Terminator 3...actually pretty good?!

[Aldo]

Back when this film first came out, it already had two strikes against it, in my opinion. No James Cameron, and no Edward Furlong. Add to that the fact that it was another variation on the Terminator formula didn't inspire much hope in me. Then when I finally saw it (on video), I allowed my bias to take over and I believed all the negative hype it was receiving.

Fast forward to today. I'm hold up in the house with the flu so I decided to check what was playing on the movie channels, turns out T3 was starting in ten minutes, so I figured I'd give it another go. This would be the first time I watched it since it came out on video nine or so years ago.

While I don't think it even comes close to the first two films, Mostow has managed to deliver one heck of an action film, and what it does add to the Terminator mythos is actually pretty interesting. While hardly original, I feel the T-X makes for a fun baddie, if a bit too fanboyish. She's essentially the T-1000 to the max. Which if you think about it, doesn't make a whole lot of sense because he was supposed to be a prototype.

Like I said above, the action scenes really stand out, especially the crane chase near the beginning of the movie. The only thing that drags it down a tad is some dodgy CGI, but considering when this movie was released, its' forgivable.

Nick Stahl is a pretty good replacement for Furlong, and considering the reasons why he wasn't cast, it's understandable.

I think the biggest blemish on this film is the score. I think if Brad Fidel had returned and scored this film, everything would have just clicked. As it is, the score is basically background noise, except for the variation on the T-1000 theme whenever the TX is onscreen, and the Terminator theme played during the credits. As someone who's seen his share of films with temp tracks, then seeing them with the actual score, it can make all the difference in the world.

 

[Davros]

I thought T2 was so bad, that I never bothered to watch 3.

 

[Aragorn]

The only things T3 really had going for it was that they filmed a lot of action sequences practically, they didn't take themselves too seriously and then they hit us with the ending. Otherwise they just retreading ground from T2 that was retread from T1.

There were plenty of other directions they could've taken the movie and still gotten the same ending.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It wasn't a terrible movie, it was just very perfunctory. It was competently made but nothing particularly novel or inventive.

 

[auntiehill]

^Yep. It was OK, but nothing special when compared to the first two. The actors were good, the action sequences good, but the overall story really didn't need to be told.

 

[JarodRussell]

Compared to T2, it lacks a lot. Cinematography, style, suspense, atmosphere... The T-X is stupid, as in stupid. The Terminator doesn't feel like the leading force in this film, he's just comic relief.

And then they overlooked the sad irony that it was the humans who started the war. The Terminator says in T2 that Skynet became self aware, and in a panic, humans tried to pull the plug. Only then Skynet fought back.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Still a masterpiece compared to T4.

 

[Aldo]

Compared to T2, it lacks a lot.

And then they overlooked the sad irony that it was the humans who started the war. The Terminator says in T2 that Skynet became self aware, and in a panic, humans tried to pull the plug. Only then Skynet fought back.

I had forgotten about that. I really liked the idea of Skynet being a supercomputer. I never got into the idea that all of a sudden Skynet is now a computer virus. You'd think the Terminator would have mentioned that at some point in Terminator 3.

 

[Trekker4747]

I thought T2 was so bad...

So YOU'RE the one!

Anyway, T3 is passable but it also tries too hard at times to be "lighter" (IIRC, none of the major scenes take place at night other than the initial encounter between the two Terminators and Connor) and funnier and it doesn't really work. The "machines finally taking over" bit was also poorly executed.

The "idea" seemed to be that humanity had grown so reliant on machines to do our work that they began to grow intelligent at an exponential rate and that the defense system, Skynet, attacked humanity in act of self-preservation when humans were trying to deactivate it.

That idea seems closer to "the machines taking over" than a "bunch of otherwise dumb machines incapable of doing anything without a human using it develop a level of sentience and self-preservation because a more advanced machine from the future gave them that ability."

Skynet being "software" also contrasts quite a bit from the "original intent" but is probably allowed under an idea of "Judgment Day was always going to happen" and that the events in T2 simply changed how it happened. "Skynet" now being software and not hardware. Software of course being able to spread and develop quicker than hardware.

But I think the attack from the machines against humans needed to happen more dramatically (which probably would have taken a couple of movies to do) and not happen just because it had to. Pretty much the entire plot is a MacGuffin designed to justify the existence of the movie and the impact-full ending they wanted. There's no progression here of machines being fed up with humans and just taking over. Hell, we see the machines in the movie that are T-1s, seems to me that the idea would be better sold if they were actual T-100s/800s (which suggests an umpteenth generational improvement over the robots we see.) Under scrutiny a lot of the movie just didn't make sense.

