| Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines | |
|---|---|
| |
| Riffed by | RiffTrax |
| Riffers | Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy |
| Series | Terminator (Series) |
| Date Released | March 16, 2007 |
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (commonly abbreviated as T3) is a 2003 American science fiction action film, directed by Jonathan Mostow and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken. It is the third installment of the Terminator series, following Terminator 2: Judgment Day and the first to not involve franchise creator James Cameron, who directed and wrote the two first installments. The plot follows the events of the second installment. After Skynet fails to kill Sarah Connor before her son is born and to kill John himself as a child, it sends back another Terminator, the T-X, in an attempt to wipe out as many Resistance officers as possible. RiffTrax released their riff in March 2007.
Synopsis and Preview[]
The Best of Rifftrax - Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines
[Spoilers Begin]
John Connor has been living off-the-grid in Los Angeles in the years following the death of his mother, Sarah, from leukemia. Although Judgment Day did not occur as expected on August 29, 1997, John still believes that war between humans and Skynet will occur. Unable to locate John in the past, Skynet sends a new model of Terminator called the T-X back to July 24, 2004 to kill other members of the human resistance. More advanced than previous Terminators, the T-X has an endoskeleton with built-in weaponry, a liquid metal exterior similar to the T-1000, and the ability to control other machines. Unlike previously seen Terminators, its standard appearance is female. The resistance sends a reprogrammed T-850 model 101 Terminator back in time to protect the T-X's targets, including Kate Brewster and John.
The T-X was able locate Kate and then John at an animal hospital, but they escape with the help of the Terminator. The T-X commandeers a crane and several other vehicles and gives chase. After an extended chase and battle in the city, the Terminator takes John and Kate to a mausoleum where Sarah Connor is interred. Inside her vault they find a weapons cache that was left at Sarah's request in case Judgment Day was not averted. The T-X and police arrive and begin a gun battle, but John and the Terminator escape with Kate in a hearse. Following its programming, the Terminator begins driving John and Kate to Mexico to escape the fallout when Judgment Day begins. John puts a gun to his head and threatens to kill himself after learning that Judgment Day was scheduled to begin at 6:18 p.m. that day. He orders the Terminator to take him and Kate to see Kate's father, an Air Force officer who knows where Skynet is. The Terminator explains that after Cyberdyne Systems was destroyed, Skynet was taken over by the United States Air Force. The Terminator calls John's bluff but agrees to take them after Kate orders him to. Upon questioning, the Terminator reveals that Kate sent him back from the future and that he killed John in 2032.
At the Air Force base, General Brewster faces pressure from the President to activate Skynet to stop a malicious computer virus that is infecting computers all over the world. John and Kate arrive too late to stop Skynet from being activated, and the Air Force machinery begins to massacre the staff members. Colonel Brewster is mortally wounded by the T-X, as it arrived before John, Kate and the Terminator. Before dying he gives Kate and John a code book and the location of what John believes is Skynet's system core. John and Kate head for the tarmac to take an airplane to reach Crystal Peak, a military base built into a mountain that's hardened against nuclear attack. The T-X and Terminator clash in battle, and the T-X beats him badly before taking over his system. The T-X pursues John and Kate through the military base but becomes trapped when a particle accelerator at the facility is activated and the magnetic field bonds it to the accelerator. In the hangar, the Terminator attacks John and Kate before John convinces it to reject the T-X's control which shuts it down.
John and Kate reach Crystal Peak and begin entering the access codes to gain entry when the T-X arrives by helicopter. Just as she's about to attack them, the rebooted Terminator arrives a few minutes later in a second helicopter which crashes into the T-X, ripping it in half. The T-X pulls itself from the wreckage and attempts to drag itself inside the bunker and follow John and Kate. The Terminator holds the bunker open long enough for John and Kate to lock themselves inside, then he uses his nuclear power cell to destroy both himself and the T-X as well. Once inside Crystal Peak, John and Kate discover that the facility isn't Skynet's core, but instead is a nuclear fallout shelter and that Skynet has no core. Judgment Day begins outside, as nuclear missiles are fired at several locations around the world, killing millions and they begin receiving radio transmissions on the emergency equipment inside. John assumes leadership and begins answering radio calls, as he muses in a voiceover about how he realizes now that Skynet and Judgment Day could never be avoided.
[Spoilers End]
Cast and Crew[]
- Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator
- Nick Stahl as John Connor
- Claire Danes as Kate Brewster
- Kristanna Loken as T-X
- David Andrews as Lieutenant General Robert Brewster
- Mark Famiglietti as Scott Mason
- Earl Boen as Dr. Peter Silberman
- Jay Acovone as LAPD Officer
- Kim Robillard as Detective Edwards
- Mark Hicks as Detective Bell