Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

2007 was definitely the year of the threequel, with the third instalment in many popular franchises all released that year, with Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man, Bourne, Shrek, Ocean's and Rush Hour #3 all hitting theatres that year. It proved that third time was not always lucky with most of these receiving mediocre or negative reviews - only The Bourne Ultimatum was universally praised.  Having the third instalment isn't new as The Godfather Part III (1991) demonstrates and, in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger played his most famous role for the third time in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. 
 
Following on from the celebrated and groundbreaking Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) was always going to be a hard task, but one that director Jonathan Mostow thought he was up to.  Picking up the story a decade or so after T2 with John Connor as a drifter in his early 20s, his mother dead and another pesky cybernetic organism trying to ensure he never grows up to lead the resistance.  If you've seen the other two films then you know the drill - a flash of lightening and a bright orb appears, depositing someone, or something, from the future completely naked and with full knowledge of the war to come. 
 

One night in the then present day, the lightening crackled, an orb appeared in a shop window and a woman, a TX, appeared and approached the car at the traffic lights on Rodeo Drive.  Saying merely "I like your car" to the bemused driver, she obviously despatches her, taking her outfit and ride and then proceeds to upload information about John Connor and those who would be his lieutenants into her CPU.  Now the top of the range Terminator, a mix of the T-800 metal skeleton and the T-1000 liquid alloy but with built in weapons (including a plasma cannon and flamethrower) and the ability to communicate with and control other computers.  A little later and out in the desert, the same process happens and he's back, naked and looking for the leathers that suit him and his character down to the ground. 
 
With the TX out to kill him and the T-800 again as his protector, John Connor goes on the run with Kate Brewster, an old school friend who will grow up to be integral to the resistance. 
 
The most expensive movie ever filmed, this boasts some extraordinary effects, both digital and visual, and one of the finest car chases ever committed to celluloid.  With the TX in one vehicle - an 18-wheeler crane - and controlling a host of police cars, ambulances and other emergency vehicles, the T-800 gets on his bike - as he does - and hunts her down.  Cue a sequence with massive destruction involving a fire engine, the crane going through buildings and more mayhem than any other chase scene that I can think of, including the demolition derby freeway chase in The Matrix Reloaded. 
 
After learning that Kate's father is on the TX's hit list due to his involvement in a government project that will become Cyberdyne, Connor and Brewster convince the Terminator to abandon his plan to get them to safety when Judgement Day occurs and see if they can prevent, or at least delay, the destruction of most of the planet.
 

 
Though T2 is a tremendous film, I still prefer the low budget independent first film and, with those two firmly established as genre classics, this really had to live up to high expectations.  Whilst not hitting the dark and gritty material of the first Terminator film, nor giving you the sheer adrenaline rush of the second, this is still a fairly impressive movie.  For a guy his age, just about to enter politics, Schwarzenegger really knows how to get into shape and apparently was just about the same weight as he was nearly 20 years earlier and with the same body fat percentage, bicep, neck, chest and thigh measurements - essential for when he appears from the future and to look the part in the leathers.  There are some nods to the audience, some clever twists on familiar lines and even the changes of date (Judgement Day moving on from 1997).  For every good Terminator (or human in the case of the first one) there has to be the baddie and Kristanna Loken not only looks the part, with a tremendous muscular physique, but demonstrates the ability to perform the restrained acting necessary for the part very well.  She only has a handful of dialogue, all of that in the first 25 minutes, so spends most of the film as a mime and is very good at that.  As the main humans, Nick Stahl and Claire Danes show their acting chops and really have the chemistry which is essential to their roles. 
 
This is a decent way to round off what was then a trilogy, but with the fourth instalment about to hit cinemas in the UK, the bar is still set pretty high. 
 

The Disc

 
When you load the BD, your system is scanned by Cyberdyne to see what firmware and Internet access you have to determine what menu to display.  It correctly detected mine as a 2.0 system with Internet access so gave me the full range of options. 
 
Extra Features
You get the BD-Live features and two commentaries, plus a Picture-in-Picture mode which is separate to the commentary tracks.  The first is a cast and crew affair, which was, as Mostow explains at the beginning, was recorded all over the world as they went on the premiere circuit.  There are pluses and minuses to this, on the good side it isn't a pally, jokey, backslapping affair, but on the other hand, it is a bit distant and doesn't flow.  There are some moments of interest but this is a commentary that you endure rather than enjoy.  Much better is Mostow's solo effort where he talks for the whole running time about how he became involved, what he wanted from the film, casting, stunts and everything that went into making T3 a reality.  He is a good speaker and this is easy to listen to and there is plenty of information to be gleaned. 
 
In addition you get the 'Terminatorvision Picture-in-Picture Experience' which is a good way to watch the film - in one corner you'll have someone speaking about an aspect about filming which is shown in the other corner with some behind the scenes or other developmental footage.  This overlaps slightly with Mostow's commentary but not to the extent that you get bored. 
 
The featurettes tend to fall into the EPK category, looking at the weapons, stunts and clothes and, whilst not horribly boring and tedious, they aren't the greatest assembly of featurettes you'll ever come across.  Documentary is a 13 minute puff piece where the actors say what a dream it was to appear in a Terminator film and Jonathan Mostow is effusive about them all.  There are some Storyboards, a feature on making models of the characters, the clothing, a deleted scene, a gag reel and a Making of the Video Game that is as much a shameless plug as anything else.
 
Finally there are trailers for Terminator: Salvation, The Da Vinci Code and the Blu-ray is High Definition show reel. 
 

Picture
This is just about reference quality, with an exceptional transfer and a huge number of visual effects that don't look like visual effects - I didn't realise until I watched the other extra features how much was done on computers and the extent of green screen work.  The chase scene, as I said above, is an extremely well choreographed and executed piece of filmmaking - it is one of those sequences to show off your system. 
 
 The TX effects build on those from 1991 and, whilst they don't have the 'wow!' factor that they did then, they are still amazing and it is incredible how much we now take for granted in a modern sci-fi blockbuster. 
 
Audio
Proving that DTS don't have the monopoly on creating clear, sharp and room-shaking soundtracks, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track fits the bill and does everything demanded of it, with crisp dialogue, good use of the surrounds and enough LFEs to have the floor shaking in the more physical scenes. 
 
T3 is a very well scored film, with a subtle track doing just enough to emphasise emotions and the more poignant scenes but, when all is said and done, it is all about the action and that sounds awesome. 
 
There is a good array of audio tracks and subtitles in alternate languages, not as many as I've seen on other discs, but enough to ensure a big audience for the disc.
 

 

Conclusion

This is not as rewarding a watch as T2 and is not as dark and apocalyptic as Terminator but, much as I expected to be let down, I was still reasonably impressed and still quite like the film.  The disc is excellent with plenty of supplementary material meaning you can watch the film four times with the commentaries and PIP mode, getting something new each time.  It also has a very impressive AV package so, for Terminator and sci-fi fans, this is well worth picking up and all we can do is sit, wait and hope that the first of the films is given the HD treatment it so richly deserves.