Terminator 2: Judgment Day Blu-ray delivers great video and superb audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the Terminator in this explosive action-adventure spectacle. Now he's one of the good guys, sent back in time to protect John Connor, the boy destined to lead the freedom fighters of the future. Linda Hamilton reprises her role as Sarah Connor, John's mother, a quintessential survivor who has been institutionalized for her warning of the nuclear holocaust she knows is inevitable. Together, the threesome must find a way to stop the ultimate enemy-the T-1000, the most lethal Terminator ever created. Co-written, produced and directed by James Cameron (The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic), this visual tour de force is also a touching human story of survival.
In the entire history of motion pictures, few, if any, sequels hold as many distinctions as James
Cameron's Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Perhaps the biggest follow-up ever to a
modestly-budget film, T2 arrived in
theaters on July 3, 1991 to intense scrutiny, incredible hype, and colossal expectations. The film
aced its many tests, delivering a perfectly-balanced story, groundbreaking special effects, and
wonderful performances, all the while adding to the lore of the Terminator universe
established in the first film without sacrificing its integrity. By 1991 The
Terminator had become a fan favorite, not to mention the film that would mark the
beginning of a string of mega-hits helmed by Director James
Cameron that would carry him to nearly unparalleled heights as one of the industry's leading and
most bankable directors. Still, it was 1991's Terminator 2 that would solidify his career
and pave the way for his effort on Titanic, the film that would sink all box-office
records, still holding that distinction more than a decade after its theatrical release. Of all the
films in his repertoire, though, T2 may be the most important. Though
not his highest grossing film or perhaps even his best (rivaled by 1986's Aliens and the
original The Terminator), Cameron's T2 will always be remembered as a film
that redefined the summer movie experience by delivering dazzling and innovative special effects,
an intensely-paced and incredibly smart story, and featuring Hollywood legend Arnold
Schwarzenegger (Predator) in his
career-defining role.
Buy this movie again if you want to live.
In the future, machine wages war against man. Controlled by a powerful supercomputer called
SkyNet, a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 (or T-800) Terminator (Schwarzenegger) was sent back
in time to the year 1984 to eliminate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother
of the future leader of the human resistance, John Connor. That Terminator having failed,
SkyNet again sends a
Terminator back in time, this one a more advanced model known as a T-1000 (Robert Patrick, Bridge to Terabithia),
to kill John (Edward Furlong, American History X)
while still a young
boy. The resistance is again able to send a warrior to protect its leader in the past, this time a
reprogrammed T-800 model, the same formidable machine SkyNet sent in 1984, but this time
outmatched by the T-1000, a machine capable of morphing itself into most any organic matter of
similar size, manipulating its structure to form crude stabbing and blunt weapons, and virtually
instant regeneration from injury. With Sarah, John, and the T-800 on the run from the
seemingly unstoppable force, the decision is made to not hide from the future but to confront it
directly in hopes of preventing the rise of the machines.
With Terminator 2, Director James Cameron delivers the quintessential summer
blockbuster Action picture, a reference-grade piece that captures the imagination, tells a quality
story, pours on the action, features infectious dialogue, captures plenty of raw emotion,
continues on with the legacy of its predecessor, and breaks new ground with its
then-state-of-the-art special effects that still hold up some 17 years after the film's debut. The
film also -- smartly -- walks a fine line between grisly violence and tame action segments.
T2 never shies away from strongly visual and graphically-staged violence. Still, it never
crosses the boundary of taste, lending to the film not necessarily a family-friendly feel, but rather
a
moderately safe one where the action takes on a splendid realism yet refrains from displaying it
with absolutely no reservations. Just as importantly, the action is loud, expertly staged, and
features plenty
of variety in the weapons, locations, and choreography along the way.
Though primarily an Action film, Terminator 2 delivers more than just a rain of bullets
and explosions. The film features a first-class story around which the violence is
framed, lending heft, importance, and immediacy to the action. Though time travel quandaries
often make for passable-at-best and head-scratching-at-worst material, T2 manages to
make a complex issue work easily within the context of the story. Also of note is the wonderful
score courtesy of Brad Fiedel, his music seemingly itself telling the story as it unfolds. The theme
that plays over the opening credits at once both haunts and entices, perfectly synching with the
film's themes of urgency and the terrible destruction that awaits should the day be lost.
