1991: Terminator 2: Judgement Day

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In 1991, the sequel to the hit 1984 movie, The Terminator, was released, and since then, was one of the biggest movies in history. Terminator 2: Judgement Day, is easily one of the best and most iconic movies ever made, and one of the few benchmarks in movie history too. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as The Terminator, sent back in time, only this time, he is sent to protect Sarah Connor’s (Linda Hamilton) son, John Connor (Edward Furlong), who will inevitably become the leader of the resistance against the machines.

However, there’s a reason the Terminator has been sent back. Unfortunately, the machines in the future have also managed to send back a more advanced, up-to-date Terminator; a prototype known as the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a terminator with a liquid metal structure, capable of shape-shifting into almost anything. The movie begins with John Connor doing what he does on any normal day in his life. Soon enough however, he realises that a “police officer” is looking for him, unknowing to him that it is in fact a shape-shifting cyborg from the future sent back in time to terminate him (boy is he in for a surprise).

Soon enough, John goes on the run from the undercover cyborg killer, getting himself into a high-speed chase. Luckily enough, John Connor is more clever than he thought, as the Terminator we all know and love returns in the nick of time from the future, jumping in and saving John, whilst managing to completely screw over the T-1000, but only for a small period of time, before the t-1000 emerges from the blazing wreck, reconstructing his previous form, with surprisingly good special effects for 1991.

After a few amazing scenes, full of emotion, brilliant action, and ridiculous, yet great scripting, the movie comes to a close, with the Terminator accomplishing his goal of protecting John Connor, before terminating the t-1000. However, this is soon followed by the moment that brings sadness to audience members’ hearts, as the Terminator, whom both John and Sarah have grown to trust with their lives, must now terminate himself. They both stand there in the middle of the construction site, watching, as they lower the Terminator into the molten lava, the only thing which will destroy the Terminator’s Central Processing Unit, to hopefully put a stop to the war between man and machines (it doesn’t, though). Just before he is destroyed, the Terminator gives one, last gesture,  giving a thumbs up to John, making the Terminator seem more human than ever, before he heart-breakingly disintegrates in the lava.

From start to finish, this movie is just complete enjoyment. Expect beautifully crafted, cheesy one-liners, which only Arnie could make sound amazing; we all know the classic one-liner, which has been copied countless times, and is even know by those who haven’t even seen the movie…“I’ll be back”; along with brilliant action sequences, great special effects, more cheesy humour, emotion, and scenes which just make you appreciate the characters and the whole concept of the movie. The Terminator 2 revolutionised action movies, being the best movie of its type, and one of the best movies ever created.

Sure, Arnie may not be what you call a great actor, but it’s his style of acting combined with his accent, that make him a perfect role for The Terminator, along with the rest of the cast, all suited for their roles, combined with an original, yet simple storyline, and scene after scene of enjoyable and thrilling cinema, which leave you wanting more. By the end of it, you feel drawn into the movie, empathizing with the characters, and wishing that you had a real-life Terminator to be your own personal bitch, so that you could own anyone and everyone.

I’m sure pretty much everyone has seen the movie, produced by the genius director,  James Cameron. But if for some, ridiculous reason you haven’t, go and watch it, right now.

By Manpreet Singh

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