Article Response: Terminator 3

http://www.freakytrigger.co.uk/terminator.html

P-102: T2 didn't star his missus, it starred his missus-to-be sent back from six years in the future. And your argument damages itself: it's not his effect, it's not his song, and they're both better than anything to do with T3.

P-103: He's second to Nick Stahl, but miles ahead of Claire Danes.

P-104: No arguments here. The line of people claiming that this sets the scene for a third sequel amaze and depress me.

P-105: It's worth pointing out that they didn't eject Edward Furlong from the role of the freaked-out drugged-up loser that John Connor has become because of his resemblance or lack thereof, but because he'd become a freaked-out drugged-up loser.

P-105a: There's a great line along the lines of "by this logic must be the best film ever", but the actual example has fled my mind like a butterfly.

P-106: Jokes in T3: "talk to the hand" - The star glasses - "your levity is good". Er, that's it.

P-107: While Clare Danes' character is more than her plot, it's not enough to compensate for the fact that her plot is bobbins. After years avoiding everyone and everything, John stumbles across an old flame on the day the Terminator returns. I know, it's made clear later that the sentence is the other way around, but the Terminator films should be designed for clarity, not post-film pub musing.

P-108: Instead, we get the double-header of the Two Fuel Cells. The one introduced as early as possible, to remove the uncertainty as to how the movie will end, and the other at the end, to wrap it all up and provide a final sacrifice for Arnie - except that he keeps on talking after both his fuel cells are gone, even enough to deliver the most clanging one-liner in the entire trilogy.

P-108-a: If you prefer, we can consider Earn Boen being dragged back from what appears to be the grave to play Dr. Silberman again.

P-109: this is P-101 + P-104 again, and I claim my five pounds. But if we need a spare point, how about the horrific set-up dialogue? "Yes, you are my daughter, and I your father. I've always been very proud of you, and you've done well by me."

Anyway, neither of them hold a candle to the intro movie to the PS2 game:

http://mediaviewer.ign.com/ignMediaPage.jsp?channel_id=70&object_id=552243&adtag=network=ign&site=ps2&pagetype=medialist&page_title=Terminator+3%3A+Rise+of+the+Machines

"The Joys of Floppy-haired Guys" should be a new thread to compensate for all of the leching on female singers and actresses in the past couple of days.

Reading the article it reminded me how much fun browsing through the Pumpkin State archives was - any chance of getting those back?

Martin Donovan would be No. 1!

Farrell:
1: How much better would it have been if Armageddon had featured the end of the world? (I know its a moot point - but it was more about the special effect of the nuclear war that always bugged me about T2.

2: Point is the song was tagged on (so excellently nothing to do with him). Okay, she wasn't his wife yet - but consider that since he had worked with her before this may construe the ultimate selfishact - in as much as he cast her so he could pull her.

3: Disagree - she is the viewpoint character for the uninitiated. The film has a total disregard for Arnie's Terminator - making him suffer comedic indignity after comedic indignity.

5: Agreed - they obv would have gone for Furlong for continuity reasons to try and tie to to the franchise. That this was not possible is a happy accident.

6: The whole ladies night stripper stuff is pretty funny. The anticipation of reactions to Arnie is played with comic timing.

7: I should have used the Earn Boen gag here (I was going to) - however this is a Terminator film and hence designed partially for post film pub musings (it is a sci fi movie ferchrissake. That's like saying ET wasn't made to make you cry). The fact that the Claire Danes plot later reveals itself in that reversal way also increasingly makes sense of the time travel stuff (time travel does change things, but things tend to happen anyway).

8: The two fuel cells was a bit bobbins- but it wasn't left to the final moments of the film. Nothing I didn't expect but sure - an admitted weakness in the film.

9: I'll give you your five pound when I see you next. Actually the point I should have used here was Cameron make T2 for kids but not understanding the cardinal rule of kids film making. Films for kids do not need kids in them.

One other nice idea which is implicit in T3 regarding the superior terminators sent back every time is Skynet's own paranoia. Consider that the TX can herself infect machines and make them do her bidding. So she could go back to the 1980's and start the whole thing off. But then she would be Skynet - (etc etc...)

You're not alone.

This is only relevant in the far-flung future when people don't know what Terminators are. And by this time people will have forgotten that Arnie was the good-guy in T2 (worst-kept secret in film ever?), which will improve that film too (I imagine).

I did actually like the actual end of the film, although it seemed a bit fanficcy "see John Connor in the moment when he seized his density!" "Couldn't we see the robots again?". Also I like that it keeps to the Terminator formula: robot appears - big chase with breather - ending.

I did really like the article, though.

This is great.

Pirates TONITE!!!!

*rereads* :-)