TheTerminatorfranchise, created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd (who also teamed up to produceAliens), dates back to the wildly successful 1984 film. It encompasses not just films but also comics, novels, video games, and just about every merchandise item you’re able to think of. For those not familiar, the general storyline involves a total war between Skynet’s synthetic intelligence — a self-aware military machine network — and John Connor’s resistance forces comprising the survivors of the human race. Skynet’s most famous products in its genocidal goals are the various Terminator models, such as the T-800, which was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original film. By 2010, the franchise had generated $3 billion in revenue.
The first film was certainly iconic, but the franchise truly reached its peak in 1991 with the sequelTerminator 2: Judgment Day. The film was a pop culture phenomenon and elevated The Terminator from a sci-fi horror franchise into an action blockbuster franchise and set a template the franchise has been trying to live up to ever since.Terminator 2: Judgment Dayis a groundbreaking sequel that has a bit of everything, and it’s widely considered to beone of the best sequels ever made. Let’s take a look at why.
Update August 11, 2025: This article has been updated with more reasons whyTerminator 2: Judgement Dayis the best entry in the beloved franchise.
Terminator 2
A Simple Twist On the Formula
Making a sequel is hard. A first film can come in and surprise audiences, but making a follow-up is tricky because there are more expectations than with the first. Audiences want what they love from the original but not the same thing. You can’t be too different because then it can alienate fans. It is a tricky tightrope to walk, but James Cameron knew just what to do withTerminator 2: Judgement.
Set 13 years after the events of the first film; the movie still keeps the cat-and-mouse chase vibe of a Terminator sent back to kill someone to change the future while a protector is also sent. Yet this time, the Terminator is a more dangerous liquid metal version that can blend in far more dangerously than the previous version and can take the form of anyone, meaning the audience never knows when they are safe. Also, the protector is a Terminator, not just anyone, but the same model that tried to kill Sarah Connor in the original film. Yes, the genius ofTerminator 2: Judgement Daywasmaking the villain of the first film a hero in the second one.
There is also a change in dynamics. Now, the target is a teenage version of John Conner, which contrasts greatly with the perception of the great military leader audiences have been led to believe. Sarah Connor is now no longer helpless and, at times, more dangerous than the Terminator herself. Forcing her to team up with the very face of someone who tried to kill her in the past makes for great character dynamics and changes the formula from the first film.Terminator 2: Judgement Daymanages to take what audiences loved about the first movie but tweak it just slightly to offer something new.
The T-1000 is made of “memetic poly-alloy,” a liquid metal allowing it to change its shape at will to mimic any human it comes into contact with and turns its limbs into bodacious bladed weaponry. The T-800 and John begin their journey by breaking Sarah out of the mental institution where she’s been put and then continue on to try and prevent the birth of Skynet by basically destroying Cyberdyne and the chip they’ve acquired that contains the futuristic technology. Of course, the T-1000 will not make it easier for them.
World-Changing Special Effects Of Terminator 2: Judgment Day
T2— as it became known to the world thanks to a successful marketing campaign — is one of just a handful of films that changed the world of visual effects forever. The sequel is a rare instance where a second installment arguably surpasses the original, and special effects are a huge reason why.
The movie’s dazzling effectsare best displayed in the two car chases, a helicopter crash, an epic police shootout, and a chemical truck collision at a steel mill as the T-1000 does everything it can to destroy Connor, who’s also protected by his mom Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton reprising her role). The film’s blend of practical and CGI is groundbreaking ways.
Yet the real standout, and one of the most memorable aspects of the film, is the liquid metal Terminator, The T-1000, played by Robert Patrick. This was, at the time, the most advanced CGI character, building off of what James Cameron had done with hisprevious film,The Abyss.Terminator 2: Judgementwas a landmark in visual effects, groundbreaking effects won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The film laid the groundwork for the amazing work ILM would do two years later withJurassic Park.
Related:Terminator Movies in Order: Chronologically and by Release Date
Ironically, one of the film’s best effects was achieved without any sort of CGI. At one point during the final battle in the steel mill, the T-1000 imitates Sarah to lure in his target, John. The real Sarah ultimately puts a shotgun blast through the T-1000’s body. Both versions of Sarah are onscreen at the same time for a bit, and contrary to what might seem obvious, no special effects were used. In actuality, T2 simply employed the services of Linda Hamilton’s identical twin sister, Leslie Hamilton, to play the imitation of Sarah. Leslie appears in a couple of other scenes in the film as well, such as Sarah’s nuclear explosion nightmare.
