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modifications to the film to fix errors that had bothered him, including the |
addition of windshield glass to the T-1000's truck, which fell out during its |
stunt fall and reappears in later scenes, concealing the obvious use of |
stuntmen for Furlong and Schwarzenegger during the same scene, concealed more |
of Patrick's nudity during his introduction, and brightened the visuals. [207] |
The 3D remaster's theatrical release was seen as a disappointment, earning |
about $562,000 in its debut across 386 theaters compared to the 3D re-release |
of Cameron's Titanic in 2012, which fetched $17 million. [208] [209] Themes |
and analysis [ edit ] Themes [ edit ] A central theme of Terminator 2: |
Judgment Day is the relationship between John Connor and the T-800 that serves |
as a surrogate for the father (Kyle Reese) he never knew. Cameron said: "Sure, |
there's going to be big, thunderous action sequences, but the heart of the |
movie is that relationship", comparing it with the Tin Man getting a heart in |
The Wizard of Oz . [4] As with Cameron's earlier film Aliens , Terminator 2 |
focuses on compassion and parental figures, depicting the T-800 as a |
relentless protector and father figure to John, against the equally relentless |
T-1000. [210] The T-800 is designed to emulate humans for infiltration |
purposes but as it grows and evolves, its emotions become real and it learns |
from John to feel grief. The T-800 chooses to sacrifice its life to ensure the |
survival of everyone else. [4] [58] [72] In 1991 essayist Robert Bly wrote |
elderly men were not offering suitable role models for young men, and in |
Terminator 2 , Sarah denounces the many men in her past who failed to be a |
father for John, except for the T-800. Once its role is complete, the T-800 |
leaves John for his own good after stating it lacks the emotions John must |
rely on. [211] While John teaches the T-800 about humanity, his biological |
mother Sarah has become less human because of her knowledge about the future. |
Cameron said: "She's a sad character—a tragic character ... she believes that |
everyone she meets, talks to, or interacts with will be dead very soon". [4] |
[77] This theme of machine-like humans links with Cameron's and Wisher's |
choice to make the T-1000 appear as a police officer because thematically they |
believed it represents humans who should have empathy for others becoming more |
machine-like and detached from their emotions. [4] [77] The SWAT team at |
Cyberdyne shoots Dyson, an African American, without warning. Cinephilia |
described Dyson as the most human character in the film, an intelligent, |
optimistic family man who represents real-world encounters between police |
forces and people of color, compared to their encounter with the Caucasian |
T-800, during which they warn him before opening fire. [19] Following her |
escape from the state hospital, Sarah appears to embrace John but is actually |
checking him for injuries, forgoing any emotional attachment for the |
practicality of ensuring his survival and bringing about his destiny as a |
future leader. [33] The T-800 is portrayed as a better parent than Sarah, |
offering him undivided attention while Sarah remains distant and focused on |
the future rather than the present. [212] Philosophy professor Richard T. |
McClelland notes Sarah's acceptance of the T-800 as John's surrogate father is |
such that she leaves it in control of John when she leaves to kill Dyson. |
[213] Sarah's dream about the nuclear holocaust that will kill six billion |
people, including her son, incites her to kill Dyson before he can complete |
the work that will bring about Skynet but when the moment comes, she is unable |
to fully forsake her humanity and murder him with no emotion. Cameron |
described this as a question of humanity's worth if we abandon it to win the |
battle for its existence. [4] [72] Compared to the bleak, nihilistic theme of |
the first film, Terminator 2 emphasizes the concept of free will and the value |
of human life. Schwarzenegger quoted the film's line "no fate but what we |
make", saying people have control over their own destinies. [4] [54] |
Terminator 2 also comments on the use of violence. On its release, reviewers |
were critical of Terminator 2: Judgment Day 's message about preserving peace |
through violence. Owen Gleiberman stated "reckless indifference" to human life |
is intrinsic to the film but the T-800 maiming people rather than killing them |
potentially condemns victims of violence to a life of pain. [ah] Cameron |
described the film as the "world's most violent anti-war movie", and said it |
is about people struggling with their own violent natures. [72] [77] In |
particular, Cameron had been concerned by the original antagonist T-800's |
status as a cultural icon and power fantasy as a lethal, unstoppable force of |
strength and power, and chose to redefine it in Terminator 2 , retaining the |
power fantasy without taking lives. [72] Cinephilia said it is not morally |
possible to recover from killing people so Terminator 2 is about redeeming the |
T-800 and Sarah. [19] Analysis [ edit ] According to Professor Jeffrey A. |
Brown, there was a growth of female-led action films in the wake of Aliens ' s |
success. Brown believes this reflected the increase in more women assuming |
non-traditional roles and the division between professional critics—who |
perceive a masculinization of the female hero—and audiences who embrace |
characters regardless of gender. [214] The hyper-masculine heroes played by |
Schwarzenegger, Stallone, and Jean-Claude Van Damme were replaced with |
independent women who are capable of defending themselves and defeating |
villains in films such as Terminator 2 and The Silence of the Lambs . [215] |
Brown said these female characters often perform stereotypical male actions |
and have muscular physiques rather than feminine, "soft" bodies. [216] He |
considers Hamilton's undershirt to be symbolic of typically male action heroes |
such as John McClane and John Rambo , as well as women displaying masculine |
traits such as Rachel McLish in Aces: Iron Eagle III (1992). [217] Despite the |
emphasis on strong femininity, Hamilton's character remains secondary to |
Schwarzenegger's. Sarah's efforts to defeat the T-1000 fall short until the |
last-minute intervention of the T-800. Author Victoria Warren said this allows |
the female character to be strong enough to be admired but not strong enough |
to undermine the male protagonist's masculinity. [218] Professors Amanda |
Fernbach and Thomas B. Byers said the rigid form of the T-800 represents |
reactionary masculinity that is in direct opposition to the gender-bending |
T-1000, which represents a post-modern, fluid nature that is outside |
traditional norms and in opposition to patriarchy and the preservation of the |
traditional family. [219] Author Mark Duckenfield said Terminator 2: Judgment |
Day can be seen as an unintended allegory for the decline of United States |
industries against successful Japanese technology firms with the cutting-edge |
T-1000 representing Japan against the older, less-advanced T-800. The U.S. |
industries, which were sometimes seen as villains during the economic boom of |
the 1980s, are seen as more sympathetic in the face of obsolescence, just as |
the T-800 is presented as friendlier and still powerful but no longer |
overwhelmingly so. Duckenfield considers the final scene, which takes place in |
a steel mill—a place of American industry—symbolic. [220] According to Warren, |
Terminator 2 reflects Cold War American values that emphasized principles of |
American culture, in particular individualism and rejection of government |
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