Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Scott Manning
July 10, 2003

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Release Date: July 2nd, 2003
Rating: R (for strong sci-fi violence and action, and for language and brief nudity)
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I'm a sucker for robots. Robocop, Terminator, Transformers, Robotech, Voltron, etc. I love them all.

In an attempt to recapture my childhood, I made my dad take me to this movie. I even bugged him about it for a while just for old time's sake. I was eleven years old when Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out, and I couldn't have been more excited about any other movie at the time. The only problem is that the parents thought that it was probably a little too violent for a little kid to be seeing. I was devastated, but determined.

After weeks of harassing and stating my case, the parents eventually caved in.

I mean, what could be cooler than a machine that looks like a tough guy trying to kill you? Well, Judgment Day showed me a machine that looks like a tough guy trying to protect you is much cooler. It's like your own giant toy.

Rise of the Machines
More than ten years later, after stopping the T-1000 and blowing Skynet to hell, John Connor is a drifter (played by Nick Stahl, not Edward Furlong who was reportedly dropped due to concerns over his problems with the law (DUI) and substance abuse.). With Connor's mother dying six years previously, he saw the date of Judgment Day come and go with no nuclear war. After being told his entire life that he was going to be the savior of mankind, Connor is without any purpose and living in complete paranoia.

Enter Kate Brewster (played by Claire Danes). If there is one thing Danes can do well, she can cry. And what does a girl who has a promising career and future with her fiance have to lose by meeting John Connor? Everything. The fans of Danes won't be disappointed. She does cry and she does put forth the best performance of the movie... which is not saying much compared to the competition.

Anyway, the T-X, a new breed of terminator even nastier than the other two shows up as a woman. She is both solid and liquidy. Plus she can pull out the craziest gadgets out of her arm including a flame thrower and a buzz saw. She also has the ability to hijack other machines and have them do her bidding. And let's not forget that she has an "X" in her name which is very fashionable nowadays.

Luckily, the T-800 (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is here to protect John Connor once again.

Upon a chance meeting with Connor, Kate Brewster also runs into the T-X and the T-800 minutes later. This is the starting point for a movie that is a nonstop chase sequence. Arnold, who is an extremely outdated terminator compared to the T-X will do everything he can to stop her including run multiple vehicles over her, shoot her with a bazooka, crash a helicopter on top of her, and smash a urinal on her head. I mean, what would you do? She has a freakin' "X" in her name!

The most impressive scene in the whole movie happens when our female terminator chases Connor with a crane that is about four times the size of a fire truck. To avoid interference from Arnold, the T-X beings operating the crane's arm while in motion. For nearly 20 minutes, the crane crashes through cars, light poles, and buildings. I never realized how much damage one vehicle could do to a city. If I were a betting man, I'd say this is where a bulk of the 200 million dollar budget went and it was money well spent.

Connor, Brewster, and Arnold must find a way to stop the T-X and save the world.

The ending leaves it all open for a sequel. In fact, there is an unconfirmed rumor that Arnold has already signed on to do Terminator 4 and Terminator 5.

Impressive, but I need more
Although I've already talked myself out of most of the plot holes, I've still determined that I need more from this movie. After twelve years of waiting for a sequel and with the largest budget ever for a single movie, this film needs more bang for the buck. An hour and 48 minutes did not suffice my terminator craving.

What more could I ask for? Well, in the trailer for the Terminator 3 video game, we see how Arnold is originally captured in the future, reprogrammed to protect John Connor, and then sent back through time. Why couldn't that have been in the movie?

So my childhood was definitely recaptured in the sense that I saw Arnold in another terminator movie, but the adult in me wished it could have been a little more than just decent. But, if you don't see this movie for any other reason, see it to understand why a crane will now be my chase vehicle of choice from now on.

If the storyline continues in order, the next film will show us what we've all wanted to see since the first film: Judgment Day and humans going to a full out war with machines.