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
 
It´s the best action movie ever made.
Everyone was at the best level. The director, actors, special effects teams, writers, etc.
 
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.
 
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