Terminator 3: The Coming Storm

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Terminator 3: The Coming Storm
Faneditor Name:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2003
Original Running Time:
109
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
88
Time Cut:
21
Brief Synopsis:
This is a serious take on TERMINATOR 3 to be more in the tradition of its prequels. Lots of cheesy and unnecessary elements were removed as well as all the references to dates and ages that contradict the previous two films.
Intention:
To reduce the cheese, and eliminate all the references to dates and ages that contradict the previous two films.
Additional Notes:
For the real nerds, be on the lookout for all the easter eggs added to the film. There are several, and they all refer to the previous Terminator films, or other James Cameron projects.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Digital
Cuts and Additions:
- New opening titles.
- Removed opening nuke and John’s first V.O. Film proper starts during John’s nightmare.
- Joined both parts of John on motorbike together and reworked V.O. to eliminate age reference and to simplify his narration.
- Removed the TX’s, “I like this car.”
- Added “Uploading Virus” readout to TX’s HUD. The so-called supervirus that pops up out of nowhere does not exist in this version. The only virus is the one she delivers. My line of reasoning is that future-Skynet sends her back with a virus that cannot be stopped by conventional means, thus instigating the Military’s activation of Skynet in the here and now.
- Removed TX’s Inflate-O-Boobs(TM).
- Removed Kate and Scott shopping scene. The latter half of this sequence (after General Brewster gets off the phone with Kate) is moved way back in the film. It would make little sense for General Brewster to be concerned about a supervirus that was only uploaded a moment earlier.
- Removed T-850′s encounter with the bouncer outside the Desert Star.
- Removed zoom into ‘Ladies Night’ sign and sped-up shot of T-850 reacting to new song starting.
- Altered so that T-850 doesn’t blink when hit in the face with a glove. (Yes, I realise that Terminators blink, but it makes him seem scarier that he doesn’t need to when hit. Mostly I just didn’t like Arnie’s ‘startled old man’ expression.)
- Removed T-850 talking into stripper’s hand, and the rest of the scene with the star-glasses. He just breaks the stripper’s hand and we go straight to the TX at Jim’s Burgers. Replaced song during entire Desert Star sequence.
- Removed the TX scanning Jose Barrera’s iris. As Reese said, “Most of the records were lost during the war.” I’m not a fan of Skynet’s files being this detailed. It’s bad enough she has John’s DNA records on file.
- Fixed the incorrect spelling of “BARRERA” on the TX’s heads-up-display. Now her readout matches his name-tag.
- After the TX kills Jose, we cut back to the T-850 stealing a truck. Removed watch on top of visor, synchronizing time, and T-850 contemplating the sunglasses. He just picks them up and puts them straight on without looking at them for ages.
- Removed newscast about supervirus seen during Bill Anderon’s party. Bill and his girlfriend are now watching a movie instead. For one, I needed the virus mentions all moved towards the end of the film, and two ... who watches the news at a party?
- Fixed TX blinking when she shoots Bill.
- Removed all references Kate makes to Mike Kripke’s basement. Also removed Kate mentioning them being in the 8th grade when John disappeared. As with the John’s age, this is incorrect. We don’t need to know how John knows Kate, it’s enough that he just does. In my mind, Nikki Cox was Kate Brewster in T2. She had red hair and certainly knew John back then.
- Removed TX scanning Betsy’s blood and speaking to herself about it.
- Removed some of Kate’s whimpering when hiding from the TX. The TX is so close, she should really hear it.
- Removed TX’s visible reaction to John’s blood ID. I don’t have a problem with Terminators showing reactions to things, but this one is a little over the top. Even if she were human, I’d have probably cut it.
- Removed Kate dropping her keys.
- Removed T-850′s line to Kate, “I lied.”
- Removed all the talking between John and the T-850 when first meeting in the hallway. John comes across like an idiot. “Are you here to kill me?” No, son if he were you’d be dead before you got the question out. Now, the Terminator strides up and just grabs John right away.
- Removed T-850′s line, “Keep moving!” I’ve tried to make the Terminator as taciturn as possible, removing any lines that really aren’t needed.
- Removed T-850′s, “Get out of here! Now!”
- Moved the paramedics finding the T-850 to a little later. Helps minimise the fact that they just stand next to him for a long time doing nothing. Also removed them trying to move him. It’s a stupid moment, and since when are paramedics in the habit of just dragging accident victims around without knowing what has happened to them?
- Removed T-850′s line to the motorcycle cop, “Get off!” It’s obviously looped after the fact, and it’s not needed.
- Removed John hitting the inflatable toy in the front yard during the car chase. “Boing”?? I could have just taken the sound effect out, but taking the shots out altogether actually made the sequence flow better.
- Re-instated an unused piece of score during the crane chase.
- Removed reverse-motion shot of Fire Truck heading straight for the T-850. It’s too obviously in reverse due to the exhaust fumes.
- Removed TX smirking to herself after shaking the T-850.
- Removed T-850′s to the firemen, “I’ll drive” and “Get out.” The ‘Get out’ is another obvious loop job.
- Removed TX’s double-take when seeing the T-850 in the firetruck.
- Removed the Terminator’s, “Excuse me.” to the TX. Substituted a metallic clink, (the axe hitting the side of the crane) which is what gets the TX’s attention instead.
- Removed “Move over” when the Terminator climbs into the driver’s seat of Kate’s truck. Another looped line.
- Removed all of John’s idiotic, “Do you even remember me?” talk.
- Removed, “I am unable to comply” when Kate tells the Terminator to drop dead.
- Removed John’s question, “Where are you taking me?” and the T-850′s reply, “To a safe location.”
- Removed the T-850′s claim that, “Judgement Day is inevitable.”
