Terminator vs. Terminator 2

When I first saw it as a kid, I liked T2 better. I saw it in the theater, and the special effects were outrageous for its time.

Watching them again a couple years ago though, I preferred the original. I thought the pacing was better, the dark feel to it added to its effect, the storyline and script were better.

T2 was almost this R rated kids flick. It seemed like they wanted Arnold to play this lovable robot who didn't kill people, as he was in a different stage in his career by 1991 than he was in 1984. I also couldn't stand the "robot has human feelings, why can't we?" message at the end. I think this movie made James Cameron more fully realize how much money can be made in movies that concentrate more on visual effects than good scripts, resulting in movies like Avatar and Titanic.

T2 was still an excellent action flick, don't get me wrong, but I feel the original was the superior film.

 

This reminds me of the first two Alien flicks, in that you had two hugely successful films with totally different tones, & they have divided fans ever since over which was better. Same situation here. For action & general pacing, I favour the sequel, but the original has the edge in tone & character-development. Id call it a draw where story is concerned. Its real tough to choose, being honest.

 

nice way of putting it.

 

Is there a distinction to be make between 'films' and 'movies' or is that just really pretentious? T2 is more stick-on-and-watchable by far, but the first one feels like it stands up to scrutiny better, somehow. Even just having Arnie in the second one seemed a compromise since it makes no fucking sense from a plot perspective. Add in the cheesy, humanising dialogue Arnie has, the comedic moments etc and I think the whole thing loses a bit of impact.

I'd vote t2, I suppose. When I was really into both movies as a teenager I preferred the first. But then I also thought death metal was splendid, so what does that tell you?

 

I like The Titanic.

So sue me.

 

I would if it was possible.

 

The one without Edward Furlong.

 

I like the bit when the truck hits the back of the bike and he screams like a very small girl. Makes me so hot.

 

Terminator 2-no love story

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call the first a horror movie, maybe a thriller with action sequences (all the shooting & explosions).

I also wouldn't go so far as to say T2 is clearly superior. You have to judge each movie from the perspective of if you'd just seen both for the first time, which would impress you more. Clearly T2 has the edge in visuals and special effects, but T1 has the edge in originality and the whole introduction of the Judgement Day, Skynet, Time-travelling-murdering-Terminators.

It's the same thing with judging Alien 1 & 2. Tie goes to both for story, character and dialogue and whereas pt 2 has the superior effects (though not by much) the original first introduced us to the whole Alien Xenomorph universe.

I think it's closer for Aliens than it is with Terminator though because the Alien films didn't have such a huge gap in special effects like there was in the Terminator films. However unlike the Terminator sequel, Aliens did a better job of expanding the viewers knowledge on it's film's world by using a "more" factor and introducing the queen.

 

T2 is a fun, popcorn type of a movie, it is nice to spend an evening watching the action. T1 is clearly the better from 'art' perspective, since it has much more point to it. Different goals and different tastes

 

i thought the first one was pretty scary when i watched it as a kid. the second one was entertaining and also had some humor in it.

 

I think Terminator Salvation was the best of them all.

 

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There's a love story in T2...it's between a cyborg and a minor.

 

What were you, 4? Or just a big pussy?

When I was younger I was one of the scariest little fucks in the world when it came to scary movies and I found absolutely nothing scary about Terminator. It was an action movie as far as I was concerned.