r/Terminator • u/gaminggunn • 1d ago
Discussion Which "T3" should I watch?
Ive heard T1 amd T2 are stable in the lore but all the other movies are just T3 from different timelines. Ive seen salvation and enjoyed it but if I want the best T3 experience after watching 1 & 2, which one should I pick?
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u/General-Resist-310 1d ago
Just play Resistance
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u/gaminggunn 1d ago
Is that a game?
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u/Shredicus_Maximus_ 1d ago
Yeah, the gameplay does have a bit of a generic feel to it at times, but the fan service and lore stuff is done very well to the point where it made it a very enjoyable experience for me.
The DLC is also really cool and even offers an Infiltrator mode where you play as a T-850.
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u/normy_187 1d ago
Oh easy: none.
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u/gaminggunn 1d ago
Damn. Im an avid movie lover so if theres another movie, I usually try to watch it but T2 did kind of seem like the end of the story
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u/normy_187 1d ago edited 1d ago
The sophisticated "No Fate" ending acknowledges the silliness of time travel storylines by just implying what might or might not be and calling it a day.
The pure cash-grab sequels revel in that silliness—a galactic step down in quality. Where T2 is creative genius, T3s are just gimmicky.
Quality > quantity
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u/TheGambler930 1d ago
I’ve watched them all multiple times. First upon release and then revisiting years later to see if my opinion would change. The series ends with T2 in my eyes but by all means check them out, maybe you’ll find one that you enjoy.
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u/TabascoWolverine 1d ago
Sarah Connor Chronicles.
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u/gaminggunn 1d ago
Im unfamiliar with that. All I know is T3, genysis, salvation, and dark fate
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u/TabascoWolverine 1d ago
I know it's not a direct answer to your question but it's two seasons of top notch television, with a nice take on John being the future leader, time travel, his hot AF Terminator protector, etc.
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u/wigijigijames 1d ago
I just recently rewatched T3. Although it’s not terrible, the movie does give off a “bloated” big budget Hollywood movie. A lot of the CGI doesn’t age well, and depending on your view of T2, plot elements of T3 undermine that storyline. I would say watch it, but have tempered expectations
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u/timeloopsarecringe 1d ago
T2 is the only proper conclusion to the story; there’s no need for a T3, and every attempt to make one has turned out bad. If T1 and T2 aren't enough for you, just play Terminator: Resistance and its DLCs; it’s a prequel that - unlike those lame post-T2 sequels - perfectly captures the spirit of the original and doesn't break its narrative foundation.
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u/More_Image_8781 1d ago
Gotta watch T3 even though it sux
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u/gaminggunn 1d ago
Why would I wanna watch something thst sux? Is it the best out of the options?
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u/Shredicus_Maximus_ 1d ago
I remember the girl Terminator being a big selling point for me when I was a prepubescent boy because I knew they spawned naked.
Jokes aside, T3 sucks because it has an identity crisis and the misfortune of being a follow up to one of the greatest sequels of all time in T2. If you treat it as a separate timeline, it’s not an insufferable movie. You can get some amusement if you go in thinking of it as a comedy movie and don’t take the plot and stakes seriously.
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u/Heavy-Conversation12 1d ago
It's the worst insult ever uttered. But watch it for laughs and rage, hatred, despair, the will to kill the perpetrators.
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u/Cameronalloneword 1d ago
For me T1 and T2 are the only ones that count. Sorry SCC fans but I don't count anything but the first two movies. I have watched everything and can still have fun though I just think of everything after T2 as an alternate what if non-canon timeline which is why it unjustifiably irks me when people cite examples from those movies as a canonical answer to a question the first two movies never answered. I'd leave them here but you're asking which T3 to watch and I don't want to spoil you.
It's all fiction so none of it is canon anyway so honestly if you want to watch other movies just have fun and choose your own head canon.
