Copyrighted by TriStar Pictures, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment
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MOVIE REVIEW

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language.

Reviewed by: Brett Willis
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adult
Genre: Sci-Fi Action Thriller Sequel
Length: 2 hr. 17 min.
Year of Release: 1991
USA Release: July 3, 1991 (wide)
Copyright, TriStar Pictures Copyright, TriStar Pictures Copyright, TriStar Pictures
Relevant Issues
Copyright, TriStar Pictures

Robots with artificial intelligence

Copyright, TriStar Pictures, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment

“The Terminator” series paints the potential for a rather bleak picture for the future of mankind. What’s the truth? Is there HOPE for humanity? Answer

Death in the Bible

Final judgment

Salvation

Anger in the Bible

VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

CHANGE THE WORLD—A single man or woman can help change the world. Read about some who did with faith and God’s help…
Jesus Christ, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David

Featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger
Linda Hamilton Edward Furlong
Robert Patrick
Earl Boen
Joe Morton
Director James Cameron
Producer James Cameron
See all »
Distributor TriStar PicturesTriStar Pictures, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment

This sequel tops its original in all departments. The opening sequence of war between the humans and the computers in 2029 is a much more convincing version of the corresponding sequence in the first film; the naked Terminator robots are now CGI.

The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) promised: “I’ll be Back.” And he is, reprising that line and doing the motorcycle-and-sunglasses bit. Other reprised lines: “Drive,” “Get out,” “Come with me if you want to live.” But not all these lines are spoken by the same characters as in the original. that’s because (as most fans of this genre already know) the opening scene of a Terminator sent back in time by the computers and a Protector sent by the humans is deliberately deceptive. Until the point that both those time-travelers find young John Connor, the possibility is held open that Arnold’s character is the computers’ representative and the normal-sized Robert Patrick’s character is a human. But in reality, The Schwarzenegger Terminator (model T-101) was captured and reprogrammed by the adult John Connor. it’s Patrick’s character that’s the computers’ representative, a new T-1000 Terminator made of morphing liquid metal. it’s physically stronger than the T-101, and it can take the shape of anything it touches (the morphing technology is thoroughly convincing). So Arnold gets to play the “good guy” this time around. A viewer tricked by the opening sequence would have to go back, review it, and realize that the T-101 didn’t actually kill anyone after coming through the time warp but the T-1000 probably did.

Although this film was released in 1991, it’s set in 1994 or ’95, when young John (Edward Furlong) is 10. His mother Sarah (Linda Hamilton), who has escaped one Terminator assassination attempt and knows that there may be another someday, has become a social misfit. She’s worked hard to learn military and survival tactics (by running guns in Latin America etc.) and to teach them to her son, the humans’ future leader in the war against the machines. Since the only people she fits in with are paranoid survivalists, most of whom really ARE off the deep end, an outside observer might assume that she—with her stories about Terminators and Judgment Day—is crazy as well. Sure enough, she’s confined to a mental hospital; and even her son doesn’t believe her story—until the day the Terminators show up.

This is a very different Sarah from the one we knew in the first film. She’s self-sufficient; resourceful; lean and muscled. Her tourist-guide Spanish is replaced by the real thing. And although she’s not a killer, she’ll do whatever it takes to (1) try to stop Judgment Day from occurring or, failing that, (2) get John ready for his destiny.

The story of Judgment Day, by the way, is: A superfast computer system called Skynet replaced human decision-making in the United States’ strategic defenses. Then the network became “self-aware” (AI), the humans tried to pull the plug, and the computers retaliated with nukes. This is very similar to the plot of “Colossus: The Forbin Project” (1969).

The action is nonstop (except for some PC propaganda) and there are some dangerous stunts and eye-popping effects.

There are some technical oversights. There should have been explanations of how the T-1000 could pass through the time warp (a one-cell-thick coating of living tissue, which he later shed?) and of how it can mimic human beings of different body sizes (vacuoles?). But screen time is expensive, and I suppose most people don’t take those points too seriously.

Sarah is mistreated at the hospital. Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen), a holdover from the first film, is still a thick-headed bureaucrat who doesn’t understand what he’s dealing with. And an orderly sensually licks the side of Sarah’s face while she’s in restraints, then disturbs all the patients on the ward by scraping his nightstick along the hall wall. what’s that all about? Just a male bimbo image, I guess. At one point Sarah decides that she’s become expendable because John now has the T-101 to protect him; a Terminator is much better then any human father because he’ll never be too busy to spend time with John, never get angry and hit him, etc.

