Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a 2003 film, the third film in the Terminator series quadrilogy. It deals with an adult John Connor meeting his future wife and second-in-command, Kate Brewster, and the revelation that despite everything he and his mother have done over the course of his entire life and before, the war against machines is, in actuality, inevitable.

Meanwhile, the machines launch one last bid against the human resistance, sending a new Terminator to kill Connor and Brewster's lieutenants while initiating the final steps towards SkyNet's achievement of self-awareness, and starting the war.

''Directed by Jonathan Mostow. Screenplay by Jon Brancato and Michael Ferris.'' The Machines Will Rise. (taglines)

John Connor

 * The future has not been written. There is no fate but what we make for ourselves. I wish I could believe that. My name is John Connor. They tried to murder me before I was born. When I was 13, they tried again. Machines from the future. Terminators. All my life my mother told me the storm was coming - Judgment Day, the beginning of a war between man and machines. Three billion lives were vanished in an instant. And I would lead what was left of the human race to ultimate victory. It hasn’t happened, no bombs fell, computers didn’t take control. We stopped Judgment Day. I should feel safe. But I don’t. So I live off the grid, no phone, no address. No one and nothing can find me. I’ve erased all connections to the past. But as hard as I try, I can't erase my dreams. My nightmares.
 * [last lines] By the time SkyNet became self-aware it had spread into millions of computer servers all across the planet. Ordinary computers in office buildings, dorm rooms, everywhere. It was software, in cyberspace. There was no system core. It could not be shut down. The attack began at 6:18 P.M. just as he said it would. Judgment Day. The day the human race was nearly destroyed by the weapons they built to protect themselves. I should have realized our destiny was never to stop Judgment Day; it was merely to survive it. Together. The Terminator knew. He tried to tell us, but I didn't want to hear it. Maybe the future has been written. I don't know. All I know is what the Terminator taught me. Never stop fighting. And I never will. The battle has just begun.

Dialogue

 * John: No, you shouldn't exist. We took out Cyberdyne over ten years ago. We stopped Judgment Day.
 * Terminator: You only postponed it. Judgment Day is inevitable.


 * [The Terminator cuts into its own chest to reach a damaged power cell.]
 * Terminator: T-X is designed for extreme combat, driven by a plasma reactor and equipped with onboard weapons. Its arsenal includes nanotechnological transjectors.
 * John: Meaning...?
 * Terminator: It can control other machines. [Pulls off a piece of flesh covering, throws it out car window] Its body chassis is heavily armored and hardened to withstand external attack.
 * John: You'll find a way to destroy her.
 * Terminator: Unlikely. I'm an obsolete design. T-X is faster, more powerful and more intelligent. It's a far more effective killing machine.
 * John: Oh, great. That's great.
 * Terminator: [removing damaged cell] My presence in this timeline has been anticipated. T-X is designed to terminate other cybernetic organisms.
 * John: So she's an Anti-Terminator... Terminator? You've gotta be shitting me.
 * Terminator: No, I am not shitting you.
 * [Throws cell away; it explodes by the roadside]


 * John: Just leave me here. I'm not the one you want. You're wasting your time.
 * Terminator: Incorrect. John Connor leads the resistance to victory.
 * John: How? Why? Why me?
 * Terminator: You are John Connor.
 * John: Christ! My mom fed me that bullshit since the cradle! Look at me! I'm no leader! I never was! I'm never gonna... [is choked by Terminator] Let go!
 * Terminator: You're right. You're not the one I want. I'm wasting my time.
 * John: Fuck you! You fucking machine!
 * Terminator: [releases John] Better.
 * John: You were just dicking with me?!
 * Terminator: Anger is more useful than despair.
 * John: What?!
 * Terminator: Basic psychology is among my sub-routines.


 * [The Terminator gives a long and complicated explanation of John's death]
 * John: What? What are you saying?
 * Terminator: [looks back at him] I killed you.
 * [John is left stunned by the revelation]


 * [John asks the Terminator about the revelation that Kate is actually his future wife]
 * John: Are you sure about this... me and her?
 * Terminator: Your confusion is not rational. She is a healthy female of breeding age.
 * John: Well, I think there's a little more to it than that...
 * Terminator: My database does not encompass the dynamics of human pair bonding.


 * [John, Kate and the Terminator rescue an already wounded Lt Gen Brewster]
 * John Connor: We have to shut down SkyNet. Where's the system core? Somewhere in this building?
 * Lt Gen Robert Brewster: SkyNet. The virus has infected SkyNet.
 * John: SkyNet is the virus. It's the reason everything's falling apart!
 * Terminator: SkyNet has become self-aware. In one hour, it will initiate a massive nuclear attack on it's enemy.
 * Brewster: What enemy?
 * John: Us. HUMANS!!


 * John: [Sees Terminator coming towards plane] Yes, he made it!
 * Terminator: Get away from me! Leave... now!
 * Kate: [From plane] Let's go, John! [John hops into plane while Kate runs startup checklist] The master's on. Throttle's set.
 * John: C'mon, let's go! [Terminator yanks door open, grabs John, and throws him across the room. Terminator comes after him] Please, you can't do this!
 * Terminator: I have no choice. The...T-X...has cor...corrupted my system.
 * John: You can't kill a human being. You said so yourself!
 * Kate: [jumps on Terminator's back] Let him go! [Terminator throws her off]
 * John: You're fighting it right now!
 * Terminator: My CPU is intact. But I cannot control...my other functions.
 * John: You don't have to do this. You don't want to do this!!!
 * Terminator: Desire is irrelevant. I am a machine! [Grabs John and throws him against a car. Comes up and takes John by the throat]
 * John: What is your mission?!
 * Terminator: To ensure the survival of John Connor and Katherine Brewster. [Raises fist]
 * John: You are about to fail that mission!
 * Terminator: I can... I cannot.
 * John: You know what you have to do! You know my destiny! I have to live!


 * [At Crystal Peak, John Connor and Kate Brewster hear messages over the shortwave radio]
 * Radio Operator: Hello? Hello? CQ CQ, is anybody there?
 * John: [disarms bomb and presses speak button] This is John Connor, Crystal Peak.
 * Radio Operator: Connor, what the hell is happening? Who's in charge there?
 * John: [short pause] I am.

Cast

 * Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Terminator
 * Nick Stahl - John Connor
 * Claire Danes - Catherine Brewster
 * Kristanna Loken - T-X
 * David Andrews - Lt General Robert Brewster, USAF

Taglines

 * Next summer, the Machines will Rise.
 * The Machines Will Rise.
 * [from trailer] Judgment Day is upon us [..] and our last hope in the war against the machines is one of them.

About

 * "In one word : Great. There was a small part of me that hoped it wasn't good - but another part of me hope'd it succeeded. And it did. And I'm so glad it did. Jonathon's made a great movie. Arnold's in great form. I really like what he's done with it". If he had done it, would he have handled it differently: "Yes. That's only natural. I mightn't have structrued it the same, nor may I have ended it the same way - but coming in where he has, such a hard thing to do, and I give Jonathan points for it".
 * James Cameron