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Remember when Terminator 2 came out in theaters?

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Hitler Stole My Potato said:
I remember the anticipation of T2 and yeah the hype for it seemed out of this world, especially for the visual effects. I also remember taking my girlfiend who I was absolutely in love with to see it, so it'll always have a special place in my heart. However, I gotta go against the grain here and say that I don't think T2 is that great of a movie. The first Terminator was (and still is) an absolutely awesome film but the sequel(s) have always seemed like a big mess. Linda Hamilton was just incredibly annoying and by the middle of the film I was hoping that the T1000 would kill Furlong, literally.
Yeah, that "You don't know how to create, you don't know what it's like to have something growing inside of you" stuff was really grating on me.
 
I want a PSP version so I can watch it on the go.

Its out now for it.

T2 is probably one of the best action movies of all time. I've probably seen it a hundred times if not more and thought it was pretty damn scary the first time watching it (I was seven).

I don't get the T3 hate either. Its nowhere near as good as the first two. I think the problem was the acting. In fact, the only two people in the movie I thought was good as Arnold and Kristanna Loken. Claire Danes and her character sucked royal ass. She was the clichéd "I'm angry because I'm confused and my dad is some important figure who is key to the plot." Nick Stahl (I think thats his name) was even more pathetic than Edward Furlong. He's such a pussy that I find it hard to believe he is to lead a revolution or battle of any sort. Maybe he grows some balls later on?

I hope they don't make T4 for the record but since its a cash cow I imagine we'll see one without Arnold. Same premise as the previous. Maybe some new ultra ripped guy. There's nobody right now in Hollywood to fit the bill but someday there may be.

sometimes Sarah Connor's constant preaching ("YOU MEN--YOU MEN WITH YOUR GUNS AND YOU BOMBS, ETC., ETC.") can wear a little thin

She only said that twice or thrice. Not a big deal but not enough to really detract from the overall movie.
 
temp said:
Yeah, that "You don't know how to create, you don't know what it's like to have something growing inside of you" stuff was really grating on me.


I didn't mind it. It was supposed to be grating. Showed how sarah conner had changed from a young pretty woman, to a hard, emotionally scarred wretch. I think shit like that was essential to the film.

Few sequels take the risk and seriously change the main characters so much.
 
Sapienshomo said:
I didn't mind it. It was supposed to be grating. Showed how sarah conner had changed from a young pretty woman, to a hard, emotionally scarred wretch. I think shit like that was essential to the film.

Few sequels take the risk and seriously change the main characters so much.
Yeah yeah, I appreciate that part of it. But at the same time it's annoying as hell to me, too. I mean, I think they could have shown that without her going off on stupid speaches. It barely comes up, though, so it's not so bad.
 
temp said:
Yeah yeah, I appreciate that part of it. But at the same time it's annoying as hell to me, too. I mean, I think they could have shown that without her going off on stupid speaches. It barely comes up, though, so it's not so bad.


You know, I was just thinking, and I'd like to add that I grew up with a mother who was very similar to Sarah Conner. I was just used to it, I guess.
 
I saw T2 opening night. I was a big fan of the original, before it became a "thing."

My girlfriend hadn't heard anything about it, hadn't see commercials, and had only just seen the original just before at my suggestion to prepare her for it. Hence, she had no idea that Arnold was a good guy, or about the T1000. So in the initial chase sequence, when it looks like the cop is the good guy and Arnold is going to kill John, see got totally surprised. Very gratifying.

The advance hype for movies kills a lot of potential moments like this one.
 
Sapienshomo said:
I didn't mind it. It was supposed to be grating. Showed how sarah conner had changed from a young pretty woman, to a hard, emotionally scarred wretch. I think shit like that was essential to the film.

I saw where Cameron was trying to go with that, but I think he pulled that off much better with Ripley's character in Aliens. Ripley went off on the diatribes against the evils of human nature now and again, too ("You...you can just KISS ALL THAT GOODBYE!", "You don't see them fucking each other over for a percentage," etc.), but her character was much more well-rounded than Sarah Connor's. You have Ripley's well-developed relationship with Newt, and you have the smartass commments she makes like "Did IQs just drop sharply when I was away?" So the preachiness just seems like one small aspect of her character.

Sarah Connor seems more two-dimensional to me for some reason, though--maybe it's Hamilton's acting, or maybe it's Cameron's writing or directing. Hard to say. But the same trait of preachiness that made me sympathize with Ripley in Aliens tends to annoy me when it shows up in Sarah Connor's character. Granted, Sarah Connor is a bit more unbalanced and obsessive than Ripley, but still. Ripley seems hard and scarred, but still complex and human--Connor, not quite so much.
 
