--- title: "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines" critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 17 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003): what the critics said Critics' score 66 from 17 reviews: 12 positive, 3 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics like it, though few love it. Twelve of seventeen reviews are positive, and the praise lands on the same things: the action set pieces, the long crane chase in particular, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom several reviewers find on better form than expected. Jonathan Mostow gets credit for pace, for a lighter comic touch than the series has shown before, and for an ending that more than one critic calls surprisingly dark and bold. The reservations cluster just as tightly. The commonest complaint is that the film retreads the plot of the earlier entries without their dread or ideas, and that Mostow, however capable, lacks James Cameron’s gift for making an audience fear for the characters. The spread runs from strong approval to outright dismissal; The New Yorker finds it a numbing spectacle and Time Out a cheesy retread. Later reassessments from Den of Geek and Collider are kinder than most of the 2003 notices. ## Variety — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 June 2003. McCarthy calls it a hard-hitting straight-ahead actioner that delivers the goods without pretension and balances urgent drama with eye-popping violence. He singles out the scale of the crane chase and Schwarzenegger's return to form. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2003/film/awards/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-1200540754/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 2 July 2003. Turan praises the film as an expertly paced sci-fi thrill machine that marries impressive action with persuasive storytelling and unexpected darkness. He singles out the crane chase sequence and the ability to make audiences worry about the characters. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-jul-02-et-turan2-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 3/4. 7 July 2003. Ebert finds the film a skillful piece of work that will entertain action fans but dumbs down the sci-fi ideas of its predecessors. He singles out the wall-to-wall action sequences and the ending's perfunctory quality as key elements. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-2003) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). The review finds the film a sleek, satisfying return to the series' supercharged B-picture roots that avoids the disaster many feared. It singles out the machine-like efficiency of the action and the genuinely surprising, affecting finale for praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/terminator-3-rise-machines-review/) ## Evening Standard — Neil Norman Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. The critic calls it a serviceable but lesser film that recycles elements from prior entries while delivering set-piece action and metal-on-metal violence. He singles out the balanced humour and the courage to embrace an unremittingly bleak theme for praise. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/droll-but-deadly-arnie-7435846.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 June 2003. The review notes that the film delivers entertaining action, drama and humour that will appeal to fans and new audiences, though it lacks the dark intensity and groundbreaking effects of Cameron's entries; praises the action set pieces orchestrated with skill. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines/4014018.article) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 2003. While no scene matches the apocalyptic intensity of Judgment Day, the film compensates with exciting over-the-top set pieces like the elongated road chase. It reimagines the Adam and Eve myth with a post-industrial edge and a distinctly feminist slant. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines/) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 30 June 2003. The film succeeds as an irreverent exercise in sly self-parody, with Schwarzenegger's Terminator used effectively as a comic figure. Mostow displays a welcome light touch and flair for big set pieces, resulting in an overachieving mercenary sequel that's surprisingly long on laughs. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-1798198763) ## Total Film Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 1 August 2003. The critic describes a fun, crowd-pleasing action ride from Mostow and Schwarzenegger that gives the franchise a new spark. It singles out the visceral set pieces, especially the crane-rig chase and toilet smackdown, while noting some reliance on formula. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-review/) ## The New York Times — A. O. Scott Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 1 July 2003. Scott notes that Mostow films the explosions and chases with professionalism and wit but lacks Cameron's gift for human drama. He highlights the lengthy action sequences and the film's struggle with its own obsolescence. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/01/movies/film-review-a-monotonic-cyborg-learns-to-say-pantsuit.html) ## The Times — James Christopher Rating 3/5. 2 August 2003. The stunts are bigger and the robots meaner but it is otherwise business as usual for the world's wittiest cyborg. It is great fun with smashingly expensive truck chases and shoot-outs. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/article/james-christophers-choice-2vz5btwptg6) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 August 2003. The film is a knackered old sequel that retreads the plot of the first Terminator with some twists. Director Jonathan Mostow does an honest job but the action lacks James Cameron's zip. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/aug/01/4) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 7 July 2003. Lane views the film as a numbing spectacle that prioritizes loud set pieces over the dread and imagination of the earlier entries. He singles out the battle-of-the-sexes choreography between the Terminators and the reliance on truck chases. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/07/14/metal-guru) ## Time Out — TCh Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The critic finds the film a shamelessly cheesy retread that rips off the earlier Terminators, with the nuclear theme feeling hollow, but praises Arnold Schwarzenegger's presence and the feeble jokes. Mostow is seen as a proficient hack. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines) ## Collider — Robert Jordan Hunt Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 August 2023. The critic argues that Terminator 3 succeeds by carving out its own identity rather than trying to copy James Cameron, delivering solid big-budget action sequences whose effects remain impressive. It singles out the film's self-aware approach and Schwarzenegger's performance for praise while acknowledging it falls short of the originals. [Read the review](https://collider.com/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-good/) ## Den of Geek — Simon Brew Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 May 2009. The critic defends the much-maligned film as a solid summer blockbuster that stays true enough to the franchise, with Jonathan Mostow proving a capable director. The ending is singled out as remarkably bold and the one element that fully justifies the movie's existence. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-blu-ray-review/) ## Eye for Film — Stephen Carty Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 11 July 2009. The film is inevitably not a patch on the first two Terminator movies but is also not the disaster many feared; Mostow delivers a third instalment with more brains than the average blockbuster, plenty of action set-pieces and a surprisingly dark, chillingly affecting ending. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines-film-review-by-stephen-carty) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/terminator-3-rise-of-the-machines.md