Line #59 YMMV/Terminator2JudgmentDay


1	!!YMMV for the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay film]]:
2	* {{Adorkable}}: The T-800's every attempt at mimicking human emotions has it come across as an enthusiastic but naïve ManChild; the stiff and literally parroted "I swear I won't kill anybody" scene in particular is an amusing example of this. Even more amusing when you remember [[Skelebot9000 what he looks like without his skin]].
3	* AngstWhatAngst: John Connor doesn't seem too disturbed or disheartened by the news of his foster parents getting killed by the T-1000. In fact, their deaths are forgotten as soon as they're revealed. That they were generally a pair of jerks mildly justifies it, but it doesn't make it less surprising. Worth mentioning is that he doesn't seem too concerned whether his dog Max is okay or not either.
4	* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Producer Mario Kassar [[https://deadline.com/2016/05/carolco-pictures-mario-kassar-cannes-interview-foxtrot-six-audition-1201752739/ later recalled]] that before release, there was actually naysaying regarding the SequelEscalation that led to the first $100 million budget:
5	-->The movie that was going to bankrupt Carolco. The most expensive independent movie of all time. Everyone from Larry King to CNN; everyone was destroying the whole thing. I was on the boat in Cannes listening to all the nonsense. Then, of course, the movie opens, and like they say, every success has many fathers. Everyone suddenly became like they knew it was going to be a big hit. They forgot all the bad and terrible things they were saying about Carolco. There were so many fluid, moving elements and it was so expensive for those days but I went for it and it paid off.
6	* AwardSnub: Creator/JamesCameron was so impressed with Creator/LindaHamilton's performance and her dedication to the role (she lost twelve pounds during filming because of her aggressive training regimen) that he unsuccessfully campaigned for her to get an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination for Best Actress. Though it should be noted that 1992 was a ''seriously'' competitive year for the Best Actress Oscar, most filmgoers today would agree that Hamilton's performance has really stood the test of time as one of the greatest co-leading performances ever in an action movie.
7	* CatharsisFactor: The T-1000, being the utterly unrelenting, cold, ruthless and seemingly unstoppable killing machine he is, getting blasted into and then melted in a vat of molten steel -- complete with horrifying VillainousBreakdown -- by the T-800 (with a Grenade Launcher, no less) is pure satisfaction incarnate. Ditto for him being slowly frozen in liquid nitrogen and shattered with a single bullet only a few minutes before; it's at that moment [[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll you finally realize the T-1000 is]] ''[[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll not]]'' [[NotSoInvincibleAfterAll invincible]], and perfectly [[AchillesHeel foreshadows his eventual defeat]].
8	* DracoInLeatherPants: Sarah gets toted as a paragon for feminism and an excellent role model by a lot of fans, but this ignores that she now has a HairTriggerTemper, has been sectioned because of how dangerous she is, repeatedly mistreats her own son, and is prepared to murder an innocent man over something he hasn't even done yet. She essentially borders on VillainProtagonist, and it is only a fortunate HeelRealization that she refrains from doing the last mentioned act (and she still acknowledges even a robot killer would be a better parent than her). James Cameron even said she wasn't meant to be a role model.
9	* EsotericHappyEnding: After a massive shootout with the police the main characters drive to the steelworks factory, they enter it so loudly that every single worker quickly leaves the site. It is quite clear that very soon police reinforcements will arrive at the place, either because of the recent shootout or because of the unauthorized factory entry. The final showdown at the steelmill takes about fifteen minutes of screen time, but it is just a montage to condense the action and other vital parts for the plot. We are not shown how much time really passes before the terminator gets activated by a spare power source, we do not know how much time John spends hiding somewhere on the premises. It is safe to say that they all spend half an hour if not an entire hour at the factory. For that time the police would already have arrived at the place, or at least by the end of that time. There seems to be no feasible way of escaping at this point after all the ruckus made and the time they had to spend at the mill. Does anyone really think that after all of this mess Sarah and John simply walk out of the factory and no one is there to meet them and they just go home? Sarah Connor would have got busted for sure, and John would be taken to custody from yet another foster couple (and the one who raised him beforehand was far from a role model to begin with).
10	* EvenBetterSequel: One of the archetypal examples in film, alongside ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII'', and ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' (the latter of which was also done by James Cameron). The film is commonly held to be one of the best movie sequels of all time, and many fans prefer it to the original (though the original still remains well-beloved). Its tonal shift from horror to action made it much more appealing to a wider audience. Also, the story is seen as tighter, there's better CharacterDevelopment, the effects are cutting-edge, and there's even some relatively sharp (if simple) philosophical consideration on the nature of intelligence, fatherhood and responsibility.
