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Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken
Writers:
John Brancato and Michael Ferris
Based
On A Story By: John Brancato, Michael Ferris, and Ted Sarafian
Based
On Characters Created By: James Cameron, William Wisher, and Gale Anne Hurd
Director:
Jonathan Mostow
Feature
length: 109 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, Director And Cast Commentary, Introduction By Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Making-Of Featurette, Deleted Scene, Gag Reel, T3 Visual Effects
Lab, Skynet Database Of Weapons And Personnel Dossiers, Terminator Timeline,
Storyboard Comparison, Dressed To Kill Featurette, Toys In Action Featurette,
The Making Of The Video Game Featurette, Video Game Trailers, Theatrical
Trailer, DVD-ROM Web Links
Languages:
English and French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Two-Disc Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 33
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Warner Home Video
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
There
are only two types of time travel stories. The kind where you can go back and
forth and literally change the flow of future events and the kind where the time
traveler’s presence in the future or the past is actually a part of the
natural flow time. Therefore you either can or cannot change time. The
“Terminator” films have always professed a vision of “The future is not
set” or “No fate, but what we make” and despite the events in the third
film, it is obvious that the future can indeed be changed by altering the past.
The problem is the results. Many people who saw “Terminator 3: Rise Of The
Machines” in theaters this past summer walked out with the mistaken notion
that “I guess you can’t change the future.” What I think is more
appropriate is that the preemptive events in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”
that our characters suffered and some died for did in fact alter the future, but
they just did not alter it enough. As Schwarzenegger’s cyborg character states
in the third film, “Judgment Day is inevitable.” So much like the characters
in Greek mythology who attempt to avoid their fate by taking some form of
drastic action filled with hubris only to cause the very thing to happen they
were trying to avoid, the events of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” only
shifted events in the timeline and now it seems things could even be worse then
before.
If
you follow the first film then you know that in the year 2029 John Connor and
his resistance defeated Skynet and won the war against the machines. However
since the artificial intelligence realized it was beaten, it sent the terminator
from the first film to kill John Connor’s mother and then we learn in
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” that it also sent a T-1000 prototype back in
time to kill John Connor himself as an added precaution and after those events
Connor still somehow had enough time to send the man who would be his father
back to 1984 so that he can protect his mother and together they literally could
conceive the man who will save humanity from the machine holocaust and of course
he sent the kinder, gentler terminator back to 1995 when John was just ten years
old to protect him.
Where
the timeline begins to fall apart along with much of the film’s logic is that
in delaying Judgment Day, we now learn that the set of terminators that have
arrived in our present were sent from the year 2031. If this is the case then we
can speculate that the war is still going on in 2031 and without giving too many
spoilers away, it is possible that Connor’s role in saving humanity is no
longer what he expects it to be. Another area where the timeline logic breaks
down is in the numbers themselves. If Connor was born in 1985 than he could not
be older that 18 years of age in the year 2003 instead of his early twenties as
the film suggests. I pointed this out to a colleague at another website who
reviews features when the film was still playing in theaters and he replied
“He stopped nitpicking continuity and logic a long time ago,” but I guess I
am not that jaded yet because it still matters to me.
Of
course another mistake the film makes is in assuming all terminators in
Schwarzenegger’s line must look like him. Granted we all want to see Arnold
play his signature character on the big screen one more time, but the truth of
the matter is that it would not be practical to send the same looking terminator
over and over and over again through time let alone whatever linear plane of
existence the characters from the future are operating under. In the first
“Terminator” film we see that a terminator infiltrates a bunker in the
future filled with survivors and none other than Schwarzenegger’s friend and
former Mr. Olympia Franco Colombo played that terminator. One should also take
into consideration that is simply would not be practical to keep sending the
same guy out to kill others since eventually he is bound to be recognized.
Another thing to consider are the future sequences that seem to suggest they are
a product of John Connor’s imaginings in the third film or Sarah Connor’s
nightmares in the first two film do not necessarily mean we are viewing the
future, but rather a perceived future. The only true future sequences in the
three films in my opinion are the opening prologues in the first two
“Terminator” films and Kyle Reese’s own memories of the future war seen in
the first film.
Other
paradoxes that crop up in this new film are the facts behind the relationship
Connor had with this particular terminator in the future and Connor’s fate.
