In 1995, nearly a decade after the events of the first film, the machines of the future send a new, far more advanced Terminator back in time to kill John Connor as a child. The T-1000, made of liquid metal, can assume the form of anyone it touches, morph its limbs into stabbing weapons, and is virtually indestructible. Meanwhile, the future human resistance has captured and reprogrammed a T-800 model — the same type that tried to kill Sarah Connor in 1984 — and sent it back to protect young John.
The reprogrammed T-800 locates 10-year-old John Connor, now a juvenile delinquent living with foster parents while his mother Sarah is locked up in a psychiatric hospital for her “delusional” warnings about Judgment Day. Together, John and the T-800 break Sarah out and go on the run from the relentless T-1000, which pursues them through storm drains, malls, highways, and a steel mill in some of the most spectacular action sequences ever filmed.
But survival isn’t enough. Sarah, John, and their unlikely protector take the fight to Cyberdyne Systems, the company whose research will eventually create Skynet — the AI that launches nuclear war on August 29, 1997. In attempting to destroy the technology before it’s born, the trio wages a desperate battle to change the future itself. At its heart, T2 is a story about a boy teaching a machine the value of human life — and the machine’s ultimate sacrifice to prove it learned.
Director & Cast
Director: James Cameron — coming off the success of Aliens and The Abyss, Cameron pushed the boundaries of visual effects technology with the groundbreaking liquid-metal T-1000.
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, Robert Patrick as the T-1000, Edward Furlong as John Connor, and Joe Morton as Miles Dyson.
Behind the Scenes
At $102 million, it was the most expensive film ever made at the time. The T-1000’s morphing effects were groundbreaking CGI achievements by Industrial Light & Magic. Linda Hamilton underwent intense physical training and military preparation for her transformed portrayal of Sarah Connor. The film grossed over $520 million worldwide and won four Academy Awards.
