Terminator 3 Profile
This article is about the film. For the video game, see Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (video game).
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines movie poster
Directed by Jonathan Mostow
Produced by Mario F. Kassar Hal Lieberman Joel B. Michaels Andrew G. Vajna Colin Wilson
Written by Screenplay: John D. Brancato Michael Ferris Story: John D. Brancato Michael Ferris Tedi Sarafian Based on Characters Created by: James Cameron Gale Anne Hurd
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger Nick Stahl Claire Danes Kristanna Loken
Music by Marco Beltrami
Cinematography Don Burgess
Editing by Nicolas de Toth Neil Travis
Distributed by Warner Bros.(USA) Columbia Pictures (international)
Release date(s) July 2, 2003
Running time 109 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $187,300,000
Gross revenue $433,371,112 (worldwide)
Preceded by Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Followed by Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (commonly abbreviated as T3) is a 2003 science fiction film directed by Jonathan Mostow, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken. It is the sequel to The Terminator, released in 1984, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, released in 1991. It was released in the United States on July 2, 2003. This film was Arnold Schwarzenegger's final starring role before becoming Governor of California. Warner Home Video released the film on HD DVD on May 9, 2006 in North America. After the failure of Skynet to kill Sarah Connor before her son is born, and to kill John himself as a child, it sends back another Terminator in a last attempt before Judgment Day to wipe out as many resistance officers as possible, including John and his future wife. A fourth film, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, has been announced, and is slated for a summer 2009 release, written by T3 writers John Brancato and Michael Ferris. Arnold Schwarzenegger is not expected to reprise his starring role due to his gubernatorial duties in California.
Contents
1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Deleted scene 5 Games 6 Reception 7 Canon 8 References 9 External links
Plot Even though the events shown in Terminator 2, Judgment Day did not occur as originally predicted, John Connor (Nick Stahl) still doesn't believe the future war has been totally averted. He is living "off-the-grid," in Los Angeles, California with no permanent residence, credit cards, or mobile phone, and is working freelance so he can't be tracked. Skynet sends another Terminator, the T-X (Kristanna Loken), back to July 24, 2004, Judgment Day, to kill the human resistance's future lieutenants, because Connor could not be located through any information databases. The T-X, later dubbed the "Terminatrix", is armed with a full arsenal of advanced weapons from the future, avoiding the restriction of non-living tissue by carrying them internally, including the ability to remotely control most machines. As before, a reprogrammed Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), identical to the Terminators from the previous films, has been sent back in time to protect Connor and his future wife, Katherine Brewster (Claire Danes). In a plot twist, this particular Terminator killed John Connor in 2032, before being reprogrammed and sent back in time by Connor's wife. After rescuing them from an initial attack, the Terminator leads them to Sarah Connor's coffin, which her friends filled with weapons in the event that Judgment Day was not prevented. The T-X and the police arrive, and the three narrowly escape in a hearse. After the destruction of Cyberdyne Systems in T2, the Air Force has taken over the Skynet project as part of its Cyber Research Systems division, headed by General Robert Brewster, Kate's father. In an attempt to stop the spread of a computer supervirus, they activate Skynet, allowing it to invade all of their systems. John, Kate, and the Terminator arrive just a few minutes too late to stop them. The T-1 terminators, under control of the T-X, start killing office personnel. John, believing that Judgment Day can still be stopped, asks where the Skynet system core is, and just before General Brewster dies, he tells John and Kate to go to Crystal Peak, a base built into a mountain. As they board a plane to leave, they are attacked by the Terminator, which was taken over by the T-X. To avoid killing Connor, he shuts himself down. When they reach Crystal Peak, they are attacked once again by the T-X. Suddenly, a helicopter comes crashing through the front wall and into the T-X. The Terminator has managed to reboot himself and regain control. The T-X detaches its legs as they are stuck underneath the helicopter, quickly crawling after John and Kate. The Terminator manages to catch hold of it and save John and Kate by detonating its last remaining hydrogen fuel cell in the T-X's mouth, terminating them both. John and Kate discover that the base does not house the Skynet core. It is a fallout shelter for VIPs. General Brewster sent them there to protect them. There is no Skynet core; Skynet is software running on thousands of computers throughout the world, making Judgment Day unavoidable. Skynet launches nuclear missiles, starting the war of human versus machine. Foreshadowing Connor's future leadership role, when the confused military forces and ham radio operators ask for orders, he picks up the radio and takes command.
Cast
Actor Role
Arnold Schwarzenegger The Terminator
Nick Stahl John Connor
Claire Danes Kate Brewster
Kristanna Loken T-X
David Andrews Lieutenant General Robert Brewster, USAF
Mark Famiglietti Scott Mason
Earl Boen Dr. Peter Silberman
Moira Harris Betsy
Chopper Bernet Chief Engineer
Christopher Lawford Brewster's Aide
Carolyn Hennesy Rich Woman
Besides Arnold Schwarzenegger, Earl Boen (Dr. Silberman) is the only actor to appear in all three Terminator films. Linda Hamilton was initially approached to reprise her role as Sarah Connor, but turned it down. John explains in T3 that Sarah died of leukemia in the year 1997. Edward Furlong, who played John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, reportedly was not asked to reprise his role in T3 due to a substance abuse problem. In a 2004 interview, he responded, "I don't know In a 2005 interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Claire Danes revealed that she was cast for the role of Kate Brewster as a last-minute replacement, after actress Sophia Bush was thought too young to portray Kate Brewster. Danes started filming immediately, and basically learned about her character on the job. Danes later said this may have helped her performance, as Kate Brewster's character was similarly thrust into a strange new reality with no warning. Kate Brewster's slain boyfriend, Scott Mason, was originally named Scott Petersen, but was changed in order to avoid giving the false impression that this was a type of "reverse parody" of the Scott Peterson case surrounding the murder of Laci Peterson and her unborn son Conner. However, in the ending credits his name is still listed as "Scott Petersen."
