ears after the events of The Terminator, Sarah Connor (Hamilton) has been institutionalized for trying to blow up Cyberdyne Systems, the tech firm she knows to be developing technology that will lead to the war between humanity and its machines. Her son, John (Furlong), who will grow up to be the only man capable of leading the tattered remnants of mankind to victory in that final war, is a troubled pre-teen in foster care who robs ATMs for spending money and hates his Mom for being the major loon whose paranoid fantasies of an upcoming nuclear war have deprived him of a normal childhood.
But though Sarah's grip on sanity is not quite as strong as it once was, her talk of Terminators is not at all fantasy. A new Terminator (Robert Patrick), composed of liquid metal, and possessed of frightening shape-changing abilities, has been sent back in time to kill the young John Connor before he can marshal humanity in the coming war.
Fortunately, the adult John Connor of the future has learned about the threat and sent help, in the form of yet another Terminator (Schwarzenegger). Though identical to the cyborg that once tried to kill Sarah, up to and including its Austrian accent, this Terminator has been reprogrammed to protect mother and son from the shape-changing assassin. Unfortunately, this Terminator's a less advanced model, not nearly as unstoppable as its shape-changing cousin. And, once freed, Sarah isn't content with a mere rescue. She wants to bring the fight back to Cyberdyne.
Worth it to see Eddie Furlong being brained
The first Terminator movie was a grungy little action flick with a dark heart and an aura of impending tragedy. It was well written, well performed, and very much a story of character, as its protagonist, Sarah Connor, evolved from a girlish diner waitress to a woman very much capable of mothering the savior of mankind. Its last scene, which established that the apocalypse was still on the way, had resonance and emotional import. It was very much a B movie, if nevertheless one far better than it had any right to be; and if it qualified as cinematic milestone at all, that was only because it cemented the careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron and Linda Hamilton. It also provided Harlan Ellison with one of his all-time tastiest lawsuits.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a very strong sequel, that built upon the themes and characters established in the original, providing us with a much-changed Sarah Connor, a much nicer Arnie Terminator, a much more liquid villain Terminator, and a first glimpse of the leadership abilities of future resistance leader John Connor. Though a good film, it was not by any means better than its predecessor, which at least possessed the fine attribute of being self-contained. It was, however, much much bigger in scale ... and it was a major milestone in the development of the CGI techniques that within the decade allowed filmmakers to depict almost anything the human mind could imagine. As such, it remains the one filmgoers remember.
The film has been released on DVD a couple of times before, each time with a variety of special features, a fact that has led some previous critics to greet this latest edition with exasperation at the evident overkill. After all, an earlier release also restored important deleted scenes, including one critical sequence where John prevents his mother from killing the good Terminator. (It's an important moment, which deepens the film thematically; the entire enterprise makes more sense afterward. But it's available in an earlier edition.) The most obvious distinction of this release, the metal slipcover with molded Terminator head on the cover, is a fun but cosmetic feature invaluable for adding more than a few extra pennies to the list price. But there's more. The film itself comes with an all-new commentary track by Cameron and co-scripter William Wisher (which is informative and frequently very funny), additional pop-up commentary (ditto) and footage revealing how many of the scenes were done. Much is made of the complications of producing a consistent movie when the young star, Eddie Furlong, grew four inches and changed his voice during filming.
The second disk provides DVD-ROM activities and a pair of fun documentaries. "No Feat But What We Make" is a mostly deserved exercise in self-congratulation, paying tribute to Terminator 2's place in the development of CGI effects; Peter Jackson is one of several who credit its innovations for making their own later films possible. "T2: On the Set" presents the usual candid shots of actors and production folks clowning around during production. Unlike most such compilations, it's actually entertaining. The best bit features Schwarzenegger, not taking himself seriously at all, demonstrating for a newly buff and clearly amused Linda Hamilton the best way to gratuitously call attention to her biceps whenever directing folks to the nearest restroom.