11	* {{Fanon}}: That the redhead girl played by Nikki Cox that tells the T-1000 that John went to the Galleria is a young [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines Kate]] [[Film/TerminatorSalvation Brewster]].
12	* FanPreferredCutContent: After years of {{Sequelitis}}, fans began looking far more favorably on the cut alternate ending, which showed a grown up and middle-aged John Connor working happily as a U.S. Senator to prevent futures like the RobotWar from coming about, while he and an elderly Sarah enjoy time with her grandchildren. Come the release of ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'' in 2019 (very close to the same date of the alternate ending), where [[spoiler:John Connor is unceremoniously killed as a child, only for a new evil AI and new Resistance to replace him and Skynet]], and many fans argue that even following the timeline of the alternate ending would have been more interesting than what they got in ''Dark Fate''. Thankfully for fans, the "Ultimate Edition" DVD/Blu-Ray contains an EasterEgg allowing the viewer to watch an extended cut of the film that incorporates this alternate ending.
13	* FranchiseOriginalSin:
14	** This film took the basic TerminatorTwosome premise of the original but accelerated the action elements to the apex with then-mind-blowing special effects with the T-1000. The resulting blockbuster success resulted in every subsequent part of the franchise trying to either up the ante with ''bigger'' action sequences and ''more advanced'' terminators for Arnold to fight, or otherwise remind audiences of everything that made this film such a success, which had diminishing returns.
15	** Although Cameron claims it was always his intention to do so, this film took the perfectly StableTimeLoop of the first film - where everything in the future is inexorable so everything in the past inexorably leads to it as well - and blew it wide open for fans questioning about paradoxes and future films having different takes on the timeline and time travel.
16	** The ItsTheSameNowItSucks aspects of the later movies, where others have criticized the sequels for recycling too many plot points and elements from the first two movies, were also present here, with many plot elements and even the same basic plot structure being reused from the original movie: To sum both films up, both the hero and villain arrive, get clothing and ammo, search for the target during the first act, finally meet at the end of said act and fight over trying to protect[=/=]kill the target. The hero saves the target, has another encounter with the villain at some sort of law or government sanctioned building (police station in the original; mental institution here), and eventually escape and go into hiding for a bit. The villain finally comes upon the heroes again and chases after them, even managing to get a successful shot off that wounds one of the heroes, and eventually commandeers a tanker truck midway through the chase after the original vehicles crash. After the tanker truck has been destroyed [[HopeSpot it seems like the villain has finally been killed]], only to turn out to be [[ImplacableMan even more resilient than anyone imagined]]. They eventually wind up in some sort of foreboding building structure with limited places to escape, where [[spoiler:both the hero and villain die]] in the climax. So the film was recycling elements from previous films as early as this one. However, the noticeable difference is the GenreShift from an action-horror film in the original to a straight action film here, and which arrivee from the future is the ''villain'' is actually ambiguous until that moment of "get down", so the recycled plot elements were done differently enough to not generate complaints of it being a rehash. Due to the later sequels keeping the tone as a straight up action-oriented one, the recycled plot elements became far easier to notice.
17	** While plot elements and story beats from the first film are blatantly recycled here, ''[=T2=]'' does add a substantial element in the subplot of destroying Cyberdyne and preventing Judgement Day. The hangs the familiar off something fresh and new to get audiences excited. ''Terminator 3'' didn't add enough that was new, making it feel like just more of the same, ''Genisys'' added ''too much'', making it feel overcomplicated and difficult to follow. Whether ''Dark Fate'' is different enough to be satisfying, ''too'' different to be satisfying, or just yet more of the same is [[ContestedSequel hotly debated]].
18	** Later films have invited fans questioning instances of plot holes and FridgeLogic regarding the behavior of Terminators, particularly their tendency to throw their targets around to hurt them instead of simply killing them, preferring to go for TheSlowWalk even if they're able to move much faster, and their attempts at mimicking humor behavior are silly and detract from the threat they pose. These things were already present in ''Judgment Day'', but were handled much better: the T-800 and T-1000 threw each other around because the T-800 had no means of inflicting lasting damage on the T-1000 and the T-1000 seemingly couldn't cut through the T-800's endoskeleton; the T-1000 could sprint but it was an advanced prototype, so its inconsistent behaviors could be {{Hand Wave}}d as flaws in the design or being pushed to the limits of its capabilities; and the T-800's attempts to emulate human behavior in this film were only PlayedForLaughs once and otherwise its moments of humor came about from it developing its own personality and it was expressing itself in humorous ways or was actually trying to be funny.
