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Summary: This is Great! Trust Me!
Review: There is so much on the second disc in the Ultimate Edition that I have spent hours watching and still haven't seen it all yet. T2 More than Meets The Eye gives a lot of interesting background information as well as showing scenes which did not make the original film. Granted you have probably seen most of these scenes on TV by now but the accompanying commentary explains what James Cameron was trying to get across and why he ultimately left them out. There are also interviews with the actors in this section.The Making of T2-3D Breaking the Screen Barrier is interesting but is obviously a made for TV piece put out before the Ride was launched at Universal Studios. It still has the voiceover throwing to two commercial breaks which I wouldn't imagine would have been too hard to cut out. Apart from that it is pretty interesting but if you haven't actually been to Universal Studios and seen the completed thing I do not think you will get as much out of it. The menu you locate everything on this DVD from is really good, a bit hard to get used to how to get back to the main menus in some sections but once you work it out it is a breeze. Here you can see stuff like all the merchandise available at the time, the 3 different theatrical trailers which are excellent as well as the trailer for this DVD. You can see all of James Cameron's 700 original sketches he drew as storyboards as well as stuff from special effects to every different job needed to create the thing. If you are into making movies then you'll be entertained for days. Oh and yes, the movie is great too. You'll be back to watch it over and over again. You will also find summaries of the four main actor's careers as well as James Cameron and Brad Fiedel (guy who did the music) on the first disc which are pretty interesting. The only thing I think could have been improved would be to put the scene selection feature with one less step so you are not just looking at numbers ie 1-4 5-9 etc as this is annoying and time consuming when you haven no idea which one a scene is under. Apart from that though it is pretty hard to see how this sensational 2 DVD set could be improved. Just buy It!
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Summary: No Problemo
Review: This is one of those movies I just had to have in my DVD collection. Even though it's an action movie there is also a story to it. I find T2 a much better movie thatn T3. T2 was a well executed movie, whereas T3, with a completely different director, was just an attempt to cash in during the summer box office season.
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Summary: T2 ULTIMATE EDITION- The right choice
Review: If you are wondering whether you should buy the Ultimate or Extreme edition of Terminator 2, the right choice to make in the Ultimate Edition. It has nearly 4 hours of extra content, while the Extreme edition has about 4 minutes of bonus features. The Extreme edition says that it has a much better transfer (picture & sound), but it really doesn't. You have got to be one hell of a nerd with one hell of an entertainment system to tell a scrap of difference. Besides, the Ultimate edition has DTS, unlike the Extreme. The only good thing about the Extreme edition that you can't get in the Ultimate edition is the audio commentary from James Cameron. The commentary on the Ultimate edition seems a bit thrown together, but is that really all that important. The Ultimate edition is by far the best choice to make in buying this flat-out incredible flick.
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Summary: T2
Review: "Terminator 2 - Judgement Day" really pushed the envolope of special effects and CGI. In 1991 when it first came out it was a huge deal. People hadn't seen effects like that so realisticly inserted into films. The story is almost secondary, but it is still strong. Arnold Schwarzenegger is another cyborg sent to the past to protect John Connor as a teenager. The enemy this time is the T-1000, a superior model terminator played by Robert Patrick (eventually with the 'X-Files'). Patrick dose a pretty good job as the creep Terminator. Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, who has now somewhat lost touch with sanity. Her dooms day prophacy is true and no one believes her (except the audience). She is however, neurotic, paranoid, and maybe dangorous to herself and her son John Connor. Arnold is pretty good as the Terminator, and some of his scenes tring to immatate humans is funny. The drawback is Edward Furlong's John Connor. He is a whinny, foul mouth little brat, far from the hero of the human race we are supposed to believe him to be. He was hard to take. But this is still an excellent movie, great chases (loved the sewer drain race), funny dialog (sometimes) and some hope for the future that isn't as bleak as part 1. The extras in the DVD are worth it, especially the deleted and alternate scenes.
