Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (2-Disc Widescreen Edition)
A decade has passed since John Connor (NICK STAHL) helped prevent Judgment Day and save mankind from mass destruction. Now 25, Connor lives "off the grid" - no home, no credit cards, no cell phone and no job. No record of his existence. No way he can be traced by Skynet - the highly developed network of machines that once tried to kill him and wage war on humanity. Until?out of the shadows of the future steps the T-X (KRISTANNA LOKEN), Skynet's most sophisticated cyborg killing machine yet. Sent back through time to complete the job left unfinished by her predecessor, the T-1000, this machine is as relentless as her human guise is beautiful. Now Connor's only hope for survival is the Terminator (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER), his mysterious former assassin. Together, they must triumph over the technologically superior T-X and forestall the looming threat of Judgment Day?or face the apocalypse and the fall of civilization as we know it.
With a reported budget of $172 million, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic "Judgment Day" of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek "Terminatrix" (coldly expressionless Kristanna Loken) programmed to stop Connor from becoming the savior of humankind. Originally programmed as an assassin, a disadvantaged T-101 cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger, bidding fond farewell to his signature role) arrives from the future to join Connor and his old acquaintance Kate (Claire Danes) in thwarting the T-X's relentless pursuit. The plot presents a logical fulfillment of T2 prophesy, disposing of Connor's mother (Linda Hamilton is sorely missed) while computer-driven machines assume control, launching a nuclear nightmare that Connor must survive. With Breakdown and U-571 serving as worthy rehearsals for this cautionary epic of mass destruction, director Jonathan Mostow wisely avoids any stylistic connection to James Cameron's Terminator classics; instead he's crafted a fun, exciting popcorn thriller, humorous and yet still effectively nihilistic, and comparable to Jurassic Park III in returning the Terminator franchise to its potent B-movie roots. --Jeff Shannon
Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) Accessories
 The Terminator
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
I Am Legend (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition with Digital Copy)
The Mummy (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
Independence Day (Five Star Collection)
The Mummy Returns (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
The Fifth Element
Troy (Two-Disc Full Screen Edition)
Predator
Batman Begins (Widescreen Edition)
Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines (2-Disc Widescreen Edition) Reviews
The standard dvd was very good on it's own but the Blu Ray is just that much better. I've liked this movie since I first saw it in the theater but my fondness for the film has only grown since it's home versions. It's among the first I pop in to try out a new sound system. You may want to tape your windows because your subwoofer will just about blow them out from all the booming your gonna get here. I've heard far too many complaints about this movie but I find it to be fun, action packed and a fine sequel to the Terminator franchise. From start to finish though, this is a fun, fast-paced film and a worthy upgrade for fans and Blu Ray owners. I don't think it right to constantly compare it with the previous two, but rather to rate it on it's own merits. Paramount has transfered over the HD DVD master here but that's nothing to complain about as the chases, gun fights, explosions and all the lovely sounds of twisted and contorting metal are dynamically presented in high bit rate Dolby Digital Plus.
This is one of my top ten favorite movies for sound.
Either way, T3 moved the story along nicely and set a nice premise for the upcoming T4 sequel which is in the works now.
The video, while not the most impressive on Blu Ray, is still a nice improvement over the standard def release.
The details are pretty sharp and the colors can pop from time to time.
The picture is pretty clean and free of dirt and other distracting blemishes.
It could've been better but it's still a pretty good transfer.
The story is good, the acting is fine, I actually like Nick Stahl alot better than Edward Furlong as John Connor, the graphics and action are excellent but my favorite feature is the fantastic sound design.
Highly recommended.
Every one of the action bits here is grade "A" demo material.
The rest is an insult to the original story. Terminator 3 is more like Karate Kid 3, a movie that had no reason for being and only served to take away from its predecessors. The new T-X is a gorgeous looking Kristanna Loken who is neither threatening nor intimidating, just a blatant gimmick. Harder to swallow is Linda Hamilton's absence from the movie, she's just too important a character.
You can't really blame a machine since it's not a free agent, it's just a system gone haywire and by taking away all the meaning and layers of the previous movies (romance, gutsy characters, philosophical implications) T3 isn't much more fun than an episode of Robot Wars on TV. In a scene where an older John Connor raises his hands in victory after the end of the future war, the make-up and fake beard on Nick Stahl is so bad it might as well be done with play-doh. Well, this "Terminatrix" (I kid you not - that is the name of the new model) is a more advanced Terminator and is able to "speak" to machines, like sending unmanned police cars against the good guys. As another reviewer said, this movie was more Arnold's big bang exit from Hollywood into politics than a worthy addition to the Terminator saga. The medium "Man vs Machine" is trite now; it wasn't so when Cameron wrote T1.