Production James Cameron announced T3 many times during the 1990s, but without coming out with any finished script. During his divorce with Linda Hamilton, she asked for the Terminator franchise rights which she promptly sold to Carolco Pictures owners Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna. Tedi Serafian wrote a script, but as it would cost over $300 million, it was rejected. Serafian earned a "story" credit after screenwriters John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris used some of his ideas, like Sarah Connor being dead, and the rival Terminator being female. The studios had long wanted to make a sequel to the Terminator films. However, they weren't sure that Arnold Schwarzenegger would appear in it. Schwarzenegger initially refused to star in Terminator 3 because James Cameron, who created the character and directed the first two films, would not be directing the third installment. Schwarzenegger tried to persuade Cameron to produce the third film. Cameron declined, however, and feeling that the Terminator character was as much Schwarzenegger's as it was his own, he advised Schwarzenegger to just do the third film, and ask for "nothing less than $30 million." The movie's final production budget was $187.3 million, making it the most expensive independently-produced movie in history. Schwarzenegger had to spend $6 million of his own money to help fund the production of the movie. It was a scene that he himself wanted to put in the movie, as he explains in the audio commentary. Schwarzenegger agreed to defer part of his salary in order to prevent the relocation of the set to Vancouver, British Columbia from Los Angeles. Many pundits saw this as preparation to his campaign for California governor, in which he emphasized giving incentives to have movie productions stay in California, rather than film in less-expensive places elsewhere. In that vein, the film was markedly "cleaner" than previous Terminator films, featuring significantly less violence and swearing. The film takes several ideas from the novel T2: Infiltrator by S. M. Stirling. The novel, published in 2001, features a female terminator, the I-950, a plot point later reused in Terminator Rewired. The idea of Judgment Day being postponed was also used in the book. It also inspires the Sgt. Candy scene with its own explanation of the Terminator's physical appearance, in the form of Austrian counter-terrorist Dieter von Rossbach. Filming began on April 12, 2002.
Deleted scene A scene filmed during production explains why one series of Terminators all look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. A character named Chief Master Sergeant William Candy (played by Schwarzenegger) explains in an Air Force promotion video he was chosen to be the model of the Terminator project. Schwarzenegger's character has a Southern accent. When General Brewster questions it, another scientist replies (in a Schwarzenegger voice over), "We can fix it." The actor portraying this scientist is Jack Noseworthy. It was included in early prints of the film, but was later deleted. This scene is available as a special feature on the DVD version.
Games Several computer and video games were based on the film. An action game called Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was released by Atari for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance. The game was poorly reviewed, with a 39% average on Game Rankings for the PlayStation 2 version.
Reception Terminator 3 earned a worldwide box office gross of $433 million.
Canon Josh Friedman, producer of the 2008 Fox Broadcasting television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which takes place after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, stated in an interview that the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines occur in an alternate timeline from that of the TV series. The continuity of the plot of the franchise comes into question immediately in the opening scene of the film, in which John Connor narrates the events that have led to his current situation. During this scene, he indicates that the Terminators failed to kill his mother before he was born, so they tried again when he was only 13. This is a continuity error between T2 and T3, since it is made evident in T2 that John is 10 years old during the events of that film.
References
^ Warner Home Video Announces Titles and Release Dates for HD DVD. Yahoo!. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines at the Internet Movie Database
Preceded by "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" List of Box Office #1 Movies July 6, 2003 Succeeded by "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
v • d • e
The Terminator series
Films The Terminator • Terminator 2: Judgment Day • Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines • Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins
Other media T2 3-D: Battle Across Time • T2: Infiltrator • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Characters "The Terminator" • Sarah Connor • John Connor • Kyle Reese • Cameron Phillips • Miles Dyson • Kate Brewster • Dr. Peter Silberman • James Ellison
Terminators T-800 / T-850 / T-101 • T-1000 • T-1000000 • T-70 • I-950 • T-X • T-1 • Cromartie / T-888 • Cameron Phillips
Locations Los Angeles • Skynet • Cyberdyne Systems • Cyber Research Systems • Crystal Peak • Tech-Com
Cast Arnold Schwarzenegger • Linda Hamilton • Michael Biehn • Edward Furlong • Robert Patrick • Nick Stahl • Claire Danes • Kristanna Loken • Earl Boen • Lena Headey • Thomas Dekker • Summer Glau • Christian Bale • Richard T. Jones
Crew James Cameron • Jonathan Mostow • Mario F. Kassar • Andrew G. Vajna • Stan Winston • McG
Games See List of Terminator computer and video games
Comics The Terminator • RoboCop vs. Terminator • Superman vs. Terminator • Aliens vs. Predator vs. Terminator • Terminator 2: Infinity
Miscellaneous I'll be back • Terminator argument
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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) Features a cast list, trailers, quotes, and more.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines - Wikipedia Overview of the movie Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Includes plot summary, cast, trivia, and production details.
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Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Just as he promised,the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is back to aid his former nemesis,a now-adult John Connor (Nick Stahl). It's been 10 years since John saved
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