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I Recommend "T3: Rise of the Machines" (SPOILERS)
Everyone:
I just got back from the movie, and I assure all of you that it is a worthy sequel to T1 and T2.
I know there has been a degree of uncertainty in regards to how good T3 would be, what with James Cameron and Linda Hamilton (among others) no longer being involved with the Terminator series, and I went into T3 with that knowledge. Am I ever glad I did, because if I hadn't, I would have missed out on a *helluva* movie. Even better, it's not stupendously long — maybe 1 hour, 45 minutes, tops. But TPTB use that time to tell an almost complete story that, literally, had me nearly screaming at the movie screen (out of anticipation).
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Just some quick notes on the movie:
1. I definitely enjoyed the suspense the movie provided. Part way into the film, we learn that the outcomes of T1 and T2 merely *delayed* Judgment Day — the day that SkyNet attacks humanity, wiping out half the planet's population in a matter of hours.
2. We find out that the events portrayed in T3 occur on Judgment Day itself. The race is on to prevent SkyNet from being activated, and it's an exhilarating one, IMO.
3. There was a nice tie-in to T2 when we learn that the girl Connor "made out" with the night before his foster parents were terminated by the T-1000 has a father who's involved in the SkyNet research program. And not just any researcher — he's the U.S. general in charge of the entire project. Heh. Sadly, Connor and the girl never cross paths again until T3, and during that time her father was moving the SkyNet project along, unaware of the horror lurking in the near future.
The CyberDyne laboratory destroyed in T2 was merely a *part* of the overall SkyNet program. Thus, it's destruction did not prevent more research, research that got under way in the first place when scientists got ahold of remnants from the first T-800, the one that tried to kill Sarah Connor in T1. The line of thinking that led to SkyNet continued to flourish ... kind of like Pandora's Box, in a way. Once the idea was out and about, there was no putting it back in the bottle, er, box.
Basically, they hit the wrong target in T2. They should have been gunning for the general — he was the key to the entire lock. As it was, they merely destroyed one of the labs working on the SkyNet program.
4. The reason for sending the TX back in T3 was to terminate Connor's future lieutenants in the upcoming War Against the Machines. Oh, and to take Connor out, too (he was the "primary" target). While the TX failed to take out Connor and the woman who would become his second-in-command (and wife, and mother to their children), it did terminate a number of his future lieutenants (there were 22 lieutenants, but not all were killed ... I think three to six got offed on-screen).
5. I enjoyed how SkyNet was portrayed. It basically masqueraded as some sort of "super virus" on the Internet (i.e., it was spreading fast across the entire globe), taking down parts here and there (even affecting cell phone service, satellite service and so on). The Pentagon didn't realize it was already being played the fool by a nascent SkyNet, and thought the "virus" was really just that — a virus. So they went ahead and began the activation of the main SkyNet program to eradicate the "virus" from the Internet. Well, things begin to go downhill from there ...
6. I must touch on Connor's reaction when he learned the world was only hours away from Judgment Day. The T-800 wanted to get Connor, the woman and itself out of the United States and into northern Mexico, since that area would not be totally devastated by multiple nuclear strikes. Apparently its mission was to see Connor survive, not prevent, Judgment Day. But Connor gets all stubborn and they end up heading toward the military base instead of fleeing with their tails between their legs. He's dead set on preventing Judgment Day, and the 3 billion people who will die in a matter of hours.
7. The scenes in the military base where the main part of SkyNet was activated was cool. I loved the tense atmosphere as the "super virus" spread across the Internet, and standard methods to stop and erase it failed. I loved how it grew tenser and tenser as the "virus" advanced into really sensitive areas (think military and science here, folks), and the last resort option — activating SkyNet — became the *only* option to cleansing the "virus" from not only the Internet, but other computer networks (folks, this infiltration went all the way down to the at-home and at-work PCs you and I use) . I was sweating in my seat at the theater ... and so was the general who, ultimately, flipped the switch that set SkyNet's main program in motion.
At first it looks good. SkyNet is doing exactly what it's supposed to do — stopping and cleansing the "virus." We see global maps showing the progression of SkyNet in its battle against the "virus." SkyNet sweeps across North America, Europe, the Middle East and into Asia ... and then the global maps go blank.
Personnel in the military base — including the general — begin to get nervous. But then the global maps come back online, things seem fine ... and then SkyNet begins its assault against humanity by attacking the very base that gave birth to it.
