TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES - HD DVD review

"I'm back." --Arnold, "T3"

And he's not only back, he's back in high definition. A lot of viewers are probably saying to themselves that it's about time Warner Bros. released some big blockbusters on HD-DVD, some killer apps as they say in the computer world, and they did, releasing "Terminator 3" and "Troy" within weeks of one another. Together, they make a pretty good excuse for showing off one's new HD-DVD system to friends and relations.

Anyway, he always said he'd be back. Obviously, he meant it. The question was, could he pull it off? I mean, could Schwarzenegger at the age of fifty-five return as the muscular futuristic cyborg, after a layoff of almost a dozen years? I'm happy to say yes, he does pull it off, his physique looking a little less muscle-bound and a little more human now but still as chiseled as ever, and, even more happily, his character every bit the dogged machine it always was. Apparently, the intensive exercise he went through to put himself back into shape for the role paid off, and because his face is either that of a machine or heavily made up, the years hardly show. The movie may not be quite up to the standards of its predecessors, but at least its star is up to par.

Appropriate to a sequel to a pair of the most celebrated action movies ever made, Warner Bros. have made sure that 2003's "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" looks and sounds as good as possible in its new HD-DVD transfer. Although much of the extra material remains standard filler, it makes a good thing a little better and gives the package an air of distinction. I wish the good thing itself, the movie, had been a little better, but we get what we get.

The things that set the first two "Terminator" movies apart from the rest of the action crowd were originality and spirit in the first instance, and heart in the second. Schwarzenegger made the career choices of a lifetime (screen career, apart from his political career) by accepting the role of a villain in the first film and then by coming back in a sympathetic tearjerker role in the second. The oddball father-son relationship between his T-800 protector and the adolescent John Connor made for terrific screen chemistry. This third "Terminator," unfortunately, has none of the best qualities of its precursors. It is no longer original or innovative; its spirit is largely consumed by chases; and its heart is almost entirely gone. Does that make it bad movie? Not on your life. It's just not as good as the first two.

You'll remember from the previous episodes of this continuously circular saga that in the near future Earth had been taken over by machines of our own making, and because they were being harassed by a pesky bunch of resistance fighters led by one John Connor, they decided to send a cyborg, a robot, back in time to eliminate Connor before he was born. Neither of the tries was successful, and in this third attempt on his life the machines have designed an even more potent weapon, a Terminatrix, or T-X, in the form of a shapely female. Just why she needs to look like a beautiful young woman is really not so relevant to the plot as it is to good, old-fashioned sex appeal. You'll recall, for instance, that nobody, human or machine, can go through the time portal with clothes on. This new Ms. T-X (Kristanna Loken) is about the only thing different in the new movie, but you'll not hear a complaint from me about watching so comely a robot. Besides being easy on the eyes, Ms. T-X has an all-new arsenal of gadgets and weaponry, plus she is "faster, more powerful, and more intelligent" than any previous model. She is designed to terminate not only people but other Terminators. She's "an anti-Terminator Terminator."

So, it's ten years down the road from "T2," and John Connor (now played by Nick Stahl) is in his early twenties. His mother has died and John is hiding out, worried that the future will find him. It does, as Ms. T-X comes through the portal looking for him and for everybody who ever had anything to do with him. While the T-X goes on a rampage killing everyone in sight, John runs into an old school friend, Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), an assistant veterinarian who gets roped into the story. Then Arnold shows up as the obsolete T-800 protector, and the rest of the picture is a seemingly endless succession of chases and fights.

The movie may have little novelty left, but it does have some nifty stunts. The action is relentless, as are the two robots, with Arnold's job mainly to deadpan some succinct and often cute comments like "I want your clothes," "I'll drive," "You need a new vehicle," and "Talk to the hand." He also does a nice deadpan parody of his old entrance in "T2."

"T3" is rated R like the rest of its kin, so expect some gory scenes, but there is not the excessive profanity one found in "T2." Also expect much noise, destruction, and explosions; yet thanks to director Jonathan Mostow (who replaces James Cameron) it's all so well paced it never becomes completely breathless...just close. Finally, expect even better special effects than before (computer graphics having come a long since the pioneering days of "T2"), better and more elaborate set designs, and a more open-ended and thought-provoking climax. Indeed, the finish is one of the best parts of the show and fairly begs for yet another sequel.

As the prologue puts it, "The battle has just begun." The question is, with Arnold as the governor of California, for how long will the battle be put on hold? Or will the unthinkable happen and the films go on without him? As the old serials used to say, "To be continued...."

Video:
I thought everything about the standard-definition picture was uniformly good, so the differences between SD and HD don't show up as anything like night-and-day. That said, in a direct side-by-side comparison of SD and HD "T3" discs in separate players and selected paused scenes, the HD-DVD picture is clearly the winner. Emphasis on "clear." The widescreen size remains the same, a ratio approximately 2.18:1 across my television, and both SD and HD images are clean and red-blooded. However, the HD image is slightly better defined, the SD image when directly compared looking a tad washed out. Colors are realistically natural in both versions, bright when necessary, subdued when required. But the very slightly gritty look and minor blur in the SD version is absent altogether in the HD-DVD. Grain and moire moiré effects, which are quite minimal in the standard-definition transfer are completely absent in the HD edition. My guess is that this new HD version is about as close to what people saw in a motion-picture theater as we're going to get for a long, long time.

