Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (DVD, 2003, 2-Disc Set, Widescreen)

After seeing this film, I still feel that a third Terminator film was somewhat unneccesary, but this latest addition is by no means a hollow action picture cashing in on popular characters. Terminator 3 is a very good movie, with a truck load of action and a few good laughs as well. The story picks up about ten years after the last Terminator film, with the arrival of a deadly Terminator sent back from the future to eliminate John Connor before he can lead the world in the fight against a hostile takeover by intellegent machines. This time the terminator is in the form of a very attractive woman (who we get to see a very brief glimpse of naked when she arrives). I was pretty apprehensive of a female terminator, thinking it was a cheap gimmic to throw some t&a into the film, but I was wrong. The female terminator is very effective and menacing. The fact that she is female makes very little difference during the course of the story. She is never used as a sex object, which is a nice change for Hollywood. Arnold is an older model of Terminator, who is sent back as well to prevent the death of John Connor. There are some new faces this time, including a new actor (Nick Stahl) taking the place of Edward Furlong as John Connor, and he fits right in and I didn't miss Furlong for one second. The rest of the cast does a great job of holding the movie together. Arnold actually tends to stay out of the way of the story and lets the other actors take the spotlight, and he almost ends up as a supporting actor. There is a very clever chase sequence early on in the picture which is almost worth the price of admission. The use of computer effects never distacted me from the action. They never looked phony and blended in nicely. All the events occur during the span of one very chaotic day. But this is the sort of movie that too much thinking will ruin. It's big, loud, and fun, and that's really all we want. It ends on a cryptic note, leaving the possibility of a fourth Terminator film open.

I bought Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines after finally seeing T2 all the way through unedited. I fell in love with the idea of a liquid metal, butt kicking machine that could morph into human form and totally destroy anything in its path.

Terminator 3 reaches the same action level as T2 did but this time with a female impersonating liquid metal over steel skelator form. How perfect to have a woman play a killing machine--she can use her mouth not only to seductively comment on how she likes an unfortunate cop's gun but also to dial into a modem to gain computer data. The Crane scene was brilliant as was the FX of a huge magnet capturing and nearly melting the female machine.

The corny one-liners also make a return and are actually welcomed and expected in this action movie series. I absolutely loved the 2-disk set with the extras disc not quite revealing all of their tricks but giving good insight how some of the scenes were captured. Just seeing Arnold hold on to the end of that crane hook got me, well, hooked.

This is a MUST SEE for all action movie/scifi fans.

Wow. What a great movie.
Wow. What a way to end the genre that changed movies, special effects, etc.
Wow. Arnold Schwarzenegger still whoops butt at 60.
And Wow. Kristanna Loken is simply awesome!

I went into this movie with the highest of expectations - counting each day with another Arnold-loving buddy and we saw it at the 10:00am showing on July 4th. Awesome. It exceeded all expectations. Great action scenes - phenomenal car chase and wreckage right up front. Excellent use of Arnold's corny one-liners. And Arnold even pokes fun at himself. The cast is phenomenal and - in all honesty - this is hands down my favorite Terminator of the trilogy!



Arnold Schwarzenegger is Terminator
Nick Stahl is John Connor
Claire Danes is Kate Brewster
Kristanna Loken is T-X
David Andrews is Robert Brewster

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Nick Stahl star in this 2003 sci-fi sequel.
A cyborg is sent to protect a young man from a lethal female prototype.
This is a pretty good sequel, but I missed Linda Hamilton. This 2-disc
set has nice picture and sound plus some neat extras. I recommend
this.

The Terminator movies have been my favorite movies since I was a small child! This film is the third of the movies and is the only one directed by Jonathan Mostow. Although in my opinion not as good as terminator 2 directed by James Cameron, it is awesome! Arnold is a great actor and he is the only actor that can fufill the role of terminator sucessfully! The Special effects are out of this world in this film!! They take them to the extreme! I would highly reccomend this dvd to anyone who likes the terminator or any action film!! It was fun to watch all three of the films and then go to the theater and see the new terminator movie Terminator salvation! So go ahead and buy the dvd it will be entertaining!!