Terminator Genisys: Ranking The Franchise From Worst To Best

4. Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

Warner Bros.

After a 12 year delay, the long-awaited third Terminator movie finally hit cinema screens. However, without James Cameron at the helm, the franchise lost sight of both its thematic and narrative depth, but did still manage to offer a well-staged, efficient and entertaining enough summer blockbuster.

The most expensive production in history at the time with a budget of $187.3m, the money is up there onscreen as director-for-hire Jonathan Mostow mounts some large-scale set-pieces, with the impressive freeway chase hands-down the action highlight. Arnold Schwarzenegger (and his $30m paycheck) seems to be having fun, but the T800 often comes dangerously close to self-parody in an annoyingly frequent attempt to wring some laughs out of the audience, as opposed to the unstoppable killing machine/protector the character had been previously.

As the sleek new-model TX, the one-dimensional Kristanna Loken is more a vessel for the cutting-edge special effects than an actual character, while Nick Stahl and Claire Danes fail to make much of an impression as the human leads. Rise of the Machines provides a solid-if-unspectacular popcorn flick, but deserves immense credit for a brilliant ending that came out of nowhere, confirming the franchise's recurring mantra that Judgement Day is inevitable.

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