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Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick, Earl Boen ... see more see more... , Joe Morton , S. Epatha Merkerson , Castulo Guerra , Jenette Goldstein , Dalton Abbott , Xander Berkeley , Ennalls Berl , Lisa Brinegar , Charles Robert Brown , Casey Chavez , Danny Cooksey , Nikki Cox , Gwenda Deacon , Michael Edwards , Abdul Salaam El Razaac , Noel Evangelisti , Leslie Hamilton Gaerren , Ken Gibbel , J. Rob Jordan , Peter Kent , Pat Kouri , Don Lake , Mark Christopher Lawrence , Van Ling , Jared Lounsberry , Colin Patrick Lynch , Tom McDonald , Mike Muscat , DeVaughn Walter Nixon , Dean Norris , Jim Palmer , Denney Pierce , Diane Rodriguez , Pete Schrum , Tony Simotes , Dan Stanton , Don Stanton , Charles Tamburro , Richard Vidan , Shane Wilder , Gerard G. Williams , Robert Winley , Ron Young , Terrence Evans , Michael Biehn , Nancy Fish

A sequel to the sci-fi action thriller that made him and star Arnold Schwarzenegger A-list Hollywood names, writer/director James Cameron upped the ante with this follow-up by employing a more sweepin... read more read more...g storyline and cutting-edge special effects. Linda Hamilton returns as Sarah Connor, now a single mother to rebellious teen John Connor (Edward Furlong), during the late nineties. Having been informed by a time-traveling soldier in the first film that John will one day grow up to become humanity's savior from a computer-controlled Armageddon, Sarah has responded by becoming a muscle-bound she-warrior bent on educating John in survival tactics and battle strategies. Her ranting about humankind's future has landed Sarah in an insane asylum and John in the foster care system. The rebellious John has responded to his situation by getting into scrapes with the law. When a new and improved Terminator android called the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) arrives from the future to eliminate John, an older model T-800 (Schwarzenegger) is sent to protect the boy. The T-1000, however, has the ability to morph itself into any shape it desires, allowing it chameleon-like powers and near indestructibility. The T-800 saves John's life and helps break Sarah out of the institution. Staying only one step ahead of the dogged T-1000, Sarah leads her son and the T-800 to the headquarters of Cyberdyne Systems, the company that will invent a robotic intelligence that will eventually take over the world. There, they attempt to convince inventor Miles Dyson (Joe Morton) to help them stop the future from ever occurring by destroying his work. Dyson sacrifices himself in an explosion to save the world, leading to a final showdown between the two Terminators at a steel foundry. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which won four Oscars in technical categories for its groundbreaking effects, was followed by a short sequel filmed exclusively as an attraction for theme parks, Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time (1996). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

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88% liked it

658,647 ratings

Critics

98% liked it

44 critics

R, 2 hr. 19 min.

Directed by: James Cameron

Release Date: July 3, 1991

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DVD Release Date: March 31, 1998

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Stats: 34,442 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (34,442)


