[SteveMc]

I must admit that I was very nervous when I heard they were going to film T3 without Cameron or Hamilton involved. After catching a showing last night I can breathe a sigh of relief...it wasn't terrible.

It definately more action driven than story driven than its two predecesors, but there is still a story line that keeps in line with the Terminator films.

The action scenes are engaging and keep the film moving at a good pace. The FX of the TX and Arnold were good, although some of the fight scenes had a little of the "matrix" animated feel, but not enough to detract from the action.

The actors did well, and they were able to pull off the wink-wink type humor of T2 without being overly silly.

I love how they ended the film. I won't give any spoilers, but I didn't think they would go with an ending like this, my hats off to the writers...they wrote a very good sequel to one of the best sci-fi sequals in history.

As I said, this one has a little less story and more action, so don't go in ready to compare it to T2. Judge it on its own merrit, and if your like me, you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.

[Matt Pelham]

out of

As long as you don't go in expecting another T1 or T2 then you should enjoy it just fine. Check your brain at the door type of stuff, but I liked it OK.

[Jason Seaver]

Terminator 3 isn't the big, knock you flat on your back experience that Terminator 2 was back in 1991, and still can be today. It does a lot of things very well - and is in fact exceptional in a couple of places - but is somewhat generic at times. Where the first Terminator was a taut, gritty action movie wrapped around an understated (and cleverly science-fictional) love story, and T2 had an unmatched go-for-broke intensity to it, T3 isn't anything we haven't seen before. It's biggest problem is probably that Nick Stahl and Clare Danes are able enough actors, but don't generate the emotional intensity that Linda Hamilton, Michael Beihn, Joe Morton, and Edward Furlong did in previous installments. They're nice, I liked the characters, and I understood John Connor's demons, but they only rarely were able to make the jump to where you believe that what happens to all of humanity depends on what they do.

Instead, the machines take center stage. Which isn't any bad thing - Schwarzeneggar inhabits the role of the T-101 like he was made for it, and Kristanna Loken is, especially during the first half of the movie, great fun as the T-X. She has the knack of looking pleased with herself without actually smiling, so you could just be assigning human emotions to a machine in your head, if you like your killing machines to be just that. And it's a kick when she analyzes the DNA from a blood sample with her tongue. It's not like watching actual people when they take center stage, but it's not watching a printing press, either.

The movie's biggest potential problem is that the plot is, basically, the same as that of T2 - machine travels back in time to assassinate John Connor, another machine follows, and Connor winds up attempting to get to the man who builds SkyNet. To the filmmakers' credit, they have some fun with tweaking how similar the two movies are at points - T-101 going into a bar to get clothes being a case in point. And Clare Danes as Kate Brewster is a great addition - she fits the middle ground between the "Sarah Connor, damsel in distress" and "Sarah Connor, badass" of the first two movies. She can take care of herself, but isn't in-your-face about it.

The movie's big draw is, of course, the action. It's the good stuff, with a big first-act chase scene that sets a new standard for vehicular mayhem, even compared to The Matrix Reloaded. In fact, director Johnathan Mostow keeps the tension high enough toward the end that I completely let slide something I normally would pick up on and complain about - until a character realizes the same thing, too late. Indeed, the last act of this movie is something pretty special - the comic relief slows down, and the movie actually becomes eerie, in a way, without resorting to the usual atmospheric tricks. It follows mayhem with stillness, and made me really wonder about the Terminator movies' future in a way that I really hadn't before.

T3 isn't a masterpiece, but it's a pretty darn good movie that manages to add something new to the Terminator series. Supposedly, Warner has purchased the distribution rights to T3 and T4, and I must admit to being curious where the story goes from here.

¼ (4-star scale)

[Seth Paxton]

T3
7 of 10
There is nothing inherently wrong with T3. The action is pretty furious and well-staged, and more surprisingly the underlying story is actually a nice bit of development off the first two films.

And yet, after I left the theater and began to reflect on the film I couldn't help feeling that the entertainment factor was wearing off. The film just didn't make me care that I had seen it all that much. In the end I think the reason I have that feeling is because I had seen all the action scenarios before in T2 or T1. Yes, there were some slightly new angles on them and occassionally a funny twist to what we have seen before, and yes T2 did have some repeated twists on T1, but in this case T3 offers basically no new scenarios which T2 and T1 both had in spades. There is no scene that I saw and said "Wow, I've never seen that before" like both T1 and T2 had.

So in the end it becomes disposable entertainment despite having a very pleasing story idea underneath it. Also the acting was shakey from everyone but Nick Stahl, including Arnold who struggled playing a robot. Yeesh.

I also thought the scoring was average at best, along with the direction. It was like they had this pretty interesting story to tell, but the people telling it were kinda boring. And in a way the film was more like a fan tribute script in how it truly recycled old Terminator moments for every scene in the film. I didn't see a single scene that I didn't immediately picture what scene they were referencing.