Prospero said:
I saw where Cameron was trying to go with that, but I think he pulled that off much better with Ripley's character in Aliens. Ripley went off on the diatribes against the evils of human nature now and again, too ("You...you can just KISS ALL THAT GOODBYE!", "You don't see them fucking each other over for a percentage," etc.), but her character was much more well-rounded than Sarah Connor's. You have Ripley's well-developed relationship with Newt, and you have the smartass commments she makes like "Did IQs just drop sharply when I was away?" So the preachiness just seems like one small aspect of her character.

Sarah Connor seems more two-dimensional to me for some reason, though--maybe it's Hamilton's acting, or maybe it's Cameron's writing or directing. Hard to say. But the same trait of preachiness that made me sympathize with Ripley in Aliens tends to annoy me when it shows up in Sarah Connor's character. Granted, Sarah Connor is a bit more unbalanced and obsessive than Ripley, but still. Ripley seems hard and scarred, but still complex and human--Connor, not quite so much.


Gotta remember that Sarah Conner was in an asylum for years. She knew what was going to happen and no one would believe her. Shit like that takes it toll on people. Add all of the sedatives and other drugs she was pumped with, and you are going to end up with some one who isn't a every well rounder individual.

Once freed and vindicated, she was allowed to "let go", so to speak, and that manifested as a preachy bitch. There is a reason why T2 is so revered and why it worked so well, and part of it was Sarah Conner's convictions. She made us truly believe the immediacy of the threat. I liked that. She put me on edge. In a film with a wise cracking 12 year old and an emotionless robot, Sarah Conner was a necessity.
 
Prospero said:
I only saw T3 in the theater once, but I didn't think it was as bad as many say--it just wasn't as ambitious as T2 (but then again, it's hard to be that ambitious now). One reason to respect what the filmmakers did is that, while most other summer movies rely on CGI to pull off, T3 did the real thing whenever possible. That scene with the Terminator and the giant crane was much more exciting than the freeway chase in Matrix Reloaded, which came out the same year IIRC. (So what if the Wachowski Brothers built a huge road for it--most of the cars on that road were CG).

As for T3's writing--sure, it screws continuity all to hell, and sure, the characters aren't as well developed. But all it's trying to be is a balls-out action movie, and it does that well. And as much as I like T2, and I do like it a lot and think it's the best of the three movies, let's admit it--sometimes Sarah Connor's constant preaching ("YOU MEN--YOU MEN WITH YOUR GUNS AND YOU BOMBS, ETC., ETC.") can wear a little thin. T3 was no preaching, all fighting, and that's okay. If T4 ever gets made and it's no Schwarzenegger, all Future War, I'll be okay with that too.

Perfectly stated...agreed with pretty much everything.

And T4 doesn't need Arnie at all. Maybe have his image as a cameo for some giant assemly line of T-800's. But otherwise it's humans versus endoskeletons, tripods and water people. Frankly, T3 disappointed me in that vein...I thought it should've been the future war flick. But I was really impressed with how it progressed to that part, especially the end.
 
Ignatz Mouse said:
I saw T2 opening night. I was a big fan of the original, before it became a "thing."

My girlfriend hadn't heard anything about it, hadn't see commercials, and had only just seen the original just before at my suggestion to prepare her for it. Hence, she had no idea that Arnold was a good guy, or about the T1000. So in the initial chase sequence, when it looks like the cop is the good guy and Arnold is going to kill John, see got totally surprised. Very gratifying.

The advance hype for movies kills a lot of potential moments like this one.


I don't see how people couldn't have known. The t-1000 has this awfully evil music, kills the cop in a hit. Arnold is labelled as a badass, doesn't kill anyone in the bar. Just snatches the guy's shotgun and walks off instead of killing him.
 
The Experiment said:
I don't get the T3 hate either. Its nowhere near as good as the first two. I think the problem was the acting. In fact, the only two people in the movie I thought was good as Arnold and Kristanna Loken. Claire Danes and her character sucked royal ass. She was the clichéd "I'm angry because I'm confused and my dad is some important figure who is key to the plot." Nick Stahl (I think thats his name) was even more pathetic than Edward Furlong. He's such a pussy that I find it hard to believe he is to lead a revolution or battle of any sort. Maybe he grows some balls later on?

