If you could blend the macho machismo of Commando (1985) with the Austrian accented one-liners of Predator (1987) and dab on top the sci-fi action of Total Recall (1990), you’d get the amalgamation of Arnold Schwarzenegger and all the magical ingredients it took to create his role in the baddest movie sequel ever made.
All the stars aligned with this one: James Cameron’s innovative use of revolutionary computer-generated imagery (before such advancements were exploited by the likes of anything Transformers, MCU, and cartoon-faced Harrison Ford); the discovery of Robert Patrick to play the ultimate villain in T-1000; cutting edge pyrotechnics and human stunts abound; and a more weathered but somehow cooler Arnold Schwarzenegger to play everyone’s favorite cyborg.
Terminator 2 took the Reagan-era action flick to a whole new level. The human vs. machine humor is sophisticated and works perfectly in between the lengthy rollercoaster sequences. Most chilling are the apocalyptic visions that are beginning to come to fruition (yikes). Personally, I miss the innocence of out-loud cheering for one-liners like, “Hasta la vista, baby,” and, of course, “I’ll be back.” Back then, it was an action movie requirement to cause an uproar in the theatre with 2 to 3 testosterone-saturated one-liners. (I remember seeing it twice with my cousins at the once called “Continental Theatre” in Denver, and the audience was appropriately rowdy without going too far.)
IGN recently (and correctly) ranked Terminator 2: Judgment Day as #1 on their “25 Best Action Movies of All Time” list, and it’s difficult to come up with a newer example of pristine character development, visual effects, and sound engineering. Oh, yeah—Brad Feidel’s film score happens to be epic as well.
If it’s bigger, better, faster, and stronger you want, this sequel delivers on a universal scale. Still my favorite action movie of all time, and I had the T2 poster on my wall in middle school through high school to prove it.
Reely Bernie Faves:
5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
6. The Godfather Part II (1974)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
10. Nosferatu (1922)
11. Pollock (2000)
12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)
13. Jaws (1975)
14. Fargo (1996)
16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)
24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
25. Bambi (1942)
26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)
27. Psycho (1960)
29. Swingers (1996)
30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
32. Smoke (1995)
33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
37. 1917 (2019)
42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
43. The Greatest Showman (2017)
44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
45. The Florida Project (2017)
Reely Bernie 
Whenever I see this in the cable listings I will throw it on. Love this film!
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One of the greatest sequels, action movies, and Arnold movies ever made. James Cameron topped himself.
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Agreed. He peaked. I haven’t been much of a fan of his ever since this one. I mean, thank you for the technological advances, but give us characters, a story, and substance too, James.
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I know you’re referring to the Avatar movies which I love, but you do have valid points. However, True Lies I believe is a better than average spy thriller and Titanic deserved its Best Picture win.
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Fair enough. I’ll never forget the amazing experience I had watching AVATAR in the theatre. It was a visual treat for sure. Other than that, I’m not a huge fan for the rest of the components. TRUE LIES is extraordinary! I wish he’d do something like that again!
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It’s my favourite ‘Arnie’ movie of all time. 😀
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Ditto 🙂
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This is one of my husband’s all time favorites as well.
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There’s nothing wrong with calling it a “classic” now 🙂
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Excellent movie.
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Damn straight 🙂
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Hard to argue with anything you say here — Terminator 2 fucking rocks. Although I will admit, Mad Max: Fury Road gave this a good scare in 2015, I can’t believe how propulsive that thing is. But it does in my opinion lack the classic characters of Terminator. I now want to go watch this again, immediately lol
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Totally agree, Tom. Mad Max: Fury Road is phenomenal, but I’m old school and prefer “The Road Warrior” because not one (not one) shot used CGI. George Miller admitted to CGI “polishing” in Fury Road, and that’s fine, but you could tell what was real and what was enhanced. Darn good movie, though. It simply never stops! Fury Road and T2 warrant an immediate viewing, yes!
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Absolutely the best action movie of all time. Probably seen it a dozen times, now. The original still holds up, and I loved the Female terminator in #3…. But T2! Still the best! ( I never knew that the Vacation Family Truckster made an appearance!, thanks for that trivia tidbit, Bern!)
Love, y o d
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As long as Three Amigos is on the list, I can get behind it.
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It’s all about personal quirks and treasures, right? (And who you were with when you saw them.) “One for each other and all for one: a brave amigo.”
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This is one of those movies that you can just start watching at any time in the movie and stay with it to the end. One of those movies like Die Hard…no telling how many times I’ve watched this. He used just enough CGI in this to make it great. Later on Jurassic Park would take it to the next level.
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Amen to that, Max! Yes, CGI with context and totally mastered in Jurassic Park. I hope T2 endures through the ages. It meant a lot to us in the 90s. It broke the movies wide open!
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It doesn’t look too dated to me…not the CGI…because they didn’t over use it….and they wore blue jeans and regular clothes for the most part…so I think it will last.
Stuff like that never bothers me…I go to war over that “dated” tag. Some say some seventies movies look “dated” in a bad way. Hmmm lets see…it’s a story and the subject takes place in the….wait for it……seventies! Therefore you will have polyester suits…so I don’t see the problem lol.