- Removed, “I’m an obsolete design.”
- Removed all the talk about the TX being an anti-Terminator Terminator, and “I am not shitting you.”
- Removed T-850′s second, “Relax!”
- Replaced the song playing in the ampm store. I cannot stand “Dat Funky Man” or whatever it’s called.
- Fixed jump-cut when TV is shown switching channels.
- Removed T-850 leaving the store. No 'Talk to the hand' at all. We can just assume he paid for the items. A few moments later, we will see the clerk calling the police due to Kate’s screaming. Wouldn’t he have been a bit more shaken, and already calling the cops if a huge dude in leather had just robbed him moments earlier?
- Removed all the revisited talk of Mike Kripke’s basement, and John’s idea that he and Kate were destined to meet.
- Erased the tire-iron from the back of the vet truck as it speeds down the road. The T-850 already removed it and threw it away.
- Removed the TX killing Scott, and the cops coming to the door. The scene sucks, and this way it’s a mild surprise when the TX kills the cops a few minutes later.
- Removed the dates on Sarah’s plaque. Both dates are completely wrong.
- Removed John saying that Sarah “...fought for three years” against leukaemia. Now he just says the more ambiguous, “She fought long enough to make sure the world didn’t end.”
- Removed John telling the T-850 that it was the closest thing he ever had to a father. John just comes across as stupid, as he knows full well that this is not the Terminator that protected him in 1995.
- Removed the T-850′s, “My mission is to protect you” to Kate.
- Removed T-850 spitting out the bullet. Gee, sure is a lucky shot that Kate managed to shoot a bullet into his mouth while it was closed.
- Removed all of John’s, “Why me?” stuff, and the T-850 'convincing' him to fight.
- Moved driving scene with Scott and the cops to after Kate meets Silberman. Reframed one shot to cover the fact that the TX’s arm isn’t behind the seat where it should be. Trimmed out one shot of the driver’s terrible ‘pain’ acting, and removed shot of TX’s hand slowly taking the steering wheel.
- Trimmed out the last few moments of Silberman’s ramblings. Way to run the joke into the ground, folks.
- Removed T-850′s casualty readout after shooting at the SWAT team.
- Removed the T-850 telling John that Kate will be his wife in the future.
- In the graveyard, the TX stupidly reverts back to its default form for no reason before trying to kill Kate. To try to help justify this, I’ve moved up the shot of John and the Terminator approaching in the hearse. It’s not much of an excuse, but at least it’s something. Sort of like the TX knows it’s busted, so there’s no need to keep up the ruse.
- Removed shot of the hearse turning and losing a hubcap. It loses the same hubcap again a moment later.
- Removed the last few frames of the TX jumping onto the hearse. There was a moment of 'float' to the cable work there.
- Removed Kate screaming, “Do something!” at the Terminator.
- Erased visible safety cables and effects markers from two shots of the TX on top of the hearse.
- Removed the T-850′s deadpan line, “We need a new vehicle.” And John and Kate’s dumbfounded stares. A very sitcom-esque moment.
- Removed the hearse’s door falling off the hinges when the Terminator opens it. More sitcom “hilarity”.
- After Kate has her little cry, we cut to General Brewster talking about the super-virus. Then we come back to John and the T-850 discussing the TX’s hit-list. Removed John asking about his future marriage to Kate.
- Removed John theorising about fate and he and Kate getting together back before T2.
- Removed all the business about, “You cannot self-terminate.”
- Removed line about Skynet assuming control over global communications. How can it when it hasn’t been brought on-line yet? The virus is the one affecting out communications.
- Removed Kate finding out about her marriage to John.
- Removed small-scale flying H/K and endoskeleton at CRS.
- Removed final mention of Mike Kripke’s basement, and T-850′s line about levity.
- Removed line about Skynet operating at 60 teraflops per second. The ‘PS’ in teraflops already stands for ‘per second’ so it’d be an awfully stupid thing for a technician to say.
- Removed “She’ll be back.”
- Removed John’s line, “Skynet is the virus!”
- Removed General Brewster’s line about Pandora’s box. It’s very trite, and I prefer that the shot focuses on Kate’s reaction instead of his rambling.
- Removed the Terminator telling John and Kate to run when the TX shows up. They should know to run just fine without being told to all the damn time.
- Removed the TX’s head spinning all the way around.
- Removed a few frames from when the T-850 steps on the TX’s head. The original shot had a little reverse motion in it, and looked silly.
- Removed the TX turning her upper body all the way around.
- Removed the TX stomping the T-850′s head off. It’s stupid that it would go back on fine with no effort, and some of the CG looks really crummy. She injects her nanobots while he is still reeling from the electrical shock.
- Removed John and Kate versus the small flying H/K.
- Removed Kate’s, “Just die, you bitch!” and a few frames at the end of the scene when you can see someone else at the end of the tunnel.
- Removed the T-850 putting his head back on.
- Removed, “You can’t kill a human, you said so yourself!” The T-850 never said this.
- When the Terminator is smashing the truck, removed a few shots that ruin the continuity.
- Removed both shots of the plane with the wrong call letters on the side.
- Removed, “I’m back.”
- Removed a bunch of the TX’s roaring and screaming. I couldn’t get all of it out without it being ridiculously choppy, but I snipped as much as I felt I could.
- Removed Kate’s suggestion to just let the bomb go off. She’s awfully quick to embrace suicide.
- Slightly different ending, features no V.O. from John about the virus/Skynet, alternate musical cue, and a different final shot of the film.
- Shortened end credits and replaced music. Score only, no songs.
Cover art by Uncanny Antman (DOWNLOAD HERE)
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Cover art by AvP (DOWNLOAD HERE)
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Cover art by AvP (DOWNLOAD HERE)
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User reviews