I hope they don't make T4 for the record but since its a cash cow I imagine we'll see one without Arnold. Same premise as the previous. Maybe some new ultra ripped guy. There's nobody right now in Hollywood to fit the bill but someday there may be.

I thought Nick Stahl did a decent job as John Connor. ('Course, I'm a bit biased because I'm a big Carnivale fan, but whatever. :)) T3 seemed more of a setup for a post-apocalyptic T4 movie than a standalone-epic IMO. Good as a setup, but if that post-apoc T4 is never made then it won't have that type of significance that it should in the series. The big theme of T3 is that no matter what they try to do to stop Judgment Day from happening, is that it will find a way to happen in some form. You just CAN'T stop there with the series. At least, this Terminator fan doesn't want them to.

Regarding T2, oh god what a great movie. I actually just found some T2 stuff that I had from back around release time. I still have the official Terminator 2 movie magazine. It's got cast pics/interviews and stuff like that, as well as some Terminator model drawings and stuff. Remember towards the end of T3 when the early T-whatever (forget the actual model number) models become self-aware and start killing off everyone in that company? Well there is a drawing of them in the old T2 magazine, or at least something that looks remarkably similar. Pretty cool. I also have the T2 novel that came out shortly before the movie did. You know how movie novels work. They add in way too much backstory to insignificant characters. For example, in the T2 book the people at the bar Arnold goes to in the beginning actually have reasons for being there and stuff (like the biker gang, and the waitress... :lol). The book doesn't even get going until about 30% of the way in.

Can't make a T2 post without also spreading the love about GN'R and You Could Be Mine. (My favorite band of all time). This song pretty much started the GN'R Use Your Illusion record release hype. The single for YCBM also had Civil War (!!!!) as the B-side, a great GN'R song in and of itself. :D
 
This is as good a thread as any to ask, but what is the name of the T2 main theme song?

Seriously good song (one of my favorites) and it bugs the hell out of me that I don't know the name of it.

*insert google it remark here*
 
I really loved it when I first saw it back in 91. Thought it was the greatest thing ever. I don't want to rain on the parade here much, but all I can say is every viewing after that I found more and more to not like about the film. Not major stuff, just little annoying things. Like, I still get irked at a T-1000 that can sprint at high speeds after cars, yet finds it necessary to drive a street bike up a flight of stairs. Anal stuff like that. I realize the movie is for fun, but after such an intense blast like Aliens, parts of T2 seemed sloppy. It's still good and has a giant place in modern cinema history as the one that legitimately made people go wow over special effects again. But the movie has since become a bit over-rated in my eyes. I too prefer T1...even with all its 80s cheese. T3 was just mediocre.
 
Spectral Glider said:
Like, I still get irked at a T-1000 that can sprint at high speeds after cars, yet finds it necessary to drive a street bike up a flight of stairs. Anal stuff like that.

Wasn't that so it could actually get to the helicopter on the roof? That's what I always thought..
 
Red Scarlet said:
Wasn't that so it could actually get to the helicopter on the roof? That's what I always thought..

Well, of course it's set up for a "cool" scene of a bike crashing through a high rise at a helicopter. Which in turn sets up yet another big chase scene. My problem is if the whole thing is really necessary. Which, as I said, I may be reading too much into an action flick. But for some reason those things irk me more in this movie than in others for some reason.
 
Wasn't the T-1000 morphing into the helicopter one of (if not) the biggest effects scenes in the movie? That's probably why! :lol

Oh well, I dunno..I love both 1 and 2 (like 1 better but don't dislike 2 at all), and watch either of them anytime they are on tv, despite having the DVD's. Nothing really bothers me too much in them or many movies.
 
ParkPace said:
I thought Nick Stahl did a decent job as John Connor. ('Course, I'm a bit biased because I'm a big Carnivale fan, but whatever. :)) T3 seemed more of a setup for a post-apocalyptic T4 movie than a standalone-epic IMO. Good as a setup, but if that post-apoc T4 is never made then it won't have that type of significance that it should in the series. The big theme of T3 is that no matter what they try to do to stop Judgment Day from happening, is that it will find a way to happen in some form. You just CAN'T stop there with the series. At least, this Terminator fan doesn't want them to.

Yeah, that's how I've always viewed T3. T1 and T2 are defintely more stand aloneish flicks, while T3's ending...well, if you've seen it, the implications are pretty obvious. Bottom line, T4 needs to happen...I've wanted a future war Terminator movie for years.
 
