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Terminator 1 vs Terminator 2. Which do you prefer?

Which do you prefer?

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Ozzy Onya A2Z

Ozzy Onya A2Z

Member
This is like choosing your favourite child, so many facets where each have their merits. Today I choose T1 simply for the police station scene and this is really where the "I'll be back" catch phrase kicked into ludicrous mode for Arnie but was so appropriate to what was about to happen on screen. This scene also totally setup nearly all of T2 for its "good guy" aspects.

Ill-Be-Back-Terminator.gif
 
O

Oreoleo

Member
Welllll Terminator 2 is my favorite movie of all time, so, yeah. That one. Those action scenes can't be beat and the themes resonate with me more than anything in the original. Can't fault anyone for preferring the first though. I get why Eddie Furlong rubs some people the wrong way but he was never an issue for me. Probably cause I first saw the movie at an entirely too young age.
 
G

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
Both are great, but T2 is in my top 2 action movies of all time(along with Fury Road).
 
V

Viewt

Member
I'll echo what a lot of others are saying. Both are great, no doubt. But I love T1 quite a bit more. It's a more focused plot, and I love that it was almost entirely shot at night. It gives it an energy and distinct style that I felt was lacking in T2. Don't get me wrong - Judgement Day is still masterclass action direction, and it solidified the blueprint for the modern tentpole action film. But the drawback to everyone aping Cameron's style is that it feels a little less exciting. There's kind of a diminishing return on the spectacle when viewed in the modern context.

But it's still really great. These are nitpicks.
 
The Horror the horror

The Horror the horror

Banned
T1

More atmospheric, seedy, and claustrophobic. It made you want to clutch your neck and gasp because you could almost taste the nebulous and grotty ambiance of 80s LA that served as an encapsulating metaphor for the brooding nature of man and foreshadowed its universal and long-overdue cleansing by the machines. All of which juxtaposed brilliantly against the wholesome Sarah Conner, nurturing mother and savior of the future.

You could tell Cameron did his homework with Terminator 1 because the film is steeped in old mythology.
 
T

Ticoman

Neo Member
T1 is a dark love story, mixed with sci-fi and classic 80s action.

T2 is an intense action movie, with superb visuals, and a satisfying story.

Can't pick one, I guess it depends on what mood I'm in. Similar to Alien vs Aliens.
 
I

Icolin

Banned
T2, but Terminator is a damn good movie in its own right. Both are stone-cold classics and great in their different ways, like Alien and Aliens.
 
O

Oreoleo

Member
Bobby Roberts said:
They've been beat.

George Miller himself beat 'em twice. 30 years apart.
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On a technical/logistical level Fury Road's scenes were impressive but as an action movie it personally left me wanting something more. Haven't seen the original Mad Max's so can't really speak to those.
 
M

massoluk

Banned
jelly said:
Part that bugs me is after the bike jump, could they not have figured out a way to not make it look like they just speed up the film when he slides by the truck.

It still annoys me when that worker walks between the bullets in the mall, like duh!
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ucWYKEI.png
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T1000 split before it was actually hit, bother me now that I know it
 
M

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
shintoki said:
Let's break this shit down on why T1 is better than T2.

T1's script is tight, no filler, and completes it's run perfectly. There is no we can change the future or prevent judgement day. These were events that were simply meant to happen to allow the future to happen. It's a damn tragedy that has to happen, even if the characters are unaware of it themselves.

T2 on the other hand changes it up. The future has changed, we can stop it now. It wants to break away from the bleak ending of the original and make it more easy to digest. It wants to make it more family friend as others stated. The inclusion of the kid and other bits burn this in.

Nor was it as lean and tight as the original. The original is a cat and mouse game. It picks up and drops you in. There is very little exposition and everything is sold through Biehn's performance. T2 has to include the entire beginning twist where Arnold is actually here as the hero this time(You know it was coming), while protecting the kid. It never really had the same tension or speed as the original. It's a slower burner with bigger setpieces, but less ferocity and more fluff.

This brings up the performances. The heart of the franchise has always been Reese(Specifically Biehn's performance).
We had 5 minutes total of future time in the original through Kyle remembering and the rest is sold through him. He is terrified, he is off the edge, and it shows. You have a man who has no idea what the future holds, but was manipulated by John to go back to the future, save/sex Sarah, and die. His creepy obsession with her was the only thing keeping him moving and it was created intentionally by John to secure his future. He is the tragic character of the series. T1 isn't about choice, but events that are meant to play out and his character is one with the notion of free will, yet everything he does was already determined by others.

He was replaced by Linda in the 2nd one, who simply is not even half as good of an actor as Biehn was. Sarah talking to herself was not the same as Biehn being unhinged. While the new Sarah was John this time, who wasn't half the actor that Linda was. We went from someone who is rightfully terrified of the machine chasing them and hunting them down, to "Say Hasta La Vista" dude.The tone of the film is off now between the two characters creating a lax in tension. It was like, John has a father now... the father who killed his real father! Who less than 10 minutes ago in the film, I was freaking out about and having nightmares about, got locked up for, etc. It's inconsistent between the characters. Specifically, having Arnold as the hero this time.

Second, Arnold. Arnold was more imposing as the Villain than the Hero. There is no fucking scene in 2 that matches the Police shootout. Between I'll Be Back, to rolling in their double gunning. It's terrifying, it's menacing, and it shows exactly how ineffective we are as humans against the machine. T2 loses this because it's machine vs machine now. Bullets don't mean shit anymore. They can't hurt either of them. Since it's no longer a qasui-horror movie either, there was never once that same dread Arnold or Patrick brought that match T1. Basically, it lost it's spark in terms of bigger action pieces. Great ones at that, but everything in the original was so quick and effective. They didn't need to up the scale of the set pieces to hide it.
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Holy shit, what???

