Considering how awful T3 was without Cameron, I can’t see any more of these being all that great without Cameron OR Schwartzenegger. Come on, Guys, think of something original! T1 and T2 succeeded by trying out New things. It doesn’t logivally follow that more of the same will sell.
If you don;t believe me, try watching the Planet of the Apes movies. All of them. In order.
Yes, it was a different kind of film and Mostow wasn’t out to immitate Cameron. Yes, it went against the concept of altering fate by suggesting that mankind’s self-destruction at the hands of its own technology is unavoidable. Yes, it lacked the vision of Cameron but developed a vision all it’s own. Did any of these aspects ruin it? I don’t think so.
I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first because it was both a stylistic and narrative departure from the first two, but I like it a lot and think it stands on its own as a very tight chapter. Some of the humor was a bit forced, but tolerable. I liked that it was very fast-paced and relentless … “judgment day” was unfolding around them, and it was a frantic race to ensure Connor fulfilled his destiny rather than another attempt to stop him from becoming who he was supposed to be. As the Terminator from T2 said, it is in our nature to destroy ourselves, and as he said in T3, our day of judgment was never stopped, only prolonged. Back when T2 came out, the internet really didn’t exist in the capacity it does today, and I thought the idea of Skynet becoming completely decentralized in cyberspace was a very cool twist that didn’t exist in Cameron’s storyline. Much like Alien 3 did to Cameron’s hopeful conclusion in Aliens, the third film took the vision of hope for the future on a dark turn, although I think T3 was much better executed than Alien 3. I’m not a huge fan of Alien 3, but compared to the fourth film it was a masterpiece. We can only pray T4 doesn’t end up like the latest Alien films. Realistically speaking, I’m not sure how they’ll get another trilogy out of the franchise without completely diluting the whole point of the Terminator story. FWIW, I think the story could’ve ended after the second chapter as Cameron had intended, but with the marketability of the franchise being what it is, more material was inevitable and T3 was a good direction to take it. I’m not sure what to make of the ‘Chronicles’ show but the premise sounds remarkably stupid and hard to fit into the canon of the films. We’ll see.
I really think it’d be great to have Arnold return in a cameo as the future general who is captured by the machines and used as the physical template for the CSM-101 infiltrator. Much like how the T-1000 operated, it would sample and then terminate its target and use it for infiltration purposes. This is supposedly how Skynet designed their regular infiltrators, by kidnapping soldiers who would be terminated and used as templates for infiltrator units. This would be the perfect solution to the problem of Arnold’s age and his lack of availability for the role: make him into a fat old general who meets a horrific cyber-cloning demise at the hands of the enemy.
I hated T3. The John Connor character seemed completely unrelated to the one implied in the first film and realized as a kid in the second. No way could I buy into him being the grown-up version of that kid or as the Last Hope of Humankind. None of the other characters were compelling, and the storyline was forgettable. I have no interest in watching it ever again, which is the ultimate test, I think.
Uggghh. I think the only one of these films that was any good was T1. The others just make me mad that they lost the gritty sci-fi feel that made the first one so real. T2 and T3 were just special effect extraveganzas.
The soudtrack was the way it was in large part because of budget limitations, I think. I’m impressed the film came out as good as it did, given its circumstances.
I thought all three of the movies were awesome. I don’t especially care for special effects action scenes, but the stories themselves are highly entertaining. I am eagerly anticipating the fourth installment.
I thought T3 holds it’s own very well. Granted, I didn’t run out to see it in the theatre when it was released but rather bought a “previously viewed” copy from blockbuster for a few bucks. Some really great scenes in there.
T1 is really looking aged like some others have said. Good story line and all but feels pretty low budget.
All of which is self-acknowledged by the character during the film. He testifies that he’s no leader, never was, never will be. He says that he’s been fed the nonsense about his fate since before he can remember, and we start to realize just how sick of it he is when he puts a gun to his head and threatens to end it all because he doesn’t want it. In the end, he is forced into it despite running away from it for his entire life, and despite being unqualified for who he was destined to be. This aspect of his character is also part of the paradox inherent to the story: by knowing about the future, Connor is really the only one who’s prepared for it when it happens. He’s the only one who knows how the world will turn upside down, and how to bring order to the chaos.
What was he supposed to be in T3? A battle-hardened military beret badass (with no combat experience) who was ready to take on any time-travelling Terminator upon sight? Yeah, that’s interesting. Gimme a break.
I’m not trying to convert you – de gustibus and all.
But there’s no way I could reconcile the whiny John Connor of T3 with the wise-ass street-wise kid of T2 or the determined leader suggested in T1 or T2. I don’t expect him to be a perfect leader instantly, but the character as shown is not at all consistent with the others. You can show a guy unwilling to take on the role he’s been thrust into, yet competent and self-reliant without resorting to what T3 had.
I’m just glad that they have a thematic reason to continue the series and aren’t just milking it like a dead cow for whatever revenue they can extract from it.
I find character arcs to be much more interesting and compelling than static characters who don’t change. Connor is afraid of his destiny because he has convinced himself he isn’t prepared for it even though he is. He doesn’t fit the image of a square-chinned, broad-shouldered general, and his personality is flawed as a result of this combined with his upbringing. The dualism of his fate and his reluctance to accept it makes us wonder how we might act in his situation, because he isn’t any more prepared for it than we would be. He’s an ordinary guy in extraordinary circumstances whose only advantage is that he knows what the future holds, and part of the reason he became flawed in the first place might be because he never felt like the brave leader everyone expects him to be.
I reckon most people would behave similarly after walking a lifetime in his shoes.
I liked T3, though large parts of it were either retreads of T2 or vacuous eye-candy. The only thing I didn’t buy about its portrayal of John Conner was that for some reason he was still hanging around Los Angeles instead of splitting for, say, Maine. Beyond that, the character was plausible enough. What bugged me more were changes in the T-800 (new and improved with new magic exploding power-cells!) and that the time-line as described can’t be fully reconciled.
Personally, I think this kind of thing just cries out for a deadly-serious animated adaptation that won’t require Ah-nold (though anamnesis’ cameo suggestion is bang-on). As the pressure is on to make the stunt-work and explosions even loopier, the whole thing gets increasingly cartoonish, anyway.
Didn’t T2 break the timeline already, when it portrayed a 13-14 year old John Connor in the year 1994, only nine years after his birth? (Not to mention retconning the whole only-living-flesh-can-go-through-the-time-machine thing. I don’t think sticking to canon is generally a high priority in the Terminator series.)
Nah, that was exactly the problem. No new ideas; just more of the same. Ahnold even says on the DVD commentary that they just wanted to go with what worked in the previous movies. T2 had a twist - the terminator became the good guy. And it used cutting-edge special effects that weren’t available when T1 was made. T3 brought nothing new to the table. CGI was old-hat by then - it’s really not interesting anymore when used gratuitously. Nothing original at all, just a pale imitation of the previous two movies. The characters were completely flat and the romance angle was not convincing in the least. Major, major disappointment.
