Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) ft. Sara Shea
- Thomas Duncan
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Guest:
Sara Shea
Host and Creator of Shea Cinema; @sheacinema on X, IG
Co-Host of First Watch/Rewatch
Previously on 12 Angry Men (1957) Revisit, Barry Lyndon (1975), Shampoo (1975), 2025 Post Oscars Reaction Show, Patton (1970), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Dracula (1931), The Public Enemy (1931)
Cast:
James Cameron, Writer/Director
William Wisher, Co-Writer
Adam Greenberg, Cinematographer
Brad Fiedel, Music
Conrad Buff, Mark Goldblatt, and Richard A. Harris, Editing
Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor
Edward Furlong as John Connor
Robert Patrick as T-1000
Earl Boen as Dr. Peter Silberman
Joe Morton as Miles Bennett Dyson
Background:
T2 was released on July 3, 1991.
On a budget between $94-102 million, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is estimated to have grossed a worldwide total of $519–$520.9 million, making it the year's highest-grossing film, and the third-highest-grossing film ever, behind 1977's Star Wars ($530 million) and 1982's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ($619 million).
It remained in the top-five highest-grossing films for twelve consecutive weeks and the top-ten highest-grossing films for fifteen weeks. This also made it the thirteenth-highest-grossing film of its time, behind Back to the Future (1985), and the highest-grossing R-rated film at the time.
Critics were generally positive with some caveats but specifically highlighted the relationship between John Connor and the Terminator and the special effects as worthy of unique praise.
T2 was nominated for 6 Oscars including cinematography and film editing while winning for makeup, sound, sound effects editing, and visual effects.
Terminator 2 is considered a highly influential film, setting a benchmark for sequels, action set pieces, and visual effects. Cameron and special-effects supervisor Dennis Muren said the groundbreaking special effects in Terminator 2 demonstrated the possibilities of computer-generated effects and that without it, effects-focused films such as Jurassic Park (1993) would not have been possible.
A 2014 Entertainment Weekly article said Terminator 2 contributed to the contemporary Hollywood high-budget science fiction epic film, and a reliance on turning films into franchises targeted at young audiences and broad demographics. Den of Geek described it as one of the most influential blockbusters since the thriller Jaws (1975).
Alongside her appearance in The Terminator, Hamilton's Sarah Connor became regarded as one of the greatest and most influential cinematic female action heroes and an iconic character. Patrick's T-1000 is considered one of the most iconic cinematic villains.
Although Cameron intended for Terminator 2 to be the end of the franchise, it was followed by several additional films—Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009), Terminator Genisys (2015), and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)—as well as a television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008–2009).
The AFI has recognized the film on the following lists:
Popular Mechanics and Rolling Stone jointly listed it alongside The Terminator as the third-best time-travel film ever made. Rolling Stone's reader-voted list of the best sequels ranks Terminator 2 second, behind The Godfather Part II (1974), and Empire readers ranked the film 17th on its 2017 "100 Greatest Movies" list.
In 2023, T2 was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.
T2 currently holds a 90% on RT, a 75 score on Metacritic, and a 4.3/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, a killer machine from the future is reprogrammed to protect the very boy he was once sent to destroy. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the T-800, but this time he's the good guy — and he's up against something far more terrifying: the T-1000, a shape-shifting liquid-metal assassin who can become anyone or anything. Young John Connor, the future leader of humanity, is the target, and his only hope is the machine that once hunted his mother.
Did You Know:
Robert Patrick undertook a rigorous running regime and practiced breathing only through his nose, in order to appear to be a cyborg that could run at high speeds without showing fatigue. He had trained so hard that he was able to catch up to Edward Furlong on his dirt bike with ease.
Production took sufficiently long that Edward Furlong's growth caused the production team to have to make certain adjustments during the shoot. He is noticeably younger in the desert scene than in other scenes. His voice began to break and had to be pitch adjusted in post-production. He had also grown quite tall over the months that, for one scene shot late in the production schedule, he had to stand in a hole in the ground in order to maintain continuity in height difference with Linda Hamilton.
There was concern as to how realistic CGI would look when it came to the helicopter going under the bridge, so the pilot just did it for real. A camera car would be driving the Steadicam operator close to the helicopter to capture close-up shots, but the camera crew refused to film it because of the high risk involved. Director James Cameron filmed the shot himself, twice: once with the camera car driving behind the helicopter, and once in front of it.