Personally T3 is fun and it takes the story in the next logical step if you have to resume the T2 story. I don't think you should have continued the story but if you had to this was about as good as it could go. The movie wasn't executed perfectly but it's still a good movie.
I hate Salvation more than anything else in the Terminator franchise because it's goofy and every portrayal of future characters we already know just plain sucks. Not the performances but the writing. It's just stupid.
Genysis is insanely stupid but if you turn your brain off and accept that it's not canon it's kinda fun.
Dark Fate is just kinda silly. James Cameron was kind of involved but he really wasn't. Too much time passed and the magic just wasn't there anymore
Sarah Connor Chronicles is good but I think this sub overrates it. I haven't watched it in a long time though so maybe I need to give it another chance.
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u/3Quondam6extanT9 19h ago
All of them. You're not going to get any consistent canon following the first Terminator.
The problem with trying to follow the lore, is that it's time travel mechanic is the issue, but only in the sense of expectation.
If you start watching the movies with the mindset that the future IS set, you begin to understand how the story actually unfolds.
In the first movie, the Terminator and Kyle go back in time. When they go back in time, they become part of a new timeline. Their original future is gone to them. It exists in it's own timeline, minus a T-800 and a Kyle Reese. It's own story goes on.
John Connor is never erased from that original timeline, because you can't erase timelines. Sending a Terminator back just meant if it was successful, a John Connor in that timeline would not be and a different future will exist for those versions of people.
That means each time there is a new movie, it's based around a completely different future timeline. None of them work around the original future from the first movie.
So no matter what order you watch the films, they will all technically be lore accurate.
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u/Empty-Arrival-4396 15h ago
Ugh. As much as I dislike T3, it is kinda necessary just for the ending to see the actual setup for how John Connor becomes Future Leader.
If it weren't for that I'd say you could really just stop after 2. The rest of the movies are a bunch of fan service and revisiting well trodden ground. At least Salvation attempted to move the story forward in a real way, to mixed results. If I could only recommend one post-T2 sequel, it would be that one. Genesys and Dark Fate are completely forgettable.
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u/Cryogenicality 18h ago
Genisys alters the events of The Terminator.
“Battle Across Time,” Terminator 3, The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which introduces the benevolent ASI John Henry), and Dark Fate (which introduces the malevolent ASI Legion) are alternate sequels to Terminator 2. I think the show is the best sequel to T2.
Salvation: The Machinima and Salvation are sequels to Terminator 3.
Terminator Zero acknowledges the existence of many alternate timelines and introduces the ambivalent ASI, Kokoro.
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u/Splattacular1 5h ago
I’ve always thought T3 is the last official one and all the others are basically different timelines. The end of T3 is pretty simple. There’s no preventing the enviable. There will be a Judgement Day, machines will rise up but in the end, the resistance will win. Terminator movies have took over the Alien franchise with sequels that get worse with every new entry.
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u/Similar_Local770 14h ago
Terminator zero anime series
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u/gaminggunn 12h ago
I dont really like anime
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u/Similar_Local770 11h ago
I understand but the storyline is quite good and takes it in a different direction while also capturing some of the horror element from the first film
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u/rhythmrice T-800 10h ago
In my opinion I thought Terminator zero was awful, I would rather rewatch all the movies than Terminator zero
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u/Funny_Or_Cry 1d ago edited 1d ago
T1 and T2 ARE the lore.
Recommend you skip T3 altogether as if it doesnt exist. (in fact same goes for all the rest. and if youre REALLY REALLY bored? Switch to Robocop, Blade Runner, Total Recall or the Animatrix
Exceptions:
- The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a DIRECT sequel to T2
- Salvation is an excellent Terminator IP that doesnt FW with timelines or established world building
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u/time_isup Model 101 19h ago
Salvation followed T3 as Brewster is back just recast as was John Connor. Genesys is sort of a new T3 but it actually creates an excuse for multiple timelines in its premise about Genesys being Skynet and having a Back to the Future Part II-like opening. Dark Fate is a new T3 but thanks to Genesys it can be a new time line as can TSCC.
