Terminator 2: Judgment Day Is Still An Unbeatable Action Spectacle
Thumbs up for the GOAT.
The experience of watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day is very different in 2026 than it was in 1991. In 2026, Skynet is real, and although it has yet to gain sentience, launch a nuclear strike, and drive humanity to the brink of extinction, the prospect seems a little more likely whenever the CEO of an AI company opens their mouth. We’re closer to living in a Terminator future than we’ve ever been, and the bombed-out nuclear wasteland of 2029 teased in the movie’s opening no longer seems impossible.
Compare this to the shock and excitement with which Terminator 2: Judgment Day was received upon its release 35 years ago today — for those moviegoers who hadn’t had the big twist spoiled for them by the trailer or the tie-in Guns N’ Roses music video, that is. But knowing that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 Terminator is one of the good guys this time did little to decrease the public’s enthusiasm. Terminator 2: Judgment Day was an absolute must-watch in the summer of 1991, a mega-budget effects movie that still represents blockbuster filmmaking at its absolute peak.
Technology finally caught up with James Cameron’s vision in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which used a cutting-edge combination of practical effects — think animatronic busts, prosthetic makeup, and miniatures — and computer-generated images to bring the film’s unstoppable metal men to life. CGI had technically existed for decades by this point, but had never been used on the scale that writer-director Cameron and effects artist Stan Winston envisioned. Before work began, Industrial Light and Magic invested millions in hardware and expanded its team of animators and computer engineers just to accomplish the then-unprecedented effects shots needed.
In the age of photorealistic CGI, the digital VFX in Terminator 2: Judgment Day are no longer state-of-the-art. But they’re artfully conceived and executed, and blend seamlessly with the practical effects to create sci-fi visuals that still work like gangbusters. The most impressive scenes involve the T-1000, a Terminator (played in its human form by Robert Patrick) made of liquid metal that can mimic anything it touches. The film’s groundbreaking “Liquid Metal” digital effects were based on the look of liquid mercury, and were cleverly combined with shots of the real thing.
In both small moments, like the scene where T-1000 passes through the steel bars of a prison cell, and in big ones like the film’s showstopper molten-metal finale, the T-1000 is genuinely terrifying and awesome to behold. But let’s not discount the human elements at play here, either. The stunt work in Judgment Day is also outstanding, particularly in an iconic motorcycle chase in which future savior of humanity John Connor (Eddie Furlong) and his T-800 bodyguard try to outrun the T-1000 along the concrete banks of the L.A. River.
The cast is great as well, particularly Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, now a tough-as-nails survivalist tormented by recurring visions of a “Judgment Day” only she can see. Her apocalyptic visions are sobering, but on the whole, the film is exciting and tons of fun, balancing out its high-stakes plot with cheesy dad stuff and Schwarzenegger one-liners.
Thirty-five years later, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is still the greatest action sequel of all time (its only real competition is another James Cameron movie, 1986’s Aliens). The vast majority of the film has held up remarkably well, and even the moments that feel dated have aged in a fun, nostalgic, '90s popcorn-movie way. It’ll take another 35 years for another action movie to surpass it — if humanity lasts that long.
