Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines movie.jpg

IMDB Page (external link)
Writer: John D. Brancato
Michael Ferris
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Nick Stahl
Claire Danes
Kristanna Loken
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Music by:
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release Date: July 2, 2003 (USA)
Runtime: 109 min
Language: English
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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (commonly abbreviated T3) is a 2003 movie directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken. It is the sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Its release date within the United States was July 2, 2003.

This movie was Arnold Schwarzenegger's last movie before becoming Governor of California, after being elected in the 2003 California recall. Interestingly, the DVD release of this movie was scheduled several weeks after the election, in order to ride a wave of publicity focused on Schwarzenegger.

Tagline: The Machines Will Rise

Contents

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Starring

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Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Image:T3 chase.jpg Image:Terminator3001.jpg Image:Terminator3002.jpg Image:Terminator3003.jpg Image:Terminator3004.jpg In the absence of the previously scheduled Judgment Day, John Connor has gone from messiah to burn-out and is wandering aimlessly around Southern California. Unfortunately it seems the apocalypse was only delayed, not prevented, by his actions in the 2nd movie, and the United States Air Force has taken over the Skynet project where Cyberdyne left off (the theory is that as it appears to be a joint project, there were probably backups of the research in a safe location. Of course another theory is that the research done by Cyberdyne Systems was triggered or at least sped up by those of the first Terminator that the destruction of Cyberdyne's research only reverted to the original timeline. Note that Kyle Reese did not know the date of Judgement Day, it was only set in T2. Skynet is unable locate Connor, who is living "off the grid", and a new Terminator, the T-X is sent back in time to eliminate his future lieutenants.

As with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a reprogrammed cyborg, Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 Series 850, (played by Schwarzenegger) has been sent back in time to protect both John Connor and Kate Brewster (played by Danes) from the T-X, later dubbed the "Terminatrix" (played by Loken), an even more advanced Terminator than the T-1000, sent from the future to terminate Connor and his future lieutenants, including Brewster.

In a plot twist, this particular model of T-850 reveals that he is in fact the murderer of John Connor in the distant future and that his wife (who will be Brewster) reprogrammed him for the mission. This plot point serves to illustrate the complete lack of both emotion and personal will that the machines possess. Another twist to the formula of the previous films is that the T-X is armed with a full arsenal of advanced weapons from the future: in the first two films, the point is made that nothing but living tissue can be sent backwards through time, so time travel by humans requires they be naked and without weapons. Although a Terminator is a metal robot, it is surrounded by living tissue (the T-1000 Terminator in T2 is all-metal, but it is never revealed on-screen in exactly what manner the T-1000 arrived). The T-X expands on this principle by having internal weapons, thus enabling them to be transported back in time.

In the end, Brewster's father, an air force officer heading up the Skynet project, tricks Connor and his daughter into taking cover from the impending Skynet nuclear attack in a Cold War era VIP bomb shelter, by making them believe that it is where the Skynet mainframe is located. The revelation that 'Skynet' is in fact a distributed computer program serves to update the film to modern technology which was deemed too obscure to be used in the original film. In a nihilistic turn, the main characters are unable to avert Judgement Day and Skynet succeeds in triggering a nuclear apocalypse, paving the way for the Machines' rise to power.

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Themes and Critique

It has been argued that Skynet would be unable to continue to operate after the nuclear weapons explode because of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) emission. It has also been argued that Skynet would be unable to continue to operate because -- being a distributed system, much like the SETI@home project -- obliterating the computer systems it was using and the networks that connected them through full-scale nuclear warfare means that Skynet is in effect committing suicide. But Skynet is not like SETI@home; Skynet is more like the Internet itself. To say it in simple words, Skynet is another version of the Internet, another Network. The difference is that Skynet can think by itself; it can be self aware. It's software that can control hardware, but Skynet is software in its entirety.

Another criticism is the change from different resolutions of the Grandfather paradox. The two previous movies made general and even specific mention that the future could be changed. For example if the future could not be changed, then Skynet would have never sent a Terminator back in time because it would be futile; and in T2, specific mention is made of changing the future with the destruction of Cyberdyne Systems Corporation and Terminator parts, ending narration. Also, a deleted alternate ending portrays a different future, where Skynet never exists. This alternate ending is still present in the T2 novel. In T3 a restricted action resolution is integrated into the plot in which the future can never be changed so that Skynet and the acts of time travel do not occur. This doesn't contradict the previous movies because the future cannot be changed. It does contradict the T2 book which had an optimistic ending, but not the movies.

