Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Runtime: 154 minutes; at least that's the version I saw

Directed by: James Cameron

Starring: Arnold, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, Joe Morton

From: Carolco

Here's a movie I somehow never reviewed for this site, and I am talking about either Letterboxd or this Blogpost page. I have seen it a good number of times in my life so I figured it was about time I talked about it. The Letterboxd review is below: 

(Note: I saw the 154 minute version on Thursday night. Although, I'd rate both that and the theatrical version the same, as I've seen both more than one time each)

I won't join in on the debate of this film or the original is the “better” of the two. There's only a half star difference between the films according to me but as of this moment I think the first one is just a little better. One is a serious and perfect B movie with a quality plot and an awesome villain, the second a pumped up action spectacle that is helped by quality special effects. To think that I saw this movie first and I've watched it more than the original. Point being, I am happy thinking that according to my canon this was the second and last Terminator film they made, and the lesser entries in the franchise that came out afterward never actually happened.

I don't need to spend much time talking about the plot as I am sure everyone is familiar with it. So, I'll mention that it is interesting to see how Sarah Connor has changed now knowing that human life will change forever and her son will be responsible for saving humanity; no wonder why she acts pretty crazy. However, when the chips are down you do see that she hasn't become cold-blooded and she still has a heart and conscience. I understand why people would be annoyed at how young John Connor is an obnoxious punk who wears a Public Enemy t-shirt. Some blame the performance of Edward Furlong for that but I never thought that was really the case. While it is sad to see what became of him in real life as an adult, at least in this film the character does grow up and has to make some decisions, making it easier to see how he becomes a hero in later years. Also, at times it's rather goofy at best seeing John try to “humanize” Arnold as a now good guy T-800 model. Yet, it is interesting to see that warped father figure and John bond, as that's also important for the character's development.

Of course, after the events in this movie you can wonder how Skynet still becomes a thing, except that the timeline is pushed back. I am ignoring how the third movie tries to explain it. You end up getting into how all time travel movies at heart have “hey, what a minute...” moments or how with this particular franchise, “Why didn't they keep sending back people or machines to kill John, or his past ancestors?' Unless it's the simplest of time travel movies, all are liable to give you a headache thinking about them and if they're complex, oh boy. Instead I just try to enjoy them for what they are unless they break the basic logic rules you expect and here, it is interesting to see how they deal with the one person who unwittingly is responsible for Skynet. To me I think that time travel movies are usually interesting and it can be fun or intriguing seeing how changing the past can affect things and here, it's trying to stop a cataclysmic event.

Anyhow, the main characters are all interesting (it isn't hard to see why Arnold and his character here became iconic, with several lines still a part of pop culture today) but what a performance from Robert Patrick as the liquid metal T-1000. What a terrifying villain it is and he brought it to life perfectly to life. I understand he put in a lot of effort to make it so (even learning how to run like the T-1000 does and not get tired) and I am glad he did.

While the T-800 becomes like Batman and doesn't kill any human beings (although at times it seems like people are knocking on heaven's door due to the damage they received... again, like Batman), it doesn't really matter as this is still an epic film where you have a lot of carnage, tremendous set pieces, still effective action moments, CGI that doesn't look dated 24 years later, a terrifying dream sequence of a nuclear bomb destroying a city, and it's all seen with nice cinematography and augmented by a quality score from Brad Fiedel which is more symphonic than the 80's synth goodness that is his soundtrack for the first movie, but both are pretty sweet for their own reasons.

No matter which one you think is “better” (I say a lot of that depends on what you prefer when it comes to movie tastes, as there are many differences between the two) I say that both are still classics and are still effective in 2015.

As an aside, in like '08 or '09 I got to see the theatrical cut on the big screen, original film print and all. It was great... aside from a near fight breaking out. From that and other screenings of old films I've been at in the past, let me declare: don't be “that guy” who loudly recites the dialogue from the movie while it's showing. There's been a few problems I've seen personally with this, and it's best if you just don't do it. Yelling out an iconic line or two is understandable. Otherwise, you'll just come off as a know it all and/or rude.