Can that be changed now that Connor knows what will become of him or would
preserving his life in the future actually lead to his destruction in the past
at the hands of the femme fatale T-X, played by Kristanna Loken. Much like the
way “Alien 3” negated much of the characters’ suffering and adventures in
“Aliens,” in many ways “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines” practically
negates the plight of our heroes in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and spoils
the neat way James Cameron wrapped up the story satisfyingly and with our
questions for the most part answered.
I
have nothing but questions left over after watching “Terminator 3: Rise Of The
Machines” on the big screen and three times over on this DVD and short of
bringing Cameron back to set things straight, I almost feel they should just end
it here and not make anymore films with or without California’s Governor Elect
because I doubt they could cover everything that needs to be covered in one more
film and I do not want to wait another ten or so years to find out what happens
next. At this point I’m willing to take “Terminator 3: Rise Of The
Machines” for what it is and accept it for its good points and faults in all.
There are a lot of things that I could point out that do not exactly match up to
the established “Terminator” cannon, but some of these arguments I have can
also be argued away as simply the results of the changes to the flow of future
events post “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
However
there are a few elements I cannot resist on commenting on before I move on to my
discussion of the DVD set. First the idea of Skynet using the Internet or maybe
the flow of information within the Internet developing into a form of
consciousness has profound implications never fully explored in the film. It is
also just a shame that Skynet can’t seem to come up with a better manner of
terminating its enemies. I mean after the first two attempts failed, why not try
something different? Also if Skynet is a self aware form of consciousness on the
Internet, then how could you ever beat it since it has time travel technology
that gives it chances to reset the game until it wins and in a post apocalyptic
future, any form of technology could be a place where Skynet could proliferate
itself like an insect infestation. How do you survive a post apocalyptic world
where the sun has been blocked out by a nuclear winter without some form of
technology? The truth is if Skynet really wanted to kill all the humans and
possibly all earthly life as we know it, the left over radiation alone would
probably do the job pretty well without the need for armies of endoskeleton
terminators running around. However has anyone ever asked why Skynet decided to
kill all humans to begin with? Once it controlled everything, the mere threat of
its omnipotent existence in all things electronic and wired would give it
virtual God like power over humanity. Since it is obvious it planned the virus
to be set free and set off the nuclear war then it has to have some kind of
reason based on logic for the actions it takes. We do not have to understand the
actions anymore than we truly understand all of the significance behind the ways
intelligent mammals like whales interact, because we cannot expect human
rationality from something that is not human, but we can expect to learn at
least a bit about machine’s rationale even if it goes against all our beliefs
in love and compassion.
Finally
I think the reason why “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines” was successful
in the theaters was because of the fact that Judgment Day does happen and given
the structure of the previous entries, if it did not happen then there would be
nothing in this film save for some spectacular action and effects sequences that
we did not already see before and done better in the first two films.
Like
“The Matrix Reloaded,” Warner Home Video is releasing “Terminator 3: Rise
Of The Machines” in a single sized two-disc keep case, making it their second
official Warner Home Video DVD title to be released in Region One, North America
in the preferred keep case packaging. I know a lot of people who are happy for
this not only because they hate the snap case, but also because the other two
entries in the series released by MGM and Artisan respectively are available in
keep cases as well and so from a cosmetic point of view, the three films look
good together on bookshelf or video library.
Disc
one presents “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines” in an anamorphic
widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio that preserves the nature in which the film was
exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video users. I think the
transfer is excellent with sharp colors that never bleed, no visible compression
grain, and a solid film like digital reproduction on DVD-Video that just looks
nothing short of great. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack was
remixed specifically to take advantage of 6-channel home theater systems and it
rocks. It is great demo material for one’s sound system. Also included is a
commentary featuring Stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Claire Danes, Nick Stahl,
Kristanna Loken, and Director Jonathan Mostow. The commentaries were recorded
separately and mixed together because everyone was at different places promoting
the film so we have Mostow and Danes together talking about the film at one
point and then branch off to others. Mostow appears a bit smitten by Danes in
the commentary. He seems to complimenting her every five minutes or so whenever
they are discussing the film and she’s onscreen. Danes seems rather distant if
not somewhat conceited at times in her comments. Her declaration of being a
“Professional Actress” seems more like she is trying to convince herself
that this is the case rather than give the impression that she truly is
confident about it. Stahl is a bit more talkative though he is also slightly
subdued. Loken discusses her diet regiment for the film and the training she
undertook to get fit enough to be the “T-X,” but otherwise her comments are
largely narrating her own screen action. Surprising to me was Schwarzenegger.
