 T3 in HD |
| Review Date: November 2, 2006 |
| Reviewer: OrangeCrush, Farmington Hills, MI USA |
I am a big fan of the terminator series. I think the story is one of the best ever concieved as it has alot to do with whats really going on in the world. Will artificial intelligence ever reach a point were it becomes self aware? Its a very interesting question and I think that is one of the reasons why it has been so successful as a series. This is also one of the only trilogys that I feel still has alot of potential for future movies. I think we really need a terminator film that is actually set in the future where the terminators live and with the recent announcment of T4 most likly being made, hopefully we will get just that.
As for T3, it is without a doubt the worst film of the 3 but with that being said I still really enjoyed this film. Alot of the people that disliked it did so because they said it went back on everything that was established in T2. I am not one of these people and I really like the aspect of this film that turned around and said Judgement day is inevitable. Its without a doubt the single best twist to this entire story in my opinion because in reality it really is. Technology will continue to drive forward with computers getting better and better and no matter what you do to stop it, someone else will pop up and continue the research and development. Its basically where we are today with technology. There is no stopping the advancment that we see taking place on almost a daily basis. If one company were to stop develpment in a certain area, someone else would just pop up and take that companies or persons place.
Anyways that is really why I liked this film so much. It took the series in a completly new direction by stating that there was no way to stop it while the first two movies focused on what to do to actually stop it. With that being said this movie had its flaws and it just isnt on the same level that T1 & T2 are on. Its still a highly entertaining action film with some great performances and a great ending that perfectly sets up the Terminator film that I am dying to see, the one set in the wasteland of the future. Hats off to Arnold as well who really busted his butt to get into killer shape for this film so he wouldnt look any different than he did during the first 2 films. He pulled it off without a hitch. Just another testament to that guys ability to work his body and get into killer shape.
Anyways on to the HD-DVD...
There were a few people on the HD forums that were disappointed in this transfer as it didnt show the amount of detail that some of the better transfers have shown. While it is true that this transfer doesnt have the detail present in some of the other transfers like Aeon Flux, Batman Begins and Sahara, it is still a great looking film and a big improvment overthe SD version. One of the thing you have to take into account is the fact that certain films just translate over to HD with much better results than others do. T3 was shot using Super35 and to sum up the Super35 process, it doesnt use as much area on the negative that regular anamorphic does thus you have a slight loss of detail compared to those that use standard anamorphic. With Super35 you also have to make intermediate prints to get the transfer onto a film that can be used in theatres. Everytime you make an intermediate print you lose resolution and detail. So to sum it up as I really dont want to get into a big technical discussion on Super35 and the other film processes. Super35 just does not have the image quality that regular anamorphic does period. T3 is a super35 film thus when you transfer the t3 film onto HD it just isnt going to look as sharp as a lot of the other films that arent Super35. Some of the main characteristics of Super35 are increased grain and less detail, both which are present in the HD transfer of T3.
With that being said, T3 still looks great and is a vast improvment over the SD version. I am actually a fan of increased graain as long as it doesnt look noisy which in this case it doesnt. It adds a disticnt look to the film. As much as some people would love for every film to look like the Batman Begins of Aeon Flux transfer, its just a bad idea. To make evey film look the same would be like taking all of the artistic possibilites of film and throwing them down the toilet. Its good that films look different because it would be a very boring world of cinema if everything looked the same. Just image what Tim Burtons Sleepy Hollow would look like if he used the same film and process used for Batman Begins. It would have absolutly destroyed the film and would have taken all of the spooky atmoshpere away. He purposly used cross processing to make all of the colors washed out and to make it more grainy and more contrasty. That film also looks great on HD-DVD but like T3 doesnt have a transfer that shows as much detail as some of the other transfers.
The sooner everyone relaizes that not every film is supposed to have incredible detail, vivid colors, & natural contrast. Films differ by the processes used to make the film and those differences in process equate to a difference in characteristics in a HD transfer. You have to educate yourself on just what processes were used for each particular film and only then can you make an educated critique of a particular films HD transfer.
To sum this up, T3 is certainly not a disc you want to pop in when your trying to show someone just how much detail can be seen in a HD movie. It was filmed in Super35 thus it was never trying to be a film that had a crazy amount of detail in the print. With that being said, T3 is a great transfer that is accurate to its master print. Its a big improvment over the SD version and its a great film which hopefully leads the series to a 4th film which is set in the future. I know I wont ever be done with the idea of a new Terminator flick until that particular story has been told. Here is to hoping they get around to making that happen.