19	** John Connor as the destined savior of mankind was deliberately vague on his presence in the future, showing him as scarred and unemotive as any Terminator. The film series had found itself more interested in the ''potential'' of who John Connor could be rather than what he WILL become (an alternate ending showed John becoming a senator in a peaceful future world, comparable to being a military commander during a RobotWar). Elsewhere in the franchise any time effort made to depict the adult John Connor can't help but demystify him a little bit, with people typically finding kid John to be a more interesting character. This culminates in ''Dark Fate'' [[spoiler: as John is killed by another Terminator even though Skynet WAS destroyed, his destiny was to be the rebel leader against Skynet and without it there wasn't any real place for him]].
20	* HarsherInHindsight:
21	** Watching Sarah Connor struggle with her emotional instability is a lot harder in light of Creator/LindaHamilton later admitting to suffering from bipolar disorder in real life.
22	** Creator/EdwardFurlong [[https://lebeauleblog.com/2015/08/21/what-the-hell-happened-to-edward-furlong/ became a substance-abusing wreck as an adult]]... and in [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines the next movie]], so was John Connor, even if played by another actor.
23	** Creator/JamesCameron first thought of casting Creator/MichaelBiehn as the T-1000, but ultimately decided that Kyle's actor now being the Terminator would be confusing. [[spoiler:Cue ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', and John Connor himself is forcibly turned into a shapeshifting Terminator]].
24	** As if the nuclear nightmare scene weren't bone-chilling enough already, try watching it in post 9/11 times. As if to prove this point, ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', both of which were made after 9/11, would ''massively'' tone down their respective depictions of Judgment Day.
25	** ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'' turned this film into [[spoiler:a ShootTheShaggyDog story by applying a HappyEndingOverride by opening with a third T-800 gunning down John. It also made "Uncle Bob's" sacrifice meaningless by revealing that he wasn't even the LastOfHisKind; a Terminator ("Carl") literally lives in hiding for decades without bringing about Skynet's birth. Worst still, it's possible that if "Uncle Bob" hadn't decided to sacrifice himself, he could've stopped "Carl". Additionally, it's later confirmed that while John and Sarah did destroy Skynet, something else, Legion, replaced it. All of these mean that even if John were still alive, his and Sarah's efforts were for nothing.]]
26	** John speculates that the T-1000 could disguise itself as a pack of cigarettes before the T-800 shoots this down by saying that it can only mimic something of equal size. In ''Genisys'', the Korean T-1000 manages to stick a piece of itself to mimic a part of the heroes' getaway van, which it then uses to track them. So not only was John not far off, but it also shows how little the Resistance actually knew about the Infiltrator Units, especially the more advanced prototypes.
27	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: [[Film/TheTerminator The first film]] may have been his StarMakingRole, but this was really where Arnold Schwarzenegger started winning people over with the idea that he was more than just a body-builder-turned-action-hero-movie-star, but an ''actual actor''. Carrying the bulk of the film with the same restrained, machinelike, UncannyValley-invoking performance he gave in the first film, delivering several important expository speeches, and gradually adapting and evolving to more effectively mimic humanity, and perhaps even ''gain humanity'' in some small measure by the end. For all the fantastic action setpieces, many of the film's most memorable moments are its emotional ones, many of which hinge on the characters' and/or audience's emotional connection to the cyborg killing machine played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. A connection that simply wouldn't exist believably if Schwarzenegger wasn't a capable actor.
28	* HilariousInHindsight:
29	** Jeanette Goldstein, codifier of VasquezAlwaysDies, gets killed off again here (and she would again in ''{{Film/Titanic 1997}}''). However, her character (John's foster mom) is far more feminine than the butch, more hardened Sarah Connor of this film. So Vasquez always does die, even when she's not Vasquez.
30	** The film got a Ride/UniversalStudios ride spin-off called ''Ride/Terminator23DBattleAcrossTime'', usually shortened to ''T2:3D''. More than 20 years later, the film got a 3D rerelease, effectively called ''T2:3D''.
31	** Creator/JoeMorton apparently didn't learn his lesson about [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse not making cyborgs]]. Bonus points for how both Miles Dyson and Silas Stone [[spoiler:perform a HeroicSacrifice (Stone dies in [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague "the Snyder Cut"]] but was SparedByTheAdaptation in [[Film/JusticeLeague2017 the 2017 theatrical cut]])]].
32	* IconicSequelOutfit: While the Terminator in the first film wore a grey jacket, black cargo pants and boots, the Terminator in this film wears the biker leathers now synonymous with the character.
33	* ItWasHisSled:
34	** The idea that the Terminator - at least, the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 version portrayed by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger - was the hero of the movie was meant to be a ''surprise'' on its first release, as the advertising still played him up as the bad guy (outside of one [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil ill-conceived trailer]]). Now, any Terminator played by Schwarzenegger is assumed to be the good guy, and it's commonly known that this is where it started.
