Plot
In the year 2029, a war between machines and humans rage. At the turn of the tide, one man is leading the humans to victory. To stop it, the machines send back a T-800 terminator to 1984 to kill the man's mother. The humans learn of the plan and send back a man to protect her.
The Terminator goes after every Sarah Connor in the book. The rebellion leader, John Connor, gives his man, Reese, a picture of his mother. Reese finds Sarah in time, and the chase begins. They elude the Terminator, and in the process, have sex. It turns out that Reese is John's father, causing on of those horribly confusing time-causality loops.
After a classic police station raid, the final showdown leads to Reese's death, and the destruction of the T-800 unit.
My Thoughts
This is one of those classic, change the course of film history movies. James Cameron is one of those strange directors that make epic movies, even when he's just trying to do a normal one. This movie made Arnold a star, and had one of the best plots of movies ever. It is just a classic which still holds up to the most advanced special effects extravaganzas. And Micheal Biehn is probably one of the best character actors of all time. He's one of my favorite actors period.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Cast
Sarah Connor: Linda Hamilton
John Connor: Edward Furlong
T-1000: Robert Patrick
T-800: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Released: 1991. Written by: James Cameron & william Wisher. Directed by: James Cameron. My rating: *****. Position on Top Twenty: #12.
Seven years have passed since the first T-800 traveled back to kill the mother of John Connor. It is 1991. Sarah Connor is imprisoned in a mental institution and John is with a foster family. He's a troubled teen, but his mother did what she could to prepare him for the trials ahead.
In the future, very little time has passed, well sort of. I don't know. Anyway, someone up there comes up with a new Terminator to send back and kill John himself before he can be of any good. The resistance sends back a stolen T-800, but he's outdated and no match for the new T-1000 the machines have sent.
The T-1000, who can morph using a liquid-metal polymer, starts looking for John. He nearly finds him, but the T-800 is there in the nick of time. The chase begins.
After eluding the T-1000, John decides his mother needs rescuing. And, of course, he's right. They break Sarah out of the institution, and regroup. Sarah then gets it into her head to destroy the reason the war started. They destroy a computer design company that is developing hardware based on technology from the first T-800. After that, the T-1000 chases them to a factory. Then, he's frozen, thawed, then melted into a puddle of goo. And, to prevent the technology from his body to be discovered, the T-800 melts himself down.
My Thoughts
This movie was just as ground-breaking as the original. It ushered in the use of practical CGI in a way that no other film had. The technology used for the T-1000 became a standard, and a starting block for the current technology used. The story is just as strong as the original, and the new dynamic created between the previously fatherless John and the T-800 is actually very touching. And Linda Hamilton's perfromance as the scarred and paranoid Sarah is one of those indellible female hero roles.
The classic scenes are now part of film legend. The institution rescue, the final scenes in the computer company, and the first chase down the aquaduct are classic. The first film made Arnold a star, and this one made him an icon. Every scene is another testament to his lasting appeal as an action star. Both are perfect films, and are sci-fi and action classic staples.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
John Connor: Nick Stahl
Katherine Brewster: Claire Daines
T-X: Kristanna Loken
T-800: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Released: 2003. Story by: John Brancato & Micheal Ferris & Tedi Sarafian. Screenplay by: John Brancato & Micheal Ferris. Directed by: Jonathon Mostow. My Rating: ****.
Plot
Ten years later, with Judgement Day supposedly avereted, John Conner is living outside the system. He's on his own, and by some strange coincedence, runs into an old aquientence. That's when a new Terminator, the T-X, shows up and has both him and this friend, Katherine Brewster, on her list of termination candidates. Of course, where there's one terminator, there's always another, and once again, another T-800 is sent back.
The T-800 finds the targets, along with the T-X, and narrowly escapes. Along the way, we find that Sarah is dead, and the T-800 does not obey John's orders. It obey's Brewster's. She sent the T-800 back, mostly because John gets killed by this actual unit. We also find out that Brewster is the daughter of a general, one who will inititate the Skynet and destroy mankind.
They attempt to stop him and meet the T-X again. They can't stop the Skynet, but Connor and Brewster escape to an underground facility as the T-800 scrifices himself to kill the T-X. In the end, we see Judgement Day in its full glory.
My Thoughts
The first two Terminator films are legendary in genre entertainment, and in Hollywood period. James Cameron crafted one of the most complex stories ever with those two films, and it seemed almost sacrilige that someone else would try to make another. Even with Arnold involved, it had to fail. Jonathon Mostow, best known for the dreadful (in my opinion) U-571, took the helm of this film. Arnold joined on, but none of the original cast did.
This movie did what it was supposed to. It continued the story Cameron began in 1984. It does not try to top the last movie, although the major chase scene, is a spectacular sight to behold. I have seen a great many chase scenes this year (most in Bad Boys II, but that's another story) and this has to be the best. The overall movie is pretty incredible. I was rivetted in my seat for the entire two hours. And, it sets up perfectly for the rumored fourth and final sequel.