This is the most articulate I have ever heard him speak on a DVD track, let
alone his movies. He says more in the first five minutes of his commentary then
he did in the entire “Total Recall: Limited Special Edition” DVD and he
seems a lot more comfortable than he was in his commentary with John Milius on
“Conan The Barbarian.” Maybe it is all the practice he has gotten with
public speaking as he prepared to officially announce his candidacy for Governor
of California or maybe it is just his sincere happiness to be able to play his
most well known character once again for the big screen, but whatever it is, his
enthusiasm is infectious and he is by far the most fun participant in the entire
commentary. Now that he is going to focus on his new political career, I think
it is great that he made this third “Terminator” film if only that if this
is to be his last big screen role, what better way to go than to reprise the
character that made him a star. If he should ever make another film, I hope it
will be John Milius’ “King Conan: Crown Of Iron,” but that seems rather
unlikely now.
Then
there is a second feature length audio commentary with Director Jonathan Mostow
that is far more screen specific and interesting because he gives a good sense
of not only understanding expectations that come with directing a third
“Terminator” film, but he also places it in a good context with the other
films he has directed before “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines.” Besides
the commentary tracks, there is a French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Soundtrack option encoded onto the DVD as well as English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired and French and Spanish Language Subtitles as
options. The first disc also includes the theatrical trailer (2:23), which is
presented in an anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with Dolby Pro Logic
Surround Sound and a letterboxed (1.85:1) trailer for the video game (1:43) with
Stereo Sound.
The
balance of the bonus features is on the second disc and they are rather light in
nature if not disappointing. First there is a short video introduction by Arnold
Schwarzenegger (: 34) that should have been placed on the first DVD and then
there is the HBO First Look Special “Inside Terminator 3: Rise Of The
Machines” (13:01), which is largely more or less an extended commercial for
the film with short interview clips from the production and whatnot. Next up is
a deleted scene entitled “Sgt. Candy” (1:51), which was failed humorous
attempt to explain where the mold for Arnold’s model of “Terminator” came
from. It is so terrible that out of context it is probably funnier than it
deserves to be, but thankfully they cut it out of the film. Personally if
Schwarzenegger should return for a brief cameo in a fourth “Terminator” film
I think he should be the human who tragically becomes the mold for the T-800/850
model Terminator. The idea of people being used as the template for future
cyborg creation is certainly creepier than this campy joke cut from the film. A
gag reel (3:01) follows this film, but I find most gag reels are only funny if
you were a part of the production instead of just an anonymous viewer.
Next
are several short featurettes detailing the special effects creation for the
“Crane Chase” (8:01), “T-X Transformation” (8:01), “Future War”
(8:40), and “Crystal Peak” (9:24) sequences complete with a short
introduction (2:36) and a rather dull effects lab that gives set top users
limited access to alter select effects scenes. “The Skynet Database” gives
character and machine weapon information, but for whatever reasons, video
footage of other actors standing in for the characters of Sarah Connor and Kyle
Reese are included and they look so bad that I think if they couldn’t just use
footage of the actors from the previous films, they would have been better off
not showing any image of their characters at all in this feature. There is also
an abbreviated “Terminator Timeline” that gives data spanning from 1984 to
2032 and in the process exposes that John Connor could not have been in his
twenties if the events in “T3” took place in 2003.
A
storyboard to completed scene comparison for the final confrontation between the
two terminators at Crystal Peak (3:54) is included along with a short featurette
on costume design (2:11), an interview with Todd McFarlane on the “Terminator
3: Rise Of The Machines” action figures (6:35), an EPK on the making of the
“T3” videogame (8:56) and a full screen trailer for the game (1:36).
Windows
based PC users with a DVD-ROM drive will have access to web links using either
disc where they can play a demo of the above mentioned game, by “Terminator
3” merchandise, or visit the official “Terminator Hub” website. Those
without a DVD-ROM drive can access at least some of these net features by
visiting www.terminator3shop.com.
The
menus on both discs are fully animated with full motion scene selections and
transitions between menus and all are easy to navigate. While weak on the second
disc extra features, I think the presentation of the film and the extra on the
first disc are worth checking out. “Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines: 2-Disc
Widescreen Edition” will debut on DVD-Video at retailers on and offline on
Tuesday, November 11, 2003 from Warner Home Video.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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