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Terminator 2:

"The Ultimate Edition"

Click box art (above) to order

A Techtite Review

The Film : When a low-budget sci-fi movie became a total blockbuster in 1984, it was a Hollywood no-brainer that a sequel would be made. While that sequel took several years to be completed, it was worth the wait. With Oscar Winning FX, excellent acting talent, and James Cameron as director, the result is a science fiction classic!

Admittedly, the drawing-board of this film didn't start this way. Initially, this sequel was to be a cliché offering, where two Arnold Shwartzenegger Terminators went back in time; one good, one bad. Then James Cameron came into the picture, fresh from his underwater thriller, The Abyss. That film's Oscar Winning, Liquid Creature FX were updated, to allow for a Terminator that could change its shape at will; a liquid metal, chameleon, shape-shifting robot! The end result is sci-fi cinema history.

Much like the first film, the story involves a future run by robots, via an intelligent defense computer gone awry, Skynet. This computer is soon defeated by John Conner, the leader of the human resistance. Discovering time travel capabilities, Skynet attempts to send terminator cyborgs back in time, to erase John Conner's very existence, and win the war. The first attempt (the first film) was to terminate Sarah Conner, his mother, before he was even born. The second (this film) is to send a liquid-metal terminator to defeat John himself, when he's just a young boy. This time, the adult John Conner has sent a re-programmed, first-generation terminator (Shwartzenegger) to help protect him as a young boy. The chase is on!

Complications in this film are excellently handled. Sarah, after all her antics in the first film (and a few more off-screen), is now in an insane asylum, run by the criminal psychologist from the first movie. After helping her escape, Sarah soon learns of Miles Dyson, who invents the Skynet CPU and will soon, inadvertently, kill millions of humans with his invention. She first sets out to kill him and improve the future, then, seeing that she's no better than the robotic terminators that way, decides to convince Miles to help them defeat Cyberdyne systems, and prevent Skynet from ever being invented. Meanwhile, the liquid terminator is in pursuit, who cannot be killed by any normal weapon!

Probably the only sci-fanatic who never saw this film was George Lucas. Edward Furlong is a far more believable "resistance leader of the future" than the alleged, 9-year-old "Young Darth Vader" was in Star Wars, Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Furlong's one-liners are far more humorous and quotable than Phantom Menace's overused cliché, "Yippee!" He also seems less whiney and more in touch with the emotions crucial to each scene. He works excellently with Shwartzenegger, and equally well with "mother" Linda Hamilton, leading to an even better film than other attempts at the child-with-adult action formula, like Last Action Hero and, yes, Phantom Menace (sorry, George).

If you love sci-fi, you must own this film!

The DVD : For starters, this double-sided DVD has three ways of seeing the film; all on side one! First, there's the regular, as-seen-in-theaters version. Next, there's the 156 minute, "special edition" version, as probably seen by one or two people in those VHS collector's editions with the cool hologram on the front. Third, is an "Easter-egg" version of the film (!). This appears when choosing the special edition version on the first menu, then just before clicking on "play movie," typing 082997 on your remote control keypad (08/29/97 being "Judgment Day" in the film). A message to the right should read something like "The Future is not set yet," with an "extended special edition" option now available. This third version will add two rarely seen scenes, of the liquid Terminator searching John Conner's room, and the alternate ending!

As for the added scenes, yes, they're worth seeing. See a dream sequence where Reese (Michael Biehn) talks to Sarah Conner one last time. See an amusing, make-up savvy moment when Sarah and John re-program the CPU brain of the Terminator robot, making him more human (also see Sarah's attempt to smash the CPU, while John protests). See John teaching the Terminator to Smile...unsuccessfully. See the T-1000 malfunction near the end, shapeshifiting into various items he touches (showing that the liquid nitrogen affected him after all). See how John Conner, near the climax, recognized which of the two Sarah Conners was his real mother. There are other scenes as well; 15 in all!

Commentary tracks are also available, with comments from Linda Hamilton, Arnold Shwartzenegger, James Cameron, and many others. If you choose the special edition version of the film, Michael Biehn even discusses his single, deleted scene role in the sequel! What I liked most about these tracks is the usage of closed captioning to better show you who is talking and when. Indeed, Shwartzenegger's accented, macho voice is unmistakable, though others might not be. Never fear; a small caption at the upper-right of the screen tells you the name of the person heard, and their job in the film (actor, writer, FX coordinator, director, etc.). Oh, yes; the comments are worthwhile, too! Hear how FX made the initial, flaming-playground shot, as well as anecdotes about the biker bar scene (some were actual bikers, taken from a real biker bar!), and many others.

Side 2 of the DVD is all extras; a lot of them! There's too many of them to list here, though let's just say that everything imaginable about the film's creation --before, during, and after-- is covered here. Slide-show pix show some things, like pix of all the memorabilia used to promote the film. However, there are more often video clips of how a certain shot was achieved. You can either see these clips in order via a menu (as listed in the included DVD booklet), or speed to the video clip of your choice, via a separate menu. Additional video includes trailers galore (even the trailers used in Japan!), a featurette about the film itself (as shown on TV at the time), a featurette about the Oscar-Winning FX, and another featurette, about the excellent Universal Studios 3D attraction, based on the film. 

The real collection topper of this DVD is an elaborate booklet, which is actually worth reading! In it is not only amusing info about the film, though also track index lists for both the film itself, and Side B's behind the scenes clips. To really make things easier for deleted-scenes fans, an index is given, explaining exactly where each added scene is, and what was added. Many DVDs offer "added footage" within the film, and you're left scratching your head as to where they are. In this DVD, the added scenes are not only unmistakable; they're even listed in the included booklet!

I have a small, teeny-tiny gripe, however, with the metal, "Ultimate Edition" slipcover. Initial copies of this DVD have a metal slipcover over the regular plastic case, with the "T2" logo embossed on the front. Cute idea, although it's not attachable onto the DVD case firmly enough. The slipcover, in fact, doesn't go all the way around the DVD case, and only grips the back of the DVD by its sides. With a little imagination, this tin slipcover would make a great napkin holder. However, it's a bit disappointing as a slipcover.

However, with a faux slipcover as the only possible gripe, you can see how totally flawless this DVD is. There's everything a T2-fan would want on this DVD, and then some. For fans of the film --or sci-fi in general-- this DVD is definitely a must-own disc.

	Final Rating : Deep Impact. Great film, great DVD. Extras galore, plus worthwhile DVD-ROM additions!
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