The Most Beloved Sequel Of All Time Streaming For Free

By Zack Zagranis
| Published 21 seconds ago

When making a sequel to a hit movie, there are two ways to go. The first method expands upon the source material while taking it in new, unexpected directions; think Empire Strikes Back, Gremlins 2, and so on. The other way is to remake the first movie but bigger, louder, and with more explosions. The best example of the second method is 1991’s Terminator 2, an all-time blockbuster action extravaganza that holds up shockingly well today.

T2 Improved On The Original

It might sound reductive to call Terminator 2: Judgment Day nothing but a rehash of 1984’s The Terminator, but I challenge anyone to describe the movie in a more accurate and succinct way. Admitting that T2 is just a beefier version of its predecessor in no way diminishes its brilliance.

There’s a reason that Judgment Day is considered by many to be the best sequel ever made. It rocks! Plus, it just might have the best Babyface turn ever put on film. In case you’re not a wrestling fan, that means a bad guy switching to a good guy.

Although in this case, a 400-pound, shotgun-toting cyborg murder machine might be stretching the definition of good guy a little bit.

Time-Travelling Killer Machines

In case you’ve been in a coma for the last 35 years, Terminator 2 follows 10-year-old John Connor (Eddie Furlong) as he dodges an evil liquid robot (Robert Patrick) sent from the future to kill him. Aiding John is another robot (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent from the future to protect him.

In the first film, Skynet sent a hulking T-800 back in time to assassinate Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton), whose unborn child, John, is destined to lead a human resistance in the future. The T-800 failed, which is why, this time, Skynet sent the super-advanced T-1000.

The bulk of Terminator 2 is one big chase sequence. The unrelenting T-1000 oozes its liquid metal body after John Connor and the good Terminator as they break John’s mom out of the hospital and flee towards Mexico. Eventually, it catches up to them, and the two Terminators have a knock-down-drag-out slobber knocker at a steel mill.

Landmark CGI

With T2, director James Cameron ushered in a new era of digital special effects, a plague that haunts Hollywood to this day. The difference between Terminator 2, however, and your average CGI schlock on Netflix is that Cameron used computers sparingly and only for the things he absolutely couldn’t do practically.

As a result, the liquid metal effects in Terminator 2 still look good compared to the ugly CGI overkill of a modern action movie like Netflix’s Rebel Moon. I’m probably taking my life into my own hands, mentioning something as beloved as T2 in the same sentence as the vehemently hated Rebel Moon, but oh well, I like to live dangerously.

Terminator 2 Is Still A Top Tier Action Flick

I suppose I should mention just how successful the movie was when it was released, just in case those newly awakened coma patients are still reading. Terminator 2 was a pop-culture juggernaut right out of the gate and continues to be popular even now in its streaming era. At the time of its release, T2 was the third highest-grossing movie of all time.

Even more impressive, the movie got not one but two Sega Genesis games, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and T2: The Arcade Game. Two games for one movie on the same system was unheard of in the 16-bit era and still is today. That’s how big of a deal Terminator 2: Judgement Day was.

As of this writing, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is streaming on Paramount+, and free with ads through Pluto TV.

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY SCORE