35	** At the end, the T-800 [[ICannotSelfTerminate has to be killed by being lowered into molten steel]]. The death of a major character at the end of a movie would of course be a big spoiler, but it's become a StockShoutOut, referenced so many times that even if you haven't seen the movie, you probably know that the ending has him give a thumbs-up as he sinks into the liquid metal.
36	* JerkassWoobie: Sarah Connor is not exactly the most pleasant person in this film. A harsh, militant woman who barely gives the son the affection he needs and nearly murders an innocent man over something he hasn't even done yet. Given everything that she'd gone through before, it's easy to see where all of that came from.
37	* MagnificentBastard:
38	** [[ActionHeroBabysitter The T-800]] was captured by John Connor and the Resistance in the future and reprogrammed before then being sent back to protect John as a young boy. First tracking John to his foster parents' house and then to the local mall, the Terminator smuggles his shotgun in through a box of roses, counters the T-1000's first attempt on John there and then rescues him again in a high-speed chase. The Terminator then [[BluffTheImposter tricks the T-1000]] into giving away that he's murdered John's foster parents and is imitating his foster mother and tells John that he can't help him save his mother Sarah because [[PragmaticHero the T-1000 will get to him easily]]. Pledging [[ThouShallNotKill not to kill anyone]] and helping save Sarah anyway, the Terminator then helps blow Cyberdyne up so as to undo Skynet's existence while also wounding or attacking an army of cops all without causing any deaths. After finally destroying the T-1000, the Terminator [[HeroicSacrifice has himself sacrificed]] as another means of preserving the future, proving to Sarah he developed compassion for humans that she didn't think a killing machine could have.
39	** The [[ChromeChampion T-1000]] is a sleek Terminator with a proclivity for subterfuge and deceit, using its knowledge of human behavior and shapeshifting capabilities in its hunt for John Connor. Tracking down John by cleverly [[ImpersonatingAnOfficer using police officer get-up]] to ask for information around town, the T-1000 nearly kills John several times over, only thwarted by the reformatted T-800, aka "Bob." The T-1000 murders John's foster parents and tries to lure him home disguised as his mother, then tracks down his real mom, Sarah, under the correct assumption that [[BatmanGambit John will run to her]]. Even when evaded consistently, the T-1000 always finds new ways to track and hunt its prey, stealing cars and helicopters to assist while quickly disposing of anyone in its way. The T-1000 thrashes "Bob" in a physical fight, stabs Sarah to draw John out, and transforms into Sarah herself in a final attempt to assassinate John. With its unique use of its liquid metal physiology and an amusingly deadpan attitude, the T-1000 is a terrifying, awesome presence, and one of the premier {{Killer Robot}}s in film history.
40	* MemeticBadass:
41	** Creator/RobertPatrick. Not the T-1000, just Robert Patrick, as noted in the joke below. Probably a result of [[DyeingForYourArt the infamous level of commitment he brought to the role]] (outside of his liquid metal abilities, of course).
42	--->Did you know the scene where the T-1000 walks through the bars is unscripted? Originally it called for the T-1000 to simply cut open the door and walk through, but Robert Patrick was [[MethodActing so committed to the role]] that he walked through the jail door bars as if he really was a liquid metal machine, and the filmmakers loved it so much [[ThrowItIn they left it in.]]
43	** In any of his other roles, expect jokes in the [=YouTube=] comment section about how the T-1000 has quite a list of notable feats. Ex. [[Film/FromDuskTillDawn2TexasBloodMoney the T-1000 fights vampires]], [[Series/TheXFiles the T-1000 became an FBI agent]], [[Film/TheFaculty the T-1000 gets mind-controlled by alien parasites]], and so on. The one exception to this being Series/TheSopranos, whose fans take no small amount of joy in noting how both [[TheDon Tony Soprano]] and his own gambling problems have reduced the T-1000 into a sniveling trainwreck.
44	** John's friend for lying to the T-1000 about if he knows John and later trying to stall him, prompting jokes that he unknowingly saved the human race. Also helped that he's played by Creator/DannyCooksey in a case of RetroactiveRecognition.
45	* MemeticLoser:
46	** Todd, John's asshole foster dad who [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking drinks milk straight out of the carton]], leading to jokes that it was the last straw for [[NotSoAboveItAll the T-1000]] to kill him. Also helped that he's played by Creator/XanderBerkeley, who seems to have a penchant for dying in many of his roles.
47	** The worker that John runs past in the mall's back halls, for trying to tell him that it's for employees only and proceeding to be shot to death by the T-1000 [[TooDumbToLive even after the Terminators pulled out their guns and the T-800 loudly told John to get down]].
48	* MemeticMolester: The T-1000 ("He's a good looking boy. Do you mind if I keep this picture?").
