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Terminator 3 - Just terrible...

T'Baio

Admiral
Admiral
I just watched T3 for the first time since I saw it in the theatre, and I find it sad to say that I found it just as terrible, if not worse, than the first time I saw it.

The style is horrible, bad transitions, lame expositional dialogue explaining exactly what you're currently seeing (hence, not needed), lame humour like the gay stereotypes, sunglasses (really, three times!?!), the T-X grabbing his crotch and inflating her breasts and somehow controlling mechanical things like gas pedals and clutches by remote control, piss poor acting from Claire Danes (who I normally love) and mediocre acting from Nick Stahl, ridiculously stupid and non-sensical "nod to the fans" moments like Silberman!?! It was mostly just a terrible movie. The humour is just horrendous.

If it wasn't for the very end, the movie would be a complete write off.
 
the movie was rushed through post so the DVD's would come out around the time for the California Governor elections, I watched it recently for the second time last week and noticed a TON of stuff, if editing/finalizing a film was my job, and I had done that, i'd keep it off my resume
 
You should look into a "fan-edit" called The Coming Storm, I found it really brought out the best in that movie.
 
I don't think it's as good as the previous two installments--especially the first--but I don't find it to be as bad as many science fiction fans make it out to be. The critics agree with me, too, giving the film good, if not great marks (here and here).
 
I was pleasantly surprised by this film, it ended up being much better than I expected.
 
I thought it was a piece of garbage myself. I never saw it in theatres so I bought the DVD and when I finally got around to watching it it was seriously disappointed. I wish it could be purged from film history.
 
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I really hated it myself.

The story was bad, the evolution of the Terminators into the super-science category was bad (especially since it wasn't logical; if Skynet had access to nanites and had a way of sending them back, as it apparently did, there's nothing Connor or anything else could do to stop them... instead, they were just a new form of robot that was slow, stupid and illogical), the acting was bad, and the casting was bad.

Just a really awful movie all around.
 
SKYNET is SOFTWARE. Judgement Day not preventable.

Why the fuck didn't "Uncle Bob" mention that in T2?

"Oh, by da way. Evareeting we did to stahp skynet was meaninless, da fewshure is set."

Biggest crime Terminator 3 had...not using the classic theme music until the end credits.

The movie shouldn't have been made without Edward Furlong anyway.
 
I actually liked terminator three, especially the ending :lol: I suppose I just have a thing for the end of the world ;)

I will agree with some things though, like the whole remote control gas pedal thing
 
SKYNET is SOFTWARE. Judgement Day not preventable.

Why the fuck didn't "Uncle Bob" mention that in T2?

"Oh, by da way. Evareeting we did to stahp skynet was meaninless, da fewshure is set."

Actually, that was the one part of T3 that I liked, and which made sense.

To understand what was going on, you have to keep in mind that, by sending the Terminators back into the past, Skynet actually changed history.

Let the timeline leading up to Skynet's decision to send the Terminators back in time be TL1.

Skynet sends the first Terminator back in time, to kill Sarah Connor, and prevent John Connor from being born.

This attempt fails, and in the process, creates a new timeline, TL2, in which Skynet is developed and built, not the way it was in TL1 (which was not shown), but in a completely different way--out of the remnants of the destroyed Terminator.

Skynet then sends the second Terminator back in time, to kill the young John Connor. This second attempt also fails, and the remnants of all three Terminators are destroyed.

All this does, however, is create another new timeline, TL3. And in this new timeline, Skynet is developed independently of the events of either two movies, much as it was before the first movie.

The movies seem to assume that there is some kind of irresistible historical momentum leading toward some kind of Skynet. The events of the first movie accelerated this process, while the events of the second movie slowed it down--but nothing, it seems, can stop it.

But in each case, Skynet is a different entity, springing from different origins, and developing in different ways toward three similar (but not precisely similar) futures.

That said--yeah, T3 was pretty bad, all things considered.
 
That's one aspect of the ideas presented in T3 that kind of throws me : Skynet will somehow inevitably emerge and his threat evolves with each successful attempt to stop this. But if you kill John Connor anytime prior to JD, its game over for us. So, no other leader will emerge, perhaps someone content to follow Connor in the original timelines? Perhaps this person, not trapped by the time-loop's 'Must Do This/Can't Allow That' foreknowledge, might actually do better?
 
^Well, we just don't know, because John Connor has never yet been killed.

What we do know is that, under his leadership, the human resistance succeeds, and Skynet and the machines are defeated.

So, while someone else might be able to do it better, John Connor is a sure thing.

Suppose a doctor told you that you had flesh-eating disease in your leg. He can either amputate your leg, and save your life for sure--or he can try an experimental treatment, which will save your leg, but which gives you just a 50/50 chance of surviving.

I don't know about you, but at that point, I would say: "Why is my leg still attached? What's the hold-up with that amputation?"
 
I actually didnt think it was that bad. It's not as bad as let's say, comparing Alien 3 to Aliens.

My only complaint was that some of the scenes seemed rehashed from T2. Like when Arnold first arrives and how he obtains his clothing. I can't remember any more off the top of my head, but i know there were a few toward the beginning.
 
The big crane truck chase through Los Angeles is one of my favorite action scenes of recent memory and I fucking love the ending, I will give the movie those two props.
 
... I watched it recently for the second time last week and noticed a TON of stuff, if editing/finalizing a film was my job, and I had done that, i'd keep it off my resume

What exactly are you referring to? The slithering snake on the soundstage, I'm sorry, desert, with the bad matte background, perhaps?
 
I went in expecting a complete piece of shit, so I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, there's a giant drop in quality, and it has an almost tv movie feel, but I enjoyed it in a "later sequel to The Planet of the Apes" kind of way.
 
The movies seem to assume that there is some kind of irresistible historical momentum leading toward some kind of Skynet..
(Avoids NuBSG quote)

But then Skynet becomes like an undefeatable slasher movie killer. Oh, we assume Kyle Reese's "we won" is still valid. But given timeline changes...not so. IIRC, the "Arnold" Terminator in T3 is the one who kills Connor; it was reprogrammed after the deed. So that puts into doubt what Reese said.

So, when it seems like the baddie wins regardless...what's the point besides shoot-outs and car chases? (Yes, I know, mindless entertainment. ;) )
 
While there was a noticeable drop-off in quality when compared to Cameron's films, I ultimately didn't think that Terminator 3 was that bad. Yes, there were some rather glaring moments of stupidity, many of which have already been discussed here (mostly involving attempts at humour that didn't work), but the ending kicked all kinds of ass, IMO -- enough to nudge the film from "average" to "decent".
 
While it's not in the same realm as the first two, I find T3 enjoyable on its own merits. Had some nice action scenes and a pretty cool twist ending.
 
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