Then there are those like the writers and director of this movie who will prostitute that same story, piggyback on its success, contribute nothing but in fact take away from it just to make money off it. I'm willing to ignore Edward Furlong was not chosen to reprise John Connor and neither do I have a problem with the character as a washed-up, broken man haunted by his past. So we are given new actors, new characters and the story which was neatly packaged in T2 is broken out of its box and totally prostituted here. At that point I rolled my eyes and waited for the movie to end. How can a computer program speak to cars, which are mechanical and analog, the movie does not explain, nor is it that important because it is just boring.
If you take T3 at its word, it tells you precisely the opposite. Then we're dealt another punch: In spite of what the previous movies built up to, John Connor is not the real threat to Skynet, it is and always was, his wife Kate. It parasites off T1 and T2's virtues, forgets its themes and gives us car chases instead hoping we would not notice the difference. To add insult, neither Nick Stahl nor Claire Danes are allowed by the script to take up their mantle and shape their futures, it is all left up to Arnold to do most of the fighting. How creepy was Robert Patrick on T-2. The movie merits at least one star because the special effects are excellent and the acting was as good as can be expected from the horrid direction and script. But Loken. If only those involved in this movie had had this much sense.
Seriously, how intimidating was Arnold on the first. The story really ended, with all ends neatly tied, with T-2. That sometimes giving more, even when the audience asks for it, it's counterproductive to the show you've just done. Jerry Seinfeld, when commenting on why he had decided not to continue shooting Seinfeld, said that a performer must know when to gracefully bow out. Ironically this was Arnold's last big movie to date and he looked like he could act.
Not Robert de Niro acting, but a long way from Hercules, his first movie. A new Terminator, the last one in the series will come out early on 2009, partly, I hope, to make up for the blatant mistake of this movie. Even in '92 -when T2 came out- it was still appealing, but now after the Matrix movies the genre has lost its newness. If only someone could create a real Terminator with time-traveling capacity, I wish he'd go back in time and destroy this script before it was ever turned into a movie. The first two Terminators were about love, the will to survive and the fact that fate does not have the last say: The future is not written, you can choose differently.
In fact, T1 (which came out in '84) was more about nuclear Cold War angst than fear of machines. In essence, there are those like James Cameron who will create a screenplay and movie appropriate to the times with themes that are timeless. This movie is Exhibit A in what gives Hollywood an undeservedly bad name. Many have harsh opinions about James Cameron but the man could tell a story with meaning, his absence from both writing and directing this movie is absolutely obvious.
It is told how the special effects were done. The special features tell the details of how the movie was made which has some humor in it and is very interesting. The motion picture is sharp and has surround sound. The actors tell what they had to do to prepare for their parts. There's action, alot of special effects, and a little humor. This 2-disc DVD set might be worth buying. This 2-disc DVD set is good. Swarzeneggar said that he lifted weights for 3 months in preparation for this film so he'd look just as fit as he did in the other 2 Terminator movies.
I feel sorry for the director and cast trying to make this movie great, only to have a few nerds moan about every tiny detail about it. Well i liked Terminator 3, i found it right up there with the first two. The HD transfer is great :) I bet when T4 comes out, those same nerds will be saying "Wasn't as good as T3".
Just sit back and enjoy the ride. First of all if you've never seen either of the other two other Terminator movies instantly change this rating to a five. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Nick Stahl. The formula of action on top of action with great special effects to back it up was adhered to. Termainator3: Rise Of The Machines is a great Saturday Matinee Movie. The second was better than excellent. starring:.
The First Terminator was excellent. It actually improved on great special effects and the action scenes were even wilder. Kristanna Loken is suitably mechanical as the T-X: The ultimate killing machine from the future. 4 Stars. Reviewed by. Kristanna Loken.
He'd just rather not do it at all. Arnold Schwarzenegger is as always the perfect Terminator Robot. Claire Danes. She's a sweet looking little robot too. It was that kind of a movie. B.L.Morgan. Some teenage boy was sitting in front of us in the theatre shouted out during one of her rampages, "That girl could blow me death any time.".
Blood and Rain. Number three was almost as good as number two but it didn't really show us anything that was brand new. He's big and intimidating when he wants to be and a really great strait-faced comic also. Review of Theatre release: Originally published in SavageNight Ezine.
He knows his fate is to be the savior of the human race. Blood for the Masses. Nick Stahl is excellent as the twenty-something John Connor. Don't look for deep meanings here. Check it out.
Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines.
|
