Featured Blu-ray Review: Terminator 2: Judgment Day
July 17, 2018
Terminator 2: Judgment Day - Buy from Amazon: 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack Collector’s Edition
Terminator 2: Judgment Day has been released on the home market countless times. I mean that literally, as I’m not even going to bother to count. Amazingly, I’ve never actually reviewed this movie, despite owning three different versions of the movie on DVD / Blu-ray. I did review the original movie, twice, so it is about time I reviewed this one.
I’m not going to go over the plot of the film in great detail. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the biggest hit the year it came out and one of the biggest hits of all time.
The film begins in Los Angeles in the future, 2029, after the machines have taken over. We hear Sarah Connor talk about Judgment Day, the day Skynet nuked the world and killed 3 billion people. The remaining humans formed a rebellion led by John Connor. Skynet sent a robot back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, John’s mother, before he was born. This time, it is sending a robot back to 1995 to kill John Connor as a teenage boy. Like last time, the human resistance was able to send a soldier of its own to stop Skynet’s Terminator.
We see the Terminator arrive in 1995, naked like last time. Also like last time, he runs into some people and demands their clothing. And like last time, he gets it after a short fight. Moments later, we see another time traveler arrive. This time a cop is the first person to arrive. The time traveler is the only one that leaves, dressed as a cop. He uses the cop's computer to find the address of John Connor, more specifically, the foster family he lives with. It’s not a happy home and John and his friend take off on his dirt bike. Shortly after that, the Cop arrives asking about John. The parents cooperate and even mention someone else was looking for John earlier. He tells them not to worry about the guy. They should probably worry, because we see the Terminator following John.
Meanwhile, we visit with Sarah Connor in the a mental institute. She’s there because of what happened to her in the first movie. Of course anyone would sound crazy saying what she saw. She tries to convince her psychiatrist that she’s better; however, he can see through her deception and refuses to let her see her son, which sets him off.
At this time, we see both the Terminator and Cop stalking John. Who will get to him first?
On a side note... It must have been a while since I watched this movie, because I forgot how long it took to get to the reveal of the bad guy. It’s effective.
The Terminator franchise is very similar to the Alien franchise. Both franchises start with a relatively low-budget entry that is dark and gritty and relies on tension over anything else. The second entries are both big-budget affairs that exchange action and thrills for the tension of their predecessors. Also, both franchises have never been able to reclaim the quality of the first two entries, despite decades of trying, but that’s another story. So does the film work as a big-budget action film? Hell yeah. There are some elements that don’t work. I think it was a mistake to have an annoying, teenage John as a central character in the story. His domestication of the Terminator into a nicer, friendly robot just doesn’t work. Fortunately, there are far more elements that do work.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day has a number of iconic Sci-fi / action film moments. If you’ve seen the movie, then you know what I’m talking about. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you’ve likely seen clips from the semi chase, or of the T-1000 morphing out of the floor or walking through the bars. Almost all of the special effects still stand up, but nostalgia does play a factor here as well. If you remember how amazing they looked the first time you saw them, then that will likely make you appreciate them today more than someone who has never seen the movie would.
Most of the extras on the Blu-ray are from the previous Blu-ray release, including three versions of the movie and two audio commentary tracks, as well as an archival 31-minute making of featurette from 1993. There are also two deleted scenes, with optional audio commentary. The only new extra for this 4K Combo Pack is a 54-minute making of featurette. Then again, a nearly hour-long featurette is a lot for a film that’s been released on the home market countless times.
The 4K Ultra HD Collector’s Edition also comes with a replica of the Terminator arm, which is an important part of the franchise lore.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is an amazing movie and if you’ve made the leap to 4K, it is worth owning. That said, the 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack Collector’s Edition is $175, while the basic 4K Ultra HD combo pack costs just $13. Only you can decide if a life-sized replica of the arm is worth the extra $162.
The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review, Terminator, Alien, Earl Boen, Edward Furlong, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Arnold Schwarzenegger