Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines (UK)

Having only received this DVD this morning and seeing the reviews for the american version (which i believe is identical) i as slightly apprehensive, but the disc pleasantly suprised me.

The picture is beautifully crisp and clean with excellent definition and no bleeding between the darker elements. Although a lot more of this takes place in the day, this is wonderfully demonstrated in the opening scenes set in future war.

The sound is also lovely and clear, I`m only watching this through a mono TV so can`t comment on any fancier features such as 5.1.

The Extra`s whilst thin on the ground compared to the versions of T2 (Ultimate and Extreme) make you wonder that this was rushed out in order to get the lucrative christmas market, and how long we`ll be waiting for a special edition.

There however some interesting extra`s such as the interview with Todd McFarlane over the making of the toys which is a nice insight if you`re like me had bought them all already (or any of his other figures)

There`s also a thinly disguised advert for the Playstation 2 and X-Box on here masquerading as a making of, this is slightly longer than the version available from their website.

The skynet files provide very little insight into the characters and machines and also contain mistakes (the Terminators and model T-800/T-850 and Skynet does not know John Connor`s father) there`s also no footage of michael biehn as Kyle, Linda Hamilton as Sarah and Robert Patrick as the T-1000`s default form (they can get away with this one though)

the first disc contains a selection of trailers 2 for T3 2 for the various games, one for SWAT and one for Charlie`s Angels 2.
As well as two commentries one a cast commentry with John Mostow, Arnie, Kristana, Claire and Nick

and another seperate one with just Mostow going into detail about the film itself.

I`m sure everyone knows the story to the latest film, it is enjoyable but doesn`t stand up to its older counterparts and considering T2 was made over 12 years ago, the special FX don`t seem to have advanced that much, it hasn`t broken the same ground that the previous two have. Too much comedy elements for my liking and too much set during the day, it`s almost as if they used T2 for a building block and re-wrote it.
Don`t get me wrong it`s not a bad film, it`s not what i would`ve wanted for this one to be rated a 12 it was played far too safe and with a tad too much product placement

Feature:
One of the surprise hits of last year. When the news filtered through saying that James Cameron was not involved gave me the frights and i doubted the film but after seeing it i was pleasantly surprised. The film is very enjoyable and though it doesn`t have the cameron esque dialogue and film techniques, it sure as hell delivers on the action front, with more action you shake a stick at, it is jam packed with it. Though Arnie seems to have be degraded to the comic relief in many scenes, which isn`t all that funny it still is great, but with Arnie recently elected as Governor of California will he have time to make films any more?

Audio:
Again another Columbia/Tristar release and what a sound package, the DTS is stunning! If you have the DTS option then use it and turn it up loud, just like T2!

Visual:
Good crisp transfer from Tristar

Extras:
A healthy selection from Tristar with a good commentary from director Jonathan Mostow the only one that really grapped my attention as well as a funny deleted scene which involves a man called Sgt Candy.

If you are a fan of the terminator franchise then i suggest you buy this!

Introduction
The terminator is back! Can it match the previous 2 in the sequence?

The Plot
Well this time its John Connor and a few others that are targetted for termination.
Despite the destruction of the skynet in the previous film, its back again. As is revealed, skynet is going to happen one way or another.
This time we have a new model terminator, and a bit of a babe. She`s as relentless as her predecessors though. She`s also packing some of her own weaponary this time.

The disk starts with Arnie introducing the film, which left me scrabbling to see if I`d put the right disk into the player. I think we could do without that.

Lots of action, plenty of high powered weapons and usual fights.

Some nice comic moments from Arnie in the film though - "talk to the hand" indeed!

The Visuals/Audio
Nothing at all wrong with the visuals. All very crisp and clear.

The sound - wow - what can I say! I had it on DTS, and I`ve never felt the room rock this much before! The subwoofer was shaking everything in the room, and this despite the fact we had the amp turned to a fairly medium setting as two children were hopefully asleep above us! (maybe not after the crane crash!)

The Extras
A whole host of extras, lots of stuff about the making of, mostly to do with CGI and models.
Two commentaries that I haven`t listened to.
A gag reel - none of which I found too amusing. Kristanna breaking into a laugh in the middle of a serious bit was nice though, considering she spends the whole movie in a constant frown more or less.
Sort of what you`d hope for on a film like this.

The Sgt. Candy deleted scene is interesting, as it shows where the original terminator came from.


Summary
Its pretty much what you`d expect if you saw the last two. More of the same, better effects more action. Can`t go wrong really if you like the genre.