All 6 Terminator movies ranked from worst to best

3. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

It’s pretty ironic that a franchise that has spent much of the past two decades telling us “this is the real third Terminator movie” still hasn’t been able to produce an entry as strong as the actual T3.

Released in 2003, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was the long-awaited follow-up to the iconic second movie that many never thought would happen. And the fact that it didn’t have James Cameron behind the camera pretty much highlighted that it probably shouldn’t have. Nevertheless, it did, and this time, a new Terminator known as the T-X was on the hunt for John Connor and Katherine Brewster, only to find herself face-to-face with the another Terminator assigned to protect them.

T3 is certainly derivative of the second movie, but not at its own expense. It adds to the lore, updating Arnie’s Terminator model ever so slightly, producing a logical new threat in the T-X and adding Connor’s future wife to the mix. It also makes a bold creative choice that forced the franchise into new territory that should have been followed up on much sooner. And above all else, it’s one heck of a good time.

Sure, Terminator 3 technically shouldn’t exist. None of the Terminator movies after T2 should really. But it does, and they do. And T3 is by far the best of them all. So if you want to watch the real Terminator trilogy, close it out with this one.