Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines [Region 2]

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A Solid Sequel With Demo Worthy Audio, 2008-12-18
I've liked this movie since I first saw it in the theater but my fondness for the film has only grown since it's home versions. br / br /The story is good, the acting is fine, I actually like Nick Stahl alot better than Edward Furlong as John Connor, the graphics and action are excellent but my favorite feature is the fantastic sound design. This is one of my top ten favorite movies for sound. It's among the first I pop in to try out a new sound system. Every one of the action bits here is grade "A" demo material. br / br /The standard dvd was very good on it's own but the Blu Ray is just that much better. Paramount has transfered over the HD DVD master here but that's nothing to complain about as the chases, gun fights, explosions and all the lovely sounds of twisted and contorting metal are dynamically presented in high bit rate Dolby Digital Plus. You may want to tape your windows because your subwoofer will just about blow them out from all the booming your gonna get here. br / br /The video, while not the most impressive on Blu Ray, is still a nice improvement over the standard def release. The picture is pretty clean and free of dirt and other distracting blemishes. The details are pretty sharp and the colors can pop from time to time. It could've been better but it's still a pretty good transfer. br / br /I've heard far too many complaints about this movie but I find it to be fun, action packed and a fine sequel to the Terminator franchise. I don't think it right to constantly compare it with the previous two, but rather to rate it on it's own merits. Either way, T3 moved the story along nicely and set a nice premise for the upcoming T4 sequel which is in the works now. From start to finish though, this is a fun, fast-paced film and a worthy upgrade for fans and Blu Ray owners. Highly recommended.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

Why?, 2008-12-14
If only someone could create a real Terminator with time-traveling capacity, I wish he'd go back in time and destroy this script before it was ever turned into a movie. br / br /As another reviewer said, this movie was more Arnold's big bang exit from Hollywood into politics than a worthy addition to the Terminator saga. The story really ended, with all ends neatly tied, with T-2. Terminator 3 is more like Karate Kid 3, a movie that had no reason for being and only served to take away from its predecessors. br / br /Many have harsh opinions about James Cameron but the man could tell a story with meaning, his absence from both writing and directing this movie is absolutely obvious. The first two Terminators were about love, the will to survive and the fact that fate does not have the last say: The future is not written, you can choose differently. If you take T3 at its word, it tells you precisely the opposite. br / br /I'm willing to ignore Edward Furlong was not chosen to reprise John Connor and neither do I have a problem with the character as a washed-up, broken man haunted by his past. Harder to swallow is Linda Hamilton's absence from the movie, she's just too important a character. So we are given new actors, new characters and the story which was neatly packaged in T2 is broken out of its box and totally prostituted here. To add insult, neither Nick Stahl nor Claire Danes are allowed by the script to take up their mantle and shape their futures, it is all left up to Arnold to do most of the fighting. br / br /Then we're dealt another punch: In spite of what the previous movies built up to, John Connor is not the real threat to Skynet, it is and always was, his wife Kate! At that point I rolled my eyes and waited for the movie to end. In a scene where an older John Connor raises his hands in victory after the end of the future war, the make-up and fake beard on Nick Stahl is so bad it might as well be done with play-doh. br / br /The new T-X is a gorgeous looking Kristanna Loken who is neither threatening nor intimidating, just a blatant gimmick! Seriously, how intimidating was Arnold on the first? How creepy was Robert Patrick on T-2? But Loken? Well, this "Terminatrix" (I kid you not - that is the name of the new model) is a more advanced Terminator and is able to "speak" to machines, like sending unmanned police cars against the good guys. How can a computer program speak to cars, which are mechanical and analog, the movie does not explain, nor is it that important because it is just boring. br / br /The movie merits at least one star because the special effects are excellent and the acting was as good as can be expected from the horrid direction and script. Ironically this was Arnold's last big movie to date and he looked like he could act. Not Robert de Niro acting, but a long way from Hercules, his first movie. The rest is an insult to the original story. br / br /In essence, there are those like James Cameron who will create a screenplay and movie appropriate to the times with themes that are timeless. Then there are those like the writers and director of this movie who will prostitute that same story, piggyback on its success, contribute nothing but in fact take away from it just to make money off it. The medium "Man vs Machine" is trite now; it wasn't so when Cameron wrote T1. In fact, T1 (which came out in '84) was more about nuclear Cold War angst than fear of machines. Even in '92 -when T2 came out- it was still appealing, but now after the Matrix movies the genre has lost its newness. You can't really blame a machine since it's not a free agent, it's just a system gone haywire and by taking away all the meaning and layers of the previous movies (romance, gutsy characters, philosophical implications) T3 isn't much more fun than an episode of Robot Wars on TV. It parasites off T1 and T2's virtues, forgets its themes and gives us car chases instead hoping we would not notice the difference. br / br /A new Terminator, the last one in the series will come out early on 2009, partly, I hope, to make up for the blatant mistake of this movie. This movie is Exhibit A in what gives Hollywood an undeservedly bad name. br / br /Jerry Seinfeld, when commenting on why he had decided not to continue shooting Seinfeld, said that a performer must know when to gracefully bow out. That sometimes giving more, even when the audience asks for it, it's counterproductive to the show you've just done. If only those involved in this movie had had this much sense. br /

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Not Bad, 2008-10-18
This 2-disc DVD set is good. The motion picture is sharp and has surround sound. There's action, alot of special effects, and a little humor. br /The special features tell the details of how the movie was made which has some humor in it and is very interesting. br /Swarzeneggar said that he lifted weights for 3 months in preparation for this film so he'd look just as fit as he did in the other 2 Terminator movies. The actors tell what they had to do to prepare for their parts. It is told how the special effects were done. br /This 2-disc DVD set might be worth buying.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

You can't please everyone (well not nerds anyway), 2008-10-01
Well i liked Terminator 3, i found it right up there with the first two. I feel sorry for the director and cast trying to make this movie great, only to have a few nerds moan about every tiny detail about it. br / br /I bet when T4 comes out, those same nerds will be saying "Wasn't as good as T3". br / br /The HD transfer is great :)

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Good But Not GREAT!, 2008-09-16
Blood and Rain br /Blood for the Masses br / br /Review of Theatre release: Originally published in SavageNight Ezine. br / br /Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines br /starring: br /Arnold Schwarzenegger br /Nick Stahl br /Claire Danes br /Kristanna Loken br / br /Reviewed by br /B.L.Morgan br / br /4 Stars br / br /First of all if you've never seen either of the other two other Terminator movies instantly change this rating to a five. br / br /The First Terminator was excellent. The second was better than excellent. It actually improved on great special effects and the action scenes were even wilder. Number three was almost as good as number two but it didn't really show us anything that was brand new. The formula of action on top of action with great special effects to back it up was adhered to. br / br /Nick Stahl is excellent as the twenty-something John Connor. He knows his fate is to be the savior of the human race. He'd just rather not do it at all. br / br /Kristanna Loken is suitably mechanical as the T-X: The ultimate killing machine from the future. She's a sweet looking little robot too. Some teenage boy was sitting in front of us in the theatre shouted out during one of her rampages, "That girl could blow me death any time." br / br /It was that kind of a movie. br / br /Arnold Schwarzenegger is as always the perfect Terminator Robot. He's big and intimidating when he wants to be and a really great strait-faced comic also. br / br /Termainator3: Rise Of The Machines is a great Saturday Matinee Movie. Don't look for deep meanings here. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. br / br /Check it out!