OC.. |
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines being replaced by Warner
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| Review Date: January 1, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Paul Woolley, Niagara Falls |
| I give the film five stars, because I like the movie. About the 1080i issue: if you own an incorrect T3 Blu-Ray disc, you can call Warner's customer service number at 1-800-553-6937 for an exchange. |
A review from someone who's actually SEEN it . . .
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| Review Date: July 1, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Scott F Andrews, Boston, MA |
| I went to an advance screening last night. My expectations were pretty low, given the lack of James Cameron at the helm and the span of years that have passed since T2. My biggest concern going in was that it would just be a Terminator vs. Terminator rehash with no real contribution to the story arc of Cameron's universe. My fears were unfounded, however. Jonathan Mostow has done an admirable job of capturing the audacious action and dark humor of the first two movies, while still managing to provide enough new twists to keep this third incarnation fresh. Yes, there's a lot of T-101 vs. T-X insanity, but these sequences are so well-executed and so over the top you can't help but laugh with glee. Kristanna Loken is every bit as scary as Robert Patrick was in the second installment, to the point where during one scene the girl next to me actually screamed in terror. The script, while a bit light on character development, offers plenty of great moments, both frightening and humorous. There are also many smart and unexpected references to the earlier films to tie everything together. Best of all, without giving anything away, important things happen. Things you'll want to see and know about if you are a fan of the first two films. My only gripe is that certain elements of the plot (which I can't reveal) aren't adequately explained. Perhaps those explanations wound up on the cutting room floor and we'll get them on the DVD. However, by the time that classic Terminator theme faded in and the credits rolled, I was very happy with the experience and my doubts about this third chapter in the series were put to rest. This film is about more than cashing in on a successful franchise. They've tried to do justice to the series' legacy and, in my opinion, they've succeeded. |
The machines are rising...
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| Review Date: November 16, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Dr. Lee D. Carlson, Baltimore, Maryland USA |
| Artificial intelligence has been growing by leaps and bounds in the last 40 years, but advances in the field have been difficult, and recognition that advances have indeed been made prove to be very transitory. Research in AI is very odd for this reason: the belief that one has discovered an intelligent software system is very short lived, unlike other fields of research. It seems that researchers in AI are too hard on themselves, too easily persuaded, that their discoveries do not represent true intelligence. Moviemakers though have expressed considerable enthusiasm regarding AI, and this movie is ample proof of that. If only the field was advanced as this movie portrays it to be. Concrete results and applications of AI though are currently accelerating, and there is little doubt that battlefield robots will be a natural consequence of the current AI technology. The storyline has some plausibility in light of the current use of artificial intelligence in network engineering, especially network security, network event correlation, and network capacity planning. Indeed, it was announced this year that a technology is now available that will identify security risks and take action using auto-adapting artificial intelligence. The story makes Skynet one of these smart network applications, so intelligent in fact that it becomes "self-aware", gets paranoid about human intentions, and therefore orders a massive nuclear strike in order to remove the human threat. This move by Skynet though makes the story somewhat implausible, for if, as the story holds, there is no "central core" to Skynet, it being instead a distributed application that runs on computers all over the world, then it would destroy itself in the very act of a global nuclear strike. It would have been better for Skynet to "lay low" and make sure power systems cannot be tampered with instead of ordering such a self-destrucutive act. It is the power systems that are most crucial for the survival of Skynet, and its distributed nature requires such power sources to be left intact globally, and not just "under the mountain" where its inventors program it. In addition, there is no need in the story for Skynet to become "self-aware" in order for it to engage in reasoning that will protect it from harm. The agents and spiders it moves around in the global Internet could make logical deductions to this effect. Such agents would then spend most of their time insuring that power supplies are redundant enough to keep Skynet's global nature without flaws. The action in the movie is typical of the Terminator movies and book series, with the female-emulating TX Terminator robot, highly sophisticated technologically, taking the story for sure in this regard. But the story also captures the introspection of John Connor, the main character and hero, and the one responsible for leading the future war against the machines. A human being facing this knowledge of the future would be under considerable stress, and this is brought out in the movie via his dreams. The dreams are of a nightmarish future, with a devastating war of humans against machines, a war that Connor and his lieutenants will eventually win, much to the chagrin of the machines. The machines can't accept their defeat, and consequently send replicas of themselves through time to try and kill Connor and his lieutenants. Should we label the machines as intelligent considering their behavior? Do intelligent entities engage in the violence and horror that these machines do? One can of course imagine schemes and plans that might justify such behavior, but a more practical strategy would be to ignore human interactions, or possibly engage in a mutual symbiosis. Intelligent entities realize the waste of resources and intellect in the making of violent confrontation, using it only as last resort. There are so many scenarios that would be more optimal for the course of action of these machines, and it would not be a credible argument to hold that they act as they do because of their training via humans, considering the relative sparsity of human violence throughout history. One should interpret therefore the machine decision for war as a mistake, and not one that is practical, and therefore not moral. They failed to seek alternatives that would insure their survival, and this is ample proof that they are not intelligent, or at best marginally so. The movie though in a sense is a portent, however inaccurate, of things to come, and things that are happening right now in artificial intelligence. We do not have robot armies, but we have AI invading many domains: financial engineering, network engineering, mathematics, physics, Ecommerce, bioinformatics, to name just a few. The applications of AI are increasing dramatically, and there is every indication that this trend will continue. We are entering a world of the silicon geniuses. We are indeed witnessing, and are priveleged to do so, the rise of the machines... |
"She'll Be Back...."
