When I first heard that T3 was coming out I was terrified. I mean, no James Cameron? No Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton)?? A new guy (Nick Stahl) playing John Conner??? A female terminatrix???? An ancient Arnold creeking along as the terminator????? Boy, was I scared of the potential catastrophe this flick could've been! Well, my fears were unnecessary. T3: RISE OF THE MACHINES was a pleasant surprise. First, though Cameron would have done a completely different film with Linda Hamilton, they both opted out (of T3 and their relationship w/ each other) and there was no hope of their being involved. Jonothan Mostow does a great job, keeping the action at an insane pace, making T3 an excellent 2hr rollercoaster ride. Claire Danes is wonderful as the unfortunate Kate, sucked into the vortex of John Conner's destiny. Kristanna Loken is the perfect ice-cold assassin as the TX Terminatrix. She's beautiful, lethal, and indestructible. The perfect date for yours truly! Nick Stahl is John Conner. I liked him and found him quite believable. That leaves Arny as everyone's favorite cyborg. I was frankly amazed at how good he looks! This future governor of la-la-land looks physically like he did in the first two terminators! Either he's wearing a rubber body, or Arnold is in peak condition. Either way, he IS the terminator and always will be. He delivers his trademark T-101-liners with typical Arny style. As for the storyline, I was so caught up in the explosions and chase elements, I almost forgot what it was all about! It seems that judgement day has only been postponed and the TX has arrived to seek out and destroy John Conner. The T-101 intervenes again, this time protecting both John and Kate in an attempt to save the remnant of humanity from skynet's planetary conquest. Can they escape the TX? What secret does Kate's dad hold? Will Arnold take time off from his office job to do T4? Only time will tell. The only complaint I have is that it could have been longer. Another 20 minutes or so to flesh out the story would've been nice. However, I digress...