  • March 9, 2012
    One of the greatest action movies of all time and a personal favorite. Everything about this movie works. For its time, the CGI was groundbreaking. Imaginative action set-pieces compiled with a true, one of a kind villain with a one-of-a-kind plot. Though at its heart, "Terminato... read morer 2" is an action movie, audiences are sure to be emotionally involved with the characters like no other Terminator movie.... just please stop making more Terminators. Terminator Gayvation sucked, Terminator 3 sucked. No more, please. Let's leave the first two masterful Terminators alone.
  • January 12, 2012
    Arnold at his best. One of those movies you want to own so you can watch it again and again. That James Cameron guy knows what he's doing.
  • December 29, 2011
    Along with Aliens, James Cameron has been responsible for two of the most inventive sequels around. This follow up to his own sci-fi classic The Terminator sees another sent back through time to protect John Connor in childhood from a shapeshifting assassin bent on preventing him... read more from leading the human race to salvation. It puts an interesting spin on the original concept, essentially switching the roles of Arnie and Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton turning in easily the best performance); he becomes the nurturing parental figure, she the emotionless, singleminded terminator who only regains her humanity when shown the human face of her target. Throw in a nice time paradox, some excellent set pieces and innovative effects and you have a great cocktail for breathless action sci-fi. The one near fatal flaw is the badly misjudged humour and generous dollop of schmaltz trowelled on by Cameron when dealing with the (really rather bad) Edward Furlong. I would have preferred to see more of the T-1000 and less of the sentimentality and feeble jokes resulting from the father-son bond of the boy and his cyborg, but thanks to some ingenious plotting and ground breaking special effects it has dated rather well.
  • November 16, 2011
    One of the best of Arnold Schwarzenegger's greatest films, bar none!
  • August 2, 2011
    Against the grain of what so many other people think, I don't really like JUDGMENT DAY anywhere near as much as THE TERMINATOR.
  • fb729949618
    July 31, 2011
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    James Cameron once again! How many sequels are better than the first? Not many. 20 years old and still badass.
  • June 23, 2011
    A must see. James Cameron is visionary and gives an amazing turnaround to the original movie.
  • June 7, 2011
    I just re-watched this movie, it's an awesome sequel, almost as good as the first, but it focuses more on the action. You can tell that this one had a much bigger budget. It furthers the story, has the same actors, and adds new characters too. I love this movie. If you saw th... read moree first one, you have to see this one.
  • May 31, 2011
    This modern classic united the dream team Cameron - Schwarzenegger for nothing less than a reinvention of the action genre in the early 90s. The result is full of quotable lines, now iconic scenes, great action sequences and a story that took the predecessor to a whole new level.... read more While delivering the action goods, it's touching and smart, even touching philosophical questions at the same time, characteristics not often found in action films. Here, the cast is as important as the effects: Robert Patrick is a convincing, metal-blooded villain, Linda Hamilton, having changed a lot after part one, is the ultimate fighting amazon, while Arnie just has to be himself to win the audience's hearts. The great Newcomer Edward Furlong is one of the more convincing child actors in a genre where the underage main character is often the killer for the film. The ground breaking special effects still look pretty great 20 years later, the showdown goes down as one of the longest in genre history. A triumph, and easily the highlight of both the series and Arnie's career.
  • May 27, 2011
    One of the greatest thrillers ever made. This surpasses the original by a mile and a half. The plot was a work of genius and thr story was great. The acting was great, and I got more in this then i did the first. The action was SOOO cool!!! This movie is F#CKING AWESOME!

Critic Reviews


Owen Gleiberman
February 4, 2010
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Terminator 2 is a state-of-the-art action movie, all right: It gets you thinking that the most reasonable thing might just have been to blow everyone away. Full Review

Richard Corliss
May 18, 2009
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

A humongous, visionary parable that intermittently enthralls and ultimately disappoints. T2 is half of a terrific movie -- the wrong half. Full Review

David Ansen
May 18, 2009
David Ansen, Newsweek

For all its state-of-the-art pyrotechnics and breathtaking thrills, this bruisingly exciting movie never loses sight of its humanity. That's its point, and its pride. Full Review

Variety Staff
May 8, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Arnold Schwarzenegger is more comfortable and assured here than the first time around, reprising a role so perfectly suited to the voice and physique that have established him as a larger-than-life fi... Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum
March 1, 2007
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

As a fancy mechanism fueled by the pleasure of watching legions of people and equipment being summarily destroyed, this is pretty hot stuff. Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Mr. Cameron has made a swift, exciting special-effects epic that thoroughly justifies its vast expense and greatly improves upon the first film's potent but rudimentary visual style. Full Review

Peter Travers
May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

It's Cameron's show; he's the reigning king of movie pow, with dark wit and a poet's eye for mayhem. T2 cost a reported $100 million, and you can actually see where the money went.

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Nobody, I think, will complain that it doesn't have enough action. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

It's a tank of a movie, big, powerful and hard to resist. Full Review

Joe Brown
January 1, 2000
Joe Brown, Washington Post

Brutally beautiful, darkly comic sci-fi Full Review

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Facts


    • The Terminator: I know now why you cry, but it's something I can never do. [hugs John]
    • T-1000: Get out.
    • The Terminator: Listen to me very carefully.
    • The Terminator: He'll live.
    • The Terminator: My mission is to protect you.
    • T-1000: No, I wouldn't worry about him. Thanks for your cooperation.

Terminator 2: Jud... : Watch Free on TV


Terminator 2: Judgment Day Trivia


  • Ten Years Ago. The Machines Who Rule The Future Sent An Unstoppable Terminator To Assassinate The Yet Unborn John Connor. They Failed. In 1991. The Machines Will Try Again this tagline is to which movie  Answer »
  • What was the name of the shape-shifting Terminator in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'?  Answer »
  • Who plays the T-1000 in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY?   Answer »
  • In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, what does the security guard say after getting a full house on his coffee cup?  Answer »

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