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"TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES" (2003) (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Heavy Extreme Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild< /TH> Minor Heavy None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Moderate Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Sci-fi: A cyborg from the future is sent to the present where he tries to protect the future savior and leader of humanity from a deadly, android assassin. PLOT: Nearly a decade after the human resistance movement of the future sent a reprogrammed cyborg, the Terminator (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER), to protect their future savior and leader, their machine foes have now sent a more advanced terminator unit, the T-X (KRISTANNA LOKEN) to kill John Connor (NICK STAHL). An android that looks like an anatomically correct woman, the T-X can assume the shape of anything she touches and control any machine, and has been programmed to kill John and various other future lieutenants, such as veterinarian Kate Brewster (CLAIRE DANES). The resistance, however, has again sent one of the older terminator units (ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER) back in time to the present to protect John and Kate from the T-X. As the pending nuclear Armageddon approaches, John and Kate, with the help of the Terminator, try to avoid the repeated attacks of the T-X unit and race to save humanity. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the first films or anyone in the cast, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong sci-fi violence and action, and for language and brief nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER plays a cyborg sent from the future into the present where he tries to protect John and Kate from the attacks of the T-X unit. NICK STAHL plays the 22-year-old future savior of humanity who's the target of the T-X unit. He tries to keep himself and Kate alive and uses some strong profanity. CLAIRE DANES plays a veterinarian who finds her life turned upside down when her path runs into that of the others. KRISTANNA LOKEN plays the ruthless and persistent T-X unit that's been programmed to kill John and Kate and kills many other people. DAVID ANDREWS plays Kate's general father who must decide whether to allow a computer program to take control of the military operations. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this sci-fi film that's been rated R. Profanity consists of at least 5 uses of the "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Various brief and partial nude views of anatomically correct terminator machines (bare breasts and butts, at night and in the shadows) are seen, while the female unit increases her clothed bust size in response to seeing a Victoria's Secret model who shows cleavage. Violence consists of a tremendous amount of brutal action and sci-fi oriented fighting, the T-X unit killing many people (occasionally with rather bloody results) and trying to kill others, while a great deal of property damage also occurs. Some of those scenes, some bloody/gory ones (including the near decapitation of an android) and some nuclear explosion scenes might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers, while the killing units obviously have bad attitudes. Some tense family material is present, as is some brief drinking and one character takes some drugs from a veterinary shop. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE John drops a beer bottle (from which he had been presumably been drinking) into a body of water. Miscellaneous women have drinks in a bar. John takes various drugs that he gets in a veterinarian shop. Various young people have beer. BLOOD/GORE We see a little bit of blood on a bandage on John's leg. We see a few bloody bullet holes in a woman's shirt. The T-X then runs her finger through that blood and tastes it (to identify the person). The T-X then tastes blood from the above bloody bandage. The Terminator has a bit of blood on his face. The Terminator has additional bloody cuts and gashes on his face. The Terminator uses a blade of some sort to cut a large incision into his own chest (to retrieve a bad power cell). While there's no blood, the sight of the cutting and large incision might be unsettling to queasy viewers. We hear the sound of the T-X starting a saw of some sort and then briefly see blood splatter onto a framed photo (from killing a person). The T-X drives her fist and arm through the backseat of a car and through the driver's chest (with bloody results). She then also kills the passenger (with bloody results). A man has a tiny bit of blood on his mouth. The T-X kicks The Terminator's head, nearly decapitating him (we twice see the head hanging backwards from his body). John has some blood on his face. Half of The Terminator's face is rather bloody and torn up. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Although programmed to be that way, the T-X kills various people and attempts to kill John and Kate. A miscellaneous driver involved in a traffic accident has a bad attitude. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" (including the various chase, attack and fight sequences) and "Blood/Gore" might also be disturbing or suspenseful to some viewers. We see many human skulls at the bottom of a body of water and then many robots that somewhat look like human skeletons (one looks directly into the camera). John and Kate learn that the massive nuclear war is to start today, in just three hours (and must then race to try to stop that from happening). John holds a gun to his own head as a means of convincing The Terminator to help him and Kate. John and Kate realize they only have 32 minutes before nuclear Armageddon begins. John and Kate race to open a gate as the T-X unit approaches them. GUNS/WEAPONS Machine guns/Shotguns/Handguns/Rocket launcher/Explosives (including nuclear weapons): Used to threaten, wound or kill others or cause property damage. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck you," "F*ck my destiny," "You've got to be sh*tting me," "I'm not sh*tting you," "Holy sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "Just d*cking with me?" "Tricky bastard," "Bitch, wait your turn," "What the hell /is going on/is happening?" "You bastard," "Balls" (testicles), "Shut up," "I'll be God damned," "Drop dead, you asshole," "Hasta la vista," "Go to hell," "Give me a break," "That sucks," "She'll be back" and "Just die, you bitch." The Terminator repeats a line ("Talk to the hand") and gesture (holding that hand up to someone in the "stop" position). JUMP SCENES The T-X suddenly shows up at a window. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 5 "f" words, 9 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("d*cking"), 5 hells, 4 asses (2 used with "hole"), 1 damn, 1 S.O.B., 5 uses each of "G-damn" and "Oh my God," 3 of "Oh God," 2 of "Jesus" and 1 use of "Christ," "Dear God" and "God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY The T-X unit arrives nude at night and we briefly see a partial side view of her bare breasts as she stands. We then see several partial views of her bare butt (in the shadows). She then walks across the street toward a car, but due to the camera angle and foreground objects blocking our view of her, we don't see any more nudity. The T-X spots a Victoria's Secret billboard (that shows a woman in her bra with cleavage) and the T-X's clothed bust line suddenly increases (that later gets the attention of a man who spots her). We see the side of The Terminator's bare butt when he arrives fully nude. We then see his bare butt in the shadows as he walks toward a bar (where ladies night features a male stripper). The women inside then cheer on The Terminator's nudity (that we don't see). The Terminator, wanting the man's clothes for his own, tells the stripper to take off his clothes (somewhat played for laughs via some gay humor). Miscellaneous women show cleavage. We see Kate in bed with her fiancé, but nothing happens between them. The Terminator comments that Kate is a healthy female of breeding age. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We hear that John's mother died from leukemia several years back. A woman's father is killed. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Whether machinery will ever get as "smart" as portrayed here. How computers control ever-increasing parts of our life and civilization. Computer viruses. Nuclear Armageddon. The comment that fate is what you make it. VIOLENCE We see a nuclear explosion in a city (from a distance). John wipes out on his motorcycle and slides across the road. We hear but don't see the T-X kill a woman. John uses his elbow to break through a glass cabinet. The Terminator opens a door into a man, hitting him quite hard. The Terminator squeezes a man's hand quite hard. The T-X repeatedly shoots and kills a driver (seen from a distance with no details). The T-X pushes a young person to the floor and then repeatedly shoots him (no blood and we don't see the impact). John holds a gun on Kate (so that she doesn't call the police), but she then distracts him, grabs the gun and pushes him backwards. She then shoots him twice (but it turns out to be with a paintball gun) and pushes him back into a cage. We hear gunfire (from the T-X) and then see a victim fall to the floor dead. The T-X shoots at Kate who runs away. The T-X punches through a vehicle window, rips off the door and then grabs Kate and throws her across a parking lot. She then places her foot down onto Kate's neck. The Terminator drives a truck that plows into the T-X and then smashes her into and through a wall, resulting in an explosion. The Terminator fires several shotgun blasts into the T-X that then fires some sort of energy pulse into The Terminator, knocking him quite a ways backwards. A cop falls out of a moving car that the T-X now controls. A crane truck blasts through a fence. The Terminator grabs and throws a cop off a motorcycle. A truck crashes into a car. The T-X drives a large crane truck while pursuing John who's in a small truck. As they careen down the road, the T-X also controls various unmanned police cars that bash and crash into John's truck, sending it spinning in all directions. During this, the crane also smashes into various cars, and the T-X fires an energy blast that causes an explosion. The crane arm also crashes through various utility poles on the road as well as buildings and cars along the side, resulting in a great deal of property damage. The Terminator then shoots out