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Summary: A textbook example of how to do a successful action sequel
Review: Sequels are a large and largely ironic part of director James Cameron's film career. There are those of us who remember one of his earliest films, "Piranha Part Two: The Spawning," which was a sequel of sorts (same type of fish, but not the same fish), and he made two of the most successful sequels of all time in "Aliens" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." I was going to say that the irony extends to the fact Carmeron directed the most successful film of all time in "Titanic," for which a sequel cannot be made, except "Ghosts of the Abyss" is out there in Omni-Max Theaters across the land and tends to subtract from the point. Unlike Francis Ford Coppola who still had half of the origianl novel to work with, or George Lucas who was working on a trilogy (or Peter Jackson who is doing both), Cameron was faced with trying to build upon a pair of fairly success first features. After transforming the "haunted house" movie "Alien" into a military movie with "Aliens," Cameron starts with an equally significant change in the premise for "Terminator 2," turning the T-101 from the villain into the hero. When you are dealing with a machine it is just a question of reprogramming it accordingly. Consequently, Cameron is basically able to repeat the entire opening of the original movie (two naked guys come from the future, one is good and one is bad) and then pivot the entire film on the basis of that one little change. Now, you do not want to think about time paradoxes too closely because they tend to fly apart once logic or the laws of physics are invoked, but since the original T-800 failed to kill Sarah Connor the machines of the future and their overlord Skynet, send back a T-1000 (Robert Patrick) to kill John Connor (Edward Furlong). Sending back a dozen Terminators of pretty much any model number would probably work better, but the idea here is qualitative improvements rather than quantitative (i.e., this is not "The Matrix Reloaded" with its infinite versions of Mr. Smith). John is saved by another T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and proceeds to rescue his mother (a buffed up Linda Hamilton) from the crazy house, with the T-1000 in close pursuit. The final significant difference between this film and the original is that Cameron and his co-writer William Wisher have Sarah Connor taking the offensive. While the T-1000 is hunting mother and son, she is going to do her own manipulation of the time line by taking out Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson (Joe Morton), the scientist whose creative fingerprints end up being all over Skynet's creation. Dyson is helped by having a couple of significant bits and pieces from the T-800 of the original film (which is where we get right into a "Planet of the Apes" time loop, so let's just not go there). For me, Dyson is the most interesting character in the story, and a clear break from science fiction film stereotypes in a whole lot of ways. It is easy to get taken away with the special effects in "Terminator 2" because of the quantum leap that films took from the water tentacle in Cameron's "The Abyss" to the liquid metal of the T-1000, but the human dimension of the dysfunctional Connor family dealing with their particular fate in terms of future events. The Terminator is now the father figure for John Connor, but the boy has a few lessons of his own to impart to his personal Terminator. Of course, the "Judgment Day" sub-title is something of a misnomer give not only what happens in this film but in the 2003 finale to the trilogy, "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," but this 1991 film (and all its myriad variations available on DVD) is a textbook example of how you can intelligently go about putting together a sequel in this genre that will make a lot of money and not insult fans of the original.
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Summary: The Woos anator
Review: Boy was this movie a stinker a Terminator who understands human feelings and emotion, what's next a Terminator Marry Poppins. This was a sad movie all the greatness of the original destroyed by a gutless machine. Why oh Why did that fool have to make such an un-violent, way too long boring movie, nothing in this compares to the original. The action sequences try to be big but fail, the T1000 looks like a skinny boy (boy was he scary) and the T100 is now fearful killing machine. Give this one a miss, p.s. T3 is even worse.
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Summary: He Said He'd Be Back...and He Certainly is!
Review: Who said sequels aren't any good? "Terminator 2" is the ultimate sequel, a big bad wolf ready to chomp the head off of anyone who crosses its path. It's dark, it's mean, and it's one tough movie. It's not as bleak as the first film, at least in terms of visuals, but rather has a new kind of bluish-tint that supplies a great backdrop to the ongoing battle between man and machine. If there was ever a contemporary mainstream visionary director, it is James Cameron. Here we've got Cameron's real thoughts on the series, those repressed by a low budget in the original film. He lets loose here, filling every frame with hard-boiled action and special effects. He introduces a liquid metal Terminator that he wanted to use in the first film, but graphic processors and CGI were not advanced enough in 1984, at least not advanced enough to work on the low means he had to film the original. So his original dream is finally unveiled, and good golly, gee Molly, is it wonderful. Yeah, he's "back." Arnold (like he needs any introduction?) returns as The Terminator, Series T-101, Model T-800, an indestructible cyborg sent from the future to assassinate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) in the first film. Well, it's 1991. New film. New mission. He has to save the future resistance leader of mankind who will ultimately defeat the machines of the future, John Connor (Edward Furlong), Sarah's 11-year-old son. (Though his age has been switched from 11 to 13 and back to 9 over the years, with no help from the third film that takes place in 2003, yet claims he was 13 in 1991 though his age doesn't match with his age in the third. We'll just leave it at 11 in this film. Got that?) Another model Terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), has been sent back to 1991 programmed to annihilate John Connor. Which explains Arnold's appearance. Arnold, an undoubtedly lesser opponent compared to the T-1000, has to help save the day and learn to appreciate humanity. It won't be easy. First, he has to find John Connor, who is a rebellious angst-driven pre-teen living with foster parents. Then, together they have