t's been a while since terrorist Sarah Connor (Hamilton), her son, John (Furlong), and scientist Miles Dyson blew up the headquarters of Cyberdyne Systems. Fans of the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day will remember that Sarah and company needed the help of a Terminator cyborg from the future (Schwarzenegger).
Today, guests visiting Universal Studios Hollywood can tour the newly rebuilt Cyberdyne headquarters and even watch a corporate demonstration of the company's newest creations: the T-70 robot soldiers (nicknamed "terminators"). Visitors don "safety glasses" to view a live-fire demonstration of the robots in Cyberdyne's auditorium.
But every time they do, things start to go wrong. There's a bomb blast, and Sarah rappels down from a hole in the ceiling, fires her Uzi and tries to commandeer the building, warning the audience that Cyberdyne's technology will destroy the world. But she and John are themselves surprised by the shape-shifting T-1000 cyborg--made of liquid metal--who materializes in the form of an Los Angeles cop. Luckily, a time portal opens on the stage, and a familiar Terminator appears on a black Harley, shoots the T-1000 and escapes with John back through the portal--and onto the big screen.
In 65mm 3-D, viewers next see John and the Terminator in the L.A. of 2029, fleeing through post-apocalyptic ruins from the T-1000, dodging laser blasts from a flying hunter-killer machine, and doing hand-to-hand combat with "mini-hunters" (Frisbee-sized flying robots armed with lasers).
Barely escaping, the two see their final goal in the distance: Skynet,
the pyramid-shaped headquarters of the machines. As they enter a massive
steel door, visitors get a 180-degree view of the interior of the great
building. Here, in the heart of the future, viewers watch a live-action
3-D final battle with the greatest enemy yet seen.
"Easy money"
Putting it simply, Terminator 2 3-D rocks.
This ride has been crafted as a complete narrative, seamlessly melding video and film with live stunt actors, animatronics and in-theater special effects. The result is an experience that places viewers in the middle of one of the most popular and action-packed SF stories ever created, where they can feel the blasts and smell the gunpowder. In doing so, T2:3D builds on similar attractions such as Star Trek: The Experience in creating a new and involving way to tell a story. (Another T2:3D has been a big draw at Universal Studios' sister park in Florida since 1996.)
The centerpiece of the ride is a 12-minute 3-D movie that is being
touted as the most expensive film ever made, counted frame by frame. It is
directed by T2 helmer James Cameron himself, and it's clear no
expense has been spared. The 3-D effects are crisp and convincing, and the
action sequences are first rate.
The action culminates in the auditorium itself, opening up the 3-D film in an imaginative way that it would spoil the fun to reveal. The ultimate
battle, involving a new creature called the T-1,000,000 robot, shows that
cinema special effects have advanced quite a bit since the original Terminator movies.
Beyond the gee-whiz stuff, though, it's heartening to true fans of the
movies that Cameron was the creative force behind the ride. In addition to
bringing back the original cast and special effects wizard Stan Winston, he
has remained true to the story and the characters. The dialog serves not
just to advance the brief story, but also to remind viewers why they liked the characters so much in the first place. It reprises some of the film's best
lines and even adds a few new laughs (at one point Schwarzenegger deadpans: "Let's bust a move").
