The stunts are completely insane in scale (at one point, a helicopter flies under a highway overpass at another, a motorcycle jumps from the 2nd floor of a building into a flying chopper). The CG effects for the shape-shifting T1000 were cutting-edge for the time, and still look great (whoever said differently below is simply incorrect) - even if they're completely commonplace today. There's plenty of it, and it's perfectly done. Of course, this wouldn't be an action movie without some action. not really! The film shifts from place to place with an ease that makes perfect sense, never giving you the time to start being a little nitpicking jerk, always driving forward, but always doing so thoughtfully and with attention to detail. But, with so many great moments, you'd think the pacing would be a little uneven. I mean, who doesn't cheer (at least inside) when Arnold steps out of the biker bar, fully clad in leather when "Bad to the Bone" music starts to blast? The guy absolutely bleeds coolness. The film is absolutely filled with great, classic moments (I counted TEN all-star ones during my last viewing), and they're evenly spaced through the movie. here the story transcends the performances - an impressive feat.) The script delivers. (One often sees great performances in mediocre films. With these players set in motion, it's up to the script to deliver the real substance of the movie. The bit players all do their jobs well, particularly Earl Boen who plays the semi-sadistic mental hospital warden that stands between Sarah Connor and her son (until the T1000 makes a chilling entrance). And Furlong, as John, is not bad himself as the extroverted kid who's confused by the fact that everyone except his mom tell him his entire upbringing was based on a lie. Hamilton, as Sarah Connor, is a wonderful character - tough beyond all belief and completely focussed on preventing the nuclear war and ensuring John's safety, yet clearly a little out of her mind with paranoia and anger amazingly, you see actual character development (specifically, when John and T101 arrive at Dyson's house to prevent her from doing what she wants to) in her otherwise 2-dimensional character. Schwarzenegger (the good terminator) and Patrick (the bad one) make for such effective foes that the times they meet on-screen are completely breathtaking (and odd, given that you repeatedly see the relatively slim T1000 through Arnie through a wall or two). What happens after the two terminators appear in the past is a wild ride rife with macho action, dark reflection on the nature of man, and a few rays of hope, here and there. If you don't, this movie has zero credibility, and is not worth your time. In order to even try watching this movie, you MUST LOOK PAST THE PARADOX. It does involve travel into the past, so it immediately presents a time-travel paradox which can't really be resolved. Meanwhile, future-John reprograms the ex-evil Terminator (T101) from the original film, and sends him into the past to PROTECT John against the T1000. The machines now send a superior, more intelligent, shape-shifting cyborg (T1000) into the past, to kill John himself. In Terminator 2, John Connor (the commander-to-be) is about 12 years old, and his mother (Sarah) is feverishly trying to prepare him for his fate, even as she tries to stop the factors that will lead to the nuclear war and the entire terrible future that made all this necessary. Oh, and this terminator machine would come from a time of war between men and machines which followed a nuclear exchange that left billions of people dead, first. This is the sequel to the Terminator (1984), whose premise was that a near-indestructible cyborg is sent by evil self-aware machines from the near future to destroy the mother-to-be of the military commander who would lead the humans to a victory over the machines. Without the tools, this film would be nothing. Without the vision, this film would be nothing. This movie is what it is, a perfect 10, because it takes the vision of one of the most imaginative directors on Earth, and realizes them almost perfectly with all the tools that fit the task - actors, stunts, puppetry, models, and CG. This is especially odd in a movie with a $100 million budget (in 1991!), with multiple huge explosions, with thousands of bullets fired, and scores of stuntmen used. And, yet, believe it or not, it's not the action in the film itself that makes this be the case. This is the finest action movie of all time. In addition, if you're not able to take a few sci-fi leaps of faith, ignore this review, as well. Disclaimer: If you are a viewer that mainly prefers arthouse-type movies, then you might as well ignore this review.
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