Movie #35: Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Movie #: 35
Movie Title: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Year Released: 1991

Director: James Cameron
Notable Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, Joe Morton, Earl Boen

Short Description: A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her young son, John Connor, from a more advanced cyborg, made out of liquid metal. (IMDB.com)


Rank on the Top 100 Lists (as of 1/7/2013)

AFI.com: N/A
IMDB.com: #36
Ranker.com: #33
Lifed.com: #88
Empire.com: #35
FilmCrave.com: #35
FlickChart.com: #48



Date Watched: 10/24/2016

Grade: 4.5 out of 5 (Outstanding)

Rationale: Though the first movie in a series is usually considered to be the "best", Terminator 2: Judgment Day is THE foremost example of a sequel besting the original. Right off the bat T2 is better because Arnold Schwarzenegger is the good Terminator this time and his character provides memorable movie quotes like "Hasta la vista, baby", "I'll be back", and "Come with me if you want to live." Replacing Arnold as the bad Terminator is the liquid metal T-1000, which drastically improves the range of what director James Cameron could do from a sci-fi aspect. I also vastly prefer T2's foul mouth young John Connor and hardened warrior Sarah Connor to the timid Sarah Connor and lame-by-comparison-to-Arnold human soldier/protector Kyle Reese from The Terminator. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is not flawless, but I consider it to be one of my favorite action movies and easily the best sequel ever.