In this outing, neither of the Terminators is programmed to use profanity; but the T-101 picks some up from John as part of his training to become “more human.” And Sarah has a very filthy mouth.

The violence is extreme. The T-1000 kills without hesitation, the way the T-101 did in the first film. The T-101, under special orders from John, never kills anyone; but he blows up anything that’s in the way, and he takes out innumerable police officers with leg wounds, done for laughs. “He’ll live.”

Sarah has a dream sequence where she’s watching herself (played by Hamilton’s twin sister) and some children playing in a park, and they’re all killed by a nuclear attack that levels the entire city. don’t watch that sequence late at night.

The ending involves self-sacrifice and (of all things) an anti-violence message!

The Cameron trademarks of bigger-than-life action, strong female characters, and long-drawn-out climaxes are all here. If you’re mature enough so that watching this won’t brutalize your spirit OR make you weep over the “death” of a machine, great. Not everyone is that well-adjusted.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—Many critics consider T2 one of the 10 or 20 best action movies of all time, and I concur wholeheartedly. It’s not just fun—it’s masterfully put together by one of the most famous directors ever, but back when he was still hungry and striving to prove himself, and he exercised great creativity and discipline in the cinematography and pacing of the film to improve the storytelling far better than most contemporary peers in the genre.

While we’re now a bit jaded by CGI (computer generated imagery), when T2 came out in 1991, the world had not yet seen such impressive effects, and the way they’re utilized in the movie, they stand the test of time today. In fact, James Cameron wanted the liquid metal villain to face off against Arnold in the first Terminator movie. However, he knew technology in 1984 was not sufficient to make it realistic, so he had to wait a few years.

And all of the non-CGI effects are so well done it’s easy to see how this was the most expensive movie ever made at that time. But action and pacing and effects are just icing on the cake of this gripping and thought-provoking story.

When I was an adolescent, I remember trying to explain to my mother how the messianic John Connor was like Jesus! So maybe I was a bit young, and it’s not apples to apples, but honestly the actors do a good job of illuminating lots of other very human problems: absent fathers, society plowing ahead without thinking about repercussions, and trying to warn people of the truth of something threatening that sounds fantastical.

Honestly, to many of my friends who do not believe in Jesus, so much of what I believe sounds fantastical, and I sympathize with Sarah Connor trying to convince people—even her own son is skeptical, and you really feel the heartbreak on both sides. She has ended up down in the dumps (to put it mildly), but it’s not her fault, and viewers are right to admire her tenacity in rising to the occasion when she must, despite what everyone else thinks of her.

It’s an action movie, but the acting is actually pretty good. Some might not be in the mood for a somber dystopian backdrop, but it definitely accentuates the believability of the characters and their story. There are 2 reasons many people would not stomach this movie: violence and foul language.

My wife finds movies with much less action too intense, so if I wanted her to watch it with me we’d have to sit outside with a laptop in the sunshine with lots of chirpy birds distracting her from the suspenseful moments, of which there are many. But I keep far away from horror films, and this is not that, so the violence does not bother me.

I wish the foul language could have been toned down. Yes, they’re in great distress fending for their lives, but they still could have written it into fewer lines. But that also doesn’t bother me so much, and I realize everyone is different and knows what their weaknesses are.

In writing this review, we’re asked to consider biblical standards, and I know what that means, but if we look in a lot of places in the Bible, there are a lot of intensely violent stories I wouldn’t necessarily want my kids to read until they’re mature enough. I’m a 44-year-old man, and I’m particularly glad there is no sexual innuendo in T2, something which is far too prevalent even on “daytime television” in the USA.

It’s 2024 and if you’re looking for an on-screen adventure, this is still one of the best action films ever made.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Stephen H, age 44 (USA)
Negative
Negative—Whoa… I didn’t think it was more possible to add more violence to this story, but it happened! I guess the producers and screenwriters figured they couldn’t have another hit without Mr. S., so they make his character a good guy this time. The villain is truly scary. However, I found it hard to have sympathy for Sarah this time, who’s character appears to have had a mental meltdown, and her son, the juvenile delinquent on whom the future of the world depends.

The story has the same depressing tone as the first one, so be warned.
My Ratings: [Very Offensive / 2]
Hillari Hunter, age 39