The failure of John and Sarah to completely destroy all of the T-800's lost and cast-off parts at the end of T2 (arm ripped off in giant gear) may be interpreted as a counter to the 'restricted action resolution' hypothesis. The US Department of Defense might plausibly be conjectured as having taken a keen interest in exploiting whatever astonishingly advanced technologies could be gleaned from those shattered remains. Although multiple protagonists voice their growing collective inference that Judgment Day can be postponed but not prevented, T3 never unambiguously confirms or endorses that conclusion.

If the 'restricted action resolution' hypothesis is assumed then T3 would contradict itself since there is a point where future rebel leaders are killed by T-X before she goes after John.

Although a solid financial success, many hardcore followers of the series believe Terminator 3 fell flat attempting to rewrite or rehash plot points and meanings behind the Terminator mythology, painstakingly established by director, James Cameron in the previous films. The phrase, "No fate but what we make for ourselves", now serves no purpose or truth in this instalment of the series, ignoring the notion put forward by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) in the original film, in which he explains that he resides from, "One possible future".

Another criticism of the film was its lack of humanity, and character depth as opposed to the previous films. While the previous instalments of the series heavily focused on human frailty and emotions, Terminator 3 lacks complex characters and instead attempts to compensate by piling action on top of action resulting in "Essentially one long chase and fight, punctuated by comic, campy or simplistic dialogue."-- Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.

However others while agreeing that T3 was behind T2 and T1 in terms of quality have praised the film for continuing the story and essentially setting up the final part of the series if and when it is filmed. T3, in their opinions, provided a balance to the power of free will presented by the characters of the earlier films, arguing that in the real world both free will and fate co-exist. This was even true in the first movie where John Connor sending Reese back in time essentially created him in the first place. They say that T3 rather than contradicting the first film provided a balance.

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Trivia

  • Besides Arnold Schwarzenegger, Earl Boen (Dr. Peter Silberman) is the only actor to appear in all three Terminator films (The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines).
  • Arnold had to dip into his own pocket ($6 million) to help fund the production of the movie - in particular the car chase scene that included a crane crashing through an entire building. It was a scene that he himself wanted to put in the movie (as he explains in the audio commentary).
  • This was Kristanna Loken's break through movie role.
  • Linda Hamilton was initially approached to reprise her role as Sarah Connor but turned it down. A dialog in the movie has instead the T-800 saying that Sarah died of leukemia in 1997.
  • Is the first film where Arnold does not say the famous line "I'll Be Back". He does say variations of the catchphrase however (She'll be back and I'm Back). He does not utter the line Hasta la vista, baby at all also.
  • This is the third movie where the line "Get Out" is said in scenes of taking one's vehicle Arnold says this line when stealing the Fire Truck. This line also appeared in The Terminator (when The Terminator steals the truck) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (when the T-1000 steals the helicopter).
  • In an 2005 interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Clare Danes revealed that she was cast for the role of Kate Brewster as a last-minute replacement, after actress Sophia Bush left the production.
  • Kate Brewster's slain boyfriend, Scott Mason was going to be named "Scott Petersen", but was changed in order to avoid giving the false impression that this was a type of "reverse parody" of the Scott Peterson case for the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn son Connor. The fact that there would have also been occurrences of "Connor" on both sides would have reminded viewers too much more about the Laci Peterson murders, and give them the misconception that the movie makers deliberately made a parody/reversal of the roles involved in the Laci Peterson murders.
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See also

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External links

The Terminator series
Films The Terminator | Terminator 2: Judgement Day | Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | Terminator 4
Characters Sarah Connor | John Connor | Kyle Reese | Miles Dyson | Kate Brewster
Terminators T-800 | T-850 | T-1000 | T-X
Locations Los Angeles | Skynet | Cyberdyne Systems Corporation
Cast Linda Hamilton | Arnold Schwarzenegger | Michael Biehn | Edward Furlong | Robert Patrick | Nick Stahl | Claire Danes | Kristanna Loken | Earl Boen
Crew James Cameron | Jonathan Mostow | Mario F. Kassar | Andrew G. Vajna | Stan Winston
Games RoboCop vs. The Terminator

de:Terminator 3 – Rebellion der Maschinen fr:Terminator 3 : le soulèvement des machines hr:Terminator 3: Pobuna strojeva ja:ターミネーター3 pt:Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ru:Терминатор 3: Восстание машин (фильм) sk:Terminátor 3: Vzbura strojov fi:Terminator 3 - koneiden kapina

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