Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Rating: 10/10 (18 March 2005)

He said "I'll be back", and he was, 11 years since the first film, James Cameron (Aliens, Titanic) directs the bigger sequel about the human looking machine, cyborg, returning from 2029. Another Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has come to the past, 1991, and this time his mission is to protect the leader of the human resistance, age 13 John Connor (introducing Edward Furlong). The villain of the film this time is another machine, but the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) is not a cyborg, it is a shape-shifting liquid metal machine. When the Terminator finds John, and it follows John's order to get his mother, Sarah (Linda Hamilton) who is in a mental hospital, they start their run. Sarah doesn't trust the Terminator for a while, looking the same as the last, but she will. But the film does not involve just them on the run from the T-1000, but after Sarah attempts to kill the man mostly responsible for Skynet being created, Miles Dyson (Joe Morton), they plan to destroy the Cyberdyne building, to avoid the war, Judgement Day. Also starring Earl Boen as Dr. Silberman. The special effects, particularly for the T-1000 are extraordinary, the chase and action, i.e. guns and fights sequences are gripping, Hamilton is much more aggressive, Schwarzenegger is hard and lovable, and his goodbye is quite teary, and Cameron's direction is still fantastic. Another not great sequel followed in 2003. It won the Oscars for Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup and Best Sound, and it was nominated for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and it won the BAFTAs for Best Sound and Best Special, and it was nominated for Best Production Design. Arnold Schwarzenegger was number 54 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars, and he was number 20 on The 100 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, Terminator (Hero) was number 48 on 100 Years, 100 Heroes & Villains, the film was number 76 on 100 Years, 100 Quotes ("Hasta la vista, baby."), it was number 77 on 100 Years, 100 Thrills, and it was number 32 on Film 4's 50 Films To See Before You Die. Outstanding!