Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on DVD

He said he’d be back, and he wasn’t kidding around.

But not many people could have guessed that he’d wait 12 years and alienate nearly everyone involved in the original two movies. In fact, the only two names that still show up from T1 and T2 are Arnold Schwarzenegger (who we can’t blame for not turning down $30 million) and Gale Anne Hurd, who shows up last on the Executive Producer list.

Set ten years after the events in Terminator 2, yet another killing machine has been sent back through time to execute John Connor. Once again, the Terminator is more advanced than the last, and much harder to kill. Thankfully, they’ve also sent back the primitive, seemingly useless T-800 model to protect him again. Hey, it worked the last time…

What follows is a series of action set pieces that seem there only to use up the remainder of the $180 million budget. We don’t even find out what the point of the movie is until over an hour in. And even then, it seems there only to satisfy our increasingly curious and impatient minds.

It’s hard not to bash T3 because it can’t possibly live up to the legacy James Cameron created (especially without Cameron himself involved in any way). But in its defense, it features some great action sequences and all the necessary elements for an enjoyable mindless action movie. It’s basically just like the first two Terminators but without the story and the intelligence. (Editor's note: and that leaves what incentive to watch this rather than re-watch the first two?)

This third installment is clearly nothing more than an attempt at grasping a few more dollars from our pockets, which becomes even more obvious when the ending leaves it so blatantly open for another sequel. It’s not even a happy ending, either; it’s depressing and leaves you unfulfilled.

Speaking of endings, T3’s ending suffers the same fate as Jurassic Park 3. It seems like the writers ran out of time and had to throw something together at the last minute. Everything wraps up way too quickly and unbelievably, and then the credits roll and we’re left thinking: “that’s it?”

Another thing lost from the previous installments is the characters. We still have John Connor (with Nick Stahl filling in for the absent Edward Furlong), but we don’t really care about him. He’s a troubled little ass who seems to only care about stopping Judgement Day because it’s in the script. In fact, the only character we do care about is the T-800, and only because we learned to love him so much the last time around (and he’s played by the same actor this time around).

But, like we said, even with all its problems, T3 manages to be entertaining enough. If you haven’t seen the first two in a really long time and don’t remember them, it’s best to watch T3 now so you’re not as disappointed later. Otherwise, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

For any movie to make $150 million domestically and be considered a disappointment shows the state of Hollywood today. And for some reason, Terminator 4 has already been green-lit.

But we still get a nifty 2-disc special edition to make up for the movie not being all that it should be.

Presented in the increasingly popular 2.40:1, the picture is crystal clear. Colors are rich, particularly the Terminatrix’s dark red "Mord Sith" outfit, but not blinding. Blacks feature great detail, fleshtones are reserved, and overall detail is superb. There’s not a single trace of grain or dust, and the quality is maintained throughout the entire picture.

As far as audio tracks go, this one is as active as they come. The movie is wall-to-wall action, and all five channels are given a great workout. The subwoofer rumbles for 109 minutes, the center speaker handles what little dialogue there is, and the rest focuses on the sound effects. Trucks, machine guns, grenades, urinals; they all make distinctive sounds that are all distinguishable from each other and bring you right into the middle of the action. If you’ve just bought a brand-new surround system, this is the kind of movie you can use to show it off.

A quick side note, only somewhat relating to the DVD: this is Warner’s second movie released in the keepcase we’ve all been asking for for so long. Finally, they’re casting aside that annoying cardboard box that looks cheap and doesn’t fit as well on your rack.

Disc one of this special edition features two audio commentaries. The first is by director Jonathan Mostow, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken. Mostow does a majority of the talking, while the group talks about everything from their thoughts on the production to spilling some juicy anecdotes. The second is a solo track by Mostow, where he gets much more technical and boring.

Pop in disc two and we get a series of featurettes, some worthwhile and some not. First is an introduction by The Governator himself, and then we’re treated to an HBO First Look special. These things are borderline offensive, trying to pretend their actually showing us something about the making-of the movie, when all they do is shamelessly promote it. Why the studios bother putting them on DVDs is beyond us. They should just realize that we’ve already bought and watched the movie and don’t need to see this drivel. Much better is a half hour look at the special effects. Industrial Light & Magic does some of their best work on T3, so it’s nice to get a first-hand look at how it was done.

There’s a deleted scene, a gag reel, a “Skynet Database,” and some storyboards. More featurettes on the costumes, video game, and behind-the-scenes, and a Terminator Timeline.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
109 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) 16x9 enhanced, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken
Produced by Mario F. Kassar, Andrew G. Vajina, Joel B. Michaels
Screenplay by John Brancato & Michael Ferris
Directed by Jonathan Mostow

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