"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 199)

[@benjamindover4337]

Wizard of Oz analogy is an interesting way of looking at this timeless banger. Cameron's influences are remarkably opaque. He really is a visionary.

[@dawsondegraaf8143]

This movie also has an excellent commentary track with Jim and the writer.

[@achasingafterthewind]

My favorite film when I was twelve years old. I like a lot of more "mature" films now, but I still think this one is great. There's a lot here about the difference between humans and technology, setting up this adversarial dichotomy visually and most obviously represented by the future war between robots and humans, but also dealt with more subtly throughout the film. With Sarah, you see a lot of parallels to the Terminator. She has a very single-minded goal that she centers her entire life around, which is preparing for the rise of Skynet and its inevitable overthrow of humanity, through raising her son to be the ultimate savior. From what we hear in the film, she and John seemed to live a very nomadic lifestyle, going place to place and Sarah dating guy after guy, each one she chose for his utility in helping her in her mission. Rather than acting as a mom--caring, comforting, gentle--she instead seems like a hard paternal figure, even a military official, focused only on the mission at hand, no other concerns. In that sense, she's spent much of her life living like a Terminator, perhaps understanding what it is to be one in order to defeat them, but also throwing off her humanity and denying it to her son. In the scene where she goes to assassinate Miles Dyson, it's shot with her as the cold, emotionless killer that cannot be stopped, while Dyson and his family are the innocent victims who are terrified of the monster chasing them. It's only when she sees Dyson up close, surrounded by his crying wife and son, that she puts her gun down and decides not to kill him. In her journey to put an end to robots killing humans, she nearly emulates such a situation perfectly. It is in that moment that she realizes how horrible taking a human life is, how murdering an innocent man, no matter the logical (perhaps robotic?) justification, is inhuman. Conversely, you see the complete opposite happening with the T-800. The more time he spends with John learning what it is to be human, the more human he seems, until you get to the end where John loves him so much he doesn't want the T-800 to sacrifice himself, but the T-800 understands the necessity of that sacrifice, defying the order of his creator and making a moral decision. When Sarah first sees the T-800, she is understandably frightened of him, but as she watches him interact with John, even being the father figure he never had (perhaps even standing in as a mother), she sees his capacity for change, which in part inspires her own decision to not kill Dyson. With these two characters essentially switching roles for part of the film, you see how humanity could turn to uncaring, amoral evil and how technology has the possibility to hold a positive and beneficial role in society. What does this mean practically? The film came out a couple of years before I was born, so I'm not too sure what was going on technology-wise, but I do know that shortly after the film came out was when the Internet began its rise to be the omnipresent thing it is today, an indispensable part of our lives now. Perhaps there was some fear back then--as there always is when a radical new form of technology emerges--of how the Internet would alter and shape our lives, of whether we would be its masters or it would be ours. Skynet conjures up an image of a grid covering the sky, watching us and trapping us. I think a lot of people would say the same thing of the Internet today, of how beholden we are to it for everything in our lives, of how people use the Internet to prey on others, whether that's government surveillance or any of the numerous websites that prey on our vices and weaknesses--social media, porn, gambling. I don't think anyone in 1991 could have imagined that something like the Internet would exist as it does today. Still, there is a human element to the Internet by virtue of the fact that it was created by humans, and for humans. It is a reflection of our own dreams, ambitions, desires, and hopes, but also our fears, sorrows, and evils. Just as with the T-800, it can be turned toward evil or good, and just as with Sarah Connor, we can allow ourselves to be so sucked into it that we deny what it is to be human--turn away from human relationships, think of humanity only in the aggregate, repress our true personalities and take up those which are more presentable and enviable on a screen. As the movie shows us, it's all up to our choices. We can use technology for whatever purpose we see fit, and we can allow it to shape us either intentionally or inadvertently, but the choice is always up to us.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you!

