Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #30 Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Box Office: $206.9 Million
Oscar Nominations: Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Makeup, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects
Oscar Wins: Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects
MovieRankings.Net: 96/100
Available To Stream: Paramount+
It's hard to explain to anyone who wasn't alive when T2 came out exactly how much it changed movies moving forward. If you watch The Abyss (which came out 2 years earlier), you sort of see the plan Cameron had in mind. The Abyss is an underwater sci-fi movies that tests out a lot of the special effects you'd see in T2 (especially the Robert Patrick metal stuff). I don't think The Abyss is a good movie but it's a wildly innovative one.
You could say the same kind of thing about the first Terminator movie. I don't think it holds up terribly well but it does a remarkable job setting up this world that T2 takes advantage of. At the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made and it really is on the screen. The effects are so good, they mostly hold up over 30 years later.
You're also getting Arnold Schwarzenegger at his absolute peak. Since the first Terminator, he had worked hard on turning himself into a better actor. It pays off here as you really care about an android. Linda Hamilton also gives the performance of her lifetime and physically turned herself into a total badass no one would want to fuck with.
Robert Patrick wasn't supposed to play T-1000. It was supposed to be Billy Idol who would up getting hurt in a motorcycle accident right before filming. I find it hard to imagine that. Idol has so much personality even in his sneer. Patrick (who is also great in The Sopranos as Davey Scatino in Season 2) is perfect as this relentless force that just keeps trying to kill, kill, kill.
I'm guessing a lot of you might have this in your Top 10 so let me explain why I don't have it higher. It's less a quality issue and more a question of taste. This is an absolutely great sci-fi/action movie. If that's your favorite type of genre, this SHOULD be in your top 10. I'm just drawn more to other genres.
Terminator 2, for all of its incredible strengths, is also far from a perfect movie. I like Edward Furlong here but he's far from great. His acting is inconsistent and really brings some scenes down. This is also a movie written by James Cameron so you're not getting great dialogue here.
I admit I am absolutely cherry picking here. This is a fantastic movie. I know 30th sounds low but this for an entire decade. This is absolutely a great movie and one of the greatest sci-fi/action movies ever made. I'll own putting here on my personal list but if you have it much higher on yours, you won't get an argument from me.
30. Terminator 2: Judgement Day
31. Rounders
32. Unforgiven
33. Trainspotting
34. The Game
35. Out Of Sight
36. Carlito's Way
37. Seven
38. L.A. Confidential
39. Speed
40. Gattaca
41. Misery
42. Tombstone
43. Ransom
44. Wayne's World
45. The Insider
46. Back To The Future Part III
47. A Bronx Tale
48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt
49. Eyes Wide Shut
50. The Sandlot
51. Happy Gilmore
52. Contact
53. The Green Mile
54. Man On The Moon
55. Boyz N The Hood
56. Grosse Pointe Blank
57. Independence Day
58. The Rainmaker
59. Go
60. The Firm
61. Magnolia
62. The Talented Mr. Ripley
63. Tommy Boy
64. The Usual Suspects
65. In The Line Of Fire
66. My Cousin Vinny
67. Awakenings
68. JFK
69. Toy Story
70. Home Alone
71. Jerry Maguire
72. Titanic
73. Billy Madison
74. Apollo 13
75. Braveheart
76. Edward Scissorhands
77. Cape Fear
78. The River Wild
79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
80. 12 Monkeys
81. Stir Of Echoes
82. Mission: Impossible
83. Total Recall
84. Quiz Show
85. For Love Of The Game
86. Being John Malkovich
87. Men In Black
88. Scream
89. Alive
90. Three Kings
91. Glengarry Glen Ross
92. Die Hard With A Vengeance
93. The Blair Witch Project
94. Twister
95. Dirty Work
96. Election
97. Tremors
98. Any Given Sunday
99. The Wedding Singer
100. Clerks