Plot
A decade has passed since John Connor 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, 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, 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.
Analysis
When James Cameron announced that he had well and truly detached himself from the upcoming Terminator 3 project, taking his ex wife Linda Hamilton with him, passionate Terminator fans feared the worse. To add to this skepticism, the hungry movie press was told that some guy called Jonathan Mostow would be the new director for the film and that they believed that he had 'the right stuff'. The rest of us all rolled our eyes to the heavens. One of the biggest and most endeared action franchises and the all important Arnold Schwarzenegger breakout movie ends up in the lap of the guy who directed the average 1997 Kurt Russel movie Breakdown and submarine drama U-571, hardly a proven pedigree. Add the fact that 2003 could well go down as having one of the best ever summer line ups as far as mammoth action sequels go and you will see why early reports based on opinion alone were not positive.
So, has this film gone the same way as Arnold's career has for the last 9 years? Thankfully not and I am extremely glad to say that Mr Schwarzenegger has finally broke his crap movie phase. This flick is great fun and has a refreshing feel to it even though it borrows a lot from Terminator 2. First off, much praise has to go to the cast. With the more mature face of John Conner now being the responsibility of new boy Nick Stahl, you have to give him credit for not completely fouling it all up under the pressure of not only the movies importance to the fans but also staring along side the big guy himself. Claire Danes takes on a role that could be seen as a tactical stroke to try and ignite the strong female character played with such exuberance by Linda Hamilton but Claire does an equally good job this time around. Kristanna Loken plays the evil TX Terminator with the same soulless resolve as Robert Patrick's character in T2 and on more than one occasion seem's to even act out some very similar scenes from the second movie. The chase scene that see's Patrick running after the car with hooks for hands in T2 gets a repeat performance through a similar scene only with out the hooks.
Star of the show and deadpan comedy genius award has to go to Arnie as he wise cracks his way through the film with some of the best one liners I have ever heard him deliver. Has he still got it as an action hero? just about, but that era is far behind us now and, for the moment people want to see their leading man with a little more brain and a little less brawn. Arnold should be well proud of his performance here as it ranks amongst the best work he has achieved.
The films obvious selling point is it's frenetic action sequences and we are definitely not short changed when it comes time to turn up the pace and set fire to stuff. The purpose built set that was home to the crane chase scene gets absolutely totaled as John Conner and Kate Brewster try to escape the ever more desperate TX whilst our hero robot gets smashed through walls and slammed against other vehicles. The movies pace is actually near perfect as plot development follows action and so on to ensure that adrenalin junkies don't get bored and that passive viewers don't get a migraine.
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Rating (out of 5)
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Action
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Another top scoring action movie. The best action sequence has to be the crane chase but towards the end things go a little crazy with robot sentinels, crashing helicopters and the final deadly confrontation between the two Terminators.
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Tension
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The whole movie is one long chase scene, from the moment the TX steps out of her time capsule expect your heart rate to be going up and down in time with the action.
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Violence/
Gore
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Most of the blood is shown off screen with a few fringe splatters to drive the point home but one scene shows a hand plunge through a mans body and out the other side, not at all subtle. Fights are part and parcel of Terminator films especially between the two cyborgs so expect loads of metal spanking madness.
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Bare Flesh
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A side booby shot and a full bare rump of Kristanna Loken's is more than was expected. The ladies shouldn't expect a lot of Arnold but the usual disappearance of clothing whilst traveling through time could get your heart pounding.
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Plot
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Not a whole lot of originality with some skeptics saying that it really is just a rip off of T2 but with a good looking female terminator. The story does develop with a couple of nice new twists but time traveling stories could in essence roll on for ever.............
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Verdict
Some how Jonathan Mostow has melded all the right ingredients to make a very credible action pie. The cast performance is excellent with Arnie back on the top of his game again and the plot just adds a little twist to ensure the stable door is left open enough to possibly see a T4 some day. A worthy addition to a classic trilogy.
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Facts, figures and boobs
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A number of actors were supposedly in the running for the role of the T-X, including Vin Diesel, Shaquille O'Neal, Famke Janssen, and Joanie Laurer. Laurer's name came into the mix when she was recommended for the part by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself during an interview prior to filming.
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The original tagline of "The War Begins 2003" was removed from all promotional material due to the political climate of the time, and the war in Iraq. The line was changed to simply "Coming Soon".
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Arnold Schwarzenegger put up $1.4 million of his salary to ensure that a key scene where a construction crane smashes into a glass building was shot. Director Jonathan Mostow, was apparently worried that the film was going to run behind schedule and over budget.
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4.
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The same silver Volvo 740GL sedan is destroyed several times during the crane chase. Each time it is seen, damage from previous hits in earlier scenes is clearly visible.
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| What other people thought of this film: - |
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Simo
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Not as good as T-2, but still a respectable film. If this truely is Arnold's last film it's nice to see him go out with some class. I thought I was going to be disapointed with Kristanna Loken but she actually turned out well. The humor wasn't really necesarry, and would it kill ya to put some more shooting in.
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Eric
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This movie was good but really wasn't needed. They basically ended it in part 2 saying that judgement day wasn't going to happen. Over ten years later they come back and say that it was only postponed. Also, if they HAD to make this film, they should have at least ended it here but no, sounds like they want to make yet another one. Well is they do, they better do it soon because Arnold is getting a little too old for this part. The action was good, good special fx, and all that other stuff but I still say that they didn't need to make this movie.
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Billy T
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Suspense has blatantly been substituted for humour. The soundtrack is weak and contributes nothing. Unlike Robert Patrick, Loken is far from being a convincingly sinister villain.
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Niclas Rolness Skagevold
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I like this movie. It`s a very good action movie. I LIKE KRISTANNA LOKEN MUCH.
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