[@handsomeDRAC]

Moovay 6:43

[@therealest444]

looonng time huge fan of yours. Could you pleaseeee talk about synecdouche, new york? Its already one of my favourite movies ever and I dont even understand almost half of it. it might be one of those movies I will never understand if I dont watch a video of you talking about it

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you. glad you love it. I thought it was a New Yorker movie when I saw it, not for me and my sensibility, but I'm willing to try again as Kaufmann always satisfies my wants for another Nabokov to emerge.

[@ajtaylor8750]

An all-time great action movie and James Cameron's masterpiece.

[@C_Jj_G]

Great analysis. I never even thought to make some of the connections you have. The original 1984 is now my favorite but I remember being 10 or 11 and my family rented this and I watched it everyday for week. Didn't Revisit till I was in my mid 20s , I then realized I like the original the best bc being a kid it scared the heck outta me. More so than any horror

[@Hicks-g1m]

The fact that this movie was made in 1991 one and the technology that was used was mind blowing with the T-1000 but it was the story is what made the movie so great and the soundtrack is even better than the first T2 almost perfect and one of the best movie sequels of all times

[@martenfredin213]

Some details..... The good guy bad guy twist was still unknown in Sweden some months after the release, ah the times before Skynet. ;-) The foreshadowing with Gun´s and Roses playing (on the bike ride to the arcade) and some minutes later Arnold brandishing a shotgun from a box of roses. At least two times, Cameron copied scenes from Aliens to T2. Headshot in elevator door/army vehicle door. Loosing/letting go of your child to a revolving "machine". (conveyor belt / fan).

[@astronomer747]

Arnold's performance in T1 is great. He may not be a good dramatic actor but that's why it works. He has very few lines but that makes him more mysterious. He is much more inhuman and almost alien seeming in that first film. The way he has the eyebrows missing and all that. In T2 he basically takes the place of Michael Bein, and I don't think it works as well. T2 is a really good action movie but I like the first Terminator more.

[@ThomasDrish]

I think it’s a tough call. My pick is T2 just for the final lines to the film. It’s a brilliant ending.

[@astronomer747]

@@ThomasDrish Robert Patrick as the liquid metal terminator makes up for the missing intimidation factor of Arnold in that first film. It doesn't falter there with having a TX sexy model terminator, which didn't work at all. T3 I thought was pretty bad. But T2 is a worthy sequel for sure. I think Biehn as Reese is what makes me love T1 more, though. That's one of the best performances in any action movie and most memorable character I think.

[@astronomer747]

@@ThomasDrish I just think the writing and dialogue is a bit stronger in the first film overall. Both are cinematic marvels though. Very few action films have come close to either of them in quality.

[@inyobill]

Just watched "Terminator - Dark Fate". Two hours of screen time, about 15 minutes of story.

[@willbrittain3046]

Prob my fav of all time. Back when sequels were actually an improvement on the original, which is also an all-time great

[@jmssun]

What makes this movie greater? 4K rescan of the extended cut 🎉🎉🎉

[@lutello3012]

Without a huge helping of AI and revisionism but Cameron is ruining his movies now.

[@eeaa-hl9iu]

Imo, T1 is better and much richer movie. It has great action, but it also works much better as a thriller, the terror you feel when the terminator descends upon LA is palpable. Then there is a great romance in the plot, which is combined with Sarah Connor's arc of changing from a common young woman into a warrior. There is also more attention for all the intricacies of the themes of time travel, what it means to be human, the paradox of Kyle Reese being John's father, and many other things to explore. The creativity and richness of T1 is incredible, especially with only a $6 million buget. And unlike apparently everyone else, I never liked that they basically made the exact same film with the exact same story with T2, except now with a huge budget (reportedly the first film to cost over $100 million). I still love T2, but it's more a big budget popcorn action movie and in terms of artistry and creativity doesn't come close to the original.

[@RohanDasgupta-f7x]

Good movie but T1 is marginally better