Terminator 2: Judgment Day - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Dun dun...duh...dun dun, dun dun...duh...dun dun. The Terminator franchise has become one of the most enduring sci-fi/action series to span over 40 years, with 5 films made over the course of those 40 years. Arnold became a household named due to the first two films, and we even have theme park rides and roller coasters based upon the concept of the Terminator. Some of them have been met with more success than others, but the first two films are literally legends in the sci-fi community. Much like Alien and Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day are wildly different films, with different takes on the universe. The Terminator was a chilling and terrifying film about a robotic madman intent on hunting down Sarah Connor and eliminating her in order order to protect machine’s place in the future. It was tight, tense, and the bad guy never really had to say much. Arnold was incredible as the gigantic figure with a 70s haircut and glowing eyes, and the film really NEEDED no sequel. It was just THAT good. Then came along Terminator 2 and the stakes were bigger. Cameron expanded upon his idea of changing the future, as well as making the low budget sci-fi series into something MUCH bigger and more exciting to general audiences. He put in a kid, and amped up the action to level 11. As such, Terminator 2 is probably the most popular film in the franchise, and for good reason. The movie may not take itself so seriously, and is more content to revel in the simplicity of high octane action, but it also cemented itself in history as one of the defining action movies of the early 90s, with pop culture one liners, Arnold’s stage persona coming to the front of the room, and some seriously epic action sequences that hold up even today with modern CGI. It’s the popcorn movie with a heart and soul, and while I personally think The Terminator is the BETTER movie, Terminator 2 is a blast from beginning to end.

It’s been over 10 years since the events of The Terminator, and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is still alive thanks to Kyle Reese’s intervention over a decade ago. However, the future is till in motion, and Skynet is determined to wipe out John Connor from existence, so instead of sending back a Terminator to hunt down and kill his mother, they decide to jump forward a decade and take out John (now played by Edward Furlong) while Sarah is stuck behind in a mental hospital for her “delusions” of the future. But instead of one soulless killing machine coming back in time, TWO of them appear. The first being the legendary T-800 (Arnold), and the second being the T-1000 (Robert Patrick). Both want John, but for wildly different reasons. While the T-1000 is here to murder the boy, it seems John Connor of the future counted for an assassination attempt, and sent back a reprogrammed T-800 to protect him. Unfortunately for everyone, the T-800 is wildly outdated compared to the T-1000 prototype, but the hulking machine is here for one reason, and one reason only. Protect John Connor at all costs, not matter the consequences.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is an amazing film, but one that has some flaws too. I’ve never been so engrossed in an action movie at such a young age, and it’s all due to Cameron’s ability to world build and give a human feeling to inanimate objects. Coming from the 80s world of excess and over exuberance, the film feels harsher and more cynical than others of the era (although Robocop lampoons the 80s in a violent manner that has become the gold standard), but also is extremely well paced. Clocking in at over 2 hours and 17 minutes, Terminator 2 feels like a 90 minute movie. The film’s legendary action sequences and judicious use of slow motion (which wasn’t as big of a thing back then) gave us some of the most iconic action shots of all time. The first time Arnold pulls out his shotty in the mall, facing off against the T-1000, it sent chills down audience member’s backs, and the shot as Sarah Connor comes face to face with the machine who tried to kill her over a decade ago is probably one of the best done shots of that time. The sense of terror and excitement mingles in one big sweaty ball and doesn’t let go throughout the film. Arnold is much bigger and more personable this time around (probably due to his heightened success after The Terminator) and THIS is the movie where he says some of the most well known action movie phrases of all time (“Hasta La Vista Baby”, “I’ll Be Back”, “He’ll Live” have been used and re-used in pop culture as well as other movies for the last 25+ years by people the world over). The only problem is that after viewing so many times I can start to see a few flaws in the movie. The main one is that it almost become a bit TOO kiddy with Edward Furlong playing John. It was “cool” in the 1990s to have the smart alec kid, but now he feels too grating and irritating, and I can see why so many film enthusiasts prefer the more streamlined predecessor.

