10 Final Movie Scenes That Changed Everything

For the first 95% of its runtime, Terminator 3 is a rock solid action flick but an undeniably underwhelming follow-up to James Cameron's two Terminator movies. Following a duology of stone cold masterpieces would be tough for any franchise, after all.

But for audiences who stuck with T3 to the end, they were at least rewarded with one hell of a final scene, where John Connor (Nick Stahl) and Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) arrive at what they believe is Skynet's system core, as directed by Kate's father Robert (David Andrews).

But they soon realise that the facility is actually a nuclear fallout shelter and command station for government officials, and that Skynet has no system core due to entering cyberspace and becoming self-aware, effectively rendering it unstoppable.

Basically, Robert sent John and Kate to the fallout shelter to survive the unavoidable apocalypse he knew was coming, and indeed, the film's final moments show Skynet beginning its nuclear holocaust, Judgment Day, killing billions of people.

Even though it arguably contradicts T2's "no fate but what we make" message, T3's final scene remains one of the most remarkably bleak endings to any blockbuster in history, enough to ensure it couldn't merely be dismissed as a less-than sequel with nothing on its mind.