As it usually happened and still happens, with Cameron’s films, he pushed the boundaries of the technical backdrop by writing something that couldn’t be done. Even today, Cameron is still pushing film technology, as was seen inTitanic, Avatar,andAvatar: The Way of Water. Cameron has been doing it for years, and inT2, it was clear why you should never bet against James Cameron.
Solid Performances That Added Credibility
In addition to its countless technical achievement accolades at awards shows, the film’s principal actors were also recognized for their performances. Hamilton and Furlong won at the Saturn Awards and the MTV Movie Awards, for example. There’s a rawness to the first two movies, but it’s inT2whereHamilton’s “mother of the future”turn really gets fleshed out.
And let’s not forget Joe Morton’s heartbreaking side plot as Dyson, the creator of Skynet. Both Morton and S. Epatha Merkerson (playing his wife) add drama with their limited screen time. And, of course, there’s Schwarzenegger, whose performance here is the peak of his career. Schwarzenegger’s deadpan comedy, which provided endless quotable lines for years to come, is another reason why this film has endured for so long. He is the ultimate protector, one that can lay waste to any enemy while also being able to provide a good humorous moment just by being so serious.
Arnold’s role also brought more heart to the film to supplement the Dyson family side plot. Narrating the film, Hamilton’s Sarah Connor said it best:
“Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The Terminator would never stop, it would never leave him. And it would never hurt him, never shout at him or get drunk and hit him or say it was too busy to spend time with him. It would always be there, and it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers who came and went over the years, this thing, thismachinewas the only one who measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.”
Talk about good and underrated screenwriting.Terminator 2: Judgement Dayis not just a movie with great visual effects but also great characters and performances supported by a great script.
Terminator 2was a bonafide phenomenon when it was released in the summer of 1991. It seemed like everyone in the world was talking about this movie, and it went on to become the biggest movie of the year, the biggest of both Schwarzenegger and Cameron’s respective careers at the time, and thebiggest R-rated moviemade thus far in cinematic history.
T2has also been referenced countless times in pop culture, from shows includingGrowing PainsandFull Houseto movies such asThe Last Boy ScoutandWayne’s World.T2video games were released, along with a hugely popular stage show at Universal Studios that ran for years.
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To understand the magnitude of Cameron’s film, imagine for one second the greatest movie in the world right now, and add to that equation the greatest band/singer in the world. Sort of a “Barbiemeets Taylor Swift” cultural moment. Well,T2actually accomplished that as it incorporated the biggest band in the world at that moment for its soundtrack.Guns n' Roses became the onesto give music to one of the film’s most important sequences, and they provided the first single fromUse Your Illusion II, “You Could Be Mine”, for the movie. The result was a tie-in and a music video that MTV aired day and night for most of 1991.
Terminator 2: Judgement Dayalso solidified the film as a franchise, even though it might not have been meant to be one.Terminator 2: Judgement Daywas supposed to be the final film, but obviously, becoming one of the biggest box office hits of all time and one of the most iconic movies meant that audiences wanted a sequel.
A direct sequel would follow twelve years later in 2003 withTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Then, in 2009,a film set entirely in the future war titledTerminator: Salvationwas released. Schwarzenegger returned to the franchise with 2015’sTerminator: Genisys, and then in 2019, both he and Hamilton returned forTerminator: Dark Fate. Yet none of these films have been able to live up toT2, and many were seen as either critical or financial disappointments.T2has cast such a large shadow the other films in the franchise just can’t get out from underneath it.
Terminator 2: One of the Greatest Sequels Ever Made
There’s no questionTerminator 2: Judgment Daywas a very important film upon its release. It is widely regarded asone of the best sequelsever produced in film. It changed the franchise to a point of no return but it also changed Hollywood. While the Fourth of July weekend had always been a big weekend for blockbusters,T2made it a must-have release date for one of the biggest movies of the summer movie season. It not only redefined theTerminatorfranchise but blew the door open for visual effects. Being released in 1991, it can be said thatTerminator 2: Judgement Daywas the movie that kicked off the 1990s as a decade for film.
Actually, scratch “best sequels.“Terminator 2: Judgment Dayis one of the greatest achievements of science fiction and one of the most important films in modern cinema because it perfectly combined dramatic value, special value, and the leadership ofa masterful storytellerwhose vision remained spotless to the very end. It’s no wonder Cameron wrote it as the last film of theTerminatorseries. Nothing would ever top that.
StreamTerminator 2: Judgement Dayon Paramount+.
Want to know 2? Check out our video with even more great fun facts about the iconic sequel.