Yes, the ending definitely gave it away that there is a T4 coming. Probably not for a long while but its coming, I'm sure.

I thought Nick Stahl did a decent job as John Connor

I just thought as a person who is to lead a revolution or a major battle, he would be a different person than he was. The "I'll never be a leader" thing was acceptable for Furlong in T2 but not in T3.

Also, has anyone listened to the audio commentary on T3? Arnold sounded like he had a big boner talking about Kristanna Loken. Sounds like he also busted his ass in the gym for the nude scene.
 
Spectral Glider said:
Like, I still get irked at a T-1000 that can sprint at high speeds after cars, yet finds it necessary to drive a street bike up a flight of stairs.

Probably the quickest way to break the glass and lose no momentum with the helicopter there for only a bit. Can't see him running and jumping through the window and making it. Anyway, agree on T3 being mediocre though. Still think T2 is a bad ass film.
 
damn, i forgot about the HD version on the Extreme Edition. I didn't have a PC powerful enough back when it came out but now that i do i'll have to check that out. i've heard its amazing.
 
It is GOOD to see this much T2 love. I got not one, but TWO T2 t-shirts after seeing the movie, and wore both of them thin. :D

The movie really still is fantastic, the special effects are still great. What was especially notable was the sheer number of OMGWTF moments. The T1000 with his "arm" through the milk jug then through the foster dad's mouth, Arnold cocking the shotgun with one arm while riding the bike, Arnold's revival near the end, etc. And it was one of the gutsiest action movies to ever successfully pull off an emotional ending.

Awesome movie. I still haven't seen T3, I really need to get on that.
 
What all stuff would you need to watch the HD one? I think I have the right one..the EXTREME DVD with metal case and 2 dvd's..is that the 'good' one to have of T2?
 
Red Scarlet said:
What all stuff would you need to watch the HD one? I think I have the right one..the EXTREME DVD with metal case and 2 dvd's..is that the 'good' one to have of T2?

Think they're both metal but this is the extreme one.

B00008PC2O.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


Sadly none are really the good one. Ultimate edition has some better special features but for picture and sound extreme is the way to go.
 
good to see so many people appreciate the cgi in t2. like jurassic park, it's used really appropriately so that it never looks out of place. one of my favorite touches is when arnold throws the t1000 face first into a wall near the end, and he just morphs so the front of his body is where his back used to be.
 
Red Scarlet said:
What all stuff would you need to watch the HD one? I think I have the right one..the EXTREME DVD with metal case and 2 dvd's..is that the 'good' one to have of T2?

From Microsoft...

Although other system configurations might be able to play back this content, for an optimal experience we recommend the following configurations:

Minimum Configuration
(to play 720p video)

Windows XP
Windows Media Player 9 Series
2.4 GHz processor or equivalent
384 MB of RAM
64 MB video card
1024 x 768 screen resolution
16-bit sound card
Speakers
Optimum Configuration
(to play 1080p video with 5.1 surround sound)

Windows XP
Windows Media Player 10
DirectX 9.0
3.0 GHz processor or equivalent
512 MB of RAM
128 MB video card
1920 x 1440 screen resolution
24-bit 96 kHz multichannel sound card
5.1 surround sound speaker system
 
I picked up T2 the other day for PSP since it was mentioned that it was out for it. (I had no clue that it was.) I still love it. Now I can watch it on break at work and on the commute to and from.

I was just thinking today... what if the T-800/T-1000 actually did accomplish their missions by killing their targets? I don't mean about the world, I just mean, what would the machine itself, do? Just shut down? Kill more people? Help further bring about the rise of the machines?

Just curious.
 
Erdrick said:
I picked up T2 the other day for PSP since it was mentioned that it was out for it. (I had no clue that it was.) I still love it. Now I can watch it on break at work and on the commute to and from.

I was just thinking today... what if the T-800/T-1000 actually did accomplish their missions by killing their targets? I don't mean about the world, I just mean, what would the machine itself, do? Just shut down? Kill more people? Help further bring about the rise of the machines?

Just curious.

Probably find it's bank account is stacked. Finds out Skynet sent another robot back to put a few thousand in the bank, who then destroys himself as his job wasn't as tough or reward worthy. Meanwhile, the T1000 gets a lot of money and a lot of ho's. Eventually he morphs into Michael Jordan and goes on to win 6 championships with the Bulls.
 
Erdrick said:
I was just thinking today... what if the T-800/T-1000 actually did accomplish their missions by killing their targets? I don't mean about the world, I just mean, what would the machine itself, do? Just shut down? Kill more people? Help further bring about the rise of the machines?

