The chases were ok. But not pant wettingly exciting as they were in T1 and T2. There was no suspense in this film at all.

It was poorly made, rushed and tarnishes the Terminator name.

Shame Nick Stahl had to play John Connor, Edward Furlong was a young genius.

Claire Danes is terrible and is poorly cast.

I hear that there might be a 4th, I just hope they think long and hard about that one and what they want people to be saying in 10 or 20 years time about it.

There was one thing I liked about this film, near the end, there is a scene which plays just like the end of the original, I thought that was inspired.

Well what happened there then?

Good Points: The lady terminators first appearence naked with her hair down (phwoar).

Bad Points: Everything else.

Don't even bother putting it in your DVD player...........The Terminator series should have stopped at No 2.