Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Terminator 3, Monstrosity AND missing James Cameron's touch

Lasereth · 08-21-2003, 05:53 PM

I saw Terminator 3 in the theater, and man, that movie down right blows compared to the first two. Holy hell that movie is bad. There is a certain formula that works in the first two Terminators, and it is missing VERY noticeably in the third one.

I honestly wish it would not have been made. James Cameron created one of the most popular and critically acclaimed series in all of film-making, and I was REALLY pissed off to see it destroyed by a director and screenwriter that wanted to please the blockbuster audiences.

The Terminator series is made for those who want to think, those want to see a badass good guy and a badass bad guy fight it to the death and NOT feel guilty about it. You are not watching a Chuck Norris shitfilm in Terminator 2. When T-1000 walks down the hall in the beginning and the dreaded T-1000 theme kicks in while John frantically tries to open locked doors, you know you're watching a masterpiece. There is an aura of "awesomeness" during the entire movie in Terminator 2, and even a bit in the first one. These movies are not comedic even though they are more entertaining than most shitbox movies that come out today trying to make us laugh. We feel for a machine, we feel for a young boy and his mom trying to survive fate. We want to run from T-1000 ourselves, and even though we've already seen the movie, we still think that just *maybe* T-1000 will kill them this time. Robert Patrick as T-1000 is one of the best movie villains of all time.

You can honestly believe that the events in Terminator 2 can take place. The T-800 firing a minigun outside of the window down onto the police armada hasn't been rivaled in many movies. It's not over-the-top, it's not under-cool, it's JUST right. Cameron knows how to make a serious movie with a twinge of badass thrown in. He also knows which special effects will look good 10 years from now. Check out Terminator 2 right now, the graphics are still better than half of the crap that comes out today.

You believe that these machines are capable of killing people, and moreso than anything, they cannot be stopped. Sarah, John, and the T-800 are running from death the entire movie, but not in unreasonable circumstances. They make logical moves, and none of the characters make any one-liners that are out of context. When watching Terminator 2, you want everyone to survive, you hate it when Sarah Connor is shot by T-1000, and you want to punch Robert Patrick in the face for being such a good bad guy. At the end of the movie, we're all sad that the T-800 has to melt himself to get rid of the last chip. Any form of father figure that John will have is destroyed, all because of a future that John cannot change.

Terminator 3 is horrid. The Terminatrix could have worked, but where is the dreadful theme that accompanies T-1000? Do I care if John dies? No, not really. Do I care about the Claire Danes character? Ha ha. DO I CARE ABOUT THE T-800? Nope. The characters are all stale, unmoving, and not emotional. No one seems to get depressed that death is coming after them and WILL kill them. The CG in the movie blows out the ass and is an embarassment to film-making. In order to understand why this movie is inferior to the first two, particularly the second one, you have to understand the first two movies themselves. We don't watch the Terminator movies for action, we watch them because they deliver a plot with great characters. Even a machine is able to change through Terminator 2. Now that's character development.

Terminator 3 is a huge failure no matter which way you look at it. The only way I can see anyone liking it is if they didn't quite see the first two as I did, as they are truly meant to be seen -- as two of the greatest, emotional and action-packed masterpieces to hit the silverscreen.

-Lasereth

08-21-2003, 05:53 PM	#91 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	I saw Terminator 3 in the theater, and man, that movie down right blows compared to the first two. Holy hell that movie is bad. There is a certain formula that works in the first two Terminators, and it is missing VERY noticeably in the third one. I honestly wish it would not have been made. James Cameron created one of the most popular and critically acclaimed series in all of film-making, and I was REALLY pissed off to see it destroyed by a director and screenwriter that wanted to please the blockbuster audiences. The Terminator series is made for those who want to think, those want to see a badass good guy and a badass bad guy fight it to the death and NOT feel guilty about it. You are not watching a Chuck Norris shitfilm in Terminator 2. When T-1000 walks down the hall in the beginning and the dreaded T-1000 theme kicks in while John frantically tries to open locked doors, you know you're watching a masterpiece. There is an aura of "awesomeness" during the entire movie in Terminator 2, and even a bit in the first one. These movies are not comedic even though they are more entertaining than most shitbox movies that come out today trying to make us laugh. We feel for a machine, we feel for a young boy and his mom trying to survive fate. We want to run from T-1000 ourselves, and even though we've already seen the movie, we still think that just maybe T-1000 will kill them this time. Robert Patrick as T-1000 is one of the best movie villains of all time. You can honestly believe that the events in Terminator 2 can take place. The T-800 firing a minigun outside of the window down onto the police armada hasn't been rivaled in many movies. It's not over-the-top, it's not under-cool, it's JUST right. Cameron knows how to make a serious movie with a twinge of badass thrown in. He also knows which special effects will look good 10 years from now. Check out Terminator 2 right now, the graphics are still better than half of the crap that comes out today. You believe that these machines are capable of killing people, and moreso than anything, they cannot be stopped. Sarah, John, and the T-800 are running from death the entire movie, but not in unreasonable circumstances. They make logical moves, and none of the characters make any one-liners that are out of context. When watching Terminator 2, you want everyone to survive, you hate it when Sarah Connor is shot by T-1000, and you want to punch Robert Patrick in the face for being such a good bad guy. At the end of the movie, we're all sad that the T-800 has to melt himself to get rid of the last chip. Any form of father figure that John will have is destroyed, all because of a future that John cannot change. Terminator 3 is horrid. The Terminatrix could have worked, but where is the dreadful theme that accompanies T-1000? Do I care if John dies? No, not really. Do I care about the Claire Danes character? Ha ha. DO I CARE ABOUT THE T-800? Nope. The characters are all stale, unmoving, and not emotional. No one seems to get depressed that death is coming after them and WILL kill them. The CG in the movie blows out the ass and is an embarassment to film-making. In order to understand why this movie is inferior to the first two, particularly the second one, you have to understand the first two movies themselves. We don't watch the Terminator movies for action, we watch them because they deliver a plot with great characters. Even a machine is able to change through Terminator 2. Now that's character development. Terminator 3 is a huge failure no matter which way you look at it. The only way I can see anyone liking it is if they didn't quite see the first two as I did, as they are truly meant to be seen -- as two of the greatest, emotional and action-packed masterpieces to hit the silverscreen. -Lasereth __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert