Sci-Fi Pick: Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
If you’re doing a “Best of” Netflix list, you can’t go wrong with listing a film that’s likely worthy of a “Best of” genre list as well. That’s how I decided that this week’s sci-fi recommendation should come in the form of the James Cameron classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
I absolutely love the original film (also available on Netflix now), but it was the 1991 sequel that took the franchise to new heights. The seven years between the two did a lot for the quality of special effects, as did a drastic increase in the budget. It’s one of the greatest sequels of all time and one of the rare few that surpasses its predecessor in almost every way.
T2 stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as an older terminator, but this time he’s a good guy, out to help Linda Hamilton save her son and everyone else from the robots that are approaching. The villain this time around is sleeker, faster, and more dangerous than ever before, mainly due to its shape-shifting abilities. That T-1000 is played to perfection by Robert Patrick, as he retains an even more robotic appearance than Arnold did in T1.
If you don’t want to take my word for it, you can check out the reception the film got. It won four academy awards (Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup, and Best Visual Effects), it has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and is ranked the 40th best movie of all time by audiences on IMDB. The accolades and awards go on and on, but those three numbers should be enough to prove that this is a film absolutely everyone needs to see.
You’ve had 23 years to see it, so I’m guessing you have already, but this is the sort of movie that’s always ripe for a re-watch, if for nothing else than to serve as a reminder of the magic James Cameron was able to create before everything was focused on Avatar.
That’s it for today, but be sure to tune in next week though for another edition of We Got Netflix Covered! Also, be sure to leave a comment and let us know if you enjoyed any of these picks.