Movie Review - Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Director: James Cameron
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
Year: 1991

Seven years after the original Terminator was released, it was time for a sequel.  Audiences wanted more of the apocalyptic story, more of the drama, and definitely more of the machine.  Arnold was a big hit by 1991, a household name, having starred in Red Sonja, Commando, Predator, The Running Man, Red Heat, Twins, Total Recall, Kindergarten Cop.  He was the face of 90s action, throwing in some comedy here & there, making a name for himself.  I can remember being seven years old, playing Terminator and Predator video games on the NES; pretty tame stuff compared to today's standards.  But I loved Arnold, as did a ton of kids my age; we were all ready to see more of his famous role and more of the fictional future of our planet.

Once again a Terminator has been sent back in time to change history, to defeat humanity before the war against machines has even started.  But this time the target in John Conner himself, now a feisty kid living in LA in the 90s.  He's in foster care, his mother Sarah having been committed for violent acts and insane nuclear war predictions.  So she's not there to protect him from the advanced model of cyborg that has been sent to murder him.  But luckily, someone else is.  Future humans sent back an old version Terminator to work for John, to keep him alive, to make sure he fulfills his destiny as leader of the future resistance against the machine.  John and his robot pal will have to avoid the assassin, rescue his mother, and fly under police radar if they are to have any chance of staying alive and saving the world.

The original movie cost about 6 million to make and made about 40 million at the box office.  The second cost about 102 million and made about 204.  That's a pretty big difference in numbers.  While the first had some action, the second was nothing but.  Explosions, gunfights, sieges, helicopters, CG; no expense was spared and everything was blown up.  So the film cost a lot more, but of course people were already willing to come see the sequel and didn't leave disappointed.  For my money, the first is better.  It's got more heart and leaves a lot of questions that are fun to try to answer.  The second tries to be dramatic, gives us more details on the future war, but really relies too heavily on two robots throwing each other through walls.  I like Edward Furlong in this movie, Linda Hamilton is fine, but Arnold talks a little too much, attempting to build a sensitive character out of an unfeeling machine.  As long as you like the original, you'll probably be invested enough in the story to enjoy the sequel, but standing alone it's a bit more action than I like and has a bit less depth.  Still, it's an entertaining two hours and a classic film.

My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰

Movie Trailer - I Origins

Director: Mike Cahill
Starring: Michael Pitt, Astrid Berges-Frisbey, Brit Marling
Release: July 18th, 2014

This movie looks like a bad combination of Her and The Great Gatsby, what with the pair of billboard eyes.  I don't understand what's supposed to be going on, a search for the meaning of life?  I can't watch third-rate actors attempting to be deep for two hours.

Movie Review - The Terminator

Director: James Cameron
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn
Year: 1984

The Terminator is one of those movies I've see a hundred times on TV but never watched in its unedited entirety.  It seems like it was always on FX or USA, on Friday nights when I was young and bored.  And so I saw every scene multiple times, but never in perfect order or all at once.  It's about as classic as an American film can be, launching toys, sequels, TV shows, Arnold's gubernatorial aspirations, you name it.  James Cameron got his start with this movie too, writing & directing what would become his first hit.  And the quotes, my god.  Everyone has said "I'll be back" a couple times, attempting their best Austrian accent and failing miserably.  I always liked quoting Kindergarten Cop more; "It's not a tumor!"  But The Terminator will do, a fun film packed with action, explosions, sci-fi, 80s glam, and of course Aaaaanold.

The year is 1984, where a woman named Sarah Connor is leading her normal, young adult life; crappy job, little apartment, roommate, dating.  But her path is about to take a strange turn.  Two men turn up out of nowhere, hunting women named Sarah Connor.  The first few in the phone book are brutally murdered, leaving the third, our Sarah, a frightened mess.  And when the two men find her, a gunfight ensues, but it seems that one is after her while the other is here to protect her.  Reese claims that he's been sent from the future to save Sarah's life, to keep her from being executed by a machine called a Terminator, a robot that looks human but is basically a walking computer.  It seems that Sarah will someday play an important role, one that will lead to human survival in the future, when man fights machine for control of the planet.  Reese & Sarah are on the run from the Terminator, a cyborg that will never stop hunting them, never grow tired, and never give up.

For 80s sci-fi, The Terminator is pretty bad ass.  Biehn & Schwarzenegger literally fall naked from the sky, procure weapons, and proceed to shoot at one another with sawed off shotguns while driving speeding cars.  There are bombs, laser sights, glimpses into the dark future of Earth.  But there's also a humanity to the film, and that's what makes it good.  Sarah is confused, scared, alone, Reese is trying to protect her, they have a connection.  There's a bit of depth there that takes it beyond just a shoot-em-up movie.  And it's cool to see some known actors in early roles here.  Bill Paxton as the leader of a punk gang, Lance Henriksen as a dumb cop, Rick Rossovich right before he was Slider in Top Gun.  I could watch The Terminator a hundred more times and enjoy it over & over.  It's just that type of movie; a standard, a cinematic gem, an 80s time capsule, strong early sci-fi, the beginning of a franchise.  Assuming you've seen it, give it a shot on DVD straight through; you won't be disappointed.

My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