Release Date: July 2, 2003
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Screenwriter: Tedi Sarafian, John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken, Claire Danes, Alana Curry, Timothy Dowling, Mark Famiglietti, Mark Hicks, Jerry Katell, Brian Sites
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
MPAA Rating: R (for strong sci fi violence and action, language, brief nudity)
Official Website: Terminator3.com
Summary: 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.

Reviewed by Peter Veugelaers © 2003
- Better than a cheese royale: buy one while its hot

The audience’s reaction to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was positive for sure - a resurgence of the old magic that kept viewers of past entertained. With attempts at playing the family man (The Sixth Day) and an assortment of trustworthy heroes in Eraser and End of Days nothing seems to beat the guileless cyborg on a mission to protect the saviour of a post-apocalyptic world influxed by machines set on destroying what is left of a nuclear disaster.

The resurrection of the Terminator story proves that concept and actor are sometimes inextricably linked, like the predictability of Harrison Ford getting a comeback with Indiana Jones in two years time.

T: 3 neatly rounds off the saga of John Connor, the resistance leader of a nightmarish future who is destined to defeat the machines, although this adds nothing much to1991’s predecessor.

A highly sophisticated machine’s arrival from the future wrecks chaos throughout a modern-day city as she seeks to terminate Connor pitting muscle with Schwarzenegger. Occurring within days of the nuclear disaster, they face the decision to try and prevent destruction or escape south of the border unharmed, with Claire Daines as Connor’s old childhood flame aboard for the journey.

The formula of the Terminator films has become well entrenched by now: quieter talky moments that explain details of the story’s background that sometimes touch on pathos interspersed with "whammos" - brilliantly staged action scenes. Although the form and structure looks overly familiar you can’t complain with one finely edited action sequence worth the admission price alone that makes Matrix Reloaded’s highway chase scene look somewhat redundant.

The original Terminator made its existentialist universe look compelling and real whereas its sequel was more attuned to violence and action with Linda Hamilton exacerbating the underlining tension, her character providing the real angst and heart of its ideas. Terminator 3 begins where T: 2 left off, with more action, sometimes too contrived, and special effects, but although it evokes some feeling for the tragedy of the plot it doesn’t recoup on offering a fuller palette of theme and character that was already on offer in the first two films.