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“Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines” is a tough
movie to review. Basically there are two
directions you can go when looking at it,
either as a stand-alone sci-fi flick or
as part of the series started by James Cameron.
I’d like to briefly touch on both.
I also feel that one’s enjoyment of
the film can be affected by your expectations
going in. Personally, my expectations were
really low, if for no other reason than
the absence of Cameron on the project. And
since they were low, it surpassed them and
I ended up liking the movie.
As a stand-alone feature, “Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines” is a slam-bang
winner. Lots of action, special effects
and a serviceable plot deliver quite an
entertaining ride. The characters were,
for the most part, interesting and the ending
certainly whet the appetite for a follow-up.
Director Jonathan Mostow did a great job
of making a film that starts off strong,
and doesn’t let up all the way through
to the final scene.
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However, as a follow-up to the first two “Terminator”
films, it falls short of living up to its predecessors.
If one were to start checking off comparisons,
the first would have to be the execution of the
special effects. The second film came out twelve
years ago when CGI was just in its infancy, yet
the effects looked much better than they did in
this third film. Its hard to describe the difference,
other than the fact that Mostow relied a little
too much on CGI and used it in places where the
use of real live actors or objects would have
just looked more, well…realistic.
If I continue to compare, I would have to turn
next to the antagonist of the film, the T-X. The
T-X is supposed to be far superior to the T-1000
of “Terminator 2.” Technologically
in the story this is true, yet while watching
the film, the T-X was never as intimidating to
watch. As played by actress Kristanna Loken, she
was never as frightening to the audience as Robert
Patrick was as the T-1000. I don’t necessarily
fault Loken’s performance as much as I might
blame the way the character was written and filmed.
The T-1000 was simply more threatening.
Plus there was the plot contrivance of the T-X
being able to control machinery by injecting some
of her own nano-technology into them. There were
areas where this worked well, but in the car chase
scene it made me groan. By the way the technology
was described in the film I could understand her
being able to control computer controlled machines,
but a car? Yes, they have computer chips in them
nowadays, but unless the car was rigged to be
radio controlled, it shouldn’t have worked.
Another comparison would be in the film’s
use of humor. “Terminator 3: Rise of the
Machines” had very little of its own. Almost
every joke was a direct nod to its predecessors,
and though they were occasionally funny, they
reduced the level of those scenes to self-parody,
which in turn reduced the believability of the
film.
The only other area I felt the movie didn’t
live up to its potential was the use of music.
In both of the first films, the music was a driving
force of almost every scene. It was memorable,
yet it moved the scenes along without being intrusive.
Here the music did nothing. Even in the action
sequences, it sounded like music from a thousand
other action flicks with no life of its own.
By what I’ve written so far, you can see
why “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
is so tough to write. You might think I didn’t
like the movie, while in fact I really did. I
just had a hard time separating it from what had
come before, and to be honest, since it is supposed
to be a follow-up I shouldn’t have had to.
The movie was entertaining, but the filmmakers
should have tried harder to make the film more
like its predecessors and not worry so much about
putting their own stamp on it.
Warner did do a pretty good job with the DVD
release of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
in terms of the production value. The transfer
ranks high amongst some of the best I’ve
seen this year. The picture is beautifully crystal
clear, and the sound, perfectly balanced.
This two-disc set has its fair share of extras,
with two full commentaries on the first disc.
The first features the film’s stars Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kistanna
Loken and director Mostow. The commentary wasn’t
recorded at the same time, and though it was a
really good track, I missed the conversational
tone it might have taken on. The secondary track
by Mostow by himself was more straightforward
and interesting in its own right.
The second disc offers up a few more extras,
mostly in the form of publicity pieces shot for
HBO. Beyond these ‘documentaries’,
the disc does have a feature that focuses some
of the bigger effects shots, and includes comments
from Stan Winston. Most of the other features
are shorter and briefly touch on characters, timelines
of the story and the like. There is a pretty funny
gag reel, and a deleted scene that you have got
to watch.
“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
turned out overall to be a much better sequel
than I had originally anticipated, despite it’s
few flaws. Most of the “Terminator”
fans that I call friends agreed with me that this
was probably the best possible sequel that could
have been made without the “King of the
World,” James Cameron.
Directed by: Jonathan Mostow
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire
Danes, Kristanna Loken
Extras: Commentary by actors Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken and
Director Jonathan Mostow, Commentary by director
Jonathan Mostow, Introduction by Arnold Schwarzenegger,
"HBO First Look" Behind-the-scenes feature,
On location feature, Sgt. Candy Scene: new footage,
Visual Effects Lab: Build your own effect sequence,
Sky Net Database: profiles of characters, weaponry
and vehicles, Terminator Timeline, Terminal Flaws:
Gag reel, Storyboard gallery, Costume feature,
Trailers
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound
Studio: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 11/11/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (Strong Sci-fi Violence and Action,
Language and Nudity
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We'll give Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines
a B.
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