When it comes to action blockbusters and future-thinking special effects, there are few directors with the vision of James Cameron. That was proven with 1986’s Aliens, and again with 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and fans hoping to relive the latter have only a limited time to do so as part of their Netflix subscription as the film will be saying hasta la vista at the end of December.
With 1984’s The Terminator, James Cameron created a perfect, gritty action movie and turned Arnold Schwarzenegger into a star. Seven years later he delivered a sequel that is still widely considered the greatest action sequel of all time. While critics rated The Terminator higher, audiences gave Terminator 2 a 95% Popcornmeter score, up from the original movie’s 91%.
The biggest twist in the story is also what defined the film, with Cameron turning Schwarzenegger’s T-800 from the villain to the hero of the story, while bringing in Robert Patrick’s leaner and more deadly T-1000 as a new adversary. Although it could have been a huge risk to mess with the formula of the original movie, Cameron’s ability to take what made the first movie successful, flip it on its head, and ramp everything up to 11 essentially made it one of the most beloved action sci-fi movies ever made, and one that no movie in the franchise has been able to match since.
Robert Patrick Says No Other Movie Has Worked Because They Don’t Have James Cameron
In a recent interview, T2 star Robert Patrick shared his view on why Terminator movies have never lived up to the promise of the 1984 original or its 1991 sequel. As far as the actor is concerned, the reason the first two movies were so much better than the various films that followed is all down to James Cameron.
The Terminator was released in 1984 and immediately set a new benchmark for sci-fi action movies. The film still holds a 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, something even its superior sequel doesn’t have, but many sequels have ended up with much lower scores, the lowest of which was 2015’s Terminator: Genisys with just 26% from critics. Speaking to ComicBook, Patrick said:
“I really think [Terminator 2: Judgment Day]’s one of the greatest films of all time. It’s action, it’s sci-fi, it’s a family story… It’s a horror film, it’s a post-apocalyptic movie, there’s so many elements to it. People will ask me, well, why do you think the other Terminators aren’t as good… I’ll say, James Cameron. I mean, that’s the only thing you could say. I mean, he’s the guy. He’s the guy.”
This is perhaps partly why James Cameron has been so intent on directing his Avatar movies. As the creator behind the biggest franchise in the world, the third part of which is released this month, Cameron has been behind the camera on all the fantasy movies so far, although he has hinted that he could step back from future movies…to make a new Terminator movie instead.
Cameron has been attempting to write a new Terminator movie for some time, but has found real-world technology moving forward so fast that he has struggled to write a story that works. However, he has noted that his new movie probably will not be bringing back any of the original stars or characters from the franchise, but will be looking to wipe the slate clean and deliver a brand new Terminator story.
- Release Date
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July 3, 1991
- Runtime
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137 minutes
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
