Terminator 2: Skynet Edition Blu Ray

I found this bad boy at Target for five bucks and that was just way too good to pass up.  It's been a while since I watched this flick and I figured now would be as good a time as any to revisit.  I won't get too wordy, because everyone and their mother knows this movie inside and out.  It was one of the most influential flicks when it was first released, especially in the terms of visual computer effects.  The effects still hold up, after all this time.  James Cameron, Stan Winston and the team of practical and visual effect folks on this movie are at the top of their game, delivering a movie that looks better than a lot of todays FX fests.

I'm one of the few that actually prefer the first one over this one.  To me, the original Terminator was scarier and creepier.  The thought of an unstoppable killing machine on your trail with the only human (yet very resourceful) Kyle Reese to protect you.  It was more of sci-fi meets horror and it was extremely effective in what it set out to do.  The sequel is more of a blockbuster sci-fi action movie that does what it sets out to do just as effectively, so which one you prefer probably depends on what genre you prefer your Terminator in.  That said, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is still flat out full of awesome.  It does a lot of things right; you have Arnold at the very top of his game, Robert Patrick makes a very worthy opponent as the liquid metal T-1000.  The action is top notch and delivers the goods in very satisfying ways.  The major flaw I find in the film is that it suffers "Annoying Kid Syndrome."  I understand that John Conner is an important part of the story and in fact what drives the story along.  But man does he come off as a whiny little brat.  Cameron has a little too much fun trying to make Conner the quintessential early 90s rebel teenager with all the outdated slang and annoying attitude that goes along with it.  Sorry, it just seems too self aware and corny, especially for this day and age.  That aside, I did like the relationship John developed with the Terminator, I felt that part of the story rang true.  A boy and his killer robot.  Like I said, though, I won't get too wordy, you already know if you like this movie or not.

The blu ray portion of the movie, I feel is kind of a mixed bag.  I've always like the blue-tinged look of the movie and it's about as sharp and crisp as I've ever seen it.  I'm currently in between surround sound systems at the moment, so it would have been nice to have a 2.0 audio option to help out with the sound on my TV.  I'll be honest, I don't have the ideal setup to fully take advantage of the Blu Ray experience, but I would imagine that the surround sound audio option is fantastic for those that have it.  For those with wireless internet turned on, the menu (while it does take a loooong time to load) becomes unsettling, as it takes on the persona of Skynet who is tracking your every move.  It's almost durn near convincing as I find myself looking over my shoulder now to see if Skynet is hovering behind me somewhere watching me type this out.  Of course, it's probably in my personal computer too.  Dang.  Anyways, I thought that was a nice touch to give it a feel of Terminator conspiracy.

The special features are where I feel a little cheated.  Now there are directors and crew commentaries, and that's always nice, but other than that, there's a few deleted scenes and promotional trailers for the film.  The regular DVD had a ton of special features and I love me some special features.  I will say that the Blu Ray Live portion of this DVD has the most stuff I've seen in my meager Blu Ray collection.  You can watch a nice 30 minute making of doc, another doc that takes you behind the scenes of the "extended version" of the movie with all the scenes put back in and whatnot.  There's some Japanese promotional trailer material and stuff of that sort.  It sort of makes up for the lack of special features and docs on the main disc, but it would have been nice to see a more current in depth look at the making of the movie with the people involved in the movie.

Despite the gripes, I enjoyed the Terminator 2: Skynet Edition Blu Ray immensely.  It's a fun action movie on a great format for that type of movie that you can find for an outstanding price at the moment.