8. It was interesting seeing the TX infiltrate the military base mentioned above. It took *proto-type* SkyNet units — i.e., defense droids and even one of those warbird-like attack ships — and reprogrammed them. The viewer gets a glimpse of early SkyNet units in action, and they're lethally effective as all hell breaks out on the military base. Humanity gets its arse kicked in, losing the first battle.
9. I liked how Connor, et al., fled the military base (they arrived mere moments after SkyNet had been fully activated), with a nascent SkyNet in hot pursuit, along with the TX. They were headed for Crystal Mountain, a redoubt containing SkyNet's central processing core about 56 miles (in the mountains, and heavily fortified) from the besieged military base. It was bittersweet, though, as the TX managed to terminate the woman's father (the general), and he lived just long enough to direct them to where they could destroy SkyNet before it could launch the nuclear missiles (which, by that point, would be fired within an hour, according to the T-800) against a variety of global targets.
10. The most stunning part of the movie? Connor *fails* to prevent Judgment Day. Yes, you read right. He *failed* to stop SkyNet from destroying nearly half of humanity. The movie closes with scenes of missile fields firing, of clouds of warheads in Earth orbit, falling towards the surface of the planet, of cities dying beneath miles-high fireballs. SkyNet has won ...
... Or has it? Crystal Mountain, it turns out, was a hardened shelter intended to protect the U.S. government. Connor and his lady friend — essential to the survival of the human race — are there, alone, listening as reports begin flooding the airwaves of the world-wide destruction. He hears a plea for help from the Montana Civil Defense, and answers. Connor has started to connect with those who will survive Judgment Day, those who he will lead to, apparently, ultimate victory over SkyNet in the horrible decades of war to come on a mostly-ruined Earth.
You see, Connor and his friends were never supposed to prevent Judgment Day. It was intended that they *survive* the most horrible day in human history, nothing more. IOW, folks, there was no "happy" ending to T3.
11. Here's something of an irony: The T-800 sent back to ensure Connor's survival in T3 was the same unit that *killed* him in 2032.
Whew. That's it, folks. T3 rocked, and I recommend it whole-heartedly.
Gatekeeper
I just got back from the movie, and I assure all of you that it is a worthy sequel to T1 and T2.
I know there has been a degree of uncertainty in regards to how good T3 would be, what with James Cameron and Linda Hamilton (among others) no longer being involved with the Terminator series, and I went into T3 with that knowledge. Am I ever glad I did, because if I hadn't, I would have missed out on a *helluva* movie. Even better, it's not stupendously long — maybe 1 hour, 45 minutes, tops. But TPTB use that time to tell an almost complete story that, literally, had me nearly screaming at the movie screen (out of anticipation).
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
Just some quick notes on the movie:
1. I definitely enjoyed the suspense the movie provided. Part way into the film, we learn that the outcomes of T1 and T2 merely *delayed* Judgment Day — the day that SkyNet attacks humanity, wiping out half the planet's population in a matter of hours.
2. We find out that the events portrayed in T3 occur on Judgment Day itself. The race is on to prevent SkyNet from being activated, and it's an exhilarating one, IMO.
3. There was a nice tie-in to T2 when we learn that the girl Connor "made out" with the night before his foster parents were terminated by the T-1000 has a father who's involved in the SkyNet research program. And not just any researcher — he's the U.S. general in charge of the entire project. Heh. Sadly, Connor and the girl never cross paths again until T3, and during that time her father was moving the SkyNet project along, unaware of the horror lurking in the near future.
The CyberDyne laboratory destroyed in T2 was merely a *part* of the overall SkyNet program. Thus, it's destruction did not prevent more research, research that got under way in the first place when scientists got ahold of remnants from the first T-800, the one that tried to kill Sarah Connor in T1. The line of thinking that led to SkyNet continued to flourish ... kind of like Pandora's Box, in a way. Once the idea was out and about, there was no putting it back in the bottle, er, box.
Basically, they hit the wrong target in T2. They should have been gunning for the general — he was the key to the entire lock. As it was, they merely destroyed one of the labs working on the SkyNet program.
4. The reason for sending the TX back in T3 was to terminate Connor's future lieutenants in the upcoming War Against the Machines. Oh, and to take Connor out, too (he was the "primary" target). While the TX failed to take out Connor and the woman who would become his second-in-command (and wife, and mother to their children), it did terminate a number of his future lieutenants (there were 22 lieutenants, but not all were killed ... I think three to six got offed on-screen).