94 reviews
 
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Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.1(36)
Audio Editing
 
9.8(35)
Visual Editing
 
9.6(36)
Narrative
 
8.8(33)
Enjoyment
 
9.2(94)
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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
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10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
This is one of those times where an edit really stands out. And the reason is that even though the original material was mostly awful, the editor managed to salvage it! I'm so happy when I come across to such excellent work as this. It is truly a privilege to enjoy the work of talented editors.

Obviously, the editor could not reinvent the wheel here and that is why my enjoyment factor is at 7-8, but you can't make T3 to be at the level of T2 or even 1 no matter how talented you are. What the editor managed to do though was make this an enjoyable action movie that works as a bridge to Salvation. Because, to be honest, if I don't watch Salvation after this then there is no reason to watch T3, I'll just watch the extended special edition of T2 which ends the story once and for all.

All the cuts were seamless and I could not tell if anything was missing at all or if something was tampered with. Simply, excellent work! A shame this isn't in 1080p, but thankfully another editor did that, although he couldn't transfer every single one of the changes here to HD and he either cut them or left the original.

In case you didn't get it so far, I most certainly recommend this edit and I guarantee you it will be your go-to to any future marathons! I know it will be for me.

Thank you Uncanny Antman for all your hard work and thanks to anyone who read my review!

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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
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10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Terminator 3 feels like a movie whose elevator pitch was "Like Terminator 2, but with a female Terminator!" And it got greenlit on the strength of that alone.

The problem for the whole franchise is that Terminator 2 was the perfect high-concept action movie. Arnold was at the peak of his career in 1991. Visual effects were still at a point where things had never been seen before, and so his nemesis was the unique liquid metal T-1000, dooming almost any sequels to be a ‘been there, done that’ idea (Wouldn’t it have been better to do a whole movie with two equally matched, opposing Arnolds?). The action sequences were essentially done for real in the early 90's so they still felt plausible while being edge-of-your-seat stuff, so anything more would feel silly (Die Hard 4.0) and anything less would feel...well, less (A Good Day to Die Hard). The one-liners were classics. Sarah Connor’s character and story had evolved in the intervening years starting us some place interesting in the story. And the whole thing was wrapped up so neatly by the end that you weren’t left feeling that there was more to tell in this story. So where do you go from there?

Terminator 3 is a movie that feels like it was made purely for the money and not because someone had an interesting idea for a story. Arnold said as much in interview, saying James Cameron told him of the offer to reprise his iconic role “Take the money and run.” The best they could come up with was to pick up with John some years later and reveal that Skynet was just delayed so an even newer model Terminator is sent back to kill John, but that’s OK because the resistance will just send back another Arnold to do what he did last time. What follows a series of re-hashed scenes from the previous movie.