Well in T3, Arnold explains how their powering system can be pretty explosive if mishandled, so I guess they self destruct that way
 
Naked Shuriken said:
Well in T3, Arnold explains how their powering system can be pretty explosive if mishandled, so I guess they self destruct that way

T3 logic, pffft.. Why didn't Arnold say "I know now why you cry... but it is something I can not do." .... *thumb up* *self-destruct*?
 
Naked Shuriken said:
Well in T3, Arnold explains how their powering system can be pretty explosive if mishandled, so I guess they self destruct that way

It's a good thing the T-1000 didn't explode when he impaled Arnie. :)
 
Instigator said:
It's a good thing the T-1000 didn't explode when he impaled Arnie. :)
cbg.gif

In on the extended theater cut, you can OBVIOUSLY see Arnold moves his body to the left just before the impact, preventing a breach in his power cells cage, therefore preventing a massive explosion of the steel mill, thus killing John Connor. YES!

... The whole impalation scene was reframed when test audiences didnt understand why Arnold did it.. People werent really up to the tech back in 1992, so Cameron didnt bother having some on-screen text explaining Arnold's move, or maybe an adlib of Arnold going 'must protect cell cage containement unit, must dodge to the left' (and obviously Arnold's grap of english, who is barely better that mine couldnt say that line quick enough for the scene);

He just reframed the shot.

Yeah that's it

:lol
 
Okay. I haven't seen the movie in a while, but I have a question.

This is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen this movie by now... :D

During the big fight, the Arnold Terminator loses one of his arms. When he goes into the molten metal, he only has one arm. So where is that other limb?

Remember in T1, it's a terminator arm that the Future Skynet finds and uses as the basis for their research. So, even though they try to prevent the future, it still has to take place. The arm still has to be found.

Is there any basis to my rambling here?
 
Mrs. Manky said:
Okay. I haven't seen the movie in a while, but I have a question.

This is a spoiler, but if you haven't seen this movie by now... :D

During the big fight, the Arnold Terminator loses one of his arms. When he goes into the molten metal, he only has one arm. So where is that other limb?

Remember in T1, it's a terminator arm that the Future Skynet finds and uses as the basis for their research. So, even though they try to prevent the future, it still has to take place. The arm still has to be found.

Is there any basis to my rambling here?


Well, should James Cameron have wanted to make a sequal, Im sure he could have used that loophole.

Then again, we have to assume that the t-800 could have disposed of the arm somehow off camera.

It could also be assumed that the arm was so destroyed that it was useless. And even then, who would want to resume research after what happened to Cyberdyne??? I wouldnt.
 
I liked the software caused the turn of the machines angle in part 3. Had they used hardware again it would heve been redundant.
 
I thought T2 for PSP lost a lot of the feel for it. So I tried to find Extreme Edition at my Best Buy. Didn't have it or the original. Fortunately I got a Predator DVD (which is also out for PSP UMD) that came with a free AVP ticket :lol
 
What do you guys think about James Cameron's decision to cut out the parts where the T-1000 was 'injured'? If you watch the extended edition you see him having trouble keeping his shape after being shattered by the liquid nitrogen. Cameron took it out to keep the feeling as "helpless" as possible but I personally really like how he gets injured in the extended edition. Maybe it was just me though.
 
T1 is still the best in the series, IMO, but T2 is certainly very good. T2 takes a lot of undeserved heat for ushering in the hype-laden modern blockbuster era, but for a slam-bang super-budget action picture, it's extremely well thought out and hangs together well even today. I do wish they'd followed the time travel rules a little better (they're not even consistent in T2 alone, let alone between T1 and T2...and T3 just threw all of it out the window).

For those in the LA area and interested, the Arclight is showing T1 on 8/3 at 8PM and T2 on 8/10 at 8PM as part of its 100 Heroes and Villains series. I'll be catching both screenings just to see the Terminator movies on the big screen in the best theatre I've ever been to. You'll never see T2 look or sound better, I'll wager.
 
LakeEarth said:
What do you guys think about James Cameron's decision to cut out the parts where the T-1000 was 'injured'? If you watch the extended edition you see him having trouble keeping his shape after being shattered by the liquid nitrogen. Cameron took it out to keep the feeling as "helpless" as possible but I personally really like how he gets injured in the extended edition. Maybe it was just me though.

yeah, it is probably because he wanted to keep the audience in as much suspence for as long as possible. And some of the malfunctions were very... almost comical. You don't want that in a suspenceful climax.
 
