History Awesome / Terminator2JudgmentDay

* The T-1000 is searching through the arcade and approaches John's delinquent mate Tim[[note]]A character so minor that he was quite literally [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse shoved out of the franchise after this scene, never to appear again]][[/note]] asking for his whereabouts. Without missing a beat Tim looks at the photo as cool as a cucumber, [[PhotoIdentificationDenial shrugs and says "Nah, I don't know 'im"]], and then rounds the corner and runs to warn John that a cop is looking around for him and he should disappear out the fire exit. In other words: A good-for-nothing, school-skipping street punk with a [[EightiesHair crap haircut]] unknowingly ''saved mankind''. ''[[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop By lying to a cop]].'' Without Tim there, the T-1000 would have found John haplessly playing on the games and assassinated him before the T-800 would acquire him. Talk about SmallRoleBigImpact.

* The T-1000 is searching through the arcade and approaches John's delinquent mate Tim asking for his whereabouts. Without missing a beat Tim looks at the photo as cool as a cucumber, [[PhotoIdentificationDenial shrugs and says "Nah, I don't know 'im"]], and then rounds the corner and runs to warn John that a cop is looking around for him and he should make himself scarce. In other words: A good-for-nothing, school-skipping street punk with a [[EightiesHair crap haircut]] unknowingly ''saved mankind''. Talk about SmallRoleBigImpact.

* Most people seem to think that freezing the T-1000 in liquid nitrogen, then having it thaw, meant that freezing it did nothing, but then basic chemistry kicks in. Metals REALLY dislike extreme temperature differentials, and they IMMENSELY loathe when such variations in temperature happen rapidly, because they get brittle due to the molecular bonds being damaged so much. And Robert Patrick shows this in some subtle cues. The T-1000's reaction times are slower than before, as if the machine is trying to work with a damaged computer. Its movements are less graceful and precise, and the T-1000 seems to be unable to keep up with a 10-year-old, an injured adult, and a damaged robot. And finally, it seems to be recovering from damage at a lesser rate. Granted, all of these changes aren't obviously telegraphed, just nuanced, but they show that the T-1000 has been wounded and damaged, and is having to resort to the tactics of trickery and deceit it was using when it was assuming a low profile. The changes/damage ARE telegraphed pretty blatantly in the Special Edition, via a few scenes that were deleted from the theatrical cut. It shows that it is having trouble maintaining its shape.
* Tim lying to T-1000, who is looking for John before warning his friend to run. If Tim didn't do this, John would have been killed by the T-1000. In a way, Tim SAVED mankind by doing this. Talk about SmallRoleBigImpact.

** The really awesome thing is few people seem to talk about or even remember the chopper going under the overpass and narrowly avoiding the other overpass... there’s so much awesome before and after that people forget these shots that could serve as the money shots for a full feature.

* It must be pointed out that none of Sarah's lockpicking was faked- Linda Hamilton ''really was'' strapped to the bed and she really did pick the locks with a paperclip. Linda legitimately picked the locks herself. Perhaps not that impressive with the hospital bed restraints. . . they're more designed to keep violent patients from hurting themselves than secured in a specific location. The deadbolt on her hospital room door, however, is another matter entirely. Sarah Connor (and Linda Hamilton) knew how pick ''both'' of those with properly-shaped paper clips.

* A minor, but understated moment: After John realizes that [[OutOfCharacterAlert Janelle is acting nice to him]], the T-800 tricks the T-1000 into revealing that it has [[KillAndReplace killed his foster parents and is currently impersonating them]] with this simple exchange:

-->'''[[GoodAllAlong T-800]]''': '''''[[BigDamnHeroes Get down]].'''''
-->(''The T-800 opens fire on the T-1000, saving John.'')

--> '''The Terminator:''' (''to John'') What's the dog's name?
--> '''John:''' Max.
--> '''The Terminator:''' (''mimicking John's voice'') [[BluffTheImposter Hey Janelle, what's wrong with Wolfie?]] I can hear him barking.
--> '''T-1000 impersonating Janelle''': Wolfie's fine, honey, Wolfie's just fine. Where are you?
--> '''The Terminator''': (''hangs up the phone'') [[OhCrap Your foster parents are dead]].

--->'''Silberman''': You broke my arm!
--->'''Sarah Connor''': There are 215 bones in the human body. That's one.

--> '''Helicopter pilot:''' ''We got a war zone down here!''

--->'''Sarah''': Chopper, coming in!
--->'''T-800''': [[OhCrap It's him!]]

** The bartender deserves a mention for attempting to stop the T-800 from stealing his patron's motorcycle. Rather than allow what he believes to be some random nut (who he just watched wipe the floor with a group of guys) to get away, he confronts the stranger with a shotgun and threatens to shoot him unless he gets off the bike. He's quickly disarmed of course and forced to back off, but merits for trying.

* The T-1000 gets a few of his own in that scene, including becoming ''part of the floor'' in order to sneak up on a guard (whose form he then assumes after [[EyeScream stabbing him in the eye]]), and walking ''through'' a door by shapeshifting around it.

* During the FlashForward in the prologue. We see a wave of terrifying killer machines rolling accross the battlefield, slaughtering humans left and right, but then we see another human soldier giving a crippled Terminator a coup-de-grace, followed by one of the flying Hunter-Killers getting knocked out of the sky by an AntiAir missile. Even better, most of this was straight out of Kyle Reese's FlashBack from the first movie, except the last two bits happened after the flashback ended, making it a case of OnceMoreWithClarity.