to break into the local loony hospital and release Sarah from the clutches of Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen), who believes Sarah is delusional. (You may remember Silberman as the psychiatrist from the first film, too.) Then, they have to stop a computer chip designer (Joe Morton) from creating the first version of a SkyNet computer, modeled after a destroyed chip his employment company discovered at a large mechanical warehouse. (Which is, of course, the chip from the destroyed T-800 of the first film.) Whew. On with the film analysis, right? Where to start? This isn't as fierce or brutal as the first film, but it's got plentiful action sequences, a large budget, great special effects (even compared to those gracing the screen nowadays), not to mention a great character study of the machine we loved to root against in the first film. Of course, this Terminator has no memory of the first film, since he wasn't in it--SkyNet creates hordes of the same version machines on a large conveyor belt and ships them off to fight in the war. Some are sent back through time. So, with that in mind, John Connor's resistance found an extra Arnold lying around in an abandoned warehouse, programmed him to keep John Connor out of harm, and sent him through the time portal. Sarah doesn't trust him. In a deleted scene available on the Ultimate and "Xtreme" edition DVDs, Sarah says, "You don't know what it's like to try and kill one of these things!" It's an important scene that should have been left in the final cut. In it, Sarah is about to destroy the machine's central processing chip located inside his head, when John stops her. It's important because it focuses on the fact that Sarah still doesn't trust him, and came close to destroying him purely out of prejudice, without giving him a chance. As much as I don't like it when people go on about hidden meanings in films that obviously are not meant to have hidden meanings and are purely little flubs made by directors unrightfully analyzed for deeper meaning(s), "T2" clearly has an underlying message: One, don't judge a book by its cover. Read it first. Two, if an emotionless killing machine can learn to appreciate life, why can't everyone? And three, the most important fact of all: Never mess with a muscular man who walks into a bar completely naked and requests your clothes and means of transportation. I suppose the question on most interested viewers' minds is this: Is "T2: Judgment Day" better than its predecessor? Well, in some respects, yes. In others, no. It lacks the fierce brutality and darkness of the first film, but makes up for it with spectacular visual effects and action sequences. It lacks the horrific central focus of the first film (futuristic, indestructible cyborgs with no feelings being able to unemotionally kill), but it makes up for this with a new focus of humanity, coming to accept your future, and how it would look if two colossal killing machines entered into an arena together. If you're looking for an action film, "T2" is your safest bet. It's ten times better than the other junk out there, and it has a definite, not-stop, pulse-pounding sense of action, that leaves you trying to catch your breath. It has a strong narrative and a clear statement on our society. On the other hand, "The Terminator" is probably the film for horror fans, time travel film fans, or those who like to be thrilled while they're watching their films regarding the future. In some respects, I like the first better. But then I think about the second film and I have a hard time choosing. I suppose if I had to choose I'd choose the first film. And let me just state for the record that I'm glad I don't have to choose.
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Summary: Great Movie...Horrible DVD
Review: Ok I only have one beef with this DVD, but it's a HUGE beef. I initially thought the idea of a metal case was a great idea, but after owning this dvd for a day, the actual dvd case is torn up from this metal cover. If you are going to make a metal cover, at least make it a little bigger than the actual case!!!
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Summary: Avoid the Extreme DVD
Review: I for one am very dissapointed with the so-called "Extreme DVD" edition that was released this year. The Ultimate Edition is arguably one of the coolest DVDs ever released but this newest edition is hardly the extreme DVD that the title says it is. The extra content that is on here is newly recorded commentary by James Cameron and his crew. While the commentary is good, it only works on DVD-Rom drives, something which I don't have but a friend did. You also lose a lot of the awesome new features on the Ultimate Edition. T2 is great but the Extreme DVD is a waste of time. Avoid it. Go for the Ultimate Edition.
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Summary: T2 was the last Terminator with merit
Review: I saw this back in 1991, when it was first released, and I said to myself then (at 9 yrs old), this was the best sci-fi ever made. I had seen Aliens (also directed by James Cameron) so many times before that, I didn't think there could be a better sci-fi. Then, T2 had to come into my life. I saw the special effects and Arnold back in action, and as most kids would say, that's what made the film great. But, since I've grown up and had time to watch it again (and I did, over and over), I realize it shouldn't have been the effects or Arnold I was looking at, but just the whole package. Aside from Arnold, reprising his role as The Terminator, everyone did a great job. Especially, Linda Hamilton (reprising her role as Sarah Connor), the young Edward Furlong as John Connor (the target this time around), and Morton (the unsuspecting scientist who was the brains behind the machine brainchild, Skynet, shot down by the cops). James Cameron was and is my favorite of all filmmakers alive today. I have other mentors, like Alfred Hitchcock and Frank Capra, but they're dead. I'm a hopeful filmmaker, struggling to get my start and Cameron's films, and the way he does things has given me a lot of motivation to get in the business. I wouldn't mind using his masterful skills in my own projects. T2 was one of those influential films from my upbringing. And, I thought the way movies, like Alien 3 and T3, continued and ended up ruining his storylines was almost like a crime. His ideas in both Aliens and T2 were so well thought out and told to us, those filmmakers doing those sequels screwed us as viewers. So, in closing, T2 and even Aliens are the last great sequels of both those franchises. And, I have to agree with of the other reviews here. They are both two of the best sequels ever made; right up there with Bride Of Frankenstein and Empire Strikes Back.
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