The Best Sci-Fi Action Sequel Of All Time Is Streaming On Netflix

By Robert Scucci
| Published 21 seconds ago

Terminator 2: Judgment Day came out in 1991 when I was three years old, and if memory serves, I first saw it when I was five or six. Some of my earliest memories involve sitting in the family room with my dad watching action movies I was way too young to be seeing. We’d blast the surround sound and blow the roof off the place, hooting, hollering, and rooting for the good guys while shaking our fists at the bad ones. We even had the double VHS collection because back then there were only two Terminator movies and none of the junk that came after.

I used to watch this movie constantly growing up, then went years without revisiting it because I wore out those tapes and moved on to other things. Wondering if the nostalgia that comes along with early core memories had tricked me into overrating it, I finally gave it a proper rewatch as a thirty-something, and it holds up better than I could have possibly imagined. Everyone says Aliens is James Cameron’s ultimate sequel, but it’s actually Terminator 2 and it’s not even close.

I’ll Spare You The Granular Details

If you grew up under similar circumstances, you already know what Terminator 2 is about. If it’s your first time, I’ll spare you the spoilers and get down to brass tacks. Set in 1995, nine years after the events depicted in The Terminator, we meet a young John Connor (Edward Furlong), who doesn’t yet realize he’ll one day lead the human resistance against Skynet, the artificial intelligence network created by Cyberdyne Systems that will destroy the planet.

His mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), is locked in a psychiatric hospital thanks to the events that took place in the first film, where a T-800 robot (Arnold Schwarzenegger) tried to kill her to prevent John’s birth. After being caught attempting to blow up Cyberdyne Systems years later, Sarah insists she isn’t insane and that Judgment Day, August 29, 1997, is coming.

Plotting her escape from Pescadero State Hospital, Sarah doesn’t yet know Skynet has sent back a more advanced, shape-shifting liquid metal robot, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), to kill her and John. The human resistance anticipated the attack and sent a reprogrammed T-800 to protect them. What follows is an explosion-filled race against time, a T-1000 hellbent on wiping out the human race, and the T-800 programmed to save it.

Carnage, Catastrophe, And Comic Relief

What sets Terminator 2 apart from its predecessor is the balance of humor and thrills. The original Terminator, a sci-fi horror classic in its own right, plays out like a slasher flick starring a robot from the future. Cameron, never one to repeat himself, went bigger and badder with Judgment Day. By 1991 he had the clout and more than ten times the budget to go nuclear with his set pieces, helicopter chases, and large-scale destruction.

Edward Furlong’s John Connor teaching a robotic Arnie how to high-five, deliver one-liners, and interpret emotion almost makes Judgment Day feel family friendly if not for all the violence. Giving implied emotional depth to a machine covered in human tissue changes the entire tone.

The sequel adds humanity to the franchise, transforming it from a high-concept apocalypse story into something genuinely moving. Here, fate is questioned, perseverance in the face of adversity is celebrated, and the stakes are undeniable. We’re no longer just concerned about Sarah Connor’s sanity; we’re rooting for her and her son because the fate of the world depends on them.

Stream Terminator 2: Judgment Day If You Want To Live

If you’ve made it this far in life without watching the first two Terminator films, you’re doing yourself an incredible disservice. The action still hits hard nearly 35 years later, Robert Patrick sprinting with icepick arms and dead eyes is still terrifying, and there’s enough heart to make even the most cynical sci-fi skeptic care. You don’t need to watch the other four crappier sequels to appreciate what James Cameron achieved with these two films. They tell a complete story; open-ended enough to leave you wondering about the future, but satisfying enough to make you wish the franchise had ended here.

As of this writing, you can stream Terminator 2: Judgment Day on Netflix.