Audio:
The sonics in "T3" are the kind guaranteed to impress the neighbors, even if you've got a really big yard. Again, I did a side-by-side comparison of the HD and SD "T3" discs, this time of the sound, using the Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player and Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and a Sony 7700 SD player and ordinary Dolby Digital 5.1. Both audio tracks are extremely dynamic, and I mean extremely so, featuring a lease-breaking bass response if you live in an apartment. But here's the thing: When switching into regular DD 5.1, the sound suddenly appears softer and more veiled. Bass and dynamics are not much changed, but clarity definitely improves. The surround effects are still on a par with the best action movies around, meaning you're enveloped in the sounds of explosions front, back, and sides, with bullets, bombs, cars, glass, airplanes, and helicopters flying by in all directions. If there's anything in the house the DD+ soundtrack won't rattle, I don't know what it is. This isn't very subtle audio, but neither is the movie very subtle.

Extras:
This single-disc HD-DVD edition contains most of the extras found on the standard-definition two-disc edition, plus an "In-Movie Experience." The "In-Movie" business is where the filmmakers, mostly director Jonathan Mostow in this case and a few others, talk to you about the movie from little picture insets, which are also used to move you behind the scenes of the filmmaking while you're watching the movie. This "In-Movie Experience" provides a few interesting insights, but after also listening to ten or fifteen minutes of each of the audio commentaries, I felt I was hearing a lot of material being repeated. For instance, Mostow tells us that anything that didn't move the action along he excised from the film, meaning, I guess, that he wanted nonstop action. The fact is, with the "In-Movie Experience," the disc's three separate audio commentaries, and the rest of the bonus materials, if you were view all them, you'd have to spend ten hours or more in front of your set. Frankly, I don't think the film is worth the trouble. But taken in small doses, as I took the extras, there is some entertainment as well as informational value in what of these folks have to say.

About those commentaries, the first one is with director Jonathan Mostow and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, and Kristanna Loken; the second is with director Jonathan Mostow alone; and the third is with other members of the crew. In addition to all the talk, there is a widescreen theatrical trailer; a "T3" PC game trailer; and a ton of other stuff listed below.

I have to admit I didn't find any of these other extras particularly engrossing the first time around on the standard-edition set, and I found them no better here. They include a brief introduction by Arnold, followed by a silly bit of footage called the "Sgt. Candy Scene" that is, thankfully, not found in the film. Think of Arnold with a hick hillbilly accent. After that is an HBO First Look: "The Making of Terminator 3," lasting about thirteen minutes. Next is a gag reel, "Terminal Flaws," that lasts about three minutes. "Dressed to Kill" gives us info on costume design. About four minutes worth of storyboards-to-film comparisons come next, and "Toys in Action" is a six-minute chapter on "T3" action figures. Lastly, there's an eight-minute promo on "The Making of the Video Game"; thirty-three scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles. As usual with Warner Bros.' HD-DVDs, there are pop-up menus, an indicator for the movie's elapsed time, a zoom-and-pan feature, and an Elite Red HD case.

Parting Thoughts:
My good friend and fellow movie critic Eddie Feng wrote in an earlier review of "T3" that it "is the closest thing I've seen to a perpetual motion machine when it comes to the movies. The incredibly powerful Terminators give the Energizer Bunny a run for its money when it comes to going and going and going. Audiences are left to their own devices when it comes to trying to catch a breath. Basically, from the time that John Conner, Kate Brewster, the T-800, and the T-X meet, the film becomes one extended fight. You thought "Black Hawk Down" was a gruelingly brutal sit? Well, now you'll have to deal with "T3," which arguably has more mayhem in less time than "Black Hawk Down." The action set pieces are astonishing in their total disregard for anything--just about everything that you see on the screen is totaled. It wouldn't be accurate to write that nothing really happens in "T3" despite its adherence to car chases, foot chases, and explosions. Still, watching the film isn't mentally taxing, though it is physically challenging. Halfway through the movie, I started developing a headache, and I still had it while writing this review."

I'd have to agree with Eddie's assessment. "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" was fun while I was watching it, but unlike the first two films in the series, it is not the kind of action movie I might want to watch again soon except, perhaps, to enjoy its new HD-DVD transfer. The characters are too flat and colorless and the plot is too predictable to make it worth one's additional time unless, as I say, you're simply looking for a stimulating audiovisual experience. It hasn't the heart or the soul of its illustrious progenitors, just a string of endless fights and chases, which, no matter how well executed, become redundant and tiring, and, yes, headache-inducing.

Nevertheless, "T3" is entertaining for the moment, exciting, even exhilarating in parts, if ultimately an empty exercise in fuss and bother that leaves one strangely dissatisfied. No dissatisfaction with the new picture and sound quality, though; they are first rate.