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Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

DVD Cover (Lions Gate)
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Overall Rating 85%
Overall Rating
Ranked #57
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Connections: The Terminator

Nearly 10 years have passed since Sarah Connor was targeted for termination by a cyborg from the future. Now her son, John, the future leader of the resistance, is the target for a newer, more deadly terminator. Once again, the resistance has managed to send a protector back to attempt to save John and his mother Sarah. --TMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: July 8, 2004
After the events of the first film, the cyborgs in the year 2029 decide that since the terminator they had sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor failed, they'll send another cyborg back to kill her son John directly. The humans also send back someone to protect John; a reprogrammed T-800 (the same type that was the villain in the first movie). However, the cyborg that was sent back to kill John is a newer model of the cyborg, a T-1000; instead of being a normal metal robot with a flesh covering, this one is made of liquid metal and can shape-shift to look like anyone or anything. Meanwhile, Sarah Connor has been locked up in an insane asylum, due to her having told people about what happened to her when the terminator attempted to kill her. After the T-800 terminator finds and saves John, he insists that they bust his mom out of the asylum and then get out of the city... but Sarah has other plans, namely, wanting to prevent the war from ever happening by rewriting history.

The second part of the series is actually better than the original... how often does that happen? The storyline here is solid enough, if you don't count the plot-hole from the original that set up the events in the first one; however, I won't hold that against this one. This movie does tend to follow the same formula from the original, that being Sarah, Reese the terminator and John running from the (villain) terminator, then the (villain) terminator catches up to them, action sequence, the heroes haul ass, Reese the terminator drops a bit more of the story, repeat the process until the credits roll. The thing here is, is that is was done much in a much better and entertaining manor; the storyline sequences are much more detailed, they're more interesting, and given more time to run with, while the action sequences are more varied and original than what was found in the original. The running time on this film is about a half hour longer than what was found in the original, but oddly enough, it seemed to move along much quicker... coincidence?

The cast here is also much fresher than in the original, with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the role of the T-800, only this time, he's the hero. Arnold has a habit of putting out the same performance in the majority of the movies he's in, however, he turned it up a few notches here and pulled off a great performance. Linda Hamilton also returns as Sarah Connor, and is much better here as the jacked-up military-type woman... better line delivery, better acting, better performance all around. Then there's Edward Furlong as John Connor, the only real blemish on the movie in my opinion. Half of the problem with him is the lines he's given. It seems like he was given a list of every "hip" word that was in use around the end of the eighties (dickweed, adios, eat me, etc) and told to work them into every other line he spoke. While I realize that he's not responsible for the script, he could have at least tried to make these overly lame lines work a bit better. Then, there's that squeal he lets out during his speech at random intervals that just sends shivers up my spine. Finally, there's Robert Patrick as the T-1000, who despite having very few lines, comes off excellently. In most of his scenes, he simply lets his actions do the communication, and he pulls it off very well... not many actors could do such.

Finally, there's the special effects here. While they may not be the best by today's standards, I remember them being cutting-edge back when this film was released. This was one of the very first films to seamlessly blend CGI-effects with live action, and it was insanely cool back in the day. By comparison to today's standards, the effects are decent at best, but there's really no flaws to be found with it here. Things such as the morphing of the T-1000 aren't too over-used, but they're not skimped on either; they got the perfect mix of enough to keep you interested, but not too much so that it becomes boring. Great work there.

Overall, definitely worth the viewing for the two or three of you kids that dig action films and may not have caught this one. With the exception of John's god-awful "hip" lingo, it really holds up nicely in today's times... it doesn't feel dated at all, and is quite the enjoyable film. 9/10.
Schillinger #1: Schillinger - added August 22, 2004 at 2:44am
The best movie ever made.
Big D #2: Big D - added August 24, 2004 at 3:09pm
To me, part 2 is WAY better than part 1. :)
Crispy #3: Crispy - added September 10, 2004 at 8:05am
A+ performance by Robert Patrick!
Symx #4: Symx - added June 15, 2005 at 3:14am
Best in the Terminator series
. #5: . - added September 13, 2005 at 9:16pm
Classic.
MrDerp #6: MrDerp - added September 20, 2005 at 4:58pm
Not as good as the first. But if you missed the point of the first one, it's pretty much laid out in the end of this film. And John Connor is annoying as shit in this movie.
ScarsRstarS #7: ScarsRstarS - added January 10, 2006 at 8:56am
The best one to date. Best they will make out of all the Terminators.
Tristan #8: Tristan - added September 28, 2008 at 6:44pm
The best Terminator movie, hands down. The other two don't even come close.

10/10
Nirrad #9: Nirrad - added April 12, 2009 at 12:38am
Fact: Best action movie ever!
Ginose #10: Ginose - added April 12, 2009 at 8:24am
Fact: For the best action movie ever, this movie is really fucking boring...
...and overhyped...

6.9/10
sameep007 #11: sameep007 - added June 1, 2009 at 9:48am
the best and never boring movie of all time. bow down to the director.
best best best and always remains the best
Ginose #12: Ginose - added June 9, 2009 at 9:47am
Alright, after re-watching t he original cut, I must say that the technical merits can redeem alot of the issues with the pacing and writing. I've always loved the performances, all-around, and the scenes that actually HAVE some action are some of the best in film. It's a shame alot of modern action-movie directors don't take a few notes from some of the classics... also a shame that James Cameron is aloud near an editing table... how did he make "Aliens" boring!?

Well, for what it's worth, the original cut has many flaws, but nowhere near as many as the extended.
Theatircal cut: 7.6/10
Cameron's cut: 6.gofuckyourselfCameron/10
Lucid Dreams #13: Lucid Dreams - added May 26, 2010 at 11:33pm
I haven't seen this movie since I was just a young lad, but from what I remember I loved this movie. 9/10
GoregeousWhorror #14: GoregeousWhorror - added August 28, 2012 at 2:51am
Still to this day Terminator 2 is the best movie to ever be made. An attractive cast full of talent. <3
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