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A retrospective by Chris Lee

Following up his horror-action success in Terminator (1984) was no small feat for Cameron. He was given the reigns to the Alien franchise from visionary great, Ridley Scott, and produced the high-octane, special-effects heavy “Aliens”. Between these two films, Cameron was able to build the foundation upon which he would construct his greatest work in T2.

Terminator 2 is the movie that all other action movies want to be. A mile-a-minute blockbuster with an action star in their absolute prime, full of incredible in-camera stunts, an award-worthy acting performance from its co-lead, sound and special effects that punched like never before, and a story that refused to hold its audience's hand, all without talking down to them either.

From the opening Robot Apocalypse sequence to the biker bar, to the Mall fight, to the canal chase, to the hospital escape, to the assault on Cyberdyne, to the final battle amongst the molten steel factory from Hell, Terminator 2 fires on all cylinders. There isn’t really much to say about the film more than what has been said. If you asked any action filmmaker working today what action film they would most like to live up to, they’ll be too embarrassed to believe they could ever reach the height of T2, and go with something like Die Hard instead. That I can safely make that prediction only proves my point.

And for any that wish to argue: Die Hard starts with a Christmas Party and an argument between a divorced couple. Terminator 2 starts with a field of skulls and the goddamn nuclear robot apocalypse. 

Case closed.




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