49	* MemeticMutation:
50	** This movie is ''legendary'' online for being one of those films that can [[ManlyTears make men cry]] without shame. A common joke goes something along the lines of: "There are two times in a man's life when it is acceptable for him to cry in public. The first is at the birth of his child, the second is at the ending of ''Terminator 2''".
51	** T-800 asking John Connor's foster mother a pop culture question on the phone, with their answer being either of FandomHeresy or one to expect of a non-fan, verifying John's foster parents are dead.
52	** Likewise, the above scene has also garnered jokes that the T-800 should have thrown off John's "foster mom" by telling her that "John" is going to Mt. Everest/the Arctic/Chernobyl/some other faroff, remote, and deadly location or that he's going to kill himself or that he's not going to be home for an hour to stall it while the T-1000 proceeds to do house chores (including cooking that stew) in the meantime. Another joke from the same scene is what if John's foster dad wanted to get it on with his "wife" in the kitchen.
53	** That the scene of the T-1000 killing Max was removed to appease Film/JohnWick.
54	** Slipping through bars, especially if the gap is small, is often compared to the T-1000 melting through the bars at the hospital. Most popularly, a gif of a small fluffy dog squeezing through a penned door in a hallway edited in place of the T-1000's scene has circulated around the Internet.
55	** That nowadays, John Connor would spout off modern-day memes/phrases for the T-800 to take after.
56	** That any scientific discovery involving liquid metal is another step towards the T-1000 happening, not helped that a lot of news articles report these discoveries as being part of the process in someday making some technological advancement like robots. [[https://www.newscientist.com/article/2236129-liquid-metal-that-floats-on-water-could-make-transformable-robots/ For instance:]]
57	--->A lightweight liquid metal alloy that is less dense than water could be used to make exoskeletons and transformable flexible robots.
58	** For [[MrFanservice whatever reason]], the T-1000's NakedOnArrival scene when he kneels down since it's known that Robert Patrick's genitals can briefly be seen (at least in the original version; it's censored by [[SceneryCensor a rock]] in subsequent releases) is part of what fuels discussion about [[FridgeLogic whether or not Terminators actually need those]] as well as jokes like Terminators having [[{{Pun}} balls of steel]], the T-1000 [[MundaneUtility being able to have]] [[NightmareFetishist any size it wants]], or that if you're a dude, [[FemaleGaze you're gay for staring]].
59	** The T-1000's [[NotSoStoic confused glare]] at the chrome mannequin at the mall.
60	** "THE GALLERIA?" for the T-1000's confused reaction to the girls telling him that John went to the mall.
61	** The T-1000 tag trending a couple of times on Twitter in 2020 prompted jokes that 2020 was going to go FromBadToWorse because the T-1000 was sent back to 2020 to kill humanity's savior.
62	** The scene where the T-800 gives a thumbs-up after [[spoiler:being lowered down into molten lead, thus ensuring that Skynet won't rise because his chip is destroyed]]. Not only is it one of the film's {{Signature Scene}}s, but anytime a character finds themselves in a similar situation, this is usually referenced.
63	** Whatever unease Sarah's Judgment Day nightmare brings often gets lost whenever any sort of reaction or explosion meme uses this scene to complement it.
64	* MisaimedFandom: Sarah's transformation into an ActionGirl in this film was shown at several points to be a result of her PTSD after the first film, she became a domestic terrorist put into a mental hospital, and had John taken away from her. Her breakout from the hospital is especially violent and shows some [[StrawFeminist misandric attitudes]] talking with Dyson. But seeing that transformation into a badass falls right into escapist fantasies, plus her CassandraTruth, which helped create Sarah as an iconic female action hero all while ignoring just how fundamentally unstable she is.
65	* MoralEventHorizon: If murdering John Connor's foster parents didn't send the T-1000 over, then torturing Sarah Connor as bait for John did. The T-1000 is a special case, because unlike other Terminators, the T-1000 is a fast-learning model both sentient and fully capable of human emotion, to the point where [[HorrifyingTheHorror even Skynet was scared away from mass-producing it]].
66	* {{Narm}}:
67	** Many of John's lines due to his voice breaking in during production giving him a very high-pitched screechy voice that can be hard on the ears.
68	** The T-1000 scanning John's room by meticulously dragging its fingers on everything looks like a silly meditation ritual, which is probably part of why it got cut.
69	* NarmCharm:
70	** The T-1000's wide-eyed confusion to the girls telling him that John went to the Galleria seems a bit narmy for how weird he reacts, but it makes sense since UnintentionalUncannyValley is his CharacterTic (especially since his true nature isn't revealed until a little later), and a deleted scene that continues from there has him ask the girls where the Galleria is since he doesn't know.
71	** The T-1000 trying to catch up to the bike-riding John on foot can look a bit silly, but it's still a tense scene. Plus, Creator/RobertPatrick was ''actually'' running that fast, having trained with a sprinter for his role.
