Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

T3 delivers the goods. A hard-hitting, straight-ahead sci-fi actioner with none of the pretentions and ponderousness that have put at least a portion of the public off of "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Hulk."

Reality has overtaken the movies here, which, I suppose, makes T3 all the more cathartically appealing. At least onscreen we have Arnold Schwarzenegger in our corner.

Gets the most bang for its buck by letting the camera linger on the spectacle, and allowing tension, not flashiness, to be its hallmark.

T3, while far from a classic, is an overachieving, mercenary sequel that's short on thrills, but surprisingly long on laughs and surprises.

Terminator 3 moves at not-quite-breakneck speed, and the shape-shifting, metal-melting special effects aren't exactly spectacular.

Less about the characters than about the first two movies, whose best scenes it congeals into ritual or parody.

Pointless and mind-numbing.

The last great Terminator film, this film still has the charm the 2nd film had.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines had a troubled production—James Cameron abandoned the project after disputes with Fox, leaving Jonathan Mostow to take over. The story follows John Connor years after Judgment Day: Sarah is dead, Skynet’s rise was delayed but inevitable, and a new female Terminator, the T-X, is sent to kill John’s future allies while a reprogrammed T-800 returns to protect him. Despite strong visual effects and Kristanna Loken’s effective performance as the T-X, the film lacks the emotional depth and intensity of its predecessors. Nick Stahl’s John Connor feels flat, the humor feels out of place, and the movie ends up feeling more like a polished remake than a true continuation. It’s entertaining but ultimately unnecessary—a solid action film that never matches Cameron’s vision.

"I'm back." Well now I'm back to do another review of the Terminator franchise with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning as the Terminator. With Terminator 2: Judgment Day being so successful and being everyone's favorite Terminator movie and favorite movie of all time in general like mine I've heard that they're going to be doing a third movie. In 1991, there hasn't been a Terminator film for years until 12 years later being called Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. 10 years after Cyberdyne Systems is been destroyed, John Connor replacing Edward Furlong by Nick Stahl, is a complete mess following the death of his mother, Sarah Connor and is now hiding from the malevolent artificial intelligence Skynet, despite a war between humans and machines not happening in 1997. Skynet sends the T-X back in time to kill one of John's allies in the human resistance. The T-850 Terminator which of course once again played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is reprogrammed to protect John and his future wife Kate Brewster played by Claire Danes. Okay, when did that happen? When did John Connor started fall in love with Kate Brewster? I have no idea. Maybe the Terminator knows because you know he has detailed files. Kate wants nothing to do with the mission and just wants to get back to her fiancé. But with her fiancé being killed by the T-X, she decides to join in the gig and stop Skynet from starting Judgment Day and defeat the T-X once and for all. Now upon watching the first and second film I'm thinking that after T2, I don't think the other sequels are gonna be as good as the first and the second and boy, was I right. Now not to say that they're all bad, I mean, I've seen Dark Fate in the cinema back in 2019 and I enjoyed it and yeah, I know it bombed at the box office which means there won't be anymore Terminator movies. Now upon seeing them recently I didn't find them to be that bad that is to say that they're both mix bags and now with this movie. This one is okay for what it is. It has Arnold Schwarzenegger coming back and James Cameron is not involved in the franchise after T2 and until Dark Fate making it the first Terminator film which doesn't involved James Cameron. Arnold is just here to say his one-liners and I know he is the king of one-liners like "I'll be back." "Hasta la vista, baby.'' In Rise of the Machines however he his lines like "Talk to the hand.", "Don't do that." "I'm back." and "You are terminated." Now the movie itself is rated 12 in the UK from where I come from and it's rated R from the US. This I found baffling. Maybe because the violence is being tone down too much to appeal to younger audiences but it doesn't escape the fact that they're going to be put off with the punching through the cop stomach and the Terminator cutting his chest to get the hydrogen fuel cell before it explodes. Yeah, that's a bit much. Don't you think? And the ending is a bit of the let down. Obviously I won't spoil it but I'll let you watch it and you'll see what I mean. So as a Terminator movie this one is quite decent. It's definitely not on to the standards of The Terminator and T2. Seeing what those movies are like in the 80's and 90's, this is all there but in here however it just all seem to mush on it's predecessor. Seeing The Terminator from the 80's this is a fresh start to start the movie. Seeing Terminator 2: Judgment Day from the 90's you will know that this is going to be one hell of a ride to be epic. In here however, this is going to be just a recycled version of Terminator 2 which I will know for an instant is that the franchise is going to be tiring and getting really lacking. This is one of the weakest of this whole franchise with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It lacks any charm that the first and second had. Those two movies that I will watch over and over again. I watch them for about over 100 times and I will continue to watch them until I die. Seeing the other sequels however and honestly reviewing them is a big challenge for me. I don't hold back on how long I'm going to review them even how long this review is which I am doing is all that I'm proud of and still continuing on this day and for now I'm going to end this review and I'll feed my thoughts on the others. So as it is, as far as how many times I'm going to say this is: "I'll be back."

My biggest disappointment of the 00s so much hope dashed by a crap script and casting.

It was interesting to have a female villain for a change. It was interesting to see the Terminator go back and protect John during the inevitable action that causes the rise of Skynet. However, This movie fails to deliver on a decent premise with subpar acting from the other leads (Arnold was fine, Daines and Stahl were miscast that lacked chemistry) and the clear attempt to be more of an action ridden film rather than being a more drama-action hybrid like the first two films. With T3, The foot is always on the gas and never on the break. The only bits of story or dialogue are too few and in between these overly long action scenes that never seem to end. Here is a tip to anyone wanting to make an action film: People like having a story, People like having characters you can get behind and rally for. T3 doesn't have that. It's all flash, no substance.