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Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (Widescreen Edition) Customer Reviews (73 - 75 of 105 Reviews)

Great Secondary Story
It's not so much Arnold/Terminator/Rescuer (take your pick) this time but John Conner and Claire Danes. It is their story, how they met, how they react, how they will eventually end up - that you become enthralled with. Kristanna Loken as the powerful, merciless bombshell of a Terminator is exquisite in her non-humanity and relentlessness.

The ending was spectacular and, of course, leads to yet another sequel. Good performace by all involved.

Worthy Successor
No, it is not as good as the first two. But, realistically, was anyone actually expecting it to be? The first Terminator was a revolutionary sci-fi thriller that worked the mind as well as the eyes. Terminator 2 was a revolution in special effects and big budget action filmmaking. Terminator 3 isn't a revolution in anything, but film revolutions of that type are fairly rare. What Rise of the Machines does deliver is a solid action movie with an interesting ending that continues the tradition of entertaining Terminator movies.

Set in the present day, Terminator 3 finds our troubled hero John Connors in desperate straights. Tortured by the memories of the past and the nightmares of the future, Connors is driven to a life of constant wandering, running from the demons of his past. These demons, unexpectedly, come back from the future yet again, in the form of the T-X, a female modeled Terminator cyborg with some extremely advanced abilities. Again countering this advanced killing machine is fellow time traveler Arnold Schwarzenegger, dutifully reviving his role as the primitive yet still fiendishly effective T-800. The plot in the beginning is relatively simple, both Terminators need to get to John Connors, for wildly different reasons. Menacingly present, in the background of the main cyborg vs. cyborg battle, is the rise of a mysterious computer virus that begins to infect the worlds computers. The cure, however, is a lot worse than the disease....as Terminator fans know already.

For most of the rest of the film, we are treated to a very enjoyable battle royale. Every type of explosion, shooting, killer robots and unlikely motor vehicle chases can be seen in Terminator 3. The story is the movie's one major problem, as it suffers separation anxiety, missing Director Cameron, one of the few top-notch action directors that can write a story well. In short, the storyline is simply that, too short. Some parts cry out for elaboration, but go unheard. However, the story does get better as the movie moves along, there were several instances in the beginning that I cringed with unbelieving eyes only to be pleasantly surprised by terse but satisfying explanations offered later on. Very unexpectedly among the movies attributes was the humor offered, there are some very clever jokes throughout the script, along with delightfully morose statements from the strangely Austrian cyborg. Also, the ending is a very good twist, and offers a philosophical undertone that was MIA throughout most of the film.

Arnold does what he does best, smash stuff, beat people up, and offers no emotion. It's a great role for Arnold, and I'm glad he recognizes that. Smirk mouthed and inoffensive subtelties should serve him well as governor of California. The acting is also surprisingly good, Nick Stohl as John Connors delivers a suitable performance as the still immature punk that will grow up to be a courageous war leader. His companion played by Claire Danes is also effective as a shocked civilian thrust into a world of armed robots and nuclear holocaust. The one performance I felt lacking was that of Kristanna Loken, as the T-X. Unlike the horrifying robot bondage fanatic of T1 or the steel faced liquid killer of T2, Ms. Loken never really seemed threatening, no matter how many people she dispatched. All in all, a worthy sequel that cries out for a T4, which should be very interesting indeed.

Excellent Return to Arnold's Roots
Set ten years after the events of T2, August 1997 has come and gone, Sarah Connor has died, and John Connor is still on the run. He still believes in the possibility of Judgement Day. He's right. A new Terminator arrives, gunning not just for John Connor, but for other key members of the resistance. John meets up with a woman also targeted for assasination, and is once again saved by the Terminator. Now, John must keep on the run from the female "Terminatrix" while trying to stop Judgement Day. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken and Director Jonathan Mostow.

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