For the Los Angeles River sequence, Arnold Schwarzenegger was in pain because he could not wear a glove while cocking the gun, so his fingers would get stuck in the mechanism. He tore the skin from his fingers and hand many times before he mastered it, and he frequently hit Edward Furlong with the gun while doing it, one time almost knocking the young actor out. He had to achieve all this while trying to act and control a Harley at the same time as James Cameron told him where to look. He could not dart his eyes either because it would have ruined the shot. Shooting the gates also took weeks of practice because he had to also "act cool" while doing it.
Industrial Light & Magic's computer graphics department had to grow from six artists to almost thirty-six to accommodate all the work required to bring the T-1000 to life, costing US $5.5 million, and taking eight months to produce, which ultimately amounted to 3.5 minutes of screen time.
Edward Furlong immediately got along with Arnold Schwarzenegger, as the young actor had grown up without a father figure, and Schwarzenegger could fill that role both in front and behind the camera. Linda Hamilton joked that she experienced excruciating moments when she was forced to listen as Schwarzenegger gave Furlong advice about women, and stated that they did so well together because they were "emotionally the same age."
Best Performance: James Cameron (Writer/Director)/Linda Hamilton (Sarah)
Best Secondary Performance: Arnold Schwarzenegger (T800)/Dennis Muren (Stunt Coordinator)/Robert Patrick (T-1000)
Most Charismatic Award: Arnold Schwarzenegger (T800)/Brad Fiedel (Music)
Best Scene:
Biker Bar
Galleria
LA River Chase
Pescadero
Cyberdyne
Steel Factory
Favorite Scene: Cyberdyne/Biker Bar/Pescadero
Most Indelible Moment: Pescadero/LA River Chase/Steel Factory
In Memorium:
Tom Dreesen, 86, American comedian and actor (Man on the Moon, Trouble with the Curve, Spaceballs)
Walter Parazaider, 81, American Hall of Fame woodwind musician (Chicago)
Paul Avery, 81, American actor (Superman, All My Children)
Daveigh Chase, 35, American actress (Lilo & Stitch, The Ring, Donnie Darko)
James Burrows, 85, American television producer and director (Cheers, Will & Grace, Taxi)
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
The Terminator: Hasta la vista, baby.
The Terminator: He'll live.
John Connor: No, no, no, no. You gotta listen to the way people talk. You don't say "affirmative," or some shit like that. You say "no problemo." And if someone comes on to you with an attitude you say "eat me." And if you want to shine them on it's "hasta la vista, baby."
The Terminator: Hasta la vista, baby.
John Connor: Yeah but later, dickwad. And if someone gets upset you say, "chill out"! Or you can do combinations.
The Terminator: Chill out, dickwad.
John Connor: Great! See, you're getting it!
The Terminator: No problemo.
The Terminator: I know now why you cry
[wipes a tear from John's face]
The Terminator: but it's something that I can never do.
Sarah Connor: [voiceover] Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The terminator would never stop. It would never leave him, and it would never hurt him, never shout at him, or get drunk and hit him, or say it was too busy to spend time with him. It would always be there. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers who came and went over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only one who measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.
The Terminator: I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.
Cigar Biker: You forgot to say "please."
John Connor: Jesus, you were gonna kill that guy.
The Terminator: Of course; I'm a Terminator.
John Connor: The whole thing goes: The future's not set. There's no fate but what we make for ourselves.
[the T-1000 has fallen into a vat of molten steel]
John Connor: Is it dead?
The Terminator: Terminated.
The Terminator: Stay here. I'll be back.
Sarah Connor: [narrating] The unknown future rolls toward us. I face it, for the first time, with a sense of hope. Because if a machine, a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.
The Terminator: Come with me if you want to live.
The Terminator: Why do you cry?
John Connor: You mean people?
The Terminator: Yes.
John Connor: I don't know. We just cry. You know, when it hurts.
The Terminator: Pain causes it?
John Connor: No, it's when there's nothing wrong with you, but you hurt anyway. You get it?
The Terminator: No.
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 9.5
Impact/Significance: 10
Novelty: 8.33
Classic-ness: 9
Rewatchability: 7.17
Audience Score: 9.05 (8.6 IMDB, 95% RT)
Total: 53.05
Remaining Questions:
Does Judgment Day still happen?
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