5. I enjoyed how SkyNet was portrayed. It basically masqueraded as some sort of "super virus" on the Internet (i.e., it was spreading fast across the entire globe), taking down parts here and there (even affecting cell phone service, satellite service and so on). The Pentagon didn't realize it was already being played the fool by a nascent SkyNet, and thought the "virus" was really just that — a virus. So they went ahead and began the activation of the main SkyNet program to eradicate the "virus" from the Internet. Well, things begin to go downhill from there ...
6. I must touch on Connor's reaction when he learned the world was only hours away from Judgment Day. The T-800 wanted to get Connor, the woman and itself out of the United States and into northern Mexico, since that area would not be totally devastated by multiple nuclear strikes. Apparently its mission was to see Connor survive, not prevent, Judgment Day. But Connor gets all stubborn and they end up heading toward the military base instead of fleeing with their tails between their legs. He's dead set on preventing Judgment Day, and the 3 billion people who will die in a matter of hours.
7. The scenes in the military base where the main part of SkyNet was activated was cool. I loved the tense atmosphere as the "super virus" spread across the Internet, and standard methods to stop and erase it failed. I loved how it grew tenser and tenser as the "virus" advanced into really sensitive areas (think military and science here, folks), and the last resort option — activating SkyNet — became the *only* option to cleansing the "virus" from not only the Internet, but other computer networks (folks, this infiltration went all the way down to the at-home and at-work PCs you and I use) . I was sweating in my seat at the theater ... and so was the general who, ultimately, flipped the switch that set SkyNet's main program in motion.
At first it looks good. SkyNet is doing exactly what it's supposed to do — stopping and cleansing the "virus." We see global maps showing the progression of SkyNet in its battle against the "virus." SkyNet sweeps across North America, Europe, the Middle East and into Asia ... and then the global maps go blank.
Personnel in the military base — including the general — begin to get nervous. But then the global maps come back online, things seem fine ... and then SkyNet begins its assault against humanity by attacking the very base that gave birth to it.
8. It was interesting seeing the TX infiltrate the military base mentioned above. It took *proto-type* SkyNet units — i.e., defense droids and even one of those warbird-like attack ships — and reprogrammed them. The viewer gets a glimpse of early SkyNet units in action, and they're lethally effective as all hell breaks out on the military base. Humanity gets its arse kicked in, losing the first battle.
9. I liked how Connor, et al., fled the military base (they arrived mere moments after SkyNet had been fully activated), with a nascent SkyNet in hot pursuit, along with the TX. They were headed for Crystal Mountain, a redoubt containing SkyNet's central processing core about 56 miles (in the mountains, and heavily fortified) from the besieged military base. It was bittersweet, though, as the TX managed to terminate the woman's father (the general), and he lived just long enough to direct them to where they could destroy SkyNet before it could launch the nuclear missiles (which, by that point, would be fired within an hour, according to the T-800) against a variety of global targets.
10. The most stunning part of the movie? Connor *fails* to prevent Judgment Day. Yes, you read right. He *failed* to stop SkyNet from destroying nearly half of humanity. The movie closes with scenes of missile fields firing, of clouds of warheads in Earth orbit, falling towards the surface of the planet, of cities dying beneath miles-high fireballs. SkyNet has won ...
... Or has it? Crystal Mountain, it turns out, was a hardened shelter intended to protect the U.S. government. Connor and his lady friend — essential to the survival of the human race — are there, alone, listening as reports begin flooding the airwaves of the world-wide destruction. He hears a plea for help from the Montana Civil Defense, and answers. Connor has started to connect with those who will survive Judgment Day, those who he will lead to, apparently, ultimate victory over SkyNet in the horrible decades of war to come on a mostly-ruined Earth.
You see, Connor and his friends were never supposed to prevent Judgment Day. It was intended that they *survive* the most horrible day in human history, nothing more. IOW, folks, there was no "happy" ending to T3.
11. Here's something of an irony: The T-800 sent back to ensure Connor's survival in T3 was the same unit that *killed* him in 2032.
Whew. That's it, folks. T3 rocked, and I recommend it whole-heartedly.
Gatekeeper
Everyone can understand how hard it is to make a sequel to this series.. especially after magnificent second movie, which btw is still one of the greatest movies ever.
. Although the only time that could have happened is at the end, and you can't have sex scenes at the end of the movie. So I can see the reason that isn't in there. 
. 
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