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Terminator 3 Movie Review

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Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Terminator 3
The third of the Terminator movies picks up with John Connnor, an unemployed drifter. His mother, Sarah Connor, is now dead, and the robot takeover of Earth was supposedly averted with the destruction of Skynet several years ago. But he is quickly caught up in the everpresent saga as a new robot, the T-X, is sent to destroy the girl who will be his right hand in the future. At the same time, another Terminator is sent back to protect her, and him.
--Aaron Smith, Resident Scholar

The terminator is once again back to save John Connor and his future wife. This time, the enemy is a far superior female terminator. The female terminator tries to kill John and his wife to ensure a nuclear war. The male terminator must protect them from the nuclear blast. John and his wife want to stop the war, but are unable to. The male terminator tricks them into a bunker to keep them safe and alive for their future missions. The male terinator, although inferior to the female, is able to destroy her, destroying himself in the process.
--Brandon Swenson, Resident Scholar

A grown John Conner is helped once again by the T-101 and an even more sophisticated cyborg than the T-1000 is sent into the past. Known as the T-X (Terminatrix) it't not only more powerful but female.
--Bobby Blades, Resident Scholar

    Should we be laughing at the Terminator? It doesn't seem quite natural, yet that's what the audience did during Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The Terminator has become a cultural icon. It means something to the general public, though maybe not as much as it does to Arnold Schwarzenegger who is relying on his third turn as the human-killing cyborg to relaunch his career (his last three movies combined grossed less than the opening weekend of T3).

The T-101 must return once again to save John Connor (Nick Stahl) from a sophisticated machine that has been sent back from the future to terminate him. Technology has advanced and so have the Terminators, this time the Terminatrix can not only shape shift like the T-1000, but can also control machines and form herself into complex moving pieces. The Terminatrix plays up Arnold's obsolescence which becomes a theme of the movie. He is old, slow and most importantly not nearly as sexy as the Terminatrix (Kristanna Loken).

You may say that this sounds a lot like the last Terminator outing and you would be correct, T3 is basically an updated version of T2; the difference is that Arnold is older, the special effects are worn out, and the movie is not as bleak or stylish. Rise of the Machines is a walk in the park on a sunny day when compared to T2 which was fresh and original when it debuted. When the originality of the previous Terminator movies is taken out of the equation Rise of the Machines too closely resembles other big budgeted movies being produced.

Schwarzenegger is the only returning cast member besides a notable cameo which I will stay quiet about. The role of John Connor is filled by Nick Stahl, not Edward Furlong who unfortunately was unavailable due to drug related problems. Stahl physically fits the bill; unfortunately he walks through this role seemingly giving it very little thought. Claire Danes is Kate in a role reminiscent of Linda Hamilton's in the original Terminator. Kate is a good girl who is thrust into the world of the machines and must adapt quickly if she wants to survive. By the end of the movie she is using automatic weapons with the best of them. Unfortunately for Nick Stahl she was more interesting to watch, sometimes taking my attention away from the supposed champion of humanity. Arnold laughs at himself to a degree and picks on some of the most standard themes of the previous Terminator movies to good effect.

The action sequences were tremendous; leave it to the Terminator to use fire trucks and cranes instead of Cadillac's and SUV's in a chase sequence that looked more like a demolition derby. The most impressive scene of the movie was the fight between the TX and the T-101 in the bathroom where Loken tosses Schwarzenegger around like a bag of feathers.

The fact of the matter is that T3 is a good movie, but similarly to the new Star Wars Trilogy it just can't live up to it's expectations. The ending sets up what I predict will be another trilogy (Danes has reportedly already signed on for a fourth); making the Terminator resemble Star Wars in more ways than one. Director Jonathan Mostow appears excited to get to the next movie so that he can leave all traces of James Cameron's shadow behind and run his own show. Too bad this makes T3 seem more like filler than a movie that stands on its own.

--Christopher Bryan, Resident Scholar

Jonh Connor is now 25 and living "off the grid" where he keeps no record and lives in hiding. Skynet sends an evil robot back into the past to kill and John and an old friend of his, Kate, because in the future John and Kate will lead the human resistance against the machines. However, one more robot is sent back in time to save John and Kate. He is the same model of robot that saved John Connor in the second movie and he faces off against the evil robot to keep John and Kate alive.
--Jack Bauer, Resident Scholar

Arnold returns as a primitive robot who has to fight an advanced robot. This movie is totally different from Terminator II because in this film the enemy robot is a woman and she has a lightning gun. See how imaginative they are in Hollywood?
--Stan, Resident Scholar



Analysis of Terminator
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 60%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 25%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 15%



**Fantasy or Science Fiction?** - science fiction story
Robots & Computers & VR Yes
Plotlet: - fight between good and bad robots

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Hair color? - brunette (Brown)
Hair type - (man) short/medium straight
Body type - muscular (man)
Unclothed? - Chest and Buttocks
Physique - Bulging muscles

Secondary Main Character
Hair color - brunette (Brown)

Main Adversary
Identity: - robot, female
Has special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - is very quick - super strength
Hair color - blonde
Body type - ample chest and buttocks (female)
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physical condition - very athletic

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century (1970's to Present) - near future (later in 21st century)
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Sex/nudity in movie? Yes
What kind of sex: - seeing nude female butt - seeing nude male butt
Any profanity? - Occasional swearing
Kinds of F/X - Things that change shape/morph - exploding vehicles - exploding bombs
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