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| Review Date: July 15, 2003 |
| Reviewer: Barry, |
| After having to sit thru the pile of crud that was "XXX" recently, I have to say how nice it was to finally see a real action movie. This is how you do it. Arnold may be getting older, but he can still show the young 'uns what an action film is. Are you listening Mr. Diesel?. The plots to these films are filled with techno gizmo and all that kind of stuff, so it hardly matters what exactly the movie is about. After all, it all comes down to the action and the special effects. This one has got it all. The first two films in the series were classics in the genre. It's tough telling how this one will rank in the series with die hard fans, but I am here to tell you that this is one fun ride. So, how exactly do you come back after the groundbreaking part 2?. How do you top it?. Apparently, after seeing the movie, you don't. The effects are fantastic and cool, but they don't seem to build much upon part 2. The female terminator is incredible, but her attributes don't outdo or better Robert Patrick's from the previous film. Basically, it just stays with the flow from the second film with eye popping action that outdoes everything in action films in recent years and great effects. The story takes place ten years later, although it has actually been twelve years since the last film came out. John Connor, now played by Nick Stahl, has been keeping a low profile. He has no phone, no address, and lives on the street. Can't find him that way. A female terminator named the T-X, played by beautiful Kristana Lokken, comes to town with one thing in mind. Kill John and prevent him from becoming the future leader of humankind. She starts going thru everyone associated with him and leaving them in body bags. In comes the T-101 cyborg(Arnold)to protect John, although he was originally designed and programmed to be an assassin. His mission is to also protect the lovely Kate Brewster(played by the lovely Claire Danes), who is an old acquaintance of John's and has a connection with him in the future. Arnold must keep them alive, keep the terminatrix at bay, and stop machines being controlled by computers and destroying the world. Arnold is back in action and reclaims the action king crown. He's getting older, but it is definitley not an issue. He doesn't look much different than he did 12 years ago. I would still much rather see a 55 year old Arnold Schwarzenegger, or a 60 year old Harrison Ford, than a 25 year old anybody else. This film also has a welcome dose of humor as well. It is able to be funny and crack jokes and play with itself. Other action films take themselves so seriously, that they are laughable. Again, must I mention "XXX"?. Stahl and Danes are most welcome as the two human heroes. Stahl is a likeable presence worthy enough to cheer and root for. It is somewhat surprising to see Danes in a movie like this. She really fits well tho. She is human and brings real human feelings and emotion to the proceedings. She is very sweet and lovely looking to boot. Kristana Lokken does what there is to do with the character. She is icy and cold and lethal. It also isn't a negative thing that she is nice to look at. The dialogue is pretty tight, from what you can make out of it from all of the technical mumbo jumbo, and everything moves right along at a nice pace. There is even a cameo from Earl Boen, who appeared as Dr. Siberling in the original film. Nice touch. It is a bit sad that Linda Hamilton wasn't involved. She was missed. The movie is everything you'd expect from an action movie and everything you could want in a Terminator film. The action is incredible. It just keeps coming. A chase scene with firetrucks and all is an impressive sight. Teriffic. So, it's a slam bang, fun filled action ride that is sure to please die hard action fans. I enjoyed it a lot and I think anyone interested in this sort of thing will be too. Diesel still isn't ready to play with the big boys. |
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