What makes Terminator 2 so timeless?

Mister Apoc

Demigod of Troll Threads
why is it still good all these years later. I can watch it everytime. Why is it so epic?

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Probably because it puts work in for the characters, their motivations and conflicts. We see growth from everyone in tge film. There is no shoehorned romance either.

Good direction, action, effects and stunts, pacing, cinematographer, drama, music. Its a lot of things done well and assembled with intention.
 
Probably because it puts work in for the characters, their motivations and conflicts. We see growth from everyone in tge film. There is no shoehorned romance either.

Good direction, action, effects and stunts, pacing, cinematographer, drama, music. Its a lot of things done well and assembled with intention.
James Cameron's understanding of action seems to be unmatched
 
T2 and Predator have perfect scripts and also perfect execution. Those 2, alongside Die Hard, are the trinity of action perfection. Smart action movies made by smart people.

In T2, besides the incredible set pieces, the character arcs are fantasticly realized. All 3 main characters influence and learn from one another and by the end of the movie John Connor becomes the resistance leader he's destined to be. it's the time when he stops his mom and works in finding out an alternative solution to the problem. Sarah is no longer in charge. Those couple of scenes are incredibly smooth, and subtle in a way that present scripts are not.
 
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T2 and Predator have perfect scripts and also perfect execution. Those 2, alongside Die Hard, are the trinity of action perfection. Smart action movies made by smart people.

In T2, besides the incredible set pieces, the character arcs are fantasticly realized. All 3 main characters influence and learn from one another and by the end of the movie John Connor becomes the resistance leader he's destined to be. it's the time when he stops his mom and works in finding out an alternative solution to the problem. Sarah is no longer in charge. Those couple of scenes are incredibly smooth, and subtle in a way that present scripts are not.

I was forgetting the Predator. That is also an amazing action movie.
And if I might add, Enter the Dragon.
 
The movie also came at the right time to show off T-1000's special effects. His liquid metal abilities were interesting both visually and narratively and shown in a unique way. This is missing completely from later sequels because even though they utilize better technology, the villains were never as interesting and exciting to watch as T-1000 was in T2. And nowadays CGI is simply not interesting to look at and way overplayed.

The T-800 being the good guy was also another interesting twist. Or Sarah Connor now being a badass. Both the T-800 and Sarah combined were far more capable than Kyle Reese in the original but they needed to be since T-1000 was far more capable than the original T-800 threat. I thought all these were smart ideas that made the sequel so good and different enough than the original.
 
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I'd add Big Trouble in Little China to the list. T2 was the first R rated movie I ever say at my best friends house. His mom was rad, used to order boxing matches for us too! Plus she's a lesbian so we'd watch her porn tapes when she wasn't home…good times.
 
Let me chime in here before I leave to work.
One of the best aspects of T1 and T2 that all T movies after them fail at, is how the music plays a role in putting you into the film. The music is very important in not getting sick of movies, sometimes. The music in these films, oh boy.. It is some of the best, atmospheric and adds more weight to the films.
The pacing in T2 is also fast and unapologetically so. It makes sense, given the situation and urgency that our 3 main Protagonists are being chased by a machine, that's only purpose is to take your life. Our 3 are put in very interesting situations, so that helps keep the viewer interested by constantly throwing new and interesting scenarios at them.
The acting was good.
Since it's a movie about the end of mankind, any generation can get into it.
 
This is my magnum opus - I was in Orlando on my holidays and watched this the month before it came out in the UK - I was cock of the midlands when I got back home and told everyone I had watched it in the hotel.
 
It's a fat-free, no-nonsense movie with amazing setpieces and virtually perfect pacing.
The characters are well written. The bad guy is terrifying and manages to feel incredibly menacing while not being as physically imposing as Arnold was in T1, and while speaking just a handful of lines throughout the whole movie. Linda Hamilton's performance is spectacular. There is no shoehorned, unnecessary romance. Comic relief is timed perfectly.
And yep, CG being in its infancy means it's used in just the right amount to do what couldn't be done convincingly with practical effects, but it's not there to carry the movie.
Plus, the soundtrack is fantastic. The main theme is unforgettable.
 
