“According to Cameron, he got his big break while doing pick-up shots for Galaxy of Terror (1981) as 2nd unit director. He was shooting scenes of a dismembered arm teeming with maggots (actually mealworms). In order to make them move, he hooked up an AC power cord to the arm, and an unseen assistant would plug it in when the film was rolling. Two producers were strolling through, and when Cameron yelled ‘Action!’ the worms began to writhe on cue. When he yelled ‘Cut!’ the worms stopped. The producers were so amazed at his directing prowess that they began talking with him about bigger projects.”
Holy crap, that’s highlarious. You can just imagine the two producers conversing:
“Look, that director’s got such a commanding presence that he can even get great acting out of maggots!” “Wow, how can we best suck the blood from him?”
Say what you like about James Cameron and his films, but he definitely has a knack with strong female leads.
Think , T1, T2, Aliens, Titanic, Abyss. They are all on an equal footing at least with the most bad-ass of men.
In fact, I recall a recent UK poll (though can’t find it now) on the greatest film action hero of all time, the winner? Ripley, and I heartily agree.
Da 12 gauge auto-loader
Da 45 long slide with laser sighting
Phased plasma rifle in 40-watt range
Hey, just what you see pal!
Da Uuuzi 9mm.
Sarah actually has the same mission as the Terminator in T2, to kill an innocent before he causes future harm. She becomes “The Bad Guy” or humanities savior.
They did such a good job that the Terminator in T3 feels like a regression. Sure, she gets to carry a gun around with her and control machines at distance, but the gun gets broken pretty quick, and she cant leak out of containment or hide in the floor and stuff.
Actually, there are deleted scenes on the DVD that imply they were setting up for the possibility of a sequel. Stuff that actually becomes important to the plot of T2, like Cyberdyne finding the remains of the T-800.
It hadn’t occurred to me before now, but the progression between T1 and T2 is a bit like the progression in zombie movies. In “old school” zombie movies, they are slow, even plodding, but absolutely untiring and relentless in their pursuit. New zombie movies tend to favor the kind that sprint at you at high speed. And, that’s pretty much what Robert Patrick looks like, when he fixes his stare on a Connor and starts running.
T3 was okay, but the T-X is too human, in rather stupid ways. For example, the little pseudo-orgasmic gasp when she tastes/samples the blood and finds it to be John Connor’s. Or the frantic screaming as she’s about to be destroyed and lose her target. A machine ought not behave like that, and I can’t help but think that the T-X being “female” played a role in the decision to make it display more emotions.
I saw T4 just last week, and while it was pretty stupid and disappointing, I have to give some grudging respect to McG for a few very long single-camera shots that had to be immensely technically challenging. Apart from that, though…let me just say that I can’t remember a movie that (this is true) I dozed off during, and had to back up and see what I’d missed, more often than T4.
It seemed to me that much of the plot of T4 was conflicting and illogical, but I didn’t care enough to go back and see if I missed stuff that would have filled in the gaps.
I probably learned that tidbit here, I might have stumbled upon it in IMDB (and Google Image ) searches for Goldstein, not sure, but she sure ain’t Vasquez in T2.
I’m surprised nobody dinged me for “step mother” instead of “foster mother”.
This thread inspired me to watch T2 again, and I did. It definitely holds up. It doesn’t look particularly dated (I mean, the cars and stuff - but in terms of special effects it’s just good).
I don’t know how you can define the T-1000s abilities as a gimmick. I mean - it’s central to how the character works. It’s logical for the machines to make a weapon like that if they have the technology, his abilities make him a spectacularly good infiltrator. The movie uses his abilities not just to say “hey, look at these cool effects!” but to show what a machine with those abilities can do. Thematically, he needs to have some substantial advantage over the T-800 in order to create the tension.
I’m also not quite as bothered by Arnold being a big softy in T2. I’d prefer he wasn’t, but in retrospect, most of the stuff he does that’s objectionable (not killing people, trying to fit in with humans with slang, etc.) are because he’s under direct orders to. His actions make him appear as though he’s less of a killer machine, but he’s really just following cold hard orders. The exception to this would be at the end when he tries to comfort John, but that can probably be justified by manipulating John into letting him complete his mission.
I knew it was the same chick in Aliens/T2, but I completely overlooked the redhead in Titanic. I’ve seen all those movies a bunch of times. She was right under my nose the entire time.
) searches for Goldstein, not sure, but she sure ain’t Vasquez in T2.