James Cameron explains whyTerminator 2: Judgment Dayis superior to 1984’sThe Terminator, reflecting on the larger evolution of action cinema. Released in 1991, the second installment in the hit sci-fi action franchise features the return of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor andArnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, with the latter now serving as her protector against a more advanced T-1000 (Robert Patrick).Terminator 2: Judgement Dayis now widely considered one of the best sequels ever made, and it paved the way for four more installments in the franchise.
In a recent interview withEmpire Magazine, Cameron looks back fondly onTerminator 2: Judgment Day, explaining howit was part of a larger shift in the action genre away from the one-man-army-type films of the ’80s. According to the director, in addition to the sequel being the “better-made film” of the two, it is also more in line with his current feelings about gun violence. Check out Cameron’s comments below:
“I look at each of those films as a slice of the cultural media zeitgeist of its time. The Terminator wasn’t the first action film of the ’80s. It was one of a group of action films, most of which came later. Army of one, giant body count, it was part of a zeitgeist. Terminator 2, there was a shifting consciousness. It was also just a better-made film. Physically better made, better realised.
“I look at them as moments in a career for me as a storyteller, that have specific meaning to me as well. Could I, with where I am now as a person, after all these school shootings, write The Terminator right now and get excited about it and want to go make it? No. I’m a different person, and that’s fine too. That’s the way it should be. We should evolve as artists. We should evolve as a society.”
What Cameron’s Terminator 2 Comments Mean For The Franchise’s Future
What His Comments Say About A Potential Terminator 7
The first twoTerminatormoviesare considered the franchise’s strongest, with reception to the other four sequels being mixed at best.Terminator: Dark Fate(2019) was a major box office disappointment, which has essentially stalled the live-action movie arm of the franchise, butCameron has teased that he’s working on the script forTerminator 7.
Cameron has previously revealed that the new film leans heavily into an exploration of AI, and also recently teased thatit won’t feature any returningTerminatorcharacters or iconographyfrom the franchise’s past. The next film, then, will seemingly see the franchise starting fresh, and Cameron’s latest comments provide an interesting idea of what a new installment might be like.
James Cameron’s Terminator 7 Story Can Beat The Previous 4 Failed Movies On 1 Condition
If Terminator 7 manages to meet one necessary condition, it could potentially make up for the failures and pitfalls of the previous four installments.
The originalTerminatoralmost veers into horror territory, with the T-800 relentlessly pursuing Connor and gunning down anyone that gets in his way. With Cameron’s thoughts on gun violence having been made very clear in the above interview and elsewhere,it seems that his new movie could tone down Terminator’s reliance on firearms. This could ultimately result in a film that leans even further into thought-provoking sci-fi territory. Or, at the very least, it could mean that any gun violence in apotentialTerminator 7will be more stylized and less graphic.
Speaking toVarietyaboutTerminator’s gun violenceearlier this year, Cameron said: “I don’t know if I would want to fetishize the gun, like I did on a couple of ‘Terminator’ movies 30-plus years ago, in our current world. What’s happening with guns in our society turns my stomach.”
Our Take On Cameron’s Terminator 2 Comments
A Fresh Start Could Be Good For The Franchise
The firstTerminatorremains a sci-fi classic, and, even though it was made on a smaller budget, it remains a tense and thrilling adventure even 40 years later.The sequel, though, is arguably one of the most perfect action movies ever made, and it features, in addition to higher production values, an iconic narrative twist by making Schwarzenegger’s T-800 a hero. Despite this, Cameron clearly believes that it’s time to take the franchise in a new direction, and this certainly seems like the right choice given the reception to the most recent movies.
ATerminatorfilm with a different attitude toward gun violence could also be an interesting creative limitation, and such limitations can sometimes lead to better end products. Plus, Cameron’s comments don’t suggest to me that there will be no guns, but rather that their treatment in the story will be different. A Terminator probably wouldn’t, for example, gun down an entire police precinct. No matter what comes next for the franchise, though, it will be a challenge to recapture the magic ofTerminator 2: Judgment Day.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Cast
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a sci-fi action film directed by James Cameron, set ten years after the original. It chronicles a new effort to eliminate future rebellion leader John Connor, despite a reprogrammed terminator dispatched to safeguard him.