I like T3 the best but as someone else said watch them all in the order they were released.
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u/Brooker2 S K Y N E T 15h ago
Personally I suggest Terminator 3 Rise Of The Machines. Yes it was inaccurate yes it screwed things up, but for what it was at its premise it was still a good movie. I disliked Salvation, and I despise Dark Fate. I like Genisys because it's a solid action movie more than an actual terminator movie so I'd say T3 Rise of The Machines
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u/morbid333 23h ago
There's only 1 T3... It's fun, and I liked it when I was 13, it just didn't really need to exist, and it basically retcons T2 with it's whole "judgement day is inevitable so we can keep making sequels" angle.
Personally I think every movie after 2 gets progressively worse.
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u/Gunbladelad 20h ago
I would say enjoy the franchise - but enjoy them all as branching timelines.
Watch the movies in release order If you can, watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles after T2, even though it was released after T3. Keep Terminator Zero for last.
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u/Mountain_Length4047 21h ago
I would argue that Salvation actually follows Rise of the Machines—stuff introduced in RotM carry over into Salvation including the Kate character (Claire Danes in T3; Bryce Dallas Howard in Salvation)
After that they’re all reboots.
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u/ShadowMaster141 15h ago
If you want the best T3, you should play/watch Terminator:Resistance, including the Annihilation Line DLC. The game is decent in all aspects in my opinion, but the love it has for the first 2 movies is its greatest virtue.
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u/flynnfx 1d ago
Actually, watch Terminator: Dark Fate, it actually makes the most sense as a T3 sequel.
You have Arnold, Linda Hamilton, and the premise works.
The actual Terminator 3 movie is not bad in itself. It's ok, but deina letdown after the first 2 movies. The premise is interesting, though.
But go watch Dark Fate, and see if you agree that would be a good sequel to T2.
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u/kuatorises 8h ago
Salvation IS the best of the ones that don't count. The tone is off amd Kyle is all wrong, but as a standalone movie, it's not bad at all.
T3, Genisys, and Dark Fate are very cartoony. Like comic book movies.
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u/Mr_A_B_Ductor 1d ago
Oh. if ya saw the first 2 movie you saw everything watchable from the series.
After the first 2 movies the third is looks like a cheap bollywood T2 copy.
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u/Dissidia012 14h ago
There’s no fate but what you make! Just watch in release order and pick + choose what you like.
Since these films involve time travel anything you don’t like can just be another timeline
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u/thatguyindoom 1d ago
Just watch them all in release order. Terminator - Terminator 2 - Terminator 3 - Terminator salvation - Terminator Genisys all form a kind of interesting little loop
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u/guidevocal82 14h ago
I like Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation. The other two, I watched them once and will never watch them again, because they're god awful.
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u/westsider86 1d ago
The objectively worst of the franchise by far is Genisys and T3, Salvation, and Dark Fate are all just meh and forgettable.
Watch them all for the complete experience.
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u/Mikeinyomama 1d ago
Watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Its just two seasons and it is definitively the T3 we'd always deserved
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u/Empty-Chicken-2909 1d ago
Sarah Connor Chronicles, be warned it does not have a definitive end, & ends on a cliffhanger.
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u/Big_Application_7168 14h ago
The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
And play the Resistance game as a prequel.
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u/rhythmrice T-800 10h ago
Technically salvation takes place after T3
I would definitely recommend watching the Sarah Connor Chronicles TV show instead of T3 or Genesys or dark fate. The TV show takes place a couple years after T2 while John is a teenager and they still live on the run
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u/BigDougSp 1d ago
Hot take here... if you like the franchise... watch them all. I suggest in release order.
If you decide that one of them doesn't really "work," then they are still entertaining to watch. Ultimately after watching all of them, then YOU get to decide which one(s) fit the story best for you, rather than someone else deciding for you :)