Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (DVD, 2003, Widescreen; 2-Disc Set)

After seeing this film, I still feel that a third Terminator film was somewhat unneccesary, but this latest addition is by no means a hollow action picture cashing in on popular characters. Terminator 3 is a very good movie, with a truck load of action and a few good laughs as well. The story picks up about ten years after the last Terminator film, with the arrival of a deadly Terminator sent back from the future to eliminate John Connor before he can lead the world in the fight against a hostile takeover by intellegent machines. This time the terminator is in the form of a very attractive woman (who we get to see a very brief glimpse of naked when she arrives). I was pretty apprehensive of a female terminator, thinking it was a cheap gimmic to throw some t&a into the film, but I was wrong. The female terminator is very effective and menacing. The fact that she is female makes very little difference during the course of the story. She is never used as a sex object, which is a nice change for Hollywood. Arnold is an older model of Terminator, who is sent back as well to prevent the death of John Connor. There are some new faces this time, including a new actor (Nick Stahl) taking the place of Edward Furlong as John Connor, and he fits right in and I didn't miss Furlong for one second. The rest of the cast does a great job of holding the movie together. Arnold actually tends to stay out of the way of the story and lets the other actors take the spotlight, and he almost ends up as a supporting actor. There is a very clever chase sequence early on in the picture which is almost worth the price of admission. The use of computer effects never distacted me from the action. They never looked phony and blended in nicely. All the events occur during the span of one very chaotic day. But this is the sort of movie that too much thinking will ruin. It's big, loud, and fun, and that's really all we want. It ends on a cryptic note, leaving the possibility of a fourth Terminator film open.

Great movie, action packed from beginning to end. If a fan of the Terminator movies I recommend you watch this movie.