If Terminator 2 features one identifiable flaw, it comes not with the film itself but rather
with
its proliferation into popular culture. There comes a time where a film reaches a saturation point,
a
point that sees it lose some of its luster and grandeur not because the movie has been found to
be
a lesser picture than originally critiqued, but because of simple sensory overload. The film has
reached a point where it has become the franchise, where the first film, and the third for sure,
seem mere afterthoughts, though the first is, arguably, the superior film. With the pending
release of Terminator Salvation, one may only hope that, much like "The Sarah Connor
Chronicles", it will breathe some much-needed life into and offer a fresh perspective on the
Terminator universe. One area where the home
video market has indeed benefited T2 is in its ability to showcase the film in an extended
cut that, much like the longer edition of Cameron's Aliens, adds to the story line and
fleshes
out
some additional details without interrupting the flow of the film.
Terminator 2 again morphs onto Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer.
T2, inherently, does not seem to offer the potential for dazzling, eye-catching visuals.
The film is
generally dark and steely in appearance and with a rather flat look about it. Still, the movie holds
up well when taken into proper consideration. This VC-1 encoded "Skynet Edition" seems to
have more in the way of noise reduction applied to it versus the previous release, but it also looks
a bit sharper, offers a slightly improved range of visible detail, and looks a bit darker in
comparison to the original Blu-ray release. When watching the film -- whether during the
exterior shots of
each Terminator's arrival to the past, the late-night interior scenes inside the Pescadero State
Hospital, or
the
interior shots of the Cyberdyne building -- this transfer reflects the heavily blue-tinted and,
frankly,
visually uninteresting look of the film well. As noted earlier, such scenes lack much in the way of
depth, texture, and fine detail, and at times looks a bit soft. Daytime exterior shots
or brightly-lit interior shots, particularly those inside the Galleria or partway through the film as
Sarah, John, and the T-800 Terminator travel towards Enrique's home, offer more in the way of
visible
details, textures, and depth. Flesh tones never veer too far away from "normal," and blacks hold
up fairly well, though sometimes appearing slightly too gray and bright, and occasionally meshing
with the many dark blue color schemes. The transfer appears
rather smooth in many scenes; grain is not heavy at all, and the print exhibits the occasional
speckle. At the end of the day, though, one may wonder whether this edition looks "better" than
the last. That's a matter of subjective opinion,
though there is no doubt that this edition has seen more in the way of noise reduction but also
enjoys a bit more in the way of clarity, sharpness, and fine detail.
Terminator 2 features a plethora of audio options, highlighted by the inclusion of a
DTS-HD
MA 6.1 lossless soundtrack. The film's futuristic battle sequence always serves as a potentially
reference-grade sonic moment, and while it's not quite up to the level of excellence as more
recent mixes, this lossless edition serves up wonderful clarity, amazing directionality, and
rumbling bass, bringing to the sequence a new life and sonic excitement never before heard in
the home. The track throws sound effects all over the soundstage throughout the course of the
movie; they each play crisply and distinctly, though sometimes sounding like they don't quite
belong where the track is placing them. Still, this one is a blast to listen to. Bass devastates the
listening area in all the action scenes. Very impressive is a battle scene featuring the T-800,
Sarah, and John firing a model 1911 .45 and a 12-gauge shotgun inside a closed elevator at the
T-1000 above. Not only do the shots present room-shaking bass and power, but the
reverberations of the discharges in the tiny enclosed space reflect the cramped location and, most
importantly, draw the listener into the action by placing them inside the elevator with the
characters. The track also features plenty of atmosphere, with many small nuances finding their
way into the track that seemed to have been lost in the shuffle on previous VHS, LaserDisc, DVD,
and even Blu-ray editions of the film. Rounded out by strong dialogue reproduction, this "Skynet
Edition" of Terminator 2 represents the best the film has ever sounded for home
listening.
