Two robots from the future fight over a crane in the new film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Pursued by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator, the evil robot T-X (played by Kristanna Loken) drives off in a Demag AC 395 parked on a construction site. As she drives, she slews the (lowered) boom to try to shake off the Terminator.
The T-X, we learn, can hack into and control any computer with her brain, so she can drive the crane and operate the boom and outriggers at the same time. ‘This is actually true because the whole thing is a fly-by-wire crane,’ says Mike Konle, president of Hollywood’s Champion Crane, who provided the Demag for the film.
‘The chase scene was excellent because it was so realistic. It definitely mowed down some vehicles,’ Konle says. ‘For what we did to it, it’s a testament to the quality of Demag cranes. It kept going, despite some severe punishment.’ The crane’s only modifications were roll cages in both cabs, and steel bumpers.
Which was just as well. While the stuntman driver was practicing driving the crane in the rental lot, he flipped it over and it rolled one and a half times off camera, unfortunately. Although the driver was unhurt, Champion had to make ‘major repairs’ to get the crane camera-ready. Konle says that most of Champion Crane’s business renting 30 cranes comes from Hollywood movie studios.