I grew up watching Terminator 2 like every other 80s and 90s child, sneaking viewings of the film behind my parents back (who didn’t want me watching R-rated movies), and gleefully regaling my friends about the gnarly action sequences (don’t judge, gnarly was still a thing when this came out, same with tubular) contained within. Over the years I’ve owned the film on no less than 7 different occasions, ranging from the old VHS set, the collector’s edition VHS, the REALLY crazy special edition Laser Disc, the DVD, the Special Edition silver DVD, the theatrical edition Blu-ray, the Skynet edition, and now this 4K UHD. Throughout the differing editions I have noticed two things. Lionsgate REALLY loves to re-release this movie, and the movie has NEVER gotten a definitive edition. Don’t get me wrong, there have been some stellar releases, but there is always SOMETHING wonky about them. The Laser disc with PCM audio and a whole slew of special features was probably the closest we’ve ever gotten, but it suffered from disc rot (not something that is really the studio’s fault). Then the DVD came out, but with a weird 5.1 mix that mixed up channels. Then of course the initial Blu-ray from Lionsgate was known for REALLY poor video quality, plus the same 5.1 mix of the DVD (just upmixed) and ONLY included the theatrical release. The Skynet edition is fully decked out with decent special features and all three versions of the movie (Theatrical, Extended and Director’s cuts) BUUUUUUT the movie’s video quality was DNR’d beyond belief. Then came this 4K UHD edition. At first it seemed to give us hope, but after it was delayed from September to December of this year we came to realize the 4K disc was ONLY getting the theatrical (the Blu-ray is the same one from the Skynet edition, so it will come with all three variations of the film). Sadly the video quality is struck from the same “Cameron approved” 4K remaster that the 3D edition that was released a couple of years back, and that means living with digital tinkering, DNR and a new color timing as well, which means that this is a rather problematic release for collectors.




Rating:

Rated R for strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language




Video:

A couple of years back James Cameron oversaw a new 4K remaster of the film made for the 3D re-release of the movie in theaters (and it actually states that the movie is 3D at the beginning of the 4K ironically), and fans initially hoped for a COMPLETELY revamped movie, ala the new 4K remaster of The Terminator (which is fantastic by the way), being that the Blu-ray releases of Terminator 2 were so heavily slathered in DNR and other digital manipulation that they were known as the ugly ducklings of the Blu-ray world. Strangely enough, Cameron was just as heavy handed with the DNR in this new remaster, and even went so far as to change the color timing to a stronger blue (much like he did in several of his films) along with some digital shenanigans that keep it from really looking THAT great. This new 4K UHD disc is struck from that re-master, and DOES look a sight better than the Skynet edition Blu-ray. Fine details are more apparent, and the use of HDR on flames, or the shine reflecting off of metal make for some pretty amazing looking colors. Just watch Robert Patrick’s shift from metal to human and vice verse. The sheen off of his metallic frame shows amazing lines and the orange tinge from explosions is bright and vibrant. Skin tones do look a bit burnished, but overall it’s fairly evenly balanced, although he introduced a deep blue tinge to the film that takes away from the somber ash gray that it was before. There is where the good points end, as a majority of the film looks rather flat, with details that don’t rise THAT much above the Blu-ray (at least not as much as I wanted) due to the waxy nature of the VERY blatant DNR that permeates the image. There’s a few soft focus shots that have always looked soft in every variation of the movie I’ve ever seen, but those aside, baby’s butt smooth image just looks fake and rather dull in comparison to many other 4K UHD titles I’ve seen recently. The reason this looks so much better than the Blu-ray (it really is a solid leap forward) is mainly due to the poor nature of the old Blu-ray rather than the technical merits of the 4K UHD encoding.





