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What is the better movie, The Matrix (1999) or Terminator 2 Judgment Day

Which is better

  • The Matrix

    Votes: 89 34.9%

  • Terminator 2: Judgment Day

    Votes: 166 65.1%
  • Total voters
    255
L

LakeOf9

Member
These are both incredible sci fi action movies (with surprisingly similar premises), but if I had to pick one, I would pick Matrix. The action is so much better, and the story is mind blowing, better than every Terminator movie put together.


Judgment Day is a masterpiece... Matrix is better. What do you pick?
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
For me it’s T2 for pure spectacle and action plus the innovations it brought to films

The Matrix is also excellent and hit every cyberpunk style trope at the time plus kung fu.

Plus trinity was a babe.

i guess because I saw T2 first it stuck with me more

So glad both movies did not fuck up their legacies with shitty sequels or bad video game tie-ins.
Imagine how silly that would be.
 
Last edited:
wondermega

wondermega

Member
I appreciate a good Sophie's Choice question. I feel like an uber-old motherfucker for always being the only person after the year 2000 to still use this metaphor, BTW. It's so perfect! Bring it back!!

Anyway - tough question but it didn't really take me long to get to Matrix. Everyone (esp those who were there during the times these were freshly released films) knows how impactful and important both films are. Personally I will always leans towards the Matrix since it truly caught me by surprise, was not expecting much whereas there was a fair amount of hype for T2 for reasons which shouldn't need explaining. Other than that, though.. both films were technical feats, and for that I would say T2 was more impactful in that regard overall. But story, characters, overall importance of each film culturally and philisophically, I will hand it to the Matrix. I feel like it changed cinema more profoundly, and not merely because of its effects. Just in the way of what a movie can be, particularly with that absolutely magical reveal scene. That was something that was so jarring, I haven't really seen anything like that before, and certainly not since (I'd love to hear arguments about this, inform me please!) That was just such masterful storytelling, and manipulation of the viewer. Disgust, amazement, incredulousness, all done with no dialogue. Everything that followed that scene was about as well-done as is capable in a modern film. I can go on and on about it for paragraphs so I will shut up now.
 
Last edited:
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
wondermega said:
I appreciate a good Sophie's Choice question. I feel like an uber-old motherfucker for always being the only person after the year 2000 to still use this metaphor, BTW. It's so perfect! Bring it back!!

Anyway - tough question but it didn't really take me long to get to Matrix. Everyone (esp those who were there during the times these were freshly released films) knows how impactful and important both films are. Personally I will always leans towards the Matrix since it truly caught me by surprise, was not expecting much whereas there was a fair amount of hype for T2 for reasons which shouldn't need explaining. Other than that, though.. both films were technical feats, and for that I would say T2 was more impactful in that regard overall. But story, characters, overall importance of each film culturally and philisophically, I will hand it to the Matrix. I feel like it changed cinema more profoundly, and not merely because of its effects. Just in the way of what a movie can be, particularly with that absolutely magical reveal scene. That was something that was so jarring, I haven't really seen anything like that before, and certainly not since (I'd love to hear arguments about this, inform me please!) That was just such masterful storytelling, and manipulation of the viewer. Disgust, amazement, incredulousness, all done with no dialogue. Everything that followed that scene was about as well-done as is capable in a modern film. I can go on and on about it for paragraphs so I will shut up now.
Click to expand...
I remember not expecting much from the matrix as well. I don’t remember it being advertised as anything other than keanu reeves and I know kung fu
 
kurisu_1974

kurisu_1974

Member
Never was a fan of the Matrix movies for some reason. The art design and dialogues never gelled with me. I did like the Matrix anime prequel a lot tho.

