History YMMV / Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: Despite the drop in quality from the Cameron films, Nick Stahl as John Connor still puts in a sincere effort, making John's trauma and isolation since his childhood, grief at losing Sarah and his struggles with his fate surprisingly poignant as well as making the finale where John realizes he can't stop Judgement Day and is helpless to watch the destruction before stepping up as a leader and embracing his destiny quite affecting.
* VindicatedByHistory: While still nowhere near as well regarded as the first two films, it is recognized for being a competent retread that nonetheless has some good action sequences and a few interesting plot developments. With later films also receiving a mixed response, it's agreed that if the franchise ''must'' be a trilogy then ''Rise of the Machines'' is the least-bad way to round it out.

** ''War of the Machines'' for the PC wasn't well received, being extremely lacking on content, incredibly bad bots (You could only have enough bots to have 6 players in each team in a 32-player cap game and they were completely incapable of using vehicles), being unbalanced with Tech-Com clearly having gotten more focus than Skynet and generally being a poor man's ''VideoGame/Battlefield'' with a Terminator skin slapped over.

** ''War of the Machines'' for the PC wasn't well received, being extremely lacking on content, incredibly bad bots (You could only have enough bots to have 6 players in each team in a 32-player cap game and they were completely incapable of using vehicles), being unbalanced with Tech-Com clearly having gotten more focus than Skynet and generally being a poor man's VideoGame/Battlefield with a Terminator skin slapped over.

** ''War of the Machines'' for the PC wasn't well received, being extremely lacking on content, incredibly bad bots (You could only have enough bots to have 6 players in each team in a 32-player cap game and they were completely incapable of using vehicles), being unbalanced with Tech-Com clearly having gotten more focus than Skynet and generally being a poor man's ''VideoGame/BattleField'' with a Terminator skin slapped over.

** ''War of the Machines'' for the PC wasn't well received, being extremely lacking on content, incredibly bad bots (You could only have enough bots to have 6 players in each team in a 32-player cap game and they were completely incapable of using vehicles), being unbalanced with Tech-Com clearly having gotten more focus than Skynet and generally being a poor man's ''VideoGame/Battlefield'' with a Terminator skin slapped over.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: A female Terminator. Fans of the series have gotten so used to the idea that it's now a bit hard to appreciate how novel it was back when ''T3'' first came out. Now, of course, the T-X is inevitably compared to "Cameron" of ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', who was much better received. It doesn't help that the former was played by Kristanna Loken (who was largely unknown in 2003, and has had few major film credits since ''T3''), while the latter was played by perennial fanboy favorite Creator/SummerGlau (who was already something of a sci-fi icon before 2008, thanks to her role as River Tam in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'').

* EvilIsSexy: Well, when played by Creator/KristannaLoken...

* RealismInducedHorror: While the chances of being hunted by a KillerRobot are very remote, Jose Barrera's assassination at a drive-thru window by drive-by shooting isn't impossible given how enraged ex-lovers can get, tempting them do some extreme actions like the above.

* FandomRivalry:
** With fans of ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'' over which is the better (or less bad) sequel to T2.
** Those same fans also debate whether the Rev-9 would beat the T-X in a fight. Fans of ''T3'' cite the T-X's onboard weapons as an advantage the Rev-9 can't match, while ''Dark Fate'' fans cite the Rev-9's superior durability and ability to completely separate its endoskeleton and liquid metal into two separate entities, something the T-X can't do because its skeleton and liquid metal are permanently attached to each other.

** The whole scene with the [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight T-850 getting hijacked by T-X]] is just silly. With John making appeals to emotion, which he knows wouldn't work. Then making [[LogicBomb appeals to logic]], which he shouldn't know would work since its never happened before.
---> '''T-850:''' Desire is irrelevant. (angrily) '''''I AM. A MACHINE!'''''.

** The whole scene with the [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight T-850 getting hijacked by T-X]] is just silly. With John making appeals to emotion, which he knows wouldn't work. Then making appeals to logic, which he shouldn't know would work since its never happened before.

* The whole scene with the [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight T-850 getting hijacked by T-X]] is just silly. With John making appeals to emotion, which he knows wouldn't work. Then making appeals to logic, which he shouldn't know would work since its never happened before.

* VindicatedByHistory: While still nowhere near as well regarded as the first two films, ''Genisys'' and ''Dark Fate'' got an even worse reception years later. Compared to them, this film is recognized for being competent if nothing else, and it's agreed that if the franchise ''must'' be a trilogy, then ''Rise of the Machines'' is the least-bad way to round it out.

* EvilIsCool: If nothing else, the idea of the T-X is awesome -- a liquid metal coating over a reinforced endo-skeleton, a compromise between the T-800's durability and strength and the T-1000's shapeshifting infiltration abilities. It is also even more heavily armored and faster than those models, possesses on-board weapons stored in its own body, and can take control of other machines, including Terminators that have been reprogrammed by the Resistance. When the T-850 tells John that the T-X is superior to him in every way and it is highly unlikely he could defeat it, it's believable.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8zsOkNs13s&ab_channel=BlueManGroup "The Current"]], the film's awesome industrial rock theme song by the [[DreamTeam once-in-a-lifetime collaboration]] of Bush frontman Gaven Rosdale and Music/BlueManGroup.

* SoBadItsGood: If the film is watched without taking it seriously, it can be unintentionally funny with the aforementioned {{Narm}} and {{Fanservice}} of the T-X (the inflatable breasts stand out here), as well as the outrageous property destruction scenes - not to mention actual comedic elements that work. Also, EverythingIsOnline reaches comical levels, with the T-X driving multiple automobiles remotely. It has inspired some WebAnimation/{{YouTube Poop}}s as well.

* BetterThanCanon: The only unanimous opinion about the film is that it is memorable by several points other than its plot, and Spanish viewers might remember a particularly epic TV ad, back when TV channel Antena 3 ran marathons of the three ''Terminator'' films back in the 2000s, where Creator/ConstantinoRomero (Arnold's voice actor) played the character giving a fictional reflection in ''T3''.
-->''I am strength.''
-->''I am the one who can return to the past and who knows the future.''
-->''I am the one who keeps fighting when everything is lost.''
-->''I am your last hope.''
-->''But I would change all that to know what do you feel when you cry.''
-->''I am'' a machine.

* FriendlyFandoms: With fans of ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate''. They may argue over which film is better, but they generally agree that both films are superior to ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' and ''Film/TerminatorGenisys''.