Terminator 2 travels onto Blu-ray packed with a decent but somewhat underwhelming
selection of mostly recycled supplements, all of them squeezed onto the same 50 gigabyte disc
that houses the feature film. The menu is also cumbersome to navigate and
only remains on-screen for several seconds before vanishing, in many cases not allowing viewers
enough time to figure out which option they would like to select. The disc begins with a pair of
commentary
tracks,
the first dubbed "Production Commentary" and hosted by Creative Supervisor Van Ling. The
track
features a hodgepodge of participants, recorded separately, sharing a wealth of information about
the film. Each is identified atop the screen with a title, name, and photo. Track two, labeled
"Writer/Director Commentary," features Writer William Wisher and Director James Cameron.
A more traditional track but not necessarily more entertaining, Cameron and Wisher offer plenty
of
pertinent and interesting information about the shoot, the locations, the scriptwriting process,
the
acting, and most any other movie-related tidbits. Both tracks come highly recommended.
Interactive Modes features several picture-in-picture options. To access these features,
users must first select the feature from the menu, and then return to the top of the menu to
"activate" it, a needless extra step in what is already a cumbersome menu navigation system.
The following summaries of the pieces
are taken directly from the disc menu. Visual Implants allows users to "view
picture-in-picture video about the making of the film during the feature."
Trivia Data Overlay provides "text commentary and trivia during the film."
Production Data Overlay allows viewers to see "specific shot
methodologies during the film." Linked Data Modules "branch[es] out from the film to
[allow users to]
view behind-the-scenes slideshows with audio." Source
Code allows users to "view original storyboard sequences in sync with the film." Query
Mode provides a "T2 trivia quiz during the film." Finally, Processor Tests
allows users to "test [their] skills with minigames during the film."
Ancillary Data begins with a selection of 1080p teaser and theatrical trailers for the film
(1:17, 1:40, 2:05) followed by trailers for the special edition version of the film (1080p, 2:27)
and the T2 THX trailer (1080i, 0:47). Also included are two deleted scenes, T-1000's
Search (1080p, 1:27) with optional commentary by Robert Patrick and James Cameron, and
Future Coda (1080p, 1:50) with optional commentary by Stan Winston, James
Cameron, and Linda Hamilton. Also included are the Blu-ray disc production credits. Moving
along, Skynet Access is a BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) feature that was unavailable at
time of writing. Finally, this disc is D-Box enabled.
Terminator 2 leaves behind it a lasting legacy as both the cornerstone film in what is
now a
four-film series and as a benchmark Action picture that remains nearly as fresh and enticing as
the
day it was released to theaters. Though some films both before and after its release top it on the
intensity of the action, the merit of the story, or the quality of the special effects, few capture the
entire spectrum and excel across the board quite like Terminator 2. Oddly, the film's one
negative is its massive proliferation, seemingly having reached a breaking point where
overexposure
and countless home video releases seem to have -- slightly -- lessened the film's magic.
Unfortunately,
this Blu-ray release features more of the same. Included is a decent video presentation that,
while
different in several areas from its predecessor, offers neither a substantial upgrade nor a sharp
decline in quality; an excellent lossless
soundtrack; and plenty of recycled extras making up the bulk of the bonus presentation. No
doubt
T2 will see yet another re-release somewhere down the road, but until then, serious fans
will want to upgrade to this Blu-ray or to the above-referenced "Complete Collector's Set,"
for the
lossless soundtrack.
In August, Warner Home Entertainment will bring The Terminator Anthology to Blu-ray. This box set bundles together the first four films from the Terminator sci-fi-action franchise that Academy Award-winning director James Cameron (Titanic) created in 1984. The ...
The International Digital Media Alliance (IDMA) has awarded the recently Lionsgate Home Entertainment Blu-ray release of 'Terminator 2: Skynet Edition' for "Excellence in Advanced Interactivity". The advanced programming of the disc - which utilizes softronic's ...
The new editions of 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' on Blu-ray (the Skynet Edition and the Complete Collector's Set), which street May 19, push the envelope of the high-def format. The producer of these releases, authoring veteran Van Ling, discussed some of the challenges ...
