Released: 1991
Directed By: James Cameron
Written By: James Cameron, William Wisher Jr.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick
Rating: R
Rent or Buy?: BUY
Story:
�Ten Years Ago. The Machines Who Rule The Future Sent An Unstoppable Terminator To Assassinate The Yet Unborn John Connor. They Failed. In 1991. The Machines Will Try Again.�
Three billion human lives ended on August 29, 1997. The survivors of the nuclear blast called the war �judgment day.� They lived to face a new horror � the war against the machines. Skynet � the computer that controls the machines sent two terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the human resistance � John Connor. The first terminator was programmed to strike at John�s mother Sarah in 1984 before John was born. It failed. The second terminator was programmed to strike at John himself when he was still a child. The
human resistance is able to capture a T-800 terminator, reprogram him to protect John, and sends him to 1995.
The T-800 arrives in the present day and sets out to find John. At the same time, an advanced terminator prototype � the T-1000 also arrives looking to kill John. The T-1000 is literally liquid metal and is impervious to conventional bullet weapons. At a mall in Receda, the T-800 and the T-1000 find John. A fight ensues and John escapes. However the T-1000 attempts to run him over with a semi-truck. The T-800 is able to destroy the truck, but the T-1000 lives. The T-800 tells John his mission is to protect him and the two attempt to escape. John calls his foster family to tell them what�s happening, however, the T-1000 has killed them disguises himself as John�s foster mother in an attempt to locate him. He fails. The T-800 determines that the T-1000's greatest probability for success is to copy John�s mother Sarah and wait for him to make contact with her. John and the T-800 hurry to break Sarah out of a mental institution (she had been put there for telling people of the dark future and her personal battle with another T-800) The T-800 and John manage to save Sarah and elude the T-1000. They head for Mexico.
On the way, the T-800 tells the story of how Skynet took control of the planet and that the man most directly responsible is Miles Dyson of Cyberdyne Systems. Once in Mexico, the three meet up with Sarah�s friend Enrique and arms themselves heavily for the upcoming battle. Sarah has a nightmare of August 29, 1997 and the blast. She decides she can�t allow the future to happen and sets out to kill Miles Dyson.
Sarah arrives at Miles� house and shoots up the place. Before she can put a bullet in his head, she realizes that she is no better than the Terminator that tried to kill her and she holds her fire. John and the T-800 arrive at Miles� house, where the T-800 reveals who he is by tearing off the flesh on his arm. Miles� recognizes his exoskeleton because Cyberdyne (his company) had recovered a similar arm from the hydraulic press where Sarah had killed the first Terminator. The four then decide to destroy the Cyberdyne building to prevent the dark future. Once there, John takes the Terminator arm and the CPU chip Cyberdyne had recovered as Sarah, Miles and the T-800 rig the building to explode. But before they can detonate, police arrive and shoot Miles. As he dies, he pushes the button and the building explodes. The remaining three attempt to escape as the T-1000 has caught up with them. The T-1000 commandeers a truck filled with freezing liquid nitrogen. The T-800 jackknifes the truck and freezes the T-1000. He fires a bullet into him, and he shatters. However, this all happens at a steel mill, and the heat melts the T-1000 and he reassembles and chases the three. In a fight with the T-800, the T-1000 manages to deactivate him and goes after Sarah and John. The T-800 manages to re-route power and reactivates himself. Just as the T-1000 is about to kill John and Sarah, the T-800 fires a mini-grenade into the body of the T-1000. In his shock, he falls into a vat of liquid hot steel and melts. John throws the arm and the CPU in as well to prevent the dark future. Just as they think it�s over, they realize that to truly prevent the dark future, the T-800 must also be terminated. Sarah lowers him into the steel and saves humanity.
My Review:
One of my all time favourite movies is this one. I like this movie more than �The Terminator� for reasons that I won�t go into. Great special effects are overwhelmed by an incredible story and a powerful electronic score. Great acting all around as Arnold doesn�t have to spew out one-liner after one-lines (though he does gives a few memorable ones) If you haven�t seen this movie and are still bound to watching antiquated VCRs, go and buy a DVD player and be sure to pick up �The Ultimate Edition� DVD for this film. You won�t regret it. One other good thing about this movie is that you don�t have to see �The Terminator� to understand this flick. It�s pretty self-explanatory. This is one of those rare occasions where a sequel surpasses the original
****/4 stars
Hilarious/Memorable Quotes:
The Terminator: I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.
Biker: You forgot to say please.
***
Sarah Connor: You think you�re safe and alive? You�re already dead! Everybody! Him, you,
you�re DEAD ALREADY! This whole place, everything you see is GONE! You�re the one
living in the FUCKING dream Silberman! BECAUSE I KNOW IT HAPPENS! IT HAPPENS!
***
Dr. Peter Silberman: (held at needle point by Sarah) You�re no killer Sarah, I don�t believe you�d do it.
Sarah Connor: You�re already dead Silberman. Everybody dies, you know I believe it, SO DON�T FUCK WITH ME!!
***
The Terminator: Come with me if you want to live.
***
Kyle Reese: There�s not much time left in the world Sarah.
***
The Terminator: (asking why people cry) Pain causes it?
John Connor: Uh, no. It�s different. It�s like, when they�re nothing wrong with you, but you cry
anyways. Get it?
The Terminator: No.
***
Sarah Connor: Yeah? How were you supposed to know? Fucking men like you built the hydrogen bomb. Men like you, thought it up. You think you�re so creative. You don�t know what it�s like to really create something. To create a life. To feel it building up inside you, all you know how to create is death and destruction!
***
The Terminator: Stay here, I�ll be back.
***
The Terminator: Hasta la vista, baby.
***
The Terminator: I need a vacation.
***
The Terminator: I know now why you cry, but it�s something I can never do.