Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
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This film has been preserved in the National Film Registry in 2023.
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 Come with him if you want to live.
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Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science-fiction action film directed and written by James Cameron. It is the second film in the Terminator series, and most subsequent entries in the franchise, including films and the TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles, follow up on the events of this film.
An extended cut that restores 15 minutes of deleted scenes, was released to LaserDisc and VHS in November 1993 and has since been included in subsequent home video releases. In addition, the film was re-released in 3D on August 25, 2017; this version of the film was released on Blu-ray on December 2017.
Plot
In this sequel set eleven years after "The Terminator," young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the key to civilization's victory over a future robot uprising, is the target of the shape-shifting T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a Terminator sent from the future to kill him. Another Terminator, the reprogrammed T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), has been sent back to protect the boy. As John and his mother Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) go on the run with the T-800, the boy forms an unexpected bond with the robot.
Why It Terminates Everything Again
- Succeeds in turning the Terminator, one of the most terrifying villains in movie history, into a heroic character as he's re-programmed to protect John Connor and even tries to learn about human emotions.
- Sarah Conner is much better here turning her from a scared girl to a hardcore badass, essentially turning her into the legend Kyle mentioned in the previous film.
- It introduced John Connor, who proves himself to be cunning and witty, initially showing why he's the leader of the Resistance.
- The CGI effects were considered revolutionary at the time, and still look great today.
- In addition to the CGI effects, most of the film's practical effects, such as the T-800's animatronics and makeup, also look excellent, and are a big step up from the first film's special effects.
- Amazing storyline where the T-800 protects John Connor from another Terminator and helps him stop Judgement Day.
- Amazing acting especially Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarznegger. In fact, it was this film where Arnold Schwarzengger started winning people over with the idea that he was more than just a body-builder-turned-action-hero-movie-star, but an actual actor. Carrying the bulk of the film with the same restrained, machinelike, uncanny valley-invoking performance he gave in the first film, delivering several important expository speeches, and gradually adapting and evolving to more effectively mimic humanity, and perhaps even gain humanity in some small measure by the end. For all the fantastic action setpieces, many of the film's most memorable moments are its emotional ones, many of which hinge on the characters' and/or audience's emotional connection to the cyborg killing machine played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. A connection that simply wouldn't exist believably if Schwarzengger wasn't a capable actor.
- Lots of iconic scenes like the Mall scene and memorable dialogue including, "There is no fate, but what we make" and "Hasta la vista, baby".
- Awesome soundtrack from Brad Fiedel. The movie also featured "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood & The Destroyers and "You Could Be Mine" by Guns N' Roses.
- Amazing action scenes, whether it involves the T-800 fighting the T-1000, or defeating the police without killing any of them!
- The T-1000 is such a terrifying and intimidating villain, where he is instead made out of liquid metal and can make his hands into swords and can mimic people's appearances and voices. Part of what makes him terrifying is Robert Patrick's excellent performance.
- The ending is considered one of the saddest endings in film, where the T-800 sacrifices himself to destroy his chip so Judgement Day never comes. It's also VERY heartrending to see John pleading with the T-800 not to go. Even after you consider that it was the closest he ever got to have a father figure.
- It also initially ended off on an ambitious note with the idea of the viewer speculating whether they actually stopped Judgement Day or not. Sadly, the sequels kind of ruined that idea, but several fans consider them non-canon.
- The extended cut is just as good, if not better.
- It also includes an extended/alternate ending where after stopping Judgement Day, Sarah and John lived a normal life where Skynet is destroyed and never existed, while this ruined the ambitious note idea mentioned above, many consider this to be the real ending.
- Awesome direction by James Cameron.
- Great cinematography.
Bad Qualities
- The trailer at release has revealed lots of plot twists in the movie, such as the T-800 being a good guy this time.
- The CGI on the Terminator going back in time may not have aged well by today's standards.
- There is a lack of blood in certain scenes, such as the scene in the bar where the T-800 stabs a guy in the arm, or the scene where the T-1000 impales a truck driver.
- Plot Hole: How is it that the T-1000 wasn't destroyed after time traveling if he's actually made of Liquid Metal instead of being wrapped in human flesh like the T-800?
- Sarah Connor can be very unlikeable sometimes.
Reception
Critical reception
The movie has received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for the acting, action scenes, and visual effects. Regarded by many critics as superior to the original and one of the best sequels ever made, the film influenced popular culture, especially the use of visual effects in films. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes – established on the Web in 1998 – retroactively reports that the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 82 reviews, with an average score of 8.50/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "T2 features thrilling action sequences and eye-popping visual effects, but what takes this sci-fi/action landmark to the next level is the depth of the human (and cyborg) characters.".
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying "The key element in any action picture, I think, is a good villain Terminator 2 has one, along with an intriguing hero and fierce heroine, and a young boy who is played by Furlong with guts and energy. Owen Gliebermann of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+, saying "The movie is a great big feast of wreckage. But that's also what makes it a bit numbing. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune called it "a good summer movie". On Metacritic, it has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 22 critics. It is also considered by many to be better than the first film; on IMDB, it has a rating of 8.5 out of 10, in comparison to the first movie's 8 out of 10 rating. It is also considered by many to be one of the best action films of all time.
Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times gave the movie 4 out of 4 stars.
Accolades
The movie won five Saturn Awards, namely Best Science Fiction Film, Best Actress (for Linda Hamilton), Best Direction (for James Cameron), Best Performance by a Younger Actor (for Edward Furlong), and Best Special Effects (for Stan Winston, ILM, Fantasy II, and 4 Ward Productions). It also won four Academy Awards; Best Make Up (for Stan Winston and Jeff Dawn), Best Sound (for Tom Johnson, Gary Rydstrom, Gary Summers and Lee Orloff), Best Sound Editing (for Gary Rydstrom and Gloria S. Borders), and Best Visual Effects (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren Jr. and Robert Skotak), not to mention winning the 1992 MTV Movie Awards for Best Movie, among others.
Videos
External Links
Terminator 2: Judgment Day at the Internet Movie Database
Terminator 2: Judgment Day on Rotten Tomatoes