It was enjoyable and a good ending but nothing made sense leading up to that point and the "pay off" of it in T:S fell flatter than a tortilla.

And what the fuck was up with the T-X and her orgasmic gasp when she tasted Connor's blood?

 

[Gojira]

^Yep. It was OK, but nothing special when compared to the first two. The actors were good, the action sequences good, but the overall story really didn't need to be told.

I agree nothing special but it was a lot of fun!

 

[DWF]

I enjoyed all four Terminator movies to varying degrees.

 

[sojourner]

I liked 4 better than 3 actually. Though it had plot holes so big a terminator could travel back in time through them.

 

[1001001]

I liked the fact that T3 didn't stray from the main point: John and Sarah Conner could not stop judgement day. I thought that was the courageous choice. It was never about saving the world, it was about saving John Conner. So I give it points for that.

Nick Stahl and Claire Danes would not have been my first choices for the leads, but overall, I liked it.

JMHO

 

[Aldo]

Wow tough room. I could have sworn I remember it being better received by the fabase back then, then the small sampling of posters here. Back then I felt like I was in the minority for my views. It could be that those fans just don't post here.

I was reading on IMDB (I know, take with a grain of salt), that the ending was going to be much more graphic. Showing the actual destruction of famous landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and other more recognizable locations. Seems the thinking at the time was to pull back on that because 9/11 was still "In people's minds."

That was always my biggest problem with that sequence, it should be really gruesome, I mean it's the end of the world after all. Instead we get to watch it from a distance, takes the bite out of it a tad.

 

[shivkala]

I re-watched it a week or so ago and enjoyed it. I love the ending, after the first two movies, I remember feeling like I knew how it was going to end and then learning, like the characters, how wrong I was.

 

[Disruptor]

Judgement Day will always happen. BECAUSE J.C. has to save us...John Connor, not that other J.C.

Here's a thought, if you have to kill off a key character from the previous movie(s) offscreen (or with an obvious stand-in), it's not gonna be a good sequel.

Alien 3, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Matrix Reloaded (okay, so Chong's character was not a key character)

And we have Maxmimum Overdrive machine take over power...because we have to power-up this terminatrix. Hell, I'd have had Arnold back as the villain...screw that babe bot. Maybe Arnold vs. Arnold...wouldn't that have been....okay, stupid...

 

[Turd Ferguson]

I thought the action scenes were pretty well done, especially the crane chase and the cemetery scene with the SWAT team. The first time I watched it, I was sure when they reached Crystal Peak they'd shut SkyNet down with 0:01 seconds left and avert Judgment Day. I was surprised the movie had the balls to show Judgment Day occurring, and I even liked the music that played as it played out.

The movie also has some great lines in it too:

"Drop your weapon... and... THE COFFIN!"

"Drop dead, you asshole!"
"I'm unable to comply."

One idea that I do think is kinda cool and stupid at the same time is the Resistance sending back a Terminator that had successfully killed John Connor. It's cool that SkyNet was finally successful in killing Connor, but that Connor was stupid enough, after fighting against Terminators for close to thirty years, suddenly sees a T-800 that reminds him of the one that protected him when he was a boy and lets his guard down.

 

[doubleohfive]

The Terminator movies, much like those in the Alien franchise, suffer from the same problem - severely diminishing returns in terms of quality.

 

[Gaith]

I'm a huge fan of T2, and I frickin' LOVE T3. I liken it to a classic rock cover band: it's playing the same old stuff, nothing new, but ya know what? That old stuff was pretty great, so a competent cover of old stuff is still pretty damn good. You want to see a truly great action film that hits you in the gut, go with T2. You want two hours of pure popcorn entertainment, T3 is an excellent choice.

Still a masterpiece compared to T4.

You said it, hombre.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I know I might be lynched, but I think my favourite is Salvation. I felt it was a fun movie that tried to tell the story from a different point of view than many would have expected and it felt fresh and interesting. It wasn't all that bad a movie as many have made it out to be. In fact, I felt the 3rd one was the weak one as it felt so much like a rehash of the second, so I guess that's why I was so impressed with Salvation. It had the guts to do something new.