Audio:

Surprisingly, Terminator 2 has never exactly had reference level audio mixing from the day it was released. As I said, I’ve had just about every edition out there, and aside from the Laser Disc, most of the 5.1 mixes for the film have been good, but never GREAT. The Blu-ray was always the weakest track I’d heard for the film to date, but it looks like they not only re-mastered the video, but also remixed the audio as well, as this 5.1 DTS-HD MA track sounds distinctly different than the previous release. The nice thing is that it isn’t remixed up to 7.1 or 6.1, but instead used a more traditional 5.1 mix that should be closer in nature to the Dolby SR track of the theatrical run. The track is well placed in the front, with a wide open spaciousness that is definitely a breathe of fresh air. Surround channels have solid ambiance to them, and gunshots ring out with authority. The LFL is rather restrained for most of the track, leaving it feeling slightly thin here and there, but some of the bigger explosions and gunshots really do apply the “shock and awe” method of bass. The 5.1 mix is impressive, and probably the best I’ve heard (I don’t have my Laser Disc anymore so I can’t compare to anything but my memory), allowing me to give it a solid thumbs up for the new mix.





Extras:

• NEW "T2: Reprogramming the Terminator" 55 Minute Documentary Including Exclusive Interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Cameron, Edward Furlong and More
• Two Feature Commentaries including 23 members of the cast and crew, including director James Cameron and co-author William Wisher
• "The Making of T2" 30 Minute Featurette
• Seamless Branching to View 3 Different Versions of the Movie
• Two Deleted Scenes

Final Score: ​

This particular release is one that I so DESPERATELY wanted to recommend with flying colors. I still do on the movie itself, and AND if you’re willing to live with the theatrical release only, it is a solid step up in picture quality over the problematic Blu-ray releases. The thing is, that as much as there is a step forward in quality, there is a step back in options, as the Extended and Director’s cuts are missing from the 4K experience. Not to mention that James Cameron’s “approved” 4K remaster from a few years back is caked in video issues that purists are sure to be frustrated over. So while I love the movie, and while the 4K upgrade is definitely a boost over the Blu-ray and DVDs, there’s enough problems to where I would have to be reticent about giving the upgrade two thumbs up. I do understand that Cameron’s 4K transfer is what it is, and that no amount of fan whining will ever make it anything than what it is (and the resulting 4K UHD disc is an improvement over the Blu-ray releases), the mediocre picture quality leaves me wishing for a FULL remaster from the source elements to give us a definitive edition. As for my recommendation, it will all depend on if you’re satisfied with the theatrical version only. If you are, sure, this is a solid upgrade in video and audio quality, even though that means living with Cameron’s digital tinkering and DNR, but if you’re wanting all three variations of the film. Then I would hesitate as it feels incomplete without those.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong
Directed by: James Cameron
Written by: James Cameron, William Wisher
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, French DTS-HD MA 5.1, German DTS-HD MA 7.1
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 137 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: December 26th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fantastic Movie, mediocre release

 

[Todd Anderson]

Great review, Mike, and one that everyone should pay attention to... the fact that the video image is a dud is a complete tragedy.

What a waste of time on the part of Lionsgate...

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I do like the various films in the franchise, it is too bad this release isn't the best.

 

[JBrax]

Very dissapointing that more love wasn't given to a classic. I'll be skipping this one.

 

[Michael Scott]

Great review, Mike, and one that everyone should pay attention to... the fact that the video image is a dud is a complete tragedy.

What a waste of time on the part of Lionsgate...

The video isn't really Lionsgate's fault. It's the Cameron approved 4K master that was struck a few years back. Any of the "issues" are baked into that really and kind of what we've had to live with like the Blu-ray editions over the years. Terminator 2 has always been treated badly video wise for some bizarro reason.

while I HAAAAAAATE to the apologist for lackluster video, it's one of those things that I think we're going to have to live with unless Cameron (who's really big into approving the transfers uses for his films) comes along and gives another one, this is the transfer we'll see for the entirety of the format (and it's a miracle we got this remaster after he's been so absorbed into the Avatar sequels. ) It IS a noticeable step up from the Blu-ray (which was a DNR nightmare)...my only thing with the set that makes me hesitate is that it ONLY includes the theatrical cut. However, I have to take a devils advocate approach for that as well and wonder if the reason WHY the other two cuts weren't included in 4K was because the theatrical cut was the ONLY one remastered by Cameron. Meaning the 20-25 minutes of extended footage may still be rough shape on some negative..so once again, it may be a "rock and a hard place" situation. Frustrating, but I've VERY suspicious my guess on that may be right