72	** The T-800 giving a thumbs-up as he [[spoiler: sacrifices himself]] should be incredibly cheesy and saccharine but the way it's directed and the music make it a genuinely emotional moment.
73	* NightmareRetardant: The T-1000's glitches in the Special Edition. In fact, this trope was the entire reason Cameron left it out of the original theatrical release, as he felt that it distracted from the tension of the film. Part of the draw of the movie, as many professional critics noted, was that audiences weren't able to figure out--right up until the end--what could actually hurt the T-1000.
74	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The arcade game based on the film, which was and still is a pretty well-regarded shooting game. The home console ports of the arcade game have more of a mixed reception, but are usually seen as okay.
75	* OlderThanTheyThink: Jody Watley's 1987 song "Looking for a New Love" already used the catchphrase "Hasta la vista, baby." So did Tone Loc's "Wild Thing" from 1988.
76	* OneSceneWonder:
77	** Michael Edwards has less than a minute of screentime and no lines, but his appearance as the adult John Connor in the prologue has remained a favourite of fans, one that the three actors to portray him in future movies (Nick Stahl, Creator/ChristianBale, and Creator/JasonClarke) ''still'' have not lived up to. It may be because the prologue frames the future John as a mythic figure, whose commanding, war-hardened, scarred yet soulful countenance was simultaneously enigmatic and self-explanatory: one could easily accept that ''this'' was the legendary savior of humanity, despite his lack of screentime and dialogue. The later films attempted to flesh him out and have him be much more involved in the plots, but he lost much if not all of his mystique as a result.
78	** The slimy [[OrderliesAreCreeps hospital orderly]], Douglas, who has a major role in two scenes: [[{{Squick}} licking a comatose Sarah's face]], and getting his ass righteously beaten by her with a broken broom handle (a DeletedScene has him beat her with a nightstick and force feed her medication).
79	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The various console games produced by Creator/LJNToys. The Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem game is considered the best of them, and even then no more than being just barely passable. The Platform/GameBoy game might have been passable, if not for the various GuideDangIt moments and only giving the player one life throughout the entire game. And then there's the Platform/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem game, which is seen as one of the worst games on the platform for its absolutely terrible controls, FakeDifficulty, and again, only giving the player a single life with no continues.
80	* TheProducerThinksOfEverything:
81	** When the T-1000 clings onto the getaway car of John, Sarah, and the T-800 during the escape from the hospital, the guard that T-800 kneecapped earlier can be briefly seen pulling in his legs when the car suddenly rams through the gate.
82	** During the climatic highway chase, the T-1000 grows an extra pair of arms so that it can both pilot the helicopter and take shots at our heroes.
83	** We are told early on that the T-1000 cannot mimic complex weapons or machines. When it copies a police officer it replicates the officer's holstered gun, but it never draws or fires this gun. Any firearm the T-1000 uses is stolen from another character. This is because the holstered weapon is simply part of the disguise and is not functional.
84	* QuestionableCasting: The Mexican dub of the movie had ''Creator/HumbertoVelez'', most famous for doing the classic voice of [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]], as the voice of the T-800. Needless to say, Vélez's voice [[VocalDissonance is comically out of place for a character played by Schwarzenegger]]. The man himself considers this role something of an OldShame, as he was well aware his voice simply did not fit the character. Tellingly, the initial DVD release used the Castilian Spanish dub instead, whereas most American [=DVDs=] of any film with a Spanish audio option use the Latino (including Mexican) dub.
85	* RealismInducedHorror: Unlike the T-800, which took the guise of a street punk, the T-1000 disguises himself as a police officer, and this actually allows him to do things and go places that the T-800 couldn't go from the first film. In the first film, the T-800 violently stormed the police station where Sarah and Kyle were after the guards turned him away; in ''[=T2=]'', the T-1000 simply walks into the prison where Sarah is held and is eventually allowed access, even though it's after-hours. This paranoia resonates even more today thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement raising greater awareness of PoliceBrutality during TheNew10s and TheNew20s.
86	* RetroactiveRecognition:
87	** Nikki Cox plays one of the girls questioned by the T-1000 while searching for John Connor.
88	** Creator/DeanNorris plays the SWAT Team leader who confronts Dyson before he blows up Cyberdyne (mostly unrecognizable, since he wears a gas mask during the scene).
89	** S. Epatha Merkerson plays Miles Dyson's wife.
90	** Of course John doesn't like Todd, he [[Series/TheMentalist killed Patrick Jane's family]].
