MR Terminator 2

He promised us he'd be back!

Movie: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Directed by James Cameron
Release date 1991
Genre Science-fiction action
Country USA

After the original The Terminator, James Cameron went on directing the successful Aliens (1986) and The Abyss (1989). He was now a well renowned popular film director.

In 1991 he came back to his first creation, the movie that put him under the spotlight.

After some problems during the pre-production, mostly legal rights because of who owned The Terminator then, the movie was finally back in schedule. With a huge budget by 1991 stands of about 90 millions USD, Terminator 2 was one of the most expensive movies filmed at the time. Because of the special effects mostly.

Written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr, T2 is probably the world's most badass movie ever made.

T2 takes place in 1995, 11 years after the original.

Sarah Connor is now interned in an hospital for criminally insane. She tried to raise John to his role as future leader of the human resistance. And was caught by the authorities after a combing.

John Connor isn't quite the future human leader he's destined to be. Now he's still just a kid. Our 10 years old hero is currently doing shenanigans with his friend, stopping by the mall or using his already impressive skills to steal some money off ATM machines.

That is when new Terminator models are sent back into the past. One to kill John before he becomes the resistance leader. The other to prevent the rise of Skynet, the nuclear war "Judgement Day".

T2 ditches completely the horror film aspect from the original to become a full-on action film.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the T-800. And Linda Hamilton takes Sarah Connor into all-new directions. She is now a full fledged badass, much like Cameron's Ripley in Aliens. She takes charge of the situation and is even in the middle of an escape of her own when both Terminators arrive at the hospital.

T2 sees a more advanced shapeshifter liquid metal "mimetic poly-alloy" T-1000 attempt to kill the Connors. Portrayed by Robert Patrick in one of his most iconic roles in his career. He's quite creepy, the complete opposite of the older T-800. It provides a nice contrast with the T-800's more tank-like approach, Cameron has gone to compare the T-1000 to "a Porsche" in that regards.

Finally, Edward Furlong plays the young John Connor while we only get a glimpse of his future-self by Michael Edwards.

The effects were created by Industrial Light & Magic. They created some truly impressive and innovative FX for Terminator 2. Such as the first human controlled CGi character. T2 counts easily some of the most ambitious special effects since 1982 Tron.

It's really a stunning movie.

Stan Winston's studio provided the work for the practical effects. Terminator 2 uses a lot of miniatures, used in the future war segment.

The canal chase alone is one of, if not the best action scenes ever filmed. And it's such a well crafted useful scene for a change. Not like the mindless CGi action scenes nowadays. When the audience is still not sure who the villain is. Watching the T-800 chasing John and grabbing him while the T-1000 is trying to run them over... that is when the point of view changes.

Terminator 2 is easily one of James Cameron's best.

The movie left a mark on pop culture forever and influenced the entire scifi genre.

It's more of a thinking action film.

It does nullify T1's "time loop", but once you accept it as it is - a fantastic entertaining action film - it is a brilliant film. Anyways, Terminator movies tend to rectify the previous one's time travel theories...

The music is once again composed by Brad Fiedel. But this it fully embraces the big budget nature of the film and his new score leaves the independent roots of the first one. It's epic. Iconic.

T2 won 4 Academy Awars (you don't see science-fiction blockbuster doing that much anymore..), for effects and sounds.

Overall, a fantastic movie!

Easily one of the best the science-fiction/action genre ever produced.

It does leave its most scifi aspect aside - the time travel/time can be changed - to fully embraces the robotic threats.

This movie does feature another one of James Cameron's classic dysfunctional little family. The father figure-aspect of T2 is easily one of my favorite parts of the movie. And watching John bond with the T-800 provide some of the best if calmer scenes of the franchise.

Highly recommended, perfect through and through.

I give it:

3 / 3 UFOs!