Timeless classic. I still think the original is a superior film but T2 remains one of my all time fav films. No fat at all in this film even though it's quite a long film. Memorable action set pieces. Quality direction. James Cameron is a master film maker.
 
It's a fat-free, no-nonsense movie with amazing setpieces and virtually perfect pacing.
The characters are well written. The bad guy is terrifying and manages to feel incredibly menacing while not being as physically imposing as Arnold was in T1, and while speaking just a handful of lines throughout the whole movie. Linda Hamilton's performance is spectacular. There is no shoehorned, unnecessary romance. Comic relief is timed perfectly.
And yep, CG being in its infancy means it's used in just the right amount to do what couldn't be done convincingly with practical effects, but it's not there to carry the movie.
Plus, the soundtrack is fantastic. The main theme is unforgettable.

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Universally regarded as one of the worst 4k UHD transfers ever created. Hopefully the rumours of a re-release of Terminator 2: Judgement Day are true and it gets all three cuts, along with the same restoration as the first film received. The Terminator looks and sounds phenomenal in 4k UHD!


You're talking to someone who owns like 4 different copies of the movie. Including T2 on Laserdisc. I still love the clarity of the 4K version over what was lost in the process.
 
Talk about something timeless. Watched Lawrence of Arabia again and holy shit does the fidelity of it stand the test of time. It looks so amazing compared most of the stuff that has been done in the last 50 years.
 
I can't see any emojis aside from the 👍, but 😂 is what I wanted to hit.


I have this same problem, I hit the thumbs up on a post then remove it and when I hover over like again, the rest come up.


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T2 has such an awesome story, great soundtrack and great characters, there's nothing to dislike about it. T-1000 is an awesome villain.
 
Much more grounded than later Terminator movies which got really hokey with too much CGI and robots zipping around.

Those first two Terminator movies had such good future war segments. Ya, it's low budget models, but it seems so much better.
 
I wish Cameron would get back to making good movies instead of that weeb shit. But I like T1 better than T2 and Predator is better than both.


Predator is fucking awesome.

Billy was my favorite, what a goddamn fearless badass.

I can't say that I like many after the OG though some were okay but it was more of a one watch and never again scenario whereas part one is an absolute classic that never gets old.
 
Replace Thing with Predator and I agree. Thing is a masterpiece but it doesn't belong with the rest.
While I agree that The Thing is pretty much unique and amazing(it's the only movie I rewatch once a year), I still think it has horror elements akin to Alien 1 and Terminator 1. And plenty of action at the end.
 
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Since I've been playing lots of XCOM, let me shoehorn in a stealth XCOM post in relation to T2.

In XCOM, your soldiers are randomly generated, and, for most players, some soldiers are going to die in battle.

For a randomly-generated rookie who dies because of a decisiom you make--meh. Who cares they can be replaced.

But say you have a Colonel soldier you customized to look like and be named after one of your friends. You guided them through 20+ missions, and felt a sense of responsibility to them. When they die, it hurts! I had an emotional connection to them.

James Cameron (amongst many other things) is EXCELLENT at economically and successfully creating emotional connections to his protagonists. It puts you in their shoes, and you feel the stakes. That does wonders for immersion. Not to mention the production value, direction, editing, pacing, and plot setup leading to those action scenes.
 
After making the Abyss Cameron knew he needed to bring his A game or his career would have been over.

He still would have gotten gigs solely based on his slam dunk debut of Terminator and Aliens, other directors have done the same after that tricky sub-par third movie, but yeah, he really needed a hit to maintain his prestige level after The Abyss kinda flopped, and Cameron never settles for anything less than 100% awesome, so he went all the fuck in.

Beautiful film.

Die hard is the best Christmas movie

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