91	* SacredCow: It's widely considered to be one of the greatest action, science fiction, and sequel movies, along with ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. It has been further praised for how revolutionary its usage of CGI was, many of its scenes have become incredibly iconic within pop culture since then, and it pioneered many action and sci-fi movie tropes and archetypes that would become mainstream within the genre. Criticizing the film at all is bound to get anyone piled on.
92	* ShockingMoments: Before it became a ItWasHisSled moment and if you didn't catch the trailer that [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil spoiled the twist]], the reveal that the T-800 is the good guy this time and that the cop is actually the evil Terminator was this.
93	* SignatureScene: Many.
94	** The nuclear annihilation sequence from the first few minutes of the movie.
95	** The T-800 giving a thumbs-up as he [[spoiler:sacrifices himself in the pool of molten steel]], which has become iconic enough to be a StockShoutOut. Nowadays, if someone has AMoltenDateWithDeath, there's a good chance that they'll give a thumbs-up as they sink.
96	** The T-800 kneecapping the security guard after having just promised John that he wouldn't kill anyone ("He'll live.") is a prime example of the ExactWords trope.
97	** Sarah's rant about Judgement Day, where she vividly describes her recurring nightmare of the event. It's never actually portrayed in an actual scene, but portrayed through a VHS replay of it.
98	** Sarah's nightmare about Judgment Day, specifically the shot of her skeleton clinging to the wire fence in the inferno.
99	** Several revolutionary special effects shots involving the T-1000, including walking through bars, being shot in the eye and healing, and being shattered and reforming, especially as the motorbike cop.
100	** [[BluffTheImpostor "Janelle, what's wrong with Wolfie?"]] and the T-1000 lethally silencing Todd mid-conversation.
101	** "Hasta la vista, baby!", in addition to the freezing scene in general.
102	** The T-800's one-handed shotgun flip.
103	** The DownLADrain scene. So much so that, as you can see, it's become a trope.
104	** The entire "blowing up Cyberdyne Systems" sequence.
105	* SpecialEffectFailure:
106	** In general, ''T2'' is a ''lot'' better about this than [[Film/TheTerminator the previous entry]], because Cameron and his SFX crew actually knew what they were doing this time thanks to experience and they had a much larger budget to work with. The issue here is that ''this'' time they were pushing the absolute limits of what film technology in the early 90s was capable of. So, especially in hindsight, there are some rough bits:
107	*** When the T-800 first shoots at the T-1000 for the first time at the mall, the first bullet hole is already in the T-1000 before it recoils from the shot.
108	*** When the T-1000 pries open the elevator doors, the T-800 shotgun-blasts the former in the head. However, [[http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/f/f1/T2JDWin1887-11.jpg/601px-T2JDWin1887-11.jpg the moment right before the T-1000 gets shot looks really off]] due to it being a practical effect that's about to split in half.
109	*** Minor example, but a good eye can spot when Leslie Hamilton-Gearren is being used as a double. In contrast to the military-esque training routine Linda Hamilton was on, Leslie only had to "hit the gym for a few hours a week". So the difference in body types is noticeable. It's also quite obvious during the Drain scene that there are stunt doubles on the motorbike.
110	*** While driving away on the damaged cop car after the first encounter with the T-1000, the [[DrivingADesk rear-projected environment outside the vehicle]] is rather obvious.
111	*** Schwarzenegger's metal facial prosthetics are pretty obvious, especially the unmoving robot eye.
112	*** When the wrecker crashes into the overpass at the climax of the canal chase, the dummy behind the wheel is ''incredibly'' obvious.
113	*** While the T-1000 effects still look pretty good, it's really not hard to tell when it's CGI and when it's Robert Patrick wearing silver blast holes on his body as the CGI looks appropriately shiny compared to the significantly duller look of the prosthetics. (Granted, this is in the new century with HD available; in theaters, it was a bit cleaner, assisted by the "wow factor" of the time.)
114	*** The first display of the T-1000 healing his bullet holes is very clearly just CGI painted over Robert Patrick. Another example where wow factor hid it in 1991, but decades of evolution of this precise technology (blending actors and CGI) make this early attempt much more obvious in comparison.
115	*** In yet another example of CGI being too ambitious for on-set work - The T-800's jump into the ravine on his motorcycle is very clearly wirework despite the wires and rigging being digitally removed. A large part of this has to do with the trajectory of the bike and how it lands on the ground with nothing more than a soft thud. The slow motion used in this shot doesn't help.
116	*** When the T-1000 impales the truck driver, there's a telltale vertical rip visible on the actor's shirt from where the blade flipped outward from a sort of back plate.
117	** In a sense, Edward Furlong himself becomes this because filming took long enough that he visibly aged in his face, height and voice, requiring some of this to be fixed in post. It's most obvious in the desert scenes, in which he looks much younger than the earlier scenes.
118	* {{Squick}}:
119	** The T-800 cutting the skin off its own arm for the RoboticReveal.