at least one of the crane truck's tires and ends up hanging onto the end of the crane (that the T-X then repeatedly swings around, bashing The Terminator into and through various buildings and vehicles). During all of that, Kate is in the back compartment area of the truck and is thrashed about inside it. Several men fall out of a fire truck and The Terminator throws the driver out onto the street. The T-X fires a blast that causes a fire truck to explode. The Terminator throws the T-X out of a vehicle. A cable rips through the street while being pulled along by a huge crane truck. When the cable gets to the end, it goes taut and causes the crane truck to flip over and crash quite hard onto the street. The Terminator uses a blade of some sort to cut a large incision into his own chest (to retrieve a bad power cell). While there's no blood, the sight of the cutting and large incision might be unsettling to queasy viewers. The Terminator discards his faulty power cell on a desert road, resulting in a huge, nuclear bomb type explosion (no one is harmed). The Terminator lifts Kate from the ground and she repeatedly whacks at him. He then throws her back into a truck. We hear the sound of the T-X starting a saw of some sort and then briefly see blood splatter onto a framed photo (from killing a person). The Terminator drives a truck through a fence. The Terminator punches his fist through a mausoleum wall and retrieves a casket (that's full of weapons when he opens it). Kate holds a gun on The Terminator and John says to go ahead and shoot him (knowing it won't make any difference). The Terminator then grabs the gun, causing it to discharge and The Terminator then spits out the bullet he caught in his mouth. The Terminator has a person by the throat and lifts them from the ground. The T-X drives her fist and arm through the backseat of a car and through the driver's chest (with bloody results). She then also kills the passenger (with bloody results). The Terminator bursts from a mausoleum carrying a casket full of weapons. Police then open fire on him with machine guns and the like, but he's impervious to the bullets. He then opens fire at them with a large machine gun, riddling their cars with bullets (but notes that there are no casualties). The police then riddle the hearse he's driving with gunfire. The Terminator fires a rocket that blasts the T-X backwards and through a large headstone at a cemetery. Her massive but bloodless shoulder wound then quickly heals on its own. The T-X runs and jumps onto a hearse's roof that she proceeds to cut through. John then shoots her several times with a machine gun, while The Terminator tries to fling her off by swerving the hearse. He eventually slams it (and her) into another vehicle. The Terminator riddles John with machine gun fire, but we then see that John is really the T-X. The T-X shoots and mortally wounds a man. The Terminator shoots the T-X back through a wall. Various weapon-outfitted machines suddenly come to "life" and open fire on humans, killing many of them (without bloody results). The Terminator damages such a machine, rips off its machine gun and uses that to riddle another machine with gunfire, destroying it. We see street mayhem from the above machines (seen from a distance). A flying machine fires a missile into an office (after The Terminator fires at it), resulting in a small explosion. The Terminator repeatedly uses a large tank of compressed air to bash the T-X in the face. She then kicks him back, but he bashes her through a wall and steps down onto her face. She then kicks him, thrashes him about through a bathroom and through walls and stall walls, and knocks him backwards quite a distance. More thrashing about occurs and she repeatedly head-butts him (back of head to front of his). She then uses her arm-mounted flamethrower on his face, resulting in half of it being rather bloody and exposed. The T-X kicks The Terminator's head, nearly decapitating him (we twice see the head hanging backwards from his body). A flying machine fires missiles at Kate and John who duck to the floor (the missiles explode in a wall). The machine then seems to be searching for the two (but can't "see" them). Kate then suddenly stands and riddles the machine with machine gun fire, destroying it. The T-X chases Kate and John through a tunnel, firing a flamethrower like device at them. A powerful magnet grabs the T-X and starts to yank away parts of her metallic body. The Terminator grabs John, yanks him from a small, parked plane and throws him across the floor. The Terminator knocks Kate backwards (and into something quite hard) after she jumps on his back. The Terminator throws John back into a vehicle's windshield and then grabs him by this throat. The Terminator repeatedly bashes a truck's hood, crushing it. A helicopter crashes into a mountain-based room. John hits the T-X with machine gun fire. Another chopper crashes into the above room, smashes the T-X into the floor and there's a large explosion. The T-X grabs John by the ankle and causes him some pain. There's a large explosion that destroys part of a mountain complex and possibly two terminator units. We see nuclear missiles launching and then see several nuclear blasts hitting cities (seen from great distances). Reviewed June 30, 2003 / Posted July 2, 2003