I’m thinking too much for a Sunday morning
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Great point, Max. I wonder if the swagger and hype gets dated, though. Meaning: You and I were lucky enough to see Arnold take over the world. My daughters simply won’t comprehend that ability or why the Terminator was such a phenomenon. Call me old, but I think social media and short attention spans dilute such pop culture history. I think this is one of the main reasons I write on this thing 🙂
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Yes I agree about social media…thats why we both blog…to keep it alive. The biggest thing I can think of is…and it fits what you are saying…acting styles change and most of all pacing of movies.
I’m watching Sherlock from 2010 and Sherlock Holmes from 1984. The 2010 is so fast you loose your place…I still like it… but the 1984 one is realistic…thats a big difference.
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I like the slower, more realistic approach too. That’s my best friend’s favorite series (the older one). Yeah, we gotta keeps the classics alive, Max!
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Thats me also…it enhances the story by a realistic approach..slower. Character development is becoming a thing of the past in some shows and movies.
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I would never have imagined you a Terminator fan. It’s a great movie of course. I was watching Die Hard the original yesterday. I hadn’t seen it eons. I thought I would be bored, but I was surprised how well it held up and maintained my attention. Terminator 2 is another one that deserves a rewatch. Action movies aren’t my favorite genre along with Horror, but if they are well – made – I’m on the lookout.
If I had to choose one Action movie as my Desert Island pick – I’d probably go with Kill Bill 2. Kill Bill 1 would be up there as well.
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You make a keen observation, Matt. As a kid and teenager, I grew up on action and horror, but with age, the drama genre continues to surpass all. I have to pay my respects, though, because this side of film is what makes it so fun—white knuckles and out loud cheering and all! And, I totally agree: Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 are extraordinary! Please catch me up on Colombia. School has sucked up all my time…
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I too grew up mostly on action, horror and adventure movies and then Drama (also independent – foreign) took over as my favourite genre as an adult. That’s great you like those Tarantino classics. He doesn’t make ’em like he used to although there are some glimpses of brilliance. Since ‘The Hateful Eight’ his moviemaking has converted into a form of parody of himself. Also, as I was watching ‘Django Unchained’, I was hoping for a such a different turn of events towards the end. I thought it would have been so much more enthralling if Leonardo’s character had settled the slave payment and let them go free, only to realise shortly after the event through the counsel of his senior slave butler that he had been duped. Then as they are making their escape through Candyland, he would have unleashed the dogs on the three of them. Now that would have been some kind of climax of a ‘Lord of the Flies’ and Mel Gibson ‘Apocalypto’ aesthetic.
Three things he stuffed up in that movie were the following in my humble estimation:
The glib outcome of the spectacular Christopher Waltz character.
Second, turning it into a blood curdling gun fight,
Third: The dogs had to make a reappearance!
Fourth – Tarantino’s appearing as an actor with a terrible accent. That scene was so weak.
It was frustrating since it was such a brilliant movie until the post dinner event.
All is pretty good here. You were correct about the outcome of the American women’s team. Colombia did splendid to get to the quarter finals and play England. The Colombian goalkeeper who is normally rock solid made a fundamental error and due to a problem with an eye infection associated with her contact lenses led England back into the game. She was substituted.
Now England and Australia – Woohoo. You can’t have enough countries to barrack. Haha. I hope all is good in your neck of the woods and that you are on top of everything at school.
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You just rewrote some Tarantino! That’s some cojones! But, I do agree that he has lost his edge since the 90s. Still, dialogue remains his forte. No one can write like him. PT Anderson has a way, but the hipster cool thing is all Tarantino. Wow. Good on Colombia. It was fun while we could watch it, but school took over at our house. We are in the thick of it now! A wonderful week to you and thanks for your contribution as always. I’ll try to keep an every Saturday account going. We’re on my last 30 faves!
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If I had been in QT’s ear through that whole process of ‘Unchained’ I would not have left him leave until he agreed with my ending Haha….
Paul Thomas Anderson nailed an Ingmar Bergman-esque movie in ‘The Phantom Thread’. That is so good! I bet even Woody Allen would have been proud of that one given Woody’s love of Ingmar. I think across genres PTA is my go – to. No way Tarantino could write a movie like The Phantom Thread. PTA did Boogie Nights which is ala Pulp Fiction. Regarding Tarantino’s dialogue he nailed it with Pulp Fiction – that’s his best work as a script hand down in my estimation. Jackie gets close. His other scripts can try to be too smart for their own good. He overdid the whole turning history on its head with ‘Hollywood’ after ‘Basterds’ although that has some great scenes. Ok, you can get away with rewriting History once Quentin, but do you need to do it twice? Having said that I thoroughly enjoyed the climax scene in ‘Hollywood’.
I look forward to reading your last 30 faves Bernie. You take care Bernie and remain stoic for the family and your students!
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That’s a great list so far
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Hey, thanks, Patti! Very nostalgic, personal, and empathetic 🙂
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