Love T2.
 
jufonuk

jufonuk

not tag worthy
IDKFA said:
T2 is better than Aliens.
Click to expand...
James Cameron Aliens GIF by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment


Ok both are great movies by one of the greatest directors ever.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Thumbs Up GIF by Karla Delakidd
 
Last edited:
Trilobit

Trilobit

Member
I'd say Matrix quite easily, though T2 is excellent. What Matrix did in worldbuilding and effects was beyond groundbreaking. It's style and atmosphere is so thick that you can cut it with a knife and use it as a mattress.

Edit: Now that people are mentioning Alien I need to give a shout-out to The Thing (1982). There has not been any movie like it since. Whenever I've rewatched it and I'm in a mood for more like it I still can't find anything. Alien is the thing that comes closest, but it's not the same. That snowy arctic feel with the ever-tightening claustrophobic and paranoid feel is unparalelled.
 
Last edited:
Darkmakaimura

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
I chose The Matrix as being better but only by a slight margin. Terminator 2 was nonetheless an awesome movie
 
Mr Hyde

Mr Hyde

Member
T2 shits all over Matrix, it's not even close. Better story, better action, better set pieces, better pacing and the most awesome villain ever. Matrix is cool and all but it doesn't hold a candle to Terminator 2. I'm actually offended you even compare them.
 
Last edited:
F

FireFly

Member
Terminator 2 is a better action movie but I feel like the Matrix had more cultural impact. Though I guess it's close there too.
 
MaestroMike

MaestroMike

Gold Member
when i'm in the mood for something metal i feel like T2 scratches the itch more than the matrix which is more kung fu imo even though it does play metal music and has lot of gunfire. so depends on the mood but i usually rewatch t2 a lot more than the matrix and have it on replay in the background (which is on my tv right now as i type this before i even opened up neogaf and saw this thread btw). matrix is like a fusion of metal and kung fu. t2 is more hard metal and less kung fu if that makes sense. now when i'm in the mood for a fusion of metal and monsters/creatures I pick pacific rim and then when its just monsters i pick aliens or jurassic park. if i'm less amped up i pick like ninja turtles
 
kunonabi

kunonabi

Member
I don't really care for T2 much, everything after Dyson's house is kind of blah to me, so I'll say the Matrix even though I wasn't super high on that either coming off of Dark City. It at least had more a exciting climax and didn't have a far superior first movie to compare it to.
 
Last edited:
HoodWinked

HoodWinked

Member
looking back in the case of both movies their sequels were subtractive to their legacies.

Matrix would be a better film had the sequels not existed but are too associated with each other however as for Terminator 2 most people simply just carry on like the other terminator films don't exist so it's not as weighed down which is the correct approach.
 
Last edited:
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Have to go with the Matrix. I knew nothing going in, and was just blown away. T2 stood the test of time better, but a lot of that is because the Matrix became a blueprint of sorts for action scenes all the way to today.
 
T

Tertullian

Member
The Matrix is more flawless (as is The Terminator), because everything directly involving John Connor/Edward Furlong is kind of terrible in T2. But T2 is just doing so much. The groundedness of the story and the practical-effects-driven action and Linda Hamilton's performance…
 
G

Garibaldi

Member
The Matrix was absolutely class. But, come on. It's Judgment Day. It's still the best action movie ever made.
 
Last edited:
diffusionx

diffusionx

Gold Member
I saw both quasi recently and Matrix just hits harder for me.

T2 is great but I’m not even sure it’s the best Terminator movie.
 
Last edited:
Dr.D00p

Dr.D00p

Member
The Matrix.

Cameron's movies are way too schmaltzy at times and age badly...he follows the Spielberg model of having some annoying child actor as the focus of the 'Emotional human aspect of the story'
 
J

jason10mm

Gold Member
That's a tough one. I think T2 is a more fun movie, better spectacle, and I think I give it the win for the score and use of songs. Matrix makes you THINK more, but sadly the sequels really hurt the retrospective appreciation of all the philosophical musings because you know they go nowhere. While T2 builds on T1 in mostly positive ways, the later Matrix films just erode the mythology.

Both are titans though, prime rib versus brisket, the same but different :p
 
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