T2 takes a lot of undeserved heat for ushering in the hype-laden modern blockbuster era, but for a slam-bang super-budget action picture, it's extremely well thought out and hangs together well even today

I'd say Die Hard has that honor.
 
Marconelly said:
Now that I think about it, there's probably no movie that I've watched more times than T2, what on my own, what with friends, sometimes few times over with same friends so that we can make jokes, find goofs, enjoy details in effects, etc.


To this day, effects in T2 have to be some of the most well thought and visceral. So many movies felt into the trap of having just eye candy, but the eye candy in T1000 made sense and was used for a good measure and with interesting ideas.

Also, off topic, but am I the only one who thinks that to this day the face morphing sequence from Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video was never even matched, much less bested?



Yep, I'd have to say that T2 and Aliens are my most watched movies of all time. The Fifth Element is creeping up on them though.

I have T2 Extreme Edition. Watched the WMVHD version on my PC.

What a great flick!
 
The Experiment said:
I'd say Die Hard has that honor.

In comparison to T2 and the summer giants that followed, Die Hard had little to no hype and starred an unproven TV actor as its action hero. Die Hard still falls into the standard '80s action blockbuster category. After T2, everything had to be gigantic, computer-assisted, super-expensive, and "like you've never seen before!"

Before T2, summer blockbusters were still out to deliver a good movie with exciting action and stunt sequences. Up until then, you can still see effort put into the writing, story, how it's shot, and generally attention given to the art and craft of making a film almost entirely in-camera due to the lack of effective CG. After T2, they became tech demos. T2 is unique among its imitators (IMO) because it's one of the few super blockbusters that doesn't underestimate its audience.

Now, I certainly enjoy a good tech demo, but I don't think anyone can honestly look at some of the big action blockbusters of the pre-T2 era (Terminator, Die Hard, RoboCop, Aliens, Raiders, Predator, etc.) and say they aren't better and more lasting films than their latter-day equivalents. Aliens is still an awesome movie, made for $18 million using guys in suits and puppets, and it looks fantastic even today. Everything the characters do in that movie makes sense, there are no stupid plot holes to speak of, and it's a smart script overall. And that's 20 years later.

In 2016, will anyone be saying the same about Independence Day?
 
The Experiment said:
I'd say Die Hard has that honor.


Yeah, but damned if McTiernan hasn't made some great movies:

The 13th Warrior (1999)
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Die Hard (1988)
Predator (1987)

He's directed some dogs though too:

Rollerball (2002)
Last Action Hero (1993)
 
Die Hard just seemed like a cut above the rest in terms of special effects at the time. Compare it to say Lethal Weapon and I just think that its a movie with lots of effects. T2 I just think was the movie to solidify the fact that action movies could still be good, have flash AND substance. A shame that the genre went rapidly downhill shortly after.
 
MattKeil said:
In comparison to T2 and the summer giants that followed, Die Hard had little to no hype and starred an unproven TV actor as its action hero. Die Hard still falls into the standard '80s action blockbuster category. After T2, everything had to be gigantic, computer-assisted, super-expensive, and "like you've never seen before!"

Before T2, summer blockbusters were still out to deliver a good movie with exciting action and stunt sequences. Up until then, you can still see effort put into the writing, story, how it's shot, and generally attention given to the art and craft of making a film almost entirely in-camera due to the lack of effective CG. After T2, they became tech demos. T2 is unique among its imitators (IMO) because it's one of the few super blockbusters that doesn't underestimate its audience.

Now, I certainly enjoy a good tech demo, but I don't think anyone can honestly look at some of the big action blockbusters of the pre-T2 era (Terminator, Die Hard, RoboCop, Aliens, Raiders, Predator, etc.) and say they aren't better and more lasting films than their latter-day equivalents. Aliens is still an awesome movie, made for $18 million using guys in suits and puppets, and it looks fantastic even today. Everything the characters do in that movie makes sense, there are no stupid plot holes to speak of, and it's a smart script overall. And that's 20 years later.

In 2016, will anyone be saying the same about Independence Day?
Do you honestly think that action movies really need to be full of CG and dumbed down to make good money and appeal to a big enough audience, or are movie producers just treating the general populace like a bunch of retards when something technically simpler but with more depth could succeed? I sure as fuck know that I'd appreciate seeing more action movies like Aliens and Die Hard made and that I very rarely if ever go see action movies nowadays, and that there must be some people out there who feel the same.
 
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