120	** The [[OrderliesAreCreeps orderly]] licking Sarah's face.
121	* ToughActToFollow: ''None'' of the movies that followed ''Terminator 2'' were as well received and successful, let alone leaving a cultural imprint as strong. Even its canonical sequel, ''Film/TerminatorDarkFate'', produced by James Cameron himself, while receiving higher ratings than the previous sequels, is still considered inferior.
122	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece:
123	** Unfortunately for the filmmakers, fashion and music changed radically in a very short time in the early nineties. The grunge and gangsta rap scene replaced the colorful fashions and upbeat music of the early '90s (think hairbands, Music/MCHammer, and Music/VanillaIce) almost overnight. Through most of the film this isn't evident, but Music/GunsNRoses had a hard fall by the mid-nineties and the two guys who attempt to help John (and nearly get killed for it) are wearing painfully early-nineties fashions.
124	** The exposition on Sky Net attacking Russia as part of instigating the apocalypse made an ironic impression during the '90s with the decline and eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union, but lost its impact after tension with Russia after its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
125	* ValuesResonance: Creator/JamesCameron's statement on his decision to have [[TheBadGuysAreCops the T-1000 disguise itself as a seemingly friendly cop]] especially seems to resonate today with {{police brutality}} becoming more publicly addressed.
126	-->''"The Terminator films are not really about the human race getting killed off by future machines. They're about us losing touch with our own humanity and becoming machines, which allows us to kill and brutalize each other. Cops think of all non-cops as less than they are, stupid, weak, and evil. They dehumanize the people they are sworn to protect and desensitize themselves in order to do that job."''
127	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome:
128	** The T-1000 completely blew the audience's minds when ''Terminator 2'' came out and still looks amazing today, to the point it barely looks different from the new T-1000 from ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' despite ''24 years'' having passed between both films. There's a reason ''Terminator 2'' and ''Film/JurassicPark'' are credited for the CGI revolution.
129	** The practical effects, too, are praiseworthy. Of particular note is how Linda Hamilton's twin sister, Leslie, contributed to many key scenes such as Sarah's nightmare (she portrayed the alternate version of Sarah in the dream sequence), a cut scene where Sarah is working on the Terminator (a fake mirror was set up with Linda and Arnie in the "reflection" while Leslie mimed her sister on a fake head), and the final battle (Leslie portrayed the T-1000 mimicking Sarah).
130	* TheWoobie: Try, just try, not to feel even remotely bad for Miles Dyson. A nice and loving family man, Miles was hoping to use the discovered technology from the previous T-800's remains to create a better life for humanity. He's nearly murdered in front of his family by an unstable WellIntentionedExtremist who has a misandrist attitude towards him, and then receives an extra GutPunch when he immediately discovers that the technology he creates will, rather than help humanity as he was hoping, end up causing the worst case of human genocide in history. Then he does his best to help the T-800 and Sarah destroy all traces of his work to ensure the threat of that scale never happens, and [[RedemptionEqualsDeath ends up getting killed for it]]. And if you take any of the sequels into account, it means his sacrifice still ended up being for nothing.
131	* {{Woolseyism}}: The famous line "Hasta la vista, baby!" became [[KeepItForeign "Sayonara, baby!"]] in the Castilian Spanish dub. It became just as popular in Spain as the original in America, and it has full-blown MemeticMutation status to this day, being even referenced in popular culture (For a well-known recent example, there's ''Series/MoneyHeist'', where Denver quotes it in Season 3).
132
133	!!YMMV for the [[VideoGame/Terminator2JudgmentDay arcade game]]:
134	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: This is considered to be one of the better ''Terminator'' games.
135	* ThatOneLevel:
136	** Escape from Cyberdyne. You have to keep the van with Sarah and John on it safe as the T-1000 is attacking on a police helicopter. The van covers the entire bottom right quarter of the screen, and the helicopter keeps trying to ''ram'' into it, appearing on screen either from the left or the top. You need nearly superhuman reflexes or perfect guessing to be able to shoot at it and make it back off. The helicopter bumping into the van even once [[OneHitPointWonder immediately destroys it]] and causes you to fail and restart the level. Surprisingly, the second phase with the tanker truck is considerably easier, since it predictably appears from only one direction and the van can take more hits this time.
137	** By not much lesser degree, Trip to Skynet earlier in the game, when you have to protect the pickup truck John is driving while being chased by aerial [=HKs=], since it becomes up to the [[LuckBasedMission random number god]] whether the [=HKs=] focus their guns on the truck or you with each of their passes, sometimes they can cause heavy damage to the truck before you can do anything about it, and if truck is destroyed you fail the mission and have to start over.

Context YMMV / Terminator2JudgmentDay