Dude, I think that overall T1 is better than T2, but get that bad actor shit out of here. Linda's character is fantastic, and she's nuanced as fuck. She goes from the girlish, regular person who is thrown into the ringer in the first movie, to this hyper focused, single track mercenary in the second movie. She is essentially a terminator. She doesn't give a fuck about anything except protecting her son, and she'll kill anyone that gets in her way. The only time that that changes is when she first sees the ultimate terror in the T-800 when she thought that it was destroyed, and near the end of the movie when she realizes through her son that she's basically being a killing machine when she tries to kill Miles from Cyberdyne.

I enjoy T1 more because the T-800 is a scary motherfucker. It is out there. Hunting you. Nobody is prepared for it. It is like Jason Vorhees, but Jason won't kill everyone in a club to get to you. Jason won't hunt you down with a shotgun. Jason looks like a freak in a hockey mask. The T-800 looks human. And it will never stop trying to kill you.

But T2 is still fantastic.

T2 while being more bombastic, does things on a smaller scale. T1 has the T-800 that does not give a fuck. Is your name Sarah Conner? Fuck you, you're dead. He doesn't know what you look like, so he'll just every Sarah chick he can find. You're in a police station and think your safe? Fuck you I'm killing every single cop in there to get to you.

T2 makes the chase more personal. T-1000 isn't going to slaughter the whole police station. He'd rather become one of the policemen, make his way into the office where you're held undetected, and stab you through the head. It actually would make for a cool "The Thing" type of horror movie, but I'm glad it was filmed more like an action flick.
 
P

PhantomZone

Member
Terminator 1 because the story was original and a tense ride throughout.


Terminator 2 was an excellent continuation of the story, and the ultimate action movie for kids.............. but it doesn't hold a candle to the original.
 
JimmyRustler

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
Love both but yeah... T2. Greatest action flick ever made. Only Cameron call pull it off to put a child in such a movie and don't make it annoying as fuck.
 
PuppetMaster

PuppetMaster

Member
Terminator 1

I do like T2 a lot. But T1 holds up better with time. Arine was already doing somewhat of a parody of himself by T2. In T1 he was actually terrifying. A scary motherfer like someone said.

Regarding Alien vs Aliens, I would side with Aliens.
 
D

dlauv

Member
T2. The action scenes were inventive and iconic. It just keeps giving. It's got humor, horror, convincing moral dilemma, and, like I said, top of the line action. Like, when Arnold gets on the hood of the moving semi, kneels, and just lays a barrage into the driver's seat.

T1 was kind of boring, but I like its '80s aesthetic. The action scenes and romance were pretty sloppy, but I'm sure they were great at the time. Kyle Reese was kind of annoying too.

I don't really agree with the T1/Alien comparisons. Alien is light years beyond T1 and I definitely prefer it to Aliens.
 
S

Syriel

Member
Bold One said:
While Genysis doesn't come close to the first two films (not many films do)

Genysis did not suck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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Terminator Films on a scale from good to bad:

[GOOD] T2, T1, T2 DC,.....,T:Salvation,......................................,T3:RotM,.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................T:Genisys [BAD]
 
PuppetMaster

PuppetMaster

Member
One way to objectively measure this is to count the number of other films/shows/games influenced by these movies.

When I watch Aliens today I am still wowed by how many scenes and or styles have been directly lifted from this movie. Alien no so much, that movie (still really good) exists as a one off.

Similarlly T1 really changed the landscape and was groundbreaking for film making. T2 is more of an artifact of its time. Mostly because the CG heavy style is very 90s. While T1 was all practical effects
 
S

Syriel

Member
PuppetMaster said:
One way to objectively measure this is to count the number of other films/shows/games influenced by these movies.

When I watch Aliens today I am still wowed by how many scenes and or styles have been directly lifted from this movie. Alien no so much, that movie (still really good) exists as a one off.

Similarlly T1 really changed the landscape and was groundbreaking for film making. T2 is more of an artifact of its time. Mostly because the CG heavy style is very 90s. While T1 was all practical effects
Click to expand...

boxartlg.jpg
 
NinjaBoiX

NinjaBoiX

Member
Terminator 2 by a wide margin, it's just so much more ambitious and entertaining and memorable, it's one of the greatest action movies ever made.

Terminator 1 is simply a good sci-fi horror movie, it's decent and all that but meh, it's not even a contest.
 
B

blankempathy

Member
I love both but I can watch 2 over and over where 1 I'll watch it once and be good for a while. I simply find 2 more entertaining. That doesn't necessarily make it better. 2's version of the theme song is perfect. Also the scene where Arnie is firing the minigun is still amazing to this day. The music, visuals and sound design are on point for that scene.
 
Premium Quality

Premium Quality

Member
I prefer T1 over T2.
Both are great films and I love both, but I like Evil Arnold over Good Guy Arny.
For an action movie, T2's second act has always been a bit slow for my taste.

--edit--
Woot! First vote for T1!
 
V

Vitten

Member
T1 for those awesome gritty future scenes that somehow managed to perfectly capture the despair and squalor of humanity on the brink. And evil Arnie is waaaay better than friendly Arnie
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
Terminator 2, but just by a nosehair. They are both 10/10's.

Off-Topic: The Thor 2 thing isn't funny anymore, it's almost as played out as 'you know _____ , we really are the last of us'.
 
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