 Terminator 2, released on Blu-Ray, is James Cameron's action masterpiece. It is, of course, superior to the first one- there is no arguing that point, it is an incontrovertible fact of life. It has set the standard for all action films that followed it. And its rated R, which means it does not shy away from hardcore violence.
The film stars, among others, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. As the film begins, she is locked up in a mental hospital. Her character greatly differs from where it left off at the end of the first picture. No longer the innocent, scared weakling, she now works out, stabs her doctor in the knee with a ballpoint pen, and constantly prepares everyone around her for the coming apocalypse. Her son, John Connor, who she has told all his life is to be the future leader of the rebels, in the war against the machines. John of course does not believe her. Edward Furlong plays John, and we see him in foster care, hellraising and being difficult. But don't worry, Arnold's on the scene. Schwarzzeneger plays the Terminator, the same model who terrorized Sarah in the first film. John Connor from the future has sent Arnold to protect John Connor from the past against another terminator, played by Robert Patrick.
When the movie was first released, the liquid metal effects were out of this world. Of course, now they look cheesy, but at the time nothing could top them. Robert Patrick's Terminator is superior to Arnold, you shoot him and he reassembles himself. He can also take the shape of other humans. Arnold breaks Sarah out of the mental hospital before liquid guy can get to her. It is then a matter of breaking into the lab of the computer company and destroying the robot chip that will be used by the machines to destroy the world. The action scene at the office building is one of the greatest ever filmed. I won't ruin the rest of the film for you, even though you've most likely already seen it.
The picture is UN-impressive. It is presented in 2.35:1 1080p. I would think that Sony and Lionsgate would want to be sure that this is the best-looking title in their collection. Instead, a lot of the film reminded me of the old days of videotape. The nighttime scenes are grainy and the resolution is bad. The graininess is very visible, and angered the hell out of me because I love this movie. On the audio front, I have no complaints. It is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The surrounds are great. Both the loud action scenes and the dialogue are clear. Basically, it sounds awesome.
T2 is a great movie, though. I've probably seen it over 50 times in my life, so I was disappointed that the picture quality was bad. I was hoping for a completely new experience. Alas, this is not the case. Nevertheless, James Cameron is a master. |