For a big-budget movie, Terminator 3 has horrible production values and looks more like a TV show most of the time. Sets and props look cheap. The cast feel like TV actors, with Claire Danes oddly cast in her role and Edward Furlong replaced due to an apparent drug problem at the time. And where the visual effects were once ground-breaking and used sparingly, they’re now liberally applied, over-reaching what could convincingly be done in the early 2000’s. And of course, someone said “...and it should be more funny than the last two” and so...jokes.

This is a long set-up to say that there’s only so much you can do with this movie - it’s never going to be T2. But boy do I wish Uncanny Antman was the original editor. Tonally the movie has been shifted far closer to T2 with much of the ‘comedy’ exorcised. This does leave some scenes feeling mostly pointless as they were only ever there for the punchline in the first place - the bar scene is there just because “Wouldn’t it be funny this time if Arnold is dressed like the biker from The Village People!” Potentially we could just jump from his arrival scene to him being dressed later with no need for an explanation of what happens in between because we saw that in T2. But over-all the comedy omissions are hugely welcomed.

The edits to John Connor’s character really help to stop him being a complete idiot throughout the movie - like talking to a different machine about the things they DIDN’T do together in the past...because it’s a different machine!

Story edits are invisible but really help the narrative flow better. And action edits improve every scene where they’ve been done, I didn’t even notice that the mini Hunter Killer moment was gone until I read the full list of edits.

If I had a couple of wish-list comments it would be to lose the ball-grab during one of the fight scenes - that always bothered me in the cinema as too comedy. But perhaps for continuity it has to remain? Also, I’d cut Dr Silberman completely. As much as I love the character, he was a great 'bad' guy in T2 but now he’s reduced to a punchline and you can cut his moment without noticing.

If you’re going to watch a Terminator trilogy, this is the version of the third movie that you should watch. It’s an outstanding effort by Uncanny Antman.

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Overall rating
 
8.4
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8.0
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9.0
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9.0
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8.0
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8.0
A huge improvement over the embarrassment that was "Rise of the Machines" -- an early pioneer of the "let's undercut every serious moment in this genre film with tons of bathetic humour" (aka the MCU approach), to say nothing of it being a rehash of the plot of T2 without the redemptive ending of that film. T3 may still be glorified fan-fiction but at least under the editing auspices of Uncanny Antman, it's an enjoyable and breezy sci-fi actioner with better robot battles and car chases than I remembered from my initial viewing. This should undoubtedly be the only way anyone watches this movie going forward, as this edit definitely elevates T3 to one of the better entries in the Terminator canon, and possibly the best non-Cameron entry.

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DVD
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Top 10 Reviewer 156 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
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10.0
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10.0
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9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
The best possible version of a not-great Terminator film. The orginal had a lot of cheese ("talk to the hand," boob inflation etc) and more than enough whine (a weak, whingy John Connor). Smart and extensive cuts give more action, nicer characters; much less cringe and much less waffle. Has become a decent movie, well worth the watch.

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Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
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10.0
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10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
It’s been many years since I last saw Rise of the Machines and, in all honesty, I am in no position to recall all those little details that made it a bad film. What I distinctly remember is the tone inconsistency compared to its predecessors (cringy jokes etc.) and the sour taste it left in my mouth, as a result. As a sequel to one of the best films ever made, it failed spectacularly, although it was not without some redeeming qualities, mainly an incredible ending. That ending did not deserve that movie, as some commentator nicely put it.

Uncanny Antman’s edit fixes all that and he does it in a way that is phenomenal! The Coming Storm is not only one of the best FanFixes I’ve ever seen, it is also a worthy successor to the original duology. It’s not T2: Judgement Day, of course! A sequel directed by some Jonathan Mostow, even masterfully edited, cannot be Judgement Day! But as far as I’m concerned, it is better than Genisys and Dark Fate combined. The serious tone has returned, the timeline inconsistencies have been removed, the visual and audio editing is perfect, and the whole narrative is still intact. All that were so artistically done that I could not even tell what was cut out to improve the original film. I’ve read some complaints about the time paradox of the future virus inserted by the editor in some of the reviews. In my opinion, that is no different from Kyle Reese coming from the future to become John Connor’s father, so no problem there for me. There were just a couple of awkward Arnie grimaces here and there –just before the T-800 shuts down, for example- but removing them was kind of impossible, I believe.

All in all, Uncanny Antman provides everything I’ve ever wished for, as he takes a heavily flawed film and turns it into something more than respectable and watchable. Finally, the film has become an enjoyable ride from the beginning to the end, and not just in the end. Certainly a work well-done.

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