I don't know if that was in the script or if it came from the producers/director. But I could cut together T3 just by clipping together scenes from T1 and T2 and get pretty close.


T3 had a better script than Jurassic Park 3 and a much better ending, but in terms of its effect as a film it is rather similar. It's a good fun ride on a summer afternoon but it's not top notch creative filmmaking and despite having solid action it pales in comparison to the films it followed.

[Chuck Mayer]

Seth.
No, you are not.

I saw it, and I feel you are dead on, and maybe too kind.

T3 is a perfectly serviceable film that completely fails to live up to it's predecessors. Often, it seems a parody of a T film. I likened it to T2 made with a much less creative script. It excelled in destroying things. The action scenes were well done, but there was no flow. They just happened. The best thing about Cameron's film is that they go places you wouldn't expect, and more importantly, make SENSE when you go there. This film went through the motions, with little connective tissue, to showcase some good action scenes. Taken at that, it was a decent film.

My major gripe is with the thematical shift.

Spoiler:

The second film, building upon the first, strikes home that fate exists, but it can be approached head on. "There is NO FATE but what we make." This film says that's bullshit. Judgement Day has to happen. It doesn't explain why. I JUST HAS TO. Cop out. Lazy script. Twist ending, of course, but it doesn't make sense.

Mostow does a good job directing. The action sequences are easy to view and understand. The plot does what it's supposed to do...almost nothing. The acting by Stahl is excellent, and Arnold does his level best with his humor and action (no character, sadly). A good action movie is defined by the villain. In this case, a hot little number that exudes little menace. Why hire a beauty, rate the film "R", and show more man-ass than Loken-ass, to be sexist for a moment

Lon story short, the point of the film was to set up another film. Warner will try and milk their $50 million investment (in rights) for at least another go-around. I'll watch T2 again this time.

Not a bad film. A pointless film. An action-packed film. But it just shows, with great clarity, how GOOD Cameron is as making an action epic.

6.5/10

I could nitpick all day. I could point out the better moments T3 rips off.

It's not as bad as I make it sound. It's not as good as I had hoped. But T3 is just putting in time.

Take care,
Chuck

EDIT: I'll be harsher than Seth. The score was very out of place.

[Joseph Bolus]

I'm a huge Cameron fan. I love everything he's done from Battle Beyond the Stars through Titanic. The two Terminator movies that he wrote and directed are among my top ten favorite movies of all time. So, it was with quite a bit of trepidation that I attended a viewing of this movie this afternoon.

I have to say that I was (reluctantly) impressed with this entry into the series! Now,I wouldn't put this entry up into the same class as the first two (in my book, the first two were solid 10's); but the bottom line is I really had a lot of fun in the theater with this film, and isn't that what it's all supposed to be about?

The SFX/CGI effects were the best I've witnessed to date in a movie (even better than Matrix:Reloaded IMO).

I thought Arnold did a tremendous job reprising his role; and by the time we got to the second half of the movie I was sold on Nick Stahl as John Conner. Claire Danes at times seemed to "morph" into Sarah Conner (prompting John Conner at one point to state "You remind me of my mother.") The T-X had some really interesting additional powers; it really did seem like an upgraded T-1000.

All in all, a great Summer movie, and a solid entry into the Terminator series. Who'd a thunk it??

8/10

[Steve_Tk]

ROTK trailer? Must not be on there because I can't believe that someone did not mention it, if it was with T3.

[Chris Atkins]

1/2 (out of 5)

What a great action movie! My wife and I were really entertained by this one. While X-2 and the Hulk may have had better scripts, Terminator 3 entertained me more than any film I have seen this year.

To my surprise, I thought it added well to the story of the Terminator series and the explanation for why T2 didn't end the series was well crafted.

Best action movie of the summer for me. Matrix Reloaded may have taken more "risks", but T3 is built on a more solid foundation.

Great job...can't wait for part 4!

[DavidAC]

Well Ill make it short and sweet...overall I liked it. Not as good as the 1st or 2nd yet still watchable and my 2nd fave this summer so far behind X2. Basically this could have been an Alien 3 type of flick IMO so I am somewhat relieved. I thought Nick Stahl was perfect as John Connor better choice than Furlong IMO. I thought the ending was cool setting up a T4, something I have been waiting to see since seeing the brief scenes in T1

Spoiler:

Future War

1/2 /

[Joseph J.D]

I just came back from watching T3 and all I have to say is that I absolutely LOVE this film!! Great action, pacing and a storyline that enhances the whole series. I've said it before in another thread- this was the most satisfying film experience I've had so far this year: and that is saying a lot! I say bring on T4.

out of