Gun Street Girl

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Rating: R

Runtime: 154 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 356 million (approximately)

Characters: The Terminator, Sarah Conner, John Conner, T-1000, Miles Dyson, Dr. Peter Silberman, Enrique Salceda, Kyle Reese’s ghost

Favorite Quote: “I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.”

Favorite Scene: Tractor-trailer/bike chase or the helicopter/tanker chase . . . they are both fantastic

Favorite Character: Sarah Conner

Other need-to-see nineties movies directed by James Cameron: Titanic

This is the only sequel to make my list of must-see nineties movies. I do have a prequel, but we won’t be getting to that for a while. The fun thing is I get to compare this movie to its original in the series, The Terminator. The special effects in T-2 are so much better than in T-1 . . . though the effects in T-1 are so bad they are good. The Terminator is back (and naked again) in this movie, and we are given a naked T-1000 as well. Sarah and John return with Sarah being even more awesome this time around and John just swearing a lot and wearing a Public Enemy t-shirt. Miles Dyson, Dr. Silberman, and Enrique are good characters, and Kyle Reese’s ghost (?) makes an appearance. But Sarah is what makes this movie great. She gets my vote for favorite character.

There were a bunch of great quotes to choose a favorite from: in this film The Terminator says “Come with me if you want to live”, “I’ll be back”, and “Hasta la vista, baby”, but I really like “I need your, clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.” It’s really funny, and it makes The Terminator seem cool and badass at the same time. There were two scenes from the movie that were both very action-packed and awesome that I had a hard time choosing between: the tractor-trailer/bike chase from the early part of the movie and the helicopter/tanker chase scene near the end of the movie. Stuff went fast, and stuff blew up. That is all you need to know.

This may be the rare time for me when I like the sequel more than the original. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Kill Bill: Volume 1, are my favorites of those series, whereas my girlfriend Rebecca (and probably many others) prefer the second movies in those respected series. I should probably watch The Godfather and The Godfather 2 one of these days to